Rock Bottom (Dawson Family 6)

“And just Rory wasn’t good enough for the other night?”

“Look, I said I was sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to pull some mastermind trick on you. We both were clearly looking for a one-night kinda deal and we both got what we were looking for, didn’t we? You seemed to very much enjoy Blaire from Canada or am I mistaken?”

“Oh, I very much enjoyed Blaire.” My lips pull up in a half smile and Rory pushes her shoulders back as a flush comes over her chest. “Enough to do it again.”

“No,” she rushes out, and then looks surprised with herself.

“Why not?” I go on, unable to stop the words from coming out of my mouth. Taking her home would be fun—very fun—but also a bad idea. I’d be breaking my cardinal rule. “You didn’t enjoy being Blaire? You could try being yourself this time.”

She presses her lips together, staring at me for a good few seconds before taking a big sip of her drink. “That sounds fun, but I…I…” She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip and tips her head, looking me over. Her thoughts are written all over her face, and her inability to hide what she’s thinking is so fucking cute.

At least the feeling is mutual.

“I’m here with friends.” She snaps her attention back to my face, shaking her head. “I should get back to them. They’re probably wondering where I am.”

“I’m sure they can see you standing here, right by the bar.”

“Maybe they’re near-sighted.”

I let out a snort of laughter. “You better get back to them. Though if you get bored…you know we’ll have a good time. Which reminds me, your bra is still in my truck and you have my clothes. We could go back to your place so I can get them.”

“Nice try.” She takes another drink, and if she turns and walks away, she’ll be doing us both a favor. Sleeping with the same woman twice is a mistake.

Sleeping with the same woman twice within the same week…it’s an even bigger mistake.

Yet I can’t seem to control myself around her, and the more she pulls, the more I want to push.

“I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression the other night, but I’m really not a no-strings kind of person. That was actually my first one-night stand.”

The cocky smirk is back on my face. “Why stop at one night?” I step forward and tuck a loose lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyes flutter shut and her lips part, body reacting to my touch. I let my fingers trail down her neck, down her shoulder, and across her collarbone.

“And this one night would just consist of sex, breakfast, and then parting ways?”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Someone pushes past her to get to the bar, and she shuffles forward out of their way, moving right up again me. My hand lands on the curve of her hip, and Rory sucks in a breath.

“It’s…it’s not a bad thing…if…if that’s what you want.” She pushes her shoulders back and tips her head up to mine. I could kiss her right now. Taste her drink on her lips. Remind her how good we were the other night.

And then do it all over again.

“But it’s not my thing,” she says, finding her resolve. “I’m not a no-strings kind of person. I like substance with my sex, and I don’t think you do. Which is fine. You do you, right?”

“I’d rather do you, but I get what you’re saying.” I take my hand off her hip. “And I respect that. Though if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

Grumbling something indiscernible, she brings her glass to her lips and walks away, hurrying over to her friends.

“It finally happened.” Logan puts a Jack and Coke down on the bar in front of me. “Someone turned you down.”

“Technically, no. We already hooked up.”

He lets out a snort of laughter. “Must not have impressed her. I knew you were full of shit all this time.”

“Trust me, she enjoyed herself multiple times. I’m not breaking rule number one.”

“It’s sad I know what rule number one is,” Logan grumbles as he wipes up a spill on the bar top. “I finally get Owen married off and now I have to take care of your dumb ass.”

“I get to be a dumbass for a while.” I run my finger down the glass, wiping away a bead of condensation.

“And it’s been a while.” Logan fills a couple of drink orders for customers and then comes back to me. “Look, man, I won’t even pretend to know how it feels. I don’t want to think about coming home and seeing Danielle in…in…you know.” He can’t even say it. “But it’s been over a year. If you don’t slow down, you’re going to run out of women to take home. Unless you go to Newport, and I know the bar there won’t give you the family discount like we do.”