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She was fucking hugging him. What the hell was she thinking? This guy was a fucking stud and she was draped all over him. “Hey!” I snapped, hobbling over to her.

Her head rolled and then her eyes lit up. “Patrick!”

She wobbled out of the man’s arms, tripping over her own damn feet. I could only stand there and watch as she went down, but fucking Prince Charming snagged her around the waist at the last second and kept her from face-planting.

“Easy there, tiger,” he chuckled, getting her upright.

My eyes burned holes in this fucker’s hands as they clutched her waist and kept her steady. Who the fuck did he think he was to put his hands on my woman like that?

“Cool down,” Chase hissed.

I hadn’t even noticed him exit the car, but clearly, he was here as backup. “He’s got his fucking hands on her,” I gritted out.

“Yep, but at least you know she’s not gonna get the wrong idea this week.” He brushed past me and grinned at Piper. “Hey! Look at you! Not covered in mud!”

He wrapped his arms around her, and that was the second time in two minutes that I saw red. What the fuck was it with all these guys touching her? And why was she allowing it? She wasn’t supposed to be touching any of them.

“Chase!” Her face lit up as she flung herself into his arms.

He hugged her back, glancing over his shoulder at me, winking like the prick he was. “A little wobbly, aren’t you?”

She put her finger and thumb together, squinting her eyes adorably. “Tad bit drunk.” She spun and pressed both hands to the man, grinning up at him. “But thankfully, my savior saw to it that I made it here in one piece!”

“Savior,” I muttered. “I’m her fucking savior. She jumped out of a plane with me.”

The man looked at me muttering to myself and leaned in closer. “What’s that?”

“I’m Patrick,” I smiled viciously. “Her real savior.”

“Ah, the man she jumped out of a plane with,” he chuckled, thrusting his hand at me. “I heard all about that.” His eyes darted to my leg. “And how she jumped in front of a bear to save your ass.”

My jaw worked hard at the implication that I couldn’t take care of her. Yes, she had saved my ass, as he said, but she wouldn’t have survived out there without me. But I shook his damn hand anyway.

“And you are?”

His eyes snaked over me like a rabid dog before answering. “Devon.”

I already hated the prick. What kind of name was Devon? “Thanks for keeping her company on the flight.”

“Well, you know, someone had to sit with her and keep her from freaking out.”

His blue eyes shone with dangerous humor that made me want to pull my gun and shoot him. “Yeah, thanks for that. You know, keeping her company on her way to me. She’s precious cargo.”

“I can see that.” Again, his eyes flicked to my leg. “How did that happen again?”

“Bear attack. We were in the woods and the bear was going for her. I jumped in front of the bear to give her time to get to a tree.”

Take that motherfucker. She might have saved my ass, but I kept forgetting that I literally took on a bear for her.

“That’s pretty fucking amazing,” he retorted, his teeth gritting painfully.

“Yeah, well, I told her I would protect her, and I fucking meant it.”

“Okay!” Chase laughed, slapping his hand on my shoulder. “Enough of the pissing contest,” he hissed in my ear. “Thank you very much for keeping an eye on her, man. We really appreciate it, but we’d better get her home and let the alcohol wear off.”

He jerked me back a step, clenching my shoulder even tighter as he grabbed Piper’s bag from the asshole still glaring at me. Before I could tell the fucker to keep his hands to himself, he slid his arm around her, pulling her in for a kiss on the cheek.

“Don’t be a stranger, Piper.” Then he slid his card into her pocket, getting way too intimate with her. He winked at her before turning and heading back into the airport.

I was still seething by the time Piper walked over and flung herself in my arms. Her touch and scent instantly calmed me, preventing me from stalking after that fucker and beating him with my crutch.

“Patti! I’m here!” She planted a kiss right on my lips, distracting me from my anger in a single second. I slid my hand around her waist and drew her in closer, sliding my tongue inside her mouth the second she opened for me.

My anger dissipated just like that as I got lost in the kiss, remembering just how fucking good it was to be with her. When she stepped back and grinned at me, I instantly felt the loss and almost yanked her back to me for another kiss.

But we were just friends.

She patted my face playfully, grinning the whole time. “I really missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

She leaned in closer, lowering her voice. “And the sex. I really miss the sex.”

Chase barked out a laugh, slapping me on the shoulder. “We should probably go before you two maul each other in public and end up in jail again.”

That was probably for the best. I reluctantly removed my hands from her so I could get back to the vehicle with my crutches.

Instead of going to the passenger seat, I followed Piper to the back seat, sliding in beside her.

I didn’t miss the way Chase grinned at me, but I didn’t give a fuck.

I needed to touch her, to erase that asshole’s memory from her skin.

Smiling up at me, she wrapped her arm through mine and leaned on my shoulder. “Patti, I missed you so much.”

“You said that,” I chuckled.

“And sex,” she sighed. “I really miss good sex.”

I cleared my throat, trying not to choke to death as I attempted to swallow, but fuck, she was making it hard. “So, no other men the past few weeks?”

I caught Chase’s knowing glance in the mirror. Yeah, I wanted to know who she’d fucked. So sue me. I needed to know.

She shook her head, biting her lip as her eyes dropped to my mouth. “Nobody.”

“Fuck,” I muttered, wishing I could take her right now.

“No fucking in the vehicle. There’s no partition this time,” Chase grumbled. “Not that it helped with the sound. My ears are still fucking bleeding.”

I ignored him and focused on the woman in front of me.

All I could see were her beautiful eyes and those damn luscious lips.

Then her fingers started skimming down my chest and I dove in for another kiss.

Our lips met in a heated twist of desire that I felt all the way in my balls. Fuck, I needed her.

“Wasn’t there something you wanted to say?” Chase interrupted.

I tore my lips from hers, hesitating when I heard her whimper with need. “What?”

“Something you wanted to say,” he repeated, narrowing his eyes at me.

Fuck, yeah, I needed to keep my head on straight. “Right.”

“About your mother,” he reiterated, completely killing the moment.

I untangled myself from Piper’s arms and remembered my earlier concern. “So, are you ready to meet my mother?”

There. That thoroughly killed any chance of her kissing me. Talking about parents was always a killer.

Her eyes lit up and she smiled brightly at me. “That’s right! I get to meet little Patti’s mother.” Her hand snaked across my lap and rubbed my cock. I jumped, wondering what the fuck was going on. Usually, talking about parents quenched any desire to do shit.

I laughed nervously, tugging her hand from my cock. “Right. My mother. The woman you’re here to dissuade from sticking around.”

“Oh, I can do that,” she laughed. “Mothers love me.”

She leaned in and smashed her lips to mine, effectively cutting off anything I was about to say.

God, she tasted like alcohol and the best fucking time of my life.

My hands slid around her, tugging her closer.

Before I knew it, she was in my lap, rubbing her pussy against my cock.

Fucking hell, this was not going how it was supposed to.

But damn…she made me forget about everything else.

“I guess that’s a good enough talk for now,” Chase muttered.

I flipped him off and then slid my hand up the nape of Piper’s neck, getting lost in her taste. The talk could fucking wait.