Strung(12)

My lip quirks into a half grin as the girl’s face drops with disappointment. “You’re telling me a man who looks like that is bad in bed. Well, that’s a dream killer.”

“Tell me about it,” Tegan mumbles. “Biggest disappointment of my life.”

Just to see if Tegan badmouthing me has worked, I set blondie’s drinks down in front of her and give her a charming smile. “Sixteen for the drinks . . .” I lean in closer and whisper. “And five hundred for me in your bed.”

The girl gives me a sympathetic smile and throws down a twenty. “Keep the change you poor, unfortunate soul.”

I arch a brow and watch as she walks away as if she can’t get away from me fast enough.

“You’re welcome . . .” Tegan laughs, clearly amused.

“What makes you so sure that I’m thankful you got rid of her? She was damn sexy and it’s been days since I’ve gotten laid. Ever since you showed up, actually.”

“Are you blaming the fact that your penis hasn’t had any action for oh . . . what . . . five days now, on me?” She reaches for the beer that I slide in front of her. “That’s pathetic, Micah.”

Before I can say anything, she tosses a rolled-up bill at my forehead and disappears through the crowd and back over to the table to pack up her things.

I make the next drink as quickly as possible and escape from behind the bar as soon as I get the chance. I snatch my shirt from my back pocket and slip it on, not bothering to button it up as I rush over to the table she’s at.

“How is my book coming along?”

She gives me an annoyed look and guards her computer, as if I’m going to open it up and start reading her work out loud. “It’s not about you. Trust me on that. My character isn’t a cocky, arrogant asshole who sleeps with a different girl each week.”

“Why not?” Moving in close behind her, I lean into her ear. “You do know that’s what sells, right?”

“I happen to like my character. If I make him into you then there’s a good chance I’ll gag at every scene I write. But thanks for the pointer.”

“Alright. Well, at least tell me this . . .” I move around to the front of her and give her a cocky little smirk when I notice her eyes roaming over my chest as expected. “Does your character get his body from me? Because I’ve been seeing you check it out an awful lot since you’ve been here. I’m pretty sure every inch of it is etched into your mind now. Plus, the picture of me on your phone helps.”

She’s in the middle of taking a drink of her beer, but spits it out all over my neck and chest.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Keeping my eyes on her, I slowly take my shirt off and reach for the glass of water that’s sitting next to her computer and pour it over my chest to clean off. “Did you do that on purpose just to see me wet?”

“Oh my God! You’re so damn full of yourself and it’s sickening. You’re nice for a few minutes then go right back to your cocky self-absorbed self as if you just can’t handle it. You never quit, do you?”

“Honestly, no. I don’t believe in quitting.”

“No. No, he doesn’t.” Alexander’s voice comes from behind me, causing me to take a step back from his little sister before I lose a body part. “It’s part of the reason I’ve trusted him with this place. Don’t give me a reason to change my mind about that.”

I know what he’s getting at without even saying it. And I have a feeling Tegan does too because she tilts back her drink, not stopping for a good minute. “Alright, well, you boys have fun.” She tosses her empty beer into the nearby trash and clutches her laptop to her chest. “I’ve got some promoting to do on this upcoming release and I can’t concentrate now that more people are coming in. See you guys back at the house.”

She barely even offers me a glance as she takes off in a hurry.

That’s probably a good thing, because the last thing we need is Alexander having any more reason to be suspicious of us.

He waits until his sister is gone before he turns to me and crosses his arms. “How was she when I was gone? Any of the assholes here mess with her?”

“Nope,” I lie, because I’m included in one of those assholes. “She was fine, I guess. She spent most of her time writing as usual.” I know I should mention the party to him, but I leave that little detail out. “Are you good here if I take off and head to my place for the night? I’ve got a lot of work to do there still.”

