Page 153 of Unleashed
Harper gasps beside him.
"First love. First kiss." I pause. "First?—"
Harper's hands connect with my chest, shoving me back a step. I can’t help but snicker.
"You can go now, Ace," she snaps.
I glance down at her, biting my lip. "I was going to say friend."
She rolls her eyes, and I let out a low chuckle.
"We both know what you were about to say. And it also began with an F," she whispers.
She’s really turnin’ me on with this explosion of sass. It’s making my hand twitch at my side.
"Oh…" I play dumb. Scratch my jaw. "First fuck? Yeah. That too. And you remember, don't you? That night, you had that cute little?—"
She slaps her hand over my mouth. Her palm is warm. Her eyes are murderous. And I’m twenty seconds from being hard. Or bending her over the bar and showing her fiancé just how well I know her.
"Ace Sterling. You get your ass away right this second. Think, baby," she says the last part softly.
And it registers with me. Just about. Only she holds this kind of power over me.
Hudson takes a step forward, and she drops her hand, moving away from me. Putting distance between us. Choosing the performance.
Oh, she's going to pay for this later.
"Congratulations," I say flatly, tipping my hat.
Colten grabs my shoulder and I’m already moving. "Come on."
I brush him off. Give Harper one last look. Let her see it—that I ain't done. Not even close.
I can deal with many things. Her telling me she's engaged. Her going back to him and staying at his stupid mansion for dinner with his parents. Trusting her not to break me again.
But I draw the goddamn line at him being in my bar, declaring himself as hers. When he ain't. The only man she owns is me.
I follow Colten back to Jett at the bar. Jett silently hands me a bottle of beer. I drown it and slam it back on the counter.
"Fuck," I hiss.
I know she’s mine. I know it. My soul fuckin’ knows it. Doesn't mean I don't want to hurl my fist through a wall. Or better yet, through that sleazy bastard's head.
I hear her voice, and for some obviously self-inflicting reason, I turn.
They're at a high table. They're talking. She's nervously bouncing her leg. And then she excuses herself, pushing back from the table, and rushes toward the bathrooms. Nearly crashes through the door.
That is my cue. I’m already walking.
"Ace," Colten warns, following my eyeline.
I adjust my hat, ignore him, and head straight out the front door.
Around to the back of the bar. Through the back entrance that leads into the hallway for the restrooms. I rest my back against the wall opposite the ladies' room door.
And I wait like I got all the time in the world.
Which I suppose I have when it comes to Harper.
