Page 61 of The Wildest One

I winced. “You get the drift.”

She put her hands on my shoulders. “I know why you’re feeling this way. It’s justified. I also know how you’ve never forgotten that man, and at any point, you would have dreamed of a scenario like this.”

I laughed. Like really laughed. “A scenario? Like this? No.” I glanced up at the ceiling. “This is a scenario from hell.”

“Just because your circumstances have changed?—”

“Ginger, you know I can’t do this. You know I shouldn’t do this. I don’t know if those two things mean the same—I can’t even think straight at the moment—but the answer is, I need to run. And I need to run fast.”

“But what if you do go with him—just for the night? It’s not going to hurt anyone per se.”

“Are you?—”

She shook me. “Jolie, you haven’t slept with anyone in two years and nine months. If you don’t have sex with that man, things are going to close up down there”—she nodded toward my legs—“and I swear, they might never reopen again.” She let out a long breath. “Babe, just do it and deal with the consequences later. That’s the best and only advice I’ll give you.”

I was panting through my nose. “You’re the worst.”

“That’s why you love me.”

I thought about everything she’d said, the decision not any clearer in my mind. “If I do leave, what are you going to do? You’ll catch an Uber, yeah?”

“Please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She smiled. “Besides, you have my location on your phone.”

I studied her face, making sure what she said matched up to what I was seeing in her eyes, and then I took her by the hand and led her out of the restroom.

As soon as we got through the short hallway, I instantly saw Beck. He was standing at the bar, leaning into it with his hands crossed, looking at me mostly from across his shoulder so I had more of a profile view of him.

Oh God.

That man.

There was no one hotter in this world.

No one more talented.

And certainly no one more perfect.

“Jesus fucking Christ, he’s everything,” Ginger whispered from my side. “Just look at him.”

As I did, unable to take my eyes off him, his words began to repeat in my head.

“I’m going to walk you to my car right now. I’m going to take you home with me. I’m going to lick every inch of your body, and I’m going to make you come all fucking night long.”

I sighed in response.

“You don’t have to tell me what you decided. I already know.” She hugged my shoulders. “See you tomorrow, babe. Havealllthe fun.”

FIFTEEN

Beck

As Jolie stood at my kitchen counter, watching me walk toward her with two glasses—a whiskey sour for her, a bourbon for me—I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She looked so tiny in front of my massive island, under ceilings that were well over twenty feet high. At six feet, three inches tall, I towered over her, giving me the perfect view to take her in.

A black dress that hugged every one of her curves.

Curves that I knew intimately.

Curves that had only gotten sexier since I’d met her.