He looks around the place and nods. “Yeah, we can handle it without you, Man.” With a thankful smile he grips my shoulder. “Thanks for always having my back when it comes to this place. I appreciate it more than you know, brother. If you ever need any help getting your place up and running just let me know. Any money of mine is yours if you need it.”

“You know I can’t accept any handouts, Man. I appreciate it, but I’ve gotta work for what I want.”

Alexander and I grew up in two totally different lifestyles. He’s always had anything and everything he wanted, with a family who loves him.

Not me.

My mother abandoned me when I was eight and I spent most of my childhood in and out of foster homes of people who didn’t give a shit whether I came or left.

Everything I have owned since the age of fifteen has been because I earned it myself or at my lowest point, stolen. But those days are far behind me. Have been since I turned sixteen and got my first job. I had no one to take care of me or buy me food or clothes. I was on my own.

It might be easier for someone like him to accept money from others when offered because it’s something he’s familiar with.

“Well, the offer always stands if you change your mind. I just want you to know that you’re basically family, Micah. You’ve had my back since I moved here and I’ll always have yours.”

“I appreciate that too.” I smile and slip my shirt back on. “But I’m less than two months away from having everything I need to open up. I’ve done it all by myself thus far, so I might as well finish it myself.”

Micah nods his head and laughs. “I figured you’d say that.”

“Alright, I’m out then. I have Ryan staying back to clean. Keep him until this place is spotless. He’s working to keep his job because he’s damn close to losing it.”

Alexander just nods as I walk away when some girl comes over to talk, instantly distracting him.

Tonight is going to be a long night at Express, which is probably a good thing. Because I have no idea what will happen if I give myself some free time.

If I’m going to keep my distance from Tegan, then I need to bury myself in as much work as possible and do my best to pretend that I’m not dying to get between her legs . . .





IT WAS A TOTAL LIE when I said I couldn’t get any work done at my brother’s bar because the people there were distracting. I could care less about the crowd at the bar. In fact, I barely even noticed them.

It had everything to do with a shirtless Micah.

Everything was just fine and dandy before he decided to come down from his office and strip out of his black button-down shirt, showing off his perfect chest and abs.

Not to mention that he had his hair pulled up today and it was the first time I’ve seen him that way.

I couldn’t pull my damn eyes away from him and it had me becoming angry with myself.

It’s bad enough that he already knows just how sexy he is without me letting on that I find him to be attractive. Me getting caught checking him out only gives him more fuel to push me and aggravate me until I want to pull his stupid, sexy hair out.

The bad part of that is that I want to pull it out while riding him.

“Uggggh . . .” I growl out my frustration, before slamming my laptop closed for the third and final time tonight.

After spending an hour or so promoting the book I published six months ago, I decided to see if I could concentrate enough to finish another chapter in my current work in progress, but failed miserably.

Every damn time I write about the hero, he becomes more and more like Micah. Hell, I even accidentally typed his name out a few times and had to go back and search it just so I could make sure I deleted them all.

It’s now close to eight, and knowing that Micah probably got off work a couple hours ago has had me wondering where he is.

Is he coming here tonight? Now that my brother is back does he plan on staying at his place?

I hate that I even care, but for some strange reason I do.

Before long, I find myself walking down to the beach and planting my butt into the sand to clear my head and breathe in some fresh air.

Instead of clearing my head, I’m thinking about the bar Jamie mentioned Micah’s been working on opening and if he’s there right now.

I can picture him shirtless and dirty from cleaning the place up. Possibly wet with sweat, and I find my heart beating with excitement at the idea of watching him work.

My brother won’t be home for at least six or seven more hours and Jamie is at work until eleven. I’m completely alone.

I know I shouldn’t consider what I’m about to do, but I try to convince myself it’s because I don’t want to be alone all night.

Thirty minutes later the taxi I called for pulls up in front of a little bar with a sign that reads “Express.” I took a gamble, hoping that most of the taxi drivers around here either knew Micah or knew of him, and I was right.