Jesse (Damage Control 2)

“It’s a shop Kayla told me about,” she says, “run by a friend of hers. Trust me, it will be good.”

“How so? Have you ever been there? Have you seen their stock?”

“No.” She throws a smile over her shoulder at me, and I hastily look away from her sexy backside. “But I’ve seen photos. And I trust Kayla.”

“You hardly know her!”

Yet that smile stays with me, breaking down my resistance as I jog to keep up.

“Ev vouched for her before I moved into the apartment, and despite some weird glitches in the Matrix, she seems very nice.”

I chuckle. What a strange girl. “What about you? Do they have girly clothes there, too?”

“Girly.” She makes a face as she checks the bus timetable. “If you mean women’s clothes, yes, they do, and no, I still don’t know what to wear. This sucks.”

“I’ll make sure you have fun this time at the reception,” I tell her back, studying the light spattering of freckles on her shoulders. “You’ll see.”

She turns around, her mouth opening in a startled “o,” but she says nothing, and I wonder why. One thing’s for sure: I’d love a glimpse inside her mind. I bet it’s just as devastatingly complex and beautiful as the rest of her.

Yeah… Dammit. Told you. She’s fucking dangerous.

***

We step off the bus and turn into a quiet side street. Cold slithers down my spine as I trudge after Amber. This place looks somehow familiar. I can’t put my finger on it, though.

It’s not a pretty part of town. The walls are covered in bad graffiti—which makes me itch to redo them—and there’s trash piled up on street corners. The entrances to the buildings are dirty, strewn with paper and plastic, with puddles that looks like piss. Smell like piss, too. The humid heat is unforgiving, lifting the sour stench of rotting meat and other trash, waving it into our faces.

Familiar smells. Familiar sights. I frown, shoving my hands into my pockets. So much familiar. Can’t say I feel nostalgic, though. The itch under my skin is more like remembered fear. I haven’t missed that.

“What happened to department stores?” I ask as we reach the end and find ourselves in another noisy, main street. “Shopping malls? Does that ring any bells?”

She bites her lip. “Remember I don’t like parties?”

“Yeah. What’s that got to do with it?”

“Crowds?” She shrugs. “I hate crowds.”

Right. I knew that, dammit. “So where’s this famous shop?”

“Come.” She grabs my hand, and the rest of the walk goes by in a haze, the press of her slim fingers in mine burning like a fresh brand. The fire spreads through my limbs, gathering speed as her fingers clench around mine. I catch a whiff of her scent—sunshine and coconut—and the heat shoots straight to my dick.

Hell. I harden so fast I have to slow down, reach into my jeans and adjust myself quickly. Gritting my teeth, I look up—and find Amber’s eyes on the front of my pants.

Well, fuck me with a joystick. And damn, I can’t tell what she’s thinking. Can’t see her expression.

Until she glances up, blue eyes darkening, and it’s like I’ve been hit by a freight train. Desire, that’s what it looks like, and her soft mouth is so close, I only need to take one step to close the distance between us and—

“The shop is here,” she says, swallowing hard, and gestures at something behind me.

What? I turn as if through water and blink at the small shop fronts lining the noisy street.

…Right. My brain slowly catches up. The shop we came for.

I belatedly nod, but she’s already walking by, leaving me behind.

I scrub a hand over my face.

You’re so stupid, Jesse, thinking you can read her. She’s not the kind of girl you’re used to. She isn’t looking for a night of cheap fun with you, have you forgotten? She doesn’t even really like you.