I was bothered that he was flirting with her, but why? I shouldn"t have been. I didn"t like him. I wanted to use him. That was all. I wanted to have my way with him for one night and walk away unscathed. Jealousy wasn"t an emotion I was used to experiencing, and I sure as h.e.l.l didn"t know how to deal with it.

"He"s dancing with his ma," she replied, winking at me and mouthing, "Wow," as James turned to look at me before returning his attention to her.

"Would you like a drink, Mia?"

She smiled, nodding. "Always."

James motioned to the bartender as I walked to stand next to Mia.

"He"s s.e.xy as f.u.c.k," Mia whispered in my ear.

"He"s an a.s.shole, though."

"Nah, he couldn"t be. He seems to be a perfect gentleman."

"Maybe you shouldn"t have another if you think he"s not a total p.r.i.c.k."

"You"re just too d.a.m.n hard on men, Iz."

"He"s c.o.c.ky, Mia. He makes Mike and Joe seem like teddy bears."

"I like him," she said, her eyes raking over him.

"Hey, s.l.u.tty Aphrodite, you"re taken."

"I can look, putana. I"m not dead. I can tell you like him."

My mouth dropped open. "What?" I whispered. "I do not."

She smiled, nodding at me. "You do."

"All right, ladies," James said as he held out two gla.s.ses of Jack.

"To love," Mia said. "And pa.s.sion."

"For f.u.c.k"s sake," I blurted, bringing the cup to my mouth.

"I"ll drink to that," James said, holding me in place with his stare.

I didn"t respond as I slammed back the drink, letting it slide down my throat. Instead, I started to picture s.e.x with James. There was a simmering tension between us. An animal attraction that was undeniable. I wanted to slap him and f.u.c.k him at the same time. I wanted to let loose and show him what Izzy Gallo really had.

"Thanks for the drink, James. I"m going to find Mike. You two have a fun night," Mia said, winking and smiling as she waved and walked away.

"Traitor," I mumbled, turning to face James.

"You want to f.u.c.k me?" James asked, taking the drink from my hand.

"What?" I asked, wondering if he would be so bold.

"You in or you out?" he growled with his hand on my hip, gripping it roughly with his fingers.

"I don"t even know you," I replied, as his hold on me felt like a branding iron under my dress.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, still touching my body.

"You could be a bad man." That sounded stupid and childish, but I was trying to not seem too eager to jump in the sack with him.

"Would your brother send me here if I were a total a.s.shole?"

He had me there. "No," I admitted.

"Do you know everything about every man you sleep with?" he asked, running his free hand down my arm.

"No."

"Do you want to f.u.c.k me?"

I bit my lip, blinking slowly and processing my thoughts. Did I want to? f.u.c.k yes, I did. Was it a good idea? h.e.l.l no, it wasn"t a good idea. But then again, mistakes sometimes leave the biggest mark in one"s life.

"Maybe," I squeaked out.

He released my hip, moving his hand to the small of my back. "Ready?" he asked, c.o.c.king an eyebrow.

"Now?"

"Are you scared, little girl?" he teased.

"Of you?" There wasn"t a man on this planet who scared me. The fear I felt was from within. It was pointed directly at me. A man wasn"t the issue. James was, and the way my body reacted to him had me on high alert.

"Yeah," he said, the side of his mouth turning up into a grin I wanted to smack off his face.

This was where I should"ve called a time-out. The words I should"ve spoken didn"t come out of my mouth.

"James, I have four older brothers. You hardly scare me."

"But they want to protect you and love you. While I, on the other hand, want to bury my d.i.c.k so far inside you that I ruin you for eternity."

"You say such beautiful things." I"d be lying if I didn"t admit to myself that he made my p.u.s.s.y clench with his words.

"You in or you out?"

"The real question, Jimmy, is am I going to let you in?" I turned back toward the bar and signaled for another drink.

Let the games begin.

RESISTING BY Ch.e.l.lE BLISS.

7 - James What the f.u.c.k was wrong with me? This wasn"t how I normally treated a woman I"d just met. There was something different about Izzy, though. I"d felt like I knew her the moment we met. Thomas had filled my head with stories about his little sister and made her bigger than life. Seeing her in person only drove the point home that she was different than other women.

If he"d heard how I was talking to her, he"d have my nuts in a vise, making sure I"d never be able to get another hard-on in my life. I needed to slow my s.h.i.t down.

"I"m a patient man, and you"ll be in my bed before the night is through."

She laughed, her head falling back as her teeth shone in the light. "I can"t leave yet," she said, grabbing her drink and swirling the contents inside. "I have to do all the bridesmaid bulls.h.i.t."

"I can tell by your comment that you believe in true love."

"f.u.c.k love. Don"t get me wrong. I"m thrilled for Joe and Suzy, but the s.h.i.t isn"t for me. Don"t say it," she warned, her eyes turning into small slits as she glared at me.

"What? That you just haven"t met the right man?" I stood next to her at the bar and leaned my arm against the wooden surface as I faced her.

"Yes. It"s not about that. Love makes s.h.i.t messy," she explained before bringing the gla.s.s to her lips.

"Can I get a beer?" I asked the bartender as he walked by, and his eyes flickered to us.

His eyes raked over Izzy, and I saw the hunger burning inside them. I felt an overwhelming urge to rip them from his skull just so he couldn"t eye-f.u.c.k her again.

He looked to me and snarled as he reached in the cooler, popped the top of a Yuengling, and placed it in front of me. Grabbing the cool bottle, I let my fingers slide over the wetness. Then I wished I could squelch the internal burning I felt for Izzy.

