Looking for Trouble (Jackson: Girls' Night Out 1)

He flashed the briefest of smiles. “Sophie, do I look like the kind of guy who cares what people say? You’re the one who has to live here. And my mom never wants anyone to forget.”

“Yeah. She’s a real sucker for nostalgia.”

“Ha.” His bark of laughter startled her. “Christ, Sophie. I’ll try to talk some sense into her while I’m here. But...”

“I know. She honestly hasn’t been that bad until recently. But if I’d known she lived here...”

“You wouldn’t have bought the place?”

She shrugged. “It’s my great-uncle’s. I’m taking care of it for him while he’s in the nursing home. It won’t be forever. It’s just been tough lately with everything being back in the spotlight.”

He ducked his head for a moment, then his eyes rose to meet her. “So why’d you meet me at that bar? Seems a little risky.”

His voice had dropped. Sophie’s heart skipped. “It was risky,” she whispered.

He nodded. “Almost as risky as accepting a ride with a stranger.”

“Yes.” Her voice cracked a little.

His gaze went hot, as if he knew exactly the effect he was having on her. Fuck, he looked eight feet tall inside her house. She was barefoot and out of sorts and he was so big.

“I won’t take you out again,” he said.

Her fantasy froze to ice. “Oh. Right. Of course not.”

“It’s not fair. I’m leaving town. You’re staying here. You’re the one at risk.”

She nodded. She understood. Of course she did, but... “It’s not that big of a deal. Once this week is past, people will go back to not caring. Especially now that the mystery is dead.” As dead as her mom and his dad.

“Yeah.” He glanced around the room as if noticing it for the first time. The couch and television were new. Her uncle’s had been moved to his room so he could feel more at home. Still, very few of the things here were hers. It was a house, but not her home.

“But I still owe you,” Alex suddenly said.

She snapped her gaze back to him. “What?”

“I promised you more.”

“I’m not...” she stammered. “I mean, I thought you’d... Once you realized who I was.”

“It’s risky,” he said, using her own words to seduce her. “Probably a terrible idea.”

“Yes. It is.”

“And you fucking turn me on like crazy.”

Oh, God. Her heart twisted and then set off running, the pulse of it echoing to her throat, her stomach, her pussy.

That was what she wanted. To make a man like him crazy for her. Desperate to put those big strong hands on her and show her exactly what he wanted from her body.

She licked her lips, trying to wet her mouth enough to speak, but when Alex’s hooded gaze dropped to her parted lips, her throat went even drier.

“But you really shouldn’t have kept it from me, Sophie.”

“I know,” she rasped.

His gaze dropped to her throat when she swallowed, then his eyes fell lower. “Take off your shirt.”

She drew in a quick breath, as stunned by his words as she was by the lust that stabbed through her. She stared at him in shock, wondering if he was just teasing or if she’d misunderstood him, but he didn’t say it again. He just watched and waited.