The Bad Boys' Reluctant Woman(4)

The fire built inside her. She tugged at the hair at the back of his nape to pull him off. “I’ve paid my dues with you.”

“Baby, you’re not even close to being out of debt,” he said. Jake moved aside, and then Brent took his place.

“How do you guys decide who goes next? Do you have competition with Rock, Paper, Scissors?” she asked.

“Nice try at deflection. Jake is the oldest, then me, and then Connor. You get us in age order starting with the oldest first,” Brent said.

“What if I want the youngest?” She pouted at him. She was enjoying their attention far more than she liked.

“Deal with what you got, Zoe. Come home with us tonight and you can have us in any order you’d like,” Brent whispered against her ear.

She shook her head trying to clear her mind. The erotic images hurtling through her would not help her to put some much needed distance between them. “Just kiss me so I can get to Connor and get back to work.”

“Always happy to oblige a beautiful woman.” Brent didn’t slam or demand his kiss. He stroked her cheek and nibbled at the corner of her mouth. The sweetness he was giving her scared Zoe. There was a gentleness to him that she wouldn’t have expected with all the tattoos up and down his arms. Out of all three guys, Brent had the most ink. Connor didn’t appear to have any while Brent was covered, and from the way he dressed, Brent was more than happy to show them off.

None of the designs made sense to her. She tried not to spend too long staring at his arms. Zoe guessed some of the tattoos were from his many conquests. Along the way through her travels she’d heard men liked to keep a record of who they slept with. She figured the harder she made it for the three men before her, the easier it would be for her to keep her distance.

“Open for me,” he said.

She closed her eyes, unable to do anything else. The seductive quality to his voice compelled her to do as he said. She opened her lips and waited. At first she felt the wet heat of his tongue as it ran across her own bottom lip. She moaned and tried to deepen the touch. A slap to her thigh stopped her in her tracks.

Zoe opened her eyes to stare at Brent. “Don’t rush me, baby. I intend to take my time.”

They kept calling her baby. “My name is Zoe,” she said.

“We know, but we prefer to call you baby.” Brent shut her up with his lips. He pressed his tongue inside her lips. Zoe’s eyes closed of their own accord. The feel of him taking her mouth felt so damn good. She’d never been seduced by a kiss. Other men slammed their lips on hers, thrust their tongue in a few times, and thought that was a good kiss.

What Jake, Brent, and she knew Connor would, too, was seducing her with one little action. How could she even dream of refusing them after the expertise they were showing with one small kiss?

Her whole body was on fire with need. None of it made sense to her. What the hell was she supposed to do against such good kissers? Her resolve was crumbling around her.

She didn’t like it.

****

Brent Jackson knew he was rocking her world. Zoe was rubbing her breasts against his chest, and soft purring sounds came from her throat. In those moments, with her eyes closed and her facial expression softened, she looked like a very vulnerable young woman.

Not for the first time, Brent wondered what she’d been through. Law Castle wasn’t an overly big town, and yet there were enough people to gain more information on people than most anywhere else. But no one knew anything about Zoe Howard. Even Vicki said she was a cold-hearted woman who didn’t let anyone in. For the most part, it was as if Zoe was only passing through.

In one day and out the next. He knew she lived in a small apartment near the roughest part of town. Yes, Law Castle was a small town, but yet it still had its own fair share of good and bad parts.

He knew she didn’t drink, and there were no problems with drugs or any of that other crap. None of the other guys who were interested in her had even got a look in. She shot them all down and made most of them feel small. Her attitude reeked of bitter rejection and loneliness. With his sideline career he’d learned to observe people.

Jake and Connor knew he wrote stories in his spare time. He made quite a bit of money out of it, too. Erotic romance was his speciality. The nights he’d spent lonely and horny he’d begun to write down his fantasies. Soon that had turned into a book.

He wondered what Zoe would think of his hobby.

“Are you going to kiss me or what?” she asked.

Brent took possession of her lips and purposefully held himself back. He wasn’t ready to give up on Zoe, but he knew giving her everything wasn’t the way to get her wanting them permanently.