An all-new, brother’s best friend, bodyguard romance in Lexi Blake’s Masters and Mercenaries: New Recruits series is out this week, and you can read an excerpt right here.
Excerpt
“I heard you were at the club last night. Did you have fun?” Nate asked.
Fun? She wouldn’t call it fun. She would call it life changing. A revelation. She could still feel this man’s hands on her. She’d sat up in Cooper’s bed waiting for the sound of Nate coming home. It had taken everything she had not to be sitting in the living room, ready to confess what she’d done and how she wanted to do it again. “I stayed in the locker room.”
“Really? I thought you were a member. Aidan mentioned it, though he did say you never seemed interested in playing. He said it was more of a social club for you.” Nate’s eyes stayed on the road.
It gave her a chance to study the hard line of his jaw. He was such a gorgeous man. “I wouldn’t say I’m not interested. I enjoy the lifestyle.” Why was she talking about this? It wasn’t any of his business. She wasn’t about to whine and cry about the fact that the only Dom she wanted to play with was the one she couldn’t have. Well, not the only one since none of them seemed interested. “So you went to the party? Did you have fun?”
“It was all right,” he said.
Wow. That hurt. She turned away from him. Had she been this stupid again? Thank the universe she hadn’t confessed to anyone. Not even Carys knew what she’d done. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to her this morning because Nate had been sitting there.
She wasn’t going to cry. “Well, maybe you’ll have more fun next time.”
How long before she could get out of the truck? Would he insist on walking her all the way up or could she ditch him in the lobby? Maybe in a few weeks she would be able to not want to cry when she saw him, but today she was a mess.
She had to get it together or her da would know something was wrong and she would end up in a session with Aunt Eve.
“I met someone. I thought we made a connection, but it was all one way,” he said quietly.
Daisy felt her heart soften. “I can’t believe that. I’m sure you misunderstood her. She’s probably going through some things.”
“Well, she left me sleeping after blowing my bloody mind,” he admitted. “She didn’t leave a number, so I have to figure it meant way more to me than to her.”
Of all the scenarios she’d gone through, she hadn’t thought about this one. Where he got hurt. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. No wonder he was acting like a wounded bear this morning. His heart was bruised. “I’m sure she had something else she had to do.”
He stopped at a red light. “After midnight?”
She could see the MT building up ahead. Only a couple more minutes and they would be safely in the building, and she could run away as fast as her kitten heels would carry her. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut. “Maybe she had an early call at work.”
Keeping her mouth shut wasn’t one of her talents.
“She could have left a note or given me a real name. I took my mask off, told her real things about myself. Nah, she used me. Not how I wanted to start this whole new life thing off,” he said as he eased up when the light changed, but they were stuck behind a sedan trying to turn left without an arrow. “But you know, live and learn.”
Okay, this was worse than being hurt herself. Her heart actually ached.
“I came here hoping to start over again.” He turned her way and gave her a halfhearted smile. “I’ve been kind of lost since I left the military, like I don’t know where my place in the world is. Last night I guess I felt alive again. But it wasn’t real.”
Her gut twisted. “It was real.”
“It was real for me. Not for her.”
She turned Nate’s way. Why the hell was she doing this? She was literally one block from freedom, but the stupid traffic was killing her. They were at a dead standstill for some reason.
She didn’t have to say anything. Not a damn thing. She didn’t owe him. It wasn’t like telling him would help him. He would realize he’d screwed his best friend’s sister, who he thought was useless and selfish.
So she didn’t have to confess to save his delicate masculine sensibilities. Nope.
“It was me.”
Find it on Goodreads:
Connect with the Author:
Masters and Mercenaries: New Recruits - Recommended Reading Order
(standalone stories with interconnected characters)
You Might Also Like...
by