Maybe he had been the entire time.
He looked… Jesus!
Damn if he didn't look like she'd hurt his feelings! That was a laugh. He was the one who had told her to stay away from him!
He caught her looking at him and abruptly stood up. The next thing she heard was the sound of his bike tearing out.
He'd left without a word to anyone.
Chapter Eighteen
Jack
Where was Red?
Jack was staring at the door of the clubhouse bar. He was watching to make sure Janet didn't show up and ruin his night. He was really hoping her parents had told her to stay home tonight.
She’d stay away and he could avoid her, like he’d said he would. Better for everyone. Just stay away from the girl. It would be so much easier for everyone. He didn’t want any complications in his life and he didn’t want her.
God, he was such a liar.
He'd been in a tailspin all day. First he'd walked into Kaylie's yard to see Janet looking like a barefoot princess. With no makeup, and her flaming red hair loose around her shoulders, she'd looked like something out of a fairy tail.
Sweet and natural and so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.
So pure that it made him itch to take that innocence, take it and make her a woman. Because she might be nineteen, but she was definitely not a woman yet.
Jesus, who knew a sundress could be so arousing. He'd finally decided he was going to have to do something about this insane attraction he was having to the girl. She'd chosen that moment to be a complete brat and ignore him!
He had been ready to tell her not to stay away. They could have a thing for a little while. At least until he stopped seeing her damn face every time he closed his eyes!
Now she was the one playing hard to get, dammit.
He sipped his ginger ale and stared down at it disgustedly. What he needed was a real drink. It was getting late and Dev had already left with Kaylie. He had no other duties tonight.
The girl wasn’t coming. She’d said her parents had her on lockdown. There was no reason he shouldn’t indulge.
Maybe it would numb the raging lust and frustration rolling around in his chest.
Nobody needed him for anything. It had been a long time since he indulged in more than an occasional beer but he wanted to numb himself to these unwelcome feelings the girl was bringing out in him.
To hell with it.
Jack strode across the bar and put his empty glass down in front of Donnie, who was lazing around back there while the prospects did all work as usual.
"Tequila."
Donnie quirked his eyebrow at Jack but didn't hesitate to pour him a shot. He held up a cold beer chaser and Jack nodded. Donnie watched him as he downed the shot and the beer in less than a minute.
"Another?"
Jack nodded again. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Nineteen
Janet
This sucks.
Janet stared at her open window. She'd been stuck in her bedroom all night. Her mother had been especially annoyed that she'd gone to Kaylie's house without asking, not caring that they'd been studying.
She’d sent Janet to her room immediately following dinner. Without her phone.
She'd finished her application, she’d read a magazine, she'd even looked in the back of the supermarket circular for jobs. She thought she might have found a few places that might be interesting and made a neatly written list of the names and numbers.
But nothing could keep her mind from wandering to Jack. She wanted to be at the club tonight. To see him and be near him. She didn't care if he didn't like her.
She'd make him like her if it was the last thing she did!
She glanced at her clock. It was almost 11. Her parents would be in bed. Janet chewed her lip, considering her options.
Kaylie might not be at the club anymore. She shrugged and pulled on a mini skirt and halter top, dabbing some lipstick on. She yanked on a pair of old cowboy boots and quietly slid open the window. It wasn't the first time she'd snuck out of her bedroom window, and it wouldn't be the last.
Five minutes after she'd made her decision, she was running through the cool grass across her neighbors lawn to the street. Only fifteen blocks to the club. She'd be there in no time.
And then she’d see Jack.
Chapter Twenty
Jack
Eight shots down. Number nine is going to be the charm.
Jack was leaning against the bar considering the wisdom of another shot when he heard it.
"Hey Red!"
His head snapped up and he saw her, looking tentatively around the bar. He cursed under his breath at the sight of her.
Long silky legs, bare shoulders and that face. Never mind the hair. She was temptation personified.
And the guys were not in the habit of denying themselves.
She looked nervous. She should be. A couple of guys were already trying to offer her drinks. She was doing her best to decline them, he could see, but that wouldn't last for long.