He cocks his head a moment as his brows cinch up high with curiosity. “Is that a touch of Tennessee I hear? Of course, it could be just about anywhere in the South, but I’m afraid Tennessee is all I’m familiar with. ” He lands in the seat across from me, that warm smile of his spreading wide.
“My God—how did you know?” That little touch of Tennessee grows like a foot fungus as the country-fried version of myself happily takes over. Something about the arresting way he’s looking at me makes my panties disintegrate beneath me. Without putting any thought into it, I’m flaunting my good side, baring my cleavage, touching my knee to his. God knows I can hold an entire conversation with my head turned to the left if need be. Try me, Mr. James. Just you go ahead and try me.
That smile of his evaporates as he flexes a tired grin. “Dated a girl from Tennessee once.”
The muscles in his jaw tense a moment and make him ten times more comely than I ever thought possible.
Something about that non-essential piece of information makes it feel as if we’ve just swerved into the friend zone, and my stomach plummets right along with any romantic prospect. And really? With Piper’s brother? What the hell was I thinking anyway?
A cute sandy-haired blonde bops on over to take our orders, and Cade is quick to ask for a beer.
“I mean it about the drink.” He thumps a finger over my empty glass. “Feel free to switch it up if you like.”
I glance up at the girl whose nametag reads BAYA. I’ve seen her here a ton of times. She’s sweet as sugar and always ready with a smile.
“What’s tonight’s special?” Something tells me I might need a strong one before I hit the lonely highway back to my dorm with the battery-operated creature from the blue lagoon.
“Sex on the Beach!” She jumps onto her tiptoes when she says it, a maneuver I’ll have to remember since I’m hoping to score a part-time job here in the summer.
I give a slight shake of the head. I’d hate to steer this conversation sexually sideways with my roommate’s brother of all people, drop-dead gorgeous as he might be. Damn those perfect genes to hell for clawing at my trembling thighs.
“Another one of these will do fine,” I say it so fast it comes out as one word. God knows another one of these, and I’ll be under the table, clawing at whatever it is Mr. Cade James has packing between his thighs—and judging by his overall marble sculpture perfection, I’m betting it’s something jaw-dropping, mouthwateringly magnificent that should be displayed for all to see in a museum. Lord knows I’d buy the first round of tickets to witness that sizable spectacle.
Baya zips to the bar, leaving a gardenia perfumed wake in her tracks, and my gaze reconnects with the handsome devil hooking me in with those lust-driven eyes. I wonder what would happen if I turned my head ever so slightly and he saw the real me, how fast he might hit the exit. Would he even bother to wait for his beer? I wonder what excuses he might dream up, and if I would remind him of them whenever Piper gives us a proper introduction.
“No Sex on the Beach tonight, huh?” His brows arch in amusement. “That’s too bad.” He loses that dirty grin, but those mean blue eyes remain steadfast on mine as if pleading with me to reconsider. Cade leans in and relaxes onto his elbows. It’s as if that single party concoction, with its lewd and crude name, had the power to break the ice. There’s something about him that makes me feel at home, comfortable, far more so than I am around other guys—especially the frat brats that descend on the Black Bear like sexed-up flies—and as much as I want to blame it on his lookalike sister, a part of me understands this instant level of comfort I’m having is something unique to him.
“Sex on the beach?” There goes that country drawl again, slow and steady, pulling him between my legs like rope braided from hay. “Not ever if I can help it. Sounds perfectly painful to me. Honest to God, my pretty pink bits and pieces don’t get along with grit in hard to reach places.”
He barks out a laugh, and his perfect white teeth catch the light, glowing like an entire constellation of stars. Cade smiles with his whole face, leaving his eyes squinted into slits of cobalt. “It’s not as bad as it seems, I promise.” His smile glides off once again, and a slight look of regret takes over. I get it—Cade has most likely had girls in hard to reach places a time or two. In fact, an entire herd of girls cranes their necks in our direction as we speak, just waiting to pounce on his tall, dark, and handsome eminence once he ditches me. I should probably let him off the hook, introduce myself as Piper’s pooper-scooper—God knows that girl doesn’t believe in flushing the toilet—and let him get on with his sexual selection of the evening. I can practically see that boy’s boner reflecting in his eyes, and we both know I won’t be the one to quell it.
He winces. “And there I go sounding like an ass. I promise, I’m only an asshole on days that end in Y.” His brows dip down into a sexy deep V, and that happy place between my thighs gives an approving quiver.