Young Love Dies Hard: The Young Brothers, Book 1 by Nikki Lane (old books to read txt) 📗

She works at the clinic.” He handed me my drink.

“Since when?”

He took a swig of his beer. “Few weeks, I think.”

I let out a little snort. “How did that happen?”

“She said she needed a part-time job, so I told her there was an opening.”

I slumped my shoulders. “Come on, Jacob. You can’t be that dense.”

His eyes narrowed.

“She likes you.” I surveyed the room. “She’s one step away from having your name tattooed on her chest.”

Jacob smirked. “She’s a nice girl.”

It took all I had not to gag. I snuck another look at Taylor, who was mid conversation with another girl. She seemed like everything I wasn’t. Wholesome. Pure. Perky.

I clung to Jacob for the first hour of the party. With a little help from the second martini, I was able to loosen up. I watched Jacob as he interacted with his coworkers. Watched at how people reacted to him. It made me smile. Jacob had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room. My eyes gleamed over his mouth when he smiled and over his arms as he pushed the hair away from his forehead. I wondered what it’d be like to get my fingers tangled in that hair.

I got lost in the thought of kissing him, remembering how it felt. My face flushed, and the conversation of the crowd seemed louder. I set my drink down at an empty table and wiped my damp palms against my jeans.

“Everything okay?” Jacob whispered close to me.

The goosebumps flared along my skin when his lips met my ear.

I nodded. “I’m just going to use the bathroom.” He gave me a scrutinizing stare. “Really, I’m fine. I think I drank that martini a little too fast. I’ll be right back.” I snaked through the sea of people to get to the ladies’ room. I ran the cold water at the sink and wet some paper towels to dab my flaming cheeks.

I needed to get it together. Why was this so hard?

I took a deep breath and pulled my hair behind my shoulders. When I left the bathroom, I had to distract myself with someone other than Jacob.

But that plan was going to be hard to follow through with. I made my way through the crowd and found Jacob huddled next to Taylor. I stopped to watch them, focusing my vision so hard that it blocked out everything else in the room. Ugh, she was smiling and laughing, spewing her conservative sweetness all over him. Probably telling him she was a virgin, waiting for the right guy to come along. What was worse—he was smiling with her. He was actually enjoying the conversation.

Did I interrupt them? I knew I could. It would be easy.

But I fought the urge and headed for the bar instead. I sat down with a huff and ordered a diet Coke. No more drinking for me. My thoughts were fuzzy enough. I needed to feel in control and focused.

“Is this seat taken?” a deep voice asked.

I didn’t bother to look up from my phone. Rude, I know. But I wasn’t in the mood.

“If it’s empty, then I guess it’s available.” I rummaged through my purse for a piece of Nicorette gum.

I heard some shuffling, so I assumed he sat down.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

I nodded toward my soda and popped my gum. “Taken care of already, thanks.”

He drummed his fingers along the bar as he ordered from the bartender. “You look familiar,” he said to me after the bartender set his drink down and walked away.

I did an internal groan and set my phone down on the bar. Like I never heard that line before. But when our eyes met, I knew why. Shit. And I thought this night couldn’t get any worse. I recognized him from the club. He’d come in the other night with a bachelor party and spent a pretty penny on me and a couple other girls. What the fuck was he doing here?

“I think you’re mistaking me for someone else.” Back to having my face in the phone.

“No,” he said. “I’ve seen you somewhere.” He slung back his shot and then took a sip of his beer. Probably the reason he couldn’t quite pin me—he’d racked up a pretty high tab at the club. Not that I was complaining. The less he remembered, the better.

His eyes flared open. “I know…that club. You were one of the dancers.”

Damn.

My eyes flickered around the room. Thank goodness it was loud in there. This was the last fucking thing I needed.

“It was nice talking to you.” I grabbed my phone and slinked out of my seat.

“Wait,” he said. “Sorry. I promise I won’t mention it again.”

His dark eyes were warm. He was attractive, sure. But I had the image of Rita shaking her ass in front of his face in my head — not the best foot to start off on. I glanced over at Jacob, who was still knee-deep in conversation with Taylor. Did he even notice that I hadn’t returned from the bathroom yet?

I slid back into the barstool.

“I’m David.” He reached out his hand.

“Maeve.” I gave him a quick shake.

“Nice to meet you, Maeve.” He took a sip from his drink. “So, what are you doing sitting at a bar alone?”

“Oh, I’m not alone.” I fidgeted with the cocktail napkin under my glass. “I’m here with a friend for a holiday party.”

He nodded. “I’m just grabbing a drink, waiting for my buddy to show up.”

I crossed my legs and leaned both arms on the bar as I made menial conversation with David. He was nicer than I expected, but I was too distracted watching Jacob with Taylor. They weren’t talking anymore but making their way toward me.

“So, what do you think?” David asked.

“Huh?” I cut back to his face.

“Do you want to go out some time?”

“I don’t think so.”

I kept my eyes on Jacob.

“Where’ve you been?” he asked me.

Taylor peeked around him.

“I told you where I was.”

“Yeah,