Collide (The Barker Triplets 2)

Bobbi giggled again. “Your step-monster came up the stairs and I managed to hide in the closet just before she knocked on your door. God, I can’t remember what she wanted but I remember you did everything in your power to make me laugh while she was on the other side of the closet door. I was terrified she’d find me in there naked and you were cracking jokes. You kept asking her questions about the latest Jackass movie and she thought you were talking about a cartoon donkey.”

She glanced up and caught him off guard because he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t do anything but stare into her eyes and remember how it felt to just be with her.

To hold her.

To be inside her.

But along with all those feelings came the darkness. Because as much as they’d had their share of good times, it was equaled out by all the crap. The fighting. The making up. The hurting.

He thought of Dooley and his eyes dropped to her ring finger. The one that was glaringly bare.

“So what happened with your fiancé?”

They both glanced toward the door as a second wave of hockey players entered the bar. Boisterous and loud the noise level ramped up several notches in seconds.

“You were right,” Bobbi said softly. “Getting stood up at the altar was bad enough but he thinks we slept together and that was just too much for him to handle.” She finished her glass. “It’s over.”

Shane would have liked to say he was sorry for her, but the truth of it was, he wasn’t. He wasn’t sorry at all. Bobbi Jo did not belong with a guy like Dooley. Hell, if anything the guy should be thanking his lucky stars. She would have chewed him up and spit him out within the first year.

“You can say, ‘I told you so’. I don’t really care,” Bobbi said dryly.

“You don’t seem too broken up about it.”

Bobbi sighed and stood up. Some fleeting emotion flickered in the depths of her eyes and for the first time Shane became aware of the sizzling electricity between them. Had it been there all along?

“I’m not, which is pretty pathetic when you consider the fact that if I’d gone through with the wedding I would be his wife right now.”

Her eyes widened and damn if she didn’t lick her bottom lip.

“Hey Barker, you want to join us for a drink?”

They both ignored Seth Longwood.

“I don’t like the person I’ve become and though Gerald wasn’t responsible for it, he certainly was a part of it. Does that make sense?”

He watched her closely but remained silent. Something had just changed and he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not.

Bobbi moistened her lips and exhaled, her huge eyes as blue was the Arctic Ocean.

“Are you with anyone?” she asked abruptly.

Okay, he wasn’t sure where this was heading but he was on alert. “I’m here, talking to you.”

“I don’t mean here, I mean…are you seeing anyone?”

“No,” Shane said carefully. They were trading dangerous waters here.

“Why not?”

Shane’s eyes narrowed. “What are you asking?”

Bobbi grabbed her jacket. “You’re still interested in women aren’t you? No conversion in jail? No boyfriend I should know about?”

His frown deepened. She was being ridiculous.

“No, I’ve not tested those waters yet.”

“Good to know.” She slipped her arms into her leather jacket and grabbed her purse. “Do you want to get out of here?”