Page 43 of Enticed
“Look, I could tell from the get-go there was something going on between you two,” she claimed, and I winced. “Don’t worry, the guys are too oblivious to notice, but I can easily pick up on these kinds of vibes.”
“Please don’t say anything to anyone,” Jasmine pleaded. “This isn’t… We’ve never…”
“You don’t owe me an explanation,” Luna assured her.
“But Gabe works at the ranch. He’s Dad’s best friend,” Jasmine blurted out, and Luna’s eyes bugged out of her head.
“Well, um, okay.” Luna blinked away her surprise and composed herself. “In that case,” she began, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “Gabe, you go back to the table. Tell Varen Jasmine got sick, and you were trying to get her to the bathroom when I showed up just in the nick of time. Jasmine, your makeup is already a little smudged,” she said, shooting a smirk my way. “We can pretend it’s from puking your guts out, not from this cowboy trying to be all up in your guts.”
Jasmine snorted a laugh, and my lip twitched with the effort to contain my amusement. It was clear these two were related and had probably spent a lot of time together at some point. They acted just alike.
“Alright,” Jasmine said, and I nodded my agreement. I turned to head toward our table, but Luna stopped me.
“Wait!” she called out, her voice panicked. I turned and she walked up to me, holding out a napkin. “Wipe the gloss off your lips. I may be rooting for you, but my big brother won’t be quite so understanding. You don’t want to go back out there to a table full of guys who spend an hour every day slamming each other into the boards and who have no qualms about throwing a punch when you have one of their baby cousin’s signature lip shade smeared across your mouth,” she warned.
I took the napkin from between her fingers and scrubbed it over my lips, removing any trace that Jasmine had been there. It was necessary, but still, an ache settled into my chest at the thought of erasing our first kiss before the sensation of her lips on mine had even faded.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
JASMINE
The ruse worked. When I returned to the table, there was a glass of water and a couple packets of saltines waiting for me.
“You gotta learn how to hold your liquor better, Little J. You dishonor the family,” Varen said with a theatrical scowl in his best mobster impression.
I saluted him, but when I lowered my hand, I flipped him off. The entire table erupted in laughter except for Gabe. His tension was palpable. He was restless, though he covered it well by continuing to engage in polite conversation for the short time we remained at the bar.
“We’d better get back. I’ve got to race again tomorrow,” I announced, standing from my seat. We said our goodbyes, and I pulled each of my cousins into a hug.
“I wish I could come and watch you race, but we’re heading out on the road tomorrow for a couple away games, and you know I ain’t got shit packed,” Varen said with his signature crooked grin.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled. “Of course you don’t.”
“I have to head back to campus in the morning, so I’ll miss it too,” Luna said, regretfully. “But send me your schedule, and I’ll try to make it to one this summer.
“Will do,” I promised before departing.
Gabe was quiet and distant on the return trip. Now that we’d kissed, I expected him to be more open with me, to finally relax and accept this thing happening between us once we were alone again. He’d played his part well when we were still at the bar, pretending he hadn’t just pressed me against a wall and kissed me senseless, but there was no one to put on an act for now. Still, he was silently brooding, his jaw set tight and his posture rigid. It felt like everything had changed between us, yet nothing had changed at all.
He’d given me a taste of how it could be between us. It was just enough to make me crave another hit. I wanted more. I wanted to feel that same scorching desire that set me ablaze the moment he’d finally touched me.
But he didn’t seem in any hurry to pick up where we’d left off. He hadn’t touched me since we’d parted ways in that dark hallway. He didn’t put his hand on the small of my back when we walked through the crowded bar like he normally would or hold my hand on the way to the truck. I really thought we’d turned a corner, but instead of finally relinquishing control on his restraint like I had expected, he was withdrawing. And it was pissing me off.
By the time we got back to the trailer, he wasn’t the only one brooding. I was fuming. How dare he dangle that carrot in front of me only to rip it away after my first nibble? If Luna hadn’t shown up when she did, Gabe would’ve done a lot more than just kiss me. I’d felt the proof of his arousal pressed against my stomach. He was ready and raring to go. If I’d ever had any doubts that he wanted me, they were quickly erased by thehardened ridge of his impressive erection. Now he wanted to act like nothing had happened, and I wasn’t having it.
“Are you ready to address the elephant in the room?” I asked once we were back at the trailer. Planting my hands on my hips, I gave him an expectant look.
“What do you want me to say?” he asked, his tone defeated and his gaze weary.
“I don’t want you tosayanything. I want you to finish what you started,” I said in challenge, taking a step closer to him.
“I can’t,” he said, his voice thick with anguish.
“Can’t or won’t?” I demanded.
“Damn it, Jasmine,” he groaned, scrubbing a frustrated hand over his face before lifting his gaze to mine. The guilt twisting his features was like a punch to the gut. “Your father?—”
“No,” I snapped, cutting him off. “I’m twenty-one years old, a grown asswoman. My father has no say in who I date or who I sleep with. Why are you letting him have a say in whatyoudo? Just admit that you have feelings for me, and stop holding back out of some misguided sense of duty or loyalty to my dad.”
