Rock Chick Revenge (Rock Chick #5)(50)

I sighed, searching my memory banks for more jerks to dredge up, found I was empty, looked Luke in the eyes and decided it was time to sum up.

“So you see, men suck. They’re all jerks. I vowed never to get caught up with one again. Ever. Ever. Ever. That brings us to now. That’s why you and I can’t get together because I’m not going through that again. Once I help Sissy get revenge on Dominic Dickhead, no more men in my life, ever. And that’s also why you need to send me an invoice. I don’t mind paying, really. Noah didn’t get the inheritance money Aunt Ella gave me, I’m not loaded but I’m also not hurting –”

“Babe,” Luke finally spoke.

“What?” I asked.

“You can shut up now.”

I blinked then I thought maybe that was a good thing. “Okay,” I agreed then I asked, “So, are we square?”

“You owed me triple, that was the first part, I’m gonna tell you the next part and I’m keepin’ one in reserve.”

“What’s next?” I asked, thinking this was easy, in fact thinking that hadn’t been hard at all. I thought it would be but after six Fat Tires and two shots of tequila, it had been totally cool.

Luke’s arms, which had been loosely holding me, tightened so I was pressed to him full frontal. He also threw his thigh over my legs. Normally, I would have seen this as the warning sign it was. After six Fat Tires and two shots of tequila, I missed it.

Then he spoke. “The next part you pay is letting me cuff you na**d to my bed and you stay that way while I eat you ‘til you come and then f**k you ‘til you come again.”

“Holy shit,” I breathed aloud, which was a feat considering the fact that my lungs had seized.

He didn’t allow me to process his demand, he kept talking. “Not tonight, not when you’re shitfaced. I want you clearheaded when I do that to you. Tonight, after your rubdown, I’ll f**k you normally. Tonight, I want your hands and mouth on me.”

It took me a few seconds to pull myself out of the complete and utter shock his brutally honest (and unbelievably sexy if my hard ni**les had anything to say about it) words caused.

Not to mention this was Luke Stark talking to me, Fatty, Fatty, Four-eyed Ava Barlow. It was so incomprehensible he would say such things I thought there was a good possibility that Satan had ordered a fur coat.

“Didn’t you hear anything I just said?” I asked.

“I heard it.”

“No more men.”

“I heard it.”

“That includes you.”

“Did you bring lotion with you?”

I shook my head at what I thought was his strange question, tried to pull away and didn’t get anywhere. So, I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you want to know?”

“Rubdown.”

“Luke, you aren’t rubbing me down.”

His hands moved, one went up my back, his fingers sifting into my hair, one went down to rest on my bottom.

“We could go straight to the sex,” his mouth came to mine but his eyes were open and watching me. I saw the warmth there, but there was something else, something I couldn’t put a finger on, something assessing. Before I could figure it out, he continued. “That will work out the kinks.”

“I’m sleeping on the couch.”

“You’re sleeping beside me.”

“I’m sleeping on the couch.”

“Then we’ll sleep here. And, if you want, we’ll f**k here too.”

“Luke!” I yanked my body backward, found nothing but the very solid couch hampering any retreat and realized too late I was in a very dangerous position.

“Ava, this is what’s gonna happen,” Luke said in a firm voice.

Uh-oh.

I can’t WAIT to see what he says next, Bad Ava was nearly drooling.

Mm, Good Ava mumbled dreamily.

“You’re gonna get your lotion and I’m gonna work out the stress in your back. Then together, were gonna work out the tension of the last couple of days. Tomorrow, or however long it takes, I’m gonna deal with Vincetti and Dexter. You want a shot at Dexter when I find him, your call. We’ll have him in a safe place where you can say, or do, whatever you want to him and I’ll be there if you need me when you do it. After that, you and I are gonna ride this out, see where it takes us. If you’re even close to the promise you gave me this morning or what you showed on the dance floor tonight, that’s gonna take awhile. We’ll see how it goes. Got that?”

He had it all figured out and apparently he didn’t think I had a choice.

Fuck that.

I didn’t even try to count to ten I just pushed against him. “No, I do not have that. You can’t just pick up Noah and…” I stopped and glared at him. “What are you going to do when you pick up Noah?”

“I’m gonna tell him who I am and what I am to you and then I’m gonna beat the shit out of him.”

I quit pushing and stared. I would have said it was impossible for him to shock me further but there it was.

“You can’t do that,” I whispered.

“I can.”

“You can’t.”

“Ava, this isn’t up for discussion.”

“I don’t even want you to do that.”