Page 100 of Reckless Devotion

***

“Just how many models in this roomhaveyou slept with, Chase?”

I choke on my drink, looking at Zeke in alarm and then at Pepper by my side, whose eyebrows hit her hairline.

I thud my chest with my fist. “Not cool, bro.”

He grins, the thin scar splitting his lip stretched. Pepper rolls her eyes and fixes me with a perceptive look. She looks likean angel on earth in a cobalt blue silk dress that makes her skin pop and her eyes glow like warm jewels. She damn near took my breath away when she came out of my bedroom, her long hair elegantly dragged up into a pile on top of her head.

She stands out in a room like this in the best way—dark, swirling tattoos snaking down one arm, bright colored hair and her slim nose ring switched out for one that sparkles. I’m the luckiest man here tonight to have her on my arm, and a completely foreign sizzle flashes over my skin each time I catch a man gawking at her. I can’t wait to get her home and trail my hand all the way up that slit that travels to her thigh.

“He tried to sleep with me once,” Chloe shares wistfully, tapping a red nail on her arm.

“Don’t I know it,” Zeke growls sulkily by her side.

I point at her, a distinct feeling I’m about to get my comeuppance for years of winding my friends up by flirting with their women. “That was a long time ago and I didn’t know that you knew Zeke.”

“Me too.” Mia grins, taking a sip of her champagne.

“That was just to wind Mason up. You know you’re like a sister to me.”

“Speakingof sisters…” Chloe trails off suggestively, a mischievous sparkle in her eye.

God fucking dammit.I have no defense there, and dare to glance sideways to see Pepper’s unphased smile, seeming more exasperated than annoyed. I feel more relieved than I care to let on.

“Hey, why didn’t you try and sleep with me?” Teddy cuts in, holding one hand up as if to say, “What the hell, dude?”

“Erm, hello?” Jax frowns down at her. “Husband standing right here?”

“Yes, yes, you’ve had your fun.” I grumble, taking another sip of my scotch. “I’m sure Pepper gets the picture.”

“Shedoes,” Pepper confirms sarcastically, sliding her hand into mine and flashing me her pearly white teeth. “Let’s go and dance, community dick.”

My friends all burst out laughing, so loud that they draw the attention of all the bystanders in a twenty-foot radius.I probably deserved that.I allow her to pull me away, finding it hard not to smile at the way she doesn’t hesitate to take me down a peg or two and handing my glass off to a server with a tray as he walks by.

When we reach the densely packed dancefloor, she wraps her body around mine and smiles ruefully up at me.

“About that—”

“Chase, stop.” She places the tips of her fingers gently on my lips to stop me. “I knew you were chronically single when I met you.”

My mouth turns down, hating that description. It’s all I get in the papers, playboy-bachelor-this and playboy-bachelor-that, and most of the time, reporting hookups that are completely fabricated. Okay, when I was younger, it was a different story. But the me of today just cringes and longs for something a little steadier, a little deeper to sink into and start to call home.

“As long as you’re not sleeping with anyone else at the same time as me—”

“Are you fucking insane, why would I do that?” I blurt out, swiftly followed by a plunging thought. “Wait, areyousleeping with anyone else?”

“What? No!”

I groan quietly with relief, dipping my head. “Thank god, because I would have had to hunt him down and rip his head off…or maybe challenge him to a duel.”

“Sword or pistol?” Pepper grins, raises a teasing eyebrow and toying with the hair at the nape of my neck while we slowly dance.

“Pistol, obviously! What is this, the Middle Ages?”

“You’re the one running around challenging people to duels. You tell me!” She laughs in a way that makes her cheeks puff up for a moment.

“I’d duel a hundred men all at once, if I had to.” I grin, swiping a stray hair away that is caught in the gloss on her lips. “I’d do anything for you, Peppercorn,” I add quietly as an afterthought, my chest squeezing as her eyes round in surprise.