Reckless (Brazen #2)(2)

His body reacted, jumping to attention. Starving. It was the way he acted around her.

And she knew it. Damn her.

“You can’t run from me forever, J.T.,” she murmured. “Sooner or later, you’re going to give in. You know it, and I know it.”

She turned her head up and brushed her lips across his jaw. When she would have found his mouth, he turned away and stepped back, out of her arms, away from her warmth and softness. Suddenly the oppressive heat lifted, and a chill settled in its stead.

“Nikki, stop.” His voice came out in a husky sound that definitely didn’t back up his command for her to halt. It sounded like an invitation, a plea.

She laughed softly. Then she pulled away and headed for the door. When she reached it, she gripped the handle and opened it. She paused and turned back to him.

“Don’t bother driving me home, J.T. I’ll walk.” Then she disappeared out the door, leaving him standing there gawking like a moron at the seductive sway of her hips. And that ass. Sweet Jesus, that ass!

And then he realized that she’d said she was walking home. Alone. In the dark.

Fuck that.

He snagged his Stetson and stalked out the door, glancing down the sidewalk to see her walking with a lazy stride down Main Street. Like any male within a ten-mile radius could resist that come-and-get-me strut? He’d be lucky if he didn’t have to beat someone’s ass before he managed to wrestle her into his squad car.

He was going to kill Lucas. Not just kill him, but cut him from ass**le to appetite and gut him. Six months ago, Nikki’s brother had extracted a promise from J.T.

He remembered the moment well. He and Lucas had been standing outside the auditorium at the small university Nikki had just graduated from, waiting for her to come out.

“She wants to move home, man,” Lucas said as the two men stood by Lucas’s truck.

Something deep inside J.T. flared. A sudden burst of adrenaline spiked through his veins. A warm buzz blew through his head, and he shook it to ward off the reaction to Lucas’s announcement.

Playing it cool, he slid his friend a sideways glance. “You don’t sound happy about that.”

Lucas shrugged. “Barley? What the hell is she going to do in Barley? What’s there for her? She always swore she’d get out. Just like I did.”

“Maybe she just wants a place to regroup and figure out what she wants to do next,” J.T. offered. Hopefully she’d do it quickly before he found himself going down paths better not taken.

“I want you to look after her,” Lucas said. “I’m shipping out again. I don’t like the idea of her being in that town alone. No one ever understood her or tried.” Shit. He should have seen this coming.

J.T. stared at the grim expression on Lucas’s face. Hard, lean and muscled. He screamed military from the standard hair cut to the tattoo etched on his arm.

“Sure, man, I’ll keep an eye on her. You know that.” Even as the words slipped out, he knew he was damned. He’d just promised to keep an eye on a girl he couldn’t control his lust over. Real smart.

“Lucas!”

The feminine exclamation rang out. Both men looked up, and J.T. felt a fist straight to his gut. He honestly couldn’t take a breath.

Devoid of the graduation gown that had done a very good job of hiding what was beneath it, she hurried across the parking lot in a pair of extremely tight jeans and a tank top that hugged a luscious set of br**sts and bared three inches of her midriff. Her jeans dipped low on her waist, and dangling from her belly button was a very feminine piece of jewelry.

He hadn’t seen her in two years, but he hadn’t forgotten a thing about how she looked. Or how she made him feel.

Suddenly, agreeing to come to her graduation with one of his best friends didn’t seem like such a good idea.

Nikki Durant launched herself into her brother’s arms, and J.T.’s mouth went dry.

Then she stepped away from her brother and threw herself at J.T. He caught her as she wrapped herself around him. His arms were full of a mouthwatering, gorgeous woman.

Her curves molded to his hard body. Her ni**les tightened and poked at his chest.

Ah hell, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her swift intake of breath verified she was just as affected as he was.

He stepped back hastily, desperate to put as much distance between him and Lucas’s little sister as he could.

Her smile was breathtaking. Her wide blue eyes danced with merriment and mischief. She knew.

After so long of hiding his reactions to her, in one moment, it was all in the open. He tried to conjure regret. Shame. Something other than the prickle of excitement that tightened every muscle in his body.

Hell. He was so busted. Now he just waited for Lucas to beat his ass.

But she turned and waved at someone across the parking lot. Then she looked back at her brother.

“Give me just a second, Lucas.”

And she ran across the parking lot, her dark hair flying behind her.

“Was that a pink streak in her hair?” J.T. asked.

Lucas chuckled. “Uh yeah. Her latest method of driving me insane.” J.T. was trying to act casual, but his body was in overdrive. A lot had changed since that night five years ago when he’d held her as she cried. Then she’d been a broken girl, unsure of herself and her place in the world. Now she was a breathtaking woman who seemed very in charge of her destiny.