"You sound like a woman who came from a broken home. Thomas speaks very highly of your parents and the love they feel for each other. What turned you off love?" Bringing the bottle to my lips, I watched her as she swallowed hard and played with the gla.s.s in her hand.

"It"s not love that I have an issue with. It"s the battle that ensues because of it."

After pulling the beer from my mouth, I shook my head, trying to make sense of her statement. "What battle?"

"The one every girl I"ve ever known has gone through. They have to decide how much of themselves they"re willing to lose to be with the man they love."

"That"s bulls.h.i.t."

"There isn"t a female I know who didn"t change after being in "love,"" she said, making air quotes and rolling her eyes.

"Maybe they brought out the real woman who was always lurking at the surface and too scared to show."

"You can have your opinion, James, but I know what I see."

"Ladies and gentlemen," a man called through the microphone. "If we could have the bride and groom on the dance floor and all the single ladies and gentlemen join them."

"You going?" I asked with a c.o.c.ked eyebrow.

"It"s stupid," she said before taking a sip of Jack.

"You"re such a party p.o.o.per. Get your fine a.s.s to the dance floor."

"Or what?"

I smiled, shaking my head slowly. "Let"s place a bet."

"Whatcha got in mind, Jimmy?" Izzy cooed, rubbing the lapels on my suit jacket with her fingers.

"If I catch the garter, then we ditch this place and head to my room. No questions asked and no lip from you." I"d knock every motherf.u.c.ker on the dance floor over to get the garter and have Izzy underneath me within an hour.

"Okay, and if I catch the bouquet, then I don"t have to go anywhere with you. You leave and I get to spend the rest of the night in peace." She tilted her head, waiting for me to accept that challenge.

"f.u.c.k yeah. I"m game," I said. Then I gulped the last bit of beer as she downed her drink and placed it on the bar. Setting my hand on the small of her back, I guided her away from the bar.

She stood stiff next to me as we watched her brother use his teeth to remove the garter from underneath the dress of his new bride. The crowd cheered when he appeared from the dress victorious. Twirling the small sc.r.a.p of material in his hands, he raised his arms in victory.

"You ready to lose?" I asked, looking down at Izzy.

"One thing I"m never good at is losing, Jimmy."

"Single gentlemen first. All others please clear the floor," the DJ said as everyone moved away, leaving about fifteen of us to jockey for the garter.

I looked around, sizing up the compet.i.tion. I was the biggest besides Michael, Izzy"s brother. I took my spot to the side, knowing I could move quickly in front of the crowd and s.n.a.t.c.h the material before it turned into a free-for-all.

As the DJ started the countdown, Joe turned his back, practicing his throw, and the men moved with his motion. I readied myself as my heart hammered in my chest louder than a drum at a Metallica concert. I kept my eyes locked to his hand as he moved, waiting to see it fly through the air.

As his hand jerked back, the material flew through the air only feet to my right. I moved quickly, stepping in front of everyone else, and s.n.a.t.c.hed it easily. The wedding attendees cheered as I turned to Izzy with a sinful smile, and nothing but seeing her a.s.s in the air, waiting for my d.i.c.k filled my mind.

"f.u.c.ker," she mouthed at me as I walked toward her.

"It"s all on you now. Better catch that bouquet," I said, running my index finger down her cheek.

She closed her eyes, swallowing hard before opening them. Inside her baby blues was a fire burning so hot that I could see her pupils dilate as she looked at me. She nodded before making her way toward the crowd of women now standing at the ready.

She whispered to Mia, and their eyes flickered to me. A giant smile spread across Mia"s face as Izzy glared at me. Winking, Mia tipped her chin in my direction as her smile grew wider. I said a silent prayer as Suzy readied herself with her bouquet and turned her back on the crowd. Mia bent at the knees like an athlete waiting for the gunshot to sound.

Silently, I prayed that Mia could take Izzy down and make sure she didn"t grab the flowers. I wouldn"t want to lose a bet to Isabella Gallo, and certainly not one as important as this. I didn"t need a bet to bed a woman, but I had a feeling Izzy needed to feel like the choice was out of her hands. She needed an out. Needed something to tell herself to make it all okay to spend the night with me.

I should have felt guilty for betting on Thomas"s sister, but I didn"t. Not one f.u.c.king bit.

The countdown began, my heart matching the drum roll blaring through the speakers. "Come on, Mia," I whispered.

My palms grew sweaty as I formed my hands into a tight fist, trying to shake out some of the nervous energy. If Izzy caught the f.u.c.king bouquet, I"d have a very long night filled with fantasies and jacking off like a twelve-year-old boy.

As the flowers traveled through the air, Mia held out her arm, pushing Izzy backward. Mia jumped in the air, Izzy looking at Mia in horror. The flowers grazed Mia"s fingers, sailing over her head to the woman standing behind her.

The redheaded beauty closed her hands around the flowers, jumped up and down, and squealed.

"f.u.c.k," Izzy hissed, turning to me and glaring in my direction.

I smiled, shrugging as I held up the garter and twirled it in my fingers. "You"re mine," I mouthed before licking my lips.

The hunger I felt inside when looking at her was unlike anything I"d ever felt before. I"d l.u.s.ted after women in the past, but the want for her was so intense that I wasn"t even sure one night with her would be enough to satisfy the craving.

She turned to Mia, saying a few things, with her hands flapping around. Clearly Izzy was angry, but all Mia did was shrug and smile. Then Izzy turned her back, quickly moving toward me.

"Mia totally f.u.c.ked me," she said as she stood in front of me, looking up into my eyes.