From New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott comes the
second sizzling stand-alone novel in the Dive Bar series!
When his younger brother loses interest in online dating, hot
bearded bartender Joe Collins only intends to log into his account and shut it
down. Until he reads about her.
Alex Parks is funny, fascinating, and pretty much everything
he's been looking for in a woman—except that she lives across the country. Soon
they're emailing up a storm and telling each other their deepest, darkest
secrets...except the one that really matters.
When Alex pays Joe a surprise visit, however, they both discover
that when it comes to love, it's always better with a twist.
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I watched the
streetlights cast shadows on the angle of his cheekbone, the furrow of his
brow. Strange how his manly beauty had grown on me, redefining or rather
stretching my usual boundaries.
Perhaps some people’s
allure came from the inside out. A good thing. Their ways and their words did
the wooing instead of their physical appeal. Not to diss Joe’s impressive
physique. As nice as a pretty face was, though, the personality, the person
beneath the skin, should matter more. Anything else was pretty shallow and
unlikely to last. Guess that was the difference between my scratching an itch
with a stranger and the way this man had me tied up in knots. And not even
neat, sea-worthy knots. I’m talking, haven’t washed or brushed your hair in
forever and there’s a big old mess back there.
Shit.
At the bar, he’d flirted
with me. Full-on flirted with me, his supposed platonic friend who was not his
type. No way did I know what to do. Normally Valerie would be first on my hit
list of people to call. But she’d just tell me to jump him, regardless of what
else was going on, or any possible consequences. Plus, with him beside me it
would be kind of uncool. But a couple of whisky sours or no, I was pretty
certain I hadn’t imagined his interest.
As Mom had always said,
however, best to be sure.
“What are the renovating
plans for tomorrow?” I asked.
“Rip out the old
fittings and prepare the space for new.”
I nodded. “So we’ll be
doing some pounding and screwing?”
“Ah, yeah.” The man cast
me a look out of the corner of his eye. “Sound okay?”
“Absolutely. Can’t wait
to get my hands back on that big hard hammer.”
“Great,” he said,
throwing me another questioning look.
I gave a nice bland
smile.
Yeah, pal. Two could
play at the what-the-fuck-is-going-on flirting game. I turned in my seat, all
the better to face him. “Did you want to bang, Joe?”
“What did you say?” Wide
eyes flashed my way.
“Like I did on that wall
today. That was fun,” I said with all due sincerity. “Will we be doing more of
that?”
A pause. “Sure.”
“Awesome.”
Another quizzical look.
“Something wrong?” I
inquired politely.
“No.” His Adam’s apple
dipped as he swallowed hard, shifting in his seat, gaze decidedly unsure. The
poor fool couldn’t begin to understand the crazy he’d unleashed with his little
taunt. Get rough with the man? My starved libido was well beyond the rough-and-tumble
stage. No more hiding or denying, sticking to the sidelines of life. It was my
time to step forward and be brave. When it came to Joe Collins, I was more than
ready to say yes.
“I just . . .” he
started. “Never mind.”
Neither of us spoke as
he pulled into a parking space a short walk down from the hotel. I leaned over,
placing my hand on his denim-covered thigh. The muscle tensed beneath my
fingers.
Shame on me for straying
a little close to his loins.
“Thanks so much for
tonight, Joe. I’m so glad we decided to be friends. Because you, sir, make a
great friend.”
“Right. Good.” A frown.
“How much did you have to drink again?”
“Not nearly enough.
Quick, let’s get to my hotel room so I can have more!” I threw open my door.
“Okay.” Hands stuffed in
his pockets, he followed me inside, lingering a step or two behind. Guess he didn’t
like it when people’s moods got all mixed up and mercurial either. Funny, that.I
nodded to the dude at the front desk and pressed the button on the elevator. It
opened immediately. Mirrors and old-timey-looking wooden framing decorated the
small space. We both leaned against the back wall as it slowly ascended.
“Yeah, sure can’t wait
to do some banging, and pounding, and screwing around with you, Joe.” I smiled.
“Sound good?”
He just gave me a dry
look from his superior height. All confusion gone from his handsome face.
Confined spaces only made him seem bigger, even more imposing than usual. No
way, no day, however, was I crawling back into my shell or turning into a shadow.
We’d agreed to work on our issues, so fine, I was putting it out there.
Still, my bravado was
fading, I could barely meet his eyes. The man affected me in all the ways.
“It’s hard, no pun
intended this time, because sometimes it feels like you want to be just
friends,” I said. “But then other times you flirt with me and I honestly don’t
know what’s going on. No huge surprise there, I know. Social awkwardness is my
jam. But I thought I mostly understood where you were coming from.”
A ding from the elevator
and the doors opened at our stop. I walked out, his bearded hotness following slowly
behind, stalking me almost. For certain his usual cool, easy-going-guy persona
was missing in action. The man radiated tension, intensity, even.
And if he didn’t, I
definitely did.
Inside the hotel room I
went for mood lighting, only turning on the table and bedside lamps. I rubbed
sweaty hands against the sides of my pants. “What you said back at the bar
about me getting rough with you, however. Now, that almost sounded like a
dare.”
“Did it?”
“It did.”
Arms hanging loose at
his sides, he just watched me, saying nothing. Jerk.
“So tell me.” I stood at
the foot of the bed, facing him. Every part of me was wired, wide awake.
“What’s going on, Joe?”
His shoulders rose and
fell on a deep breath. “I realized something tonight.”
“What?”
“That I was falling into
old habits. Doing what was easy instead of doing what I wanted.”
“Huh?”
“It was just before you
spilled ice on that guy’s pants.”
“Sure. I can see how
you’d be seduced by my smooth moves,”
I said, voice filled
with much doubt. My insides were ready to spontaneously combust. I swear I
could feel sweat breaking out all over me, the man was just that hot. Also, my
nerves were on high alert.
One corner of his lips
tipped up. “You know how you said you weren’t jealous?”
“Yes?”
“Well, I was.”
Wow. I had nothing.
“This is the part where
you’re supposed to admit you were jealous too,” he supplied.
“I didn’t think it
needed to be said. I’m not that good a liar.”
“True,” he said.
“Anyway, I made the pass at you and then I was leaving it up to you to figure out
what you want. To be brave and make the next move.”
Softly, I laughed and
shook my head. Men were such idiots.
“Make the first move?
This isn’t a game. As I said last time the subject of sex came up, previous
hurt feelings, etc. It’s going to get complicated.”
“Yeah, probably,” he
said, voice deeper than I’d ever heard it.
About the Author
Kylie
is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian
Romance Writer of the year, 2013 & 2014, by the Australian Romance Writer’s
Association and her books have been translated into eleven different languages.
She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based
in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes
and never dithers around on the internet. You can learn more about Kylie from http://www.kylie-scott.com/
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