Reckless (Brazen #2)(12)

He reached down to pull it off and froze when he saw the traces of red on the outside of the latex. Blood. What the f**k?

His gaze flew to the desk but all he saw was the faintest smudge of red. God, had he been that rough? Had he hurt her?

But then he registered how tight she’d been. How unsure she’d been as he positioned himself to take her. And her gasp of surprise when he thrust that first time.

Nausea rolled in his stomach. Jesus Christ. She’d been a virgin.

He closed his eyes, and then remembering he was still naked, in his office, in the middle of the day, he let out a curse and yanked his clothing back on.

A virgin. God. He’d taken her virginity, something he had no right to do, and not only that, he’d insulted her. He’d all but called her a whore. Not that he’d ever hurt her like that, but he might as well have said it out loud. All that shit about not wanting a quick f**k.

No, he didn’t want a quick f**k with her. He goddamn wanted more. But she didn’t.

This was all a game to her. He couldn’t ever see her settling with a small town, hokey cop in a place that had caused her nothing but grief. Why the f**k had she even come back?

Lucas was going to kill him.

J.T. groaned and rubbed a tired hand over his forehead. He’d promised one of his best friends that he’d look out for his kid sister and protect her from men who thought she was an easy mark. He swore long and hard again. Easy mark? She’d been a goddamn virgin, and he’d been the one who treated her like she was a carbon copy of her mother.

Way to go, ass**le.

Chapter Five

If J.T. had wanted Nikki to disappear, he’d certainly gotten his wish. She was no longer there every time he turned around. It was a week later before he realized he’d stopped hiding in hopes that he would see her, but no matter where he went, the café or Tucker’s, his house or his office, there was no sign of her.

A midweek conversation with Jasmine yielded nothing other than Jasmine calling him a dumbass and hanging up in a huff.

Where was she?

He couldn’t very well keep an eye on her if he never saw her.

“You’re a stupid son of a bitch,” he muttered. He’d hurt her. He still flinched when he remembered the look in her eyes. He’d been such a bastard.

Of course she wasn’t lining up to seduce him. A woman like her didn’t need to wait around on a man like him.

But she had waited, and he couldn’t figure out why. Why him? She had to have had men dying to take her out in college.

Even as he thought it, an image of her mother came readily to mind. And the expression on a much younger Nikki’s face the night he’d had to tell her that her mom wasn’t coming home.

That night had been a catalyst for so many things. He’d taken Nikki to his home so she’d have a place to stay until Lucas got into town. He hadn’t wanted her to be alone in the house she’d grown up in. Not when her mother’s boyfriends paid call at all times of the night. When they discovered Tricia gone, who was to say they wouldn’t turn their attention on Tricia’s teenage daughter?

Nikki hadn’t reacted with surprise to the news that her mother had skipped town with a new boyfriend and left Nikki to her own devices. It was that stoic acceptance that made J.T. grieve for the little girl trapped behind Nikki’s abrasive façade.

It made perfect sense why she was still a virgin. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out she wouldn’t want to be tarred with the same brush as her mother.

What didn’t make sense was why she’d chosen him to be her first.

He swore and pounded his desk with his fist. Then he glared at the window unit that had quit earlier in the afternoon. Damn repairman was supposed to have been here hours ago. He was tired of sitting here sweating his ass off with the ridiculous hope that Nikki might burst through the door with her million-dollar smile and those big blue eyes shining with mischief.

Instead, all he could remember was the hurt shadowing those gorgeous eyes. Hurt that he’d been responsible for.

Toby stuck his head in the door. “J.T., you might want to head over to Tucker’s.” The urgency in Toby’s voice spurred J.T. to action. He quickly stood and strode toward the door, his hand automatically checking his weapon at his side.

“What’s up?” he demanded.

Toby gave him an uneasy look and J.T. knew. He sighed. “What’s she done now?” Toby grimaced. “There’s a disturbance. Uh, Tucker said Nikki is pretty drunk.” J.T. bit out a curse even as he started for his car. Toby was right behind him.

At first, J.T. wondered if this was just another ploy on Nikki’s part, her calling his bluff on locking her up overnight. But when he walked into Tucker’s a few minutes later, he quickly hung up that notion.

In a word, Nikki was plastered. And he’d never seen her drunk. Hell, he’d never even seen her take a sip of alcohol.

She was on top of the bar, ignoring Tucker’s pleas to come down. She wore a tight miniskirt that afforded anyone in a three-foot radius a prime view of her underwear. He only hoped to hell she was wearing underwear.

Her midriff was bare as her tank top rode higher, brushing the undersides of her br**sts. She was most definitely not wearing a bra.

She teetered precariously on three-inch heels, and no less than four sets of hands reached up to steady her. A peal of laughter escaped her as she dodged and continued gyrating atop the bar in time with the blaring country music.