Chapter 7
663 Words
Chapter 7
ShannonSweat trickled down my back. Heat radiated through me. What the hell?
He flirted with me all the time. Men still did. But it had been a long time since a man gave me a look like he could devour me in one bite just for pleasure—not power, not revenge, not in an intoxicated stupor. Jonah would take me because he wanted me.
Typical. Rich and handsome, he probably got whatever woman he wanted, whenever he wanted. Now, he wanted me.
Good luck with all that. Sure, when he looked at me, my legs turned to jelly. His eyes shone like chrome. His tall, lean body moved like a wildcat. Even now, in his perfect navy blue suit, I felt his predatory allure. I wasn’t fooled by the monogrammed shirt and cufflinks. Something uncivilized lived inside Jonah Moran.
The flattery of his attention sent a twinge of excitement through me. Drugs and struggle had worn away some of my beauty. I took pride in not deluding myself about what was left of my appeal. A man like Jonah would use me and leave me to find someone better. Only the ones who couldn’t do better sniffed around me for any length of time.
A fling with him would be fun, as he’d put it, for a while, but the heartbreak wasn’t worth it. I’d had fun. I’d felt a hard wall behind my back with my legs wrapped around some muscled-up cowboy more than once. It felt good. I could get swallowed up by the heat, scent, and hard, rippled feel of a man. But f*****g didn’t last forever, and the sweet talk faded as soon as they zipped up their jeans.
“I don’t need any more fun.”
“I think you might.” Jonah’s voice rumbled, low and gentle. I cut him with my gaze.
“I know what I need. You’ve been nice to me. I appreciate that. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t scared off Kid. And I’m real grateful, but that’s it.”
“I thought it was Wayne?”
“What?” I shook my head.
“Your ex. I thought his name was Wayne Nelson.”
“Everyone called him Kid. Always did.”
“He did a number on you, didn’t he?”
“I’m not going to talk about him.”
“I’ve made you uncomfortable. I’m sorry. Truly.”
Jonah craned his neck around to try to look me in the eye. I glanced at him quickly, but avoided staring into his eyes for too long. The lion look he had for me vanished. Instead, his brow scrunched with concern, whiplashing my emotions.
“Hey, Randy, can you wrap mine up to go?” I hoped the bartender had heard me at the end of the bar.
Jonah reached out and touched my hand. “I’m horribly sorry to have upset you.”
I finally turned to face him. “You didn’t. I’ve had a long day. I’m not the best company.”
I doubted he believed me but didn’t care. I needed an off ramp for this conversation. I grabbed my purse and dug through it, pulling out my wallet.
“No. Let me get the check.”
“That’s all right. I can pay for my own dinner.”
“And I can at least do something to apologize.”
“You don’t owe me an apology. It’s fine.”
“Well, at least let me buy your drink.”
His wry smile drew a soft chuckle and a sigh from me.
“Fine. You can pay for my glass of Dallas’ finest tap water. Thank you.”
Our agreement left us sitting at the bar while we waited for our orders to come up. Jonah chatted with me about nonsense. I let him, but blew a massive sigh of relief when Randy came out with two large to-go bags.
He set them on the bar in front of us. “I put some extra bread in each one. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“We’re good. Thanks, Randy,” Jonah replied. The bartender raised an eyebrow and went back to work.
I checked the bag to see which one had the chicken and then slid off my chair.
“I’ll see you around.”
Then, I bounded out of the restaurant with Jonah’s goodbye chasing me.
- Writer
