He’d walked away from her.

Damn it. He’d give anything to have her under him again. To feel her lips move against his. To swallow her sweet moans and find the spots that made her squirm.

All things he couldn’t have.

It was time to content himself with friendship, because that was all she was offering.

“You’re staring,” came a husky voice from behind him.

He glanced over to see Emma Sinclair drop into the seat beside him, topping off his glass with the fresh pitcher of Brooklyn Lager in her hand.

He didn’t bother to play dumb. He’d known Emma for all of an hour, and it was clear that this was a woman who saw and knew everything. She reminded him of some sort of sage in a sexy, composed package.

The slightly southern twang just added to the allure. One he might have acted on if he wasn’t already hung up on a tall, curvy Irish brunette.

“Everyone with a dick is staring,” he said, taking a sip of the beer.

She nodded. “Yeah, Riley’s got that ‘It’ factor.”

Sam grunted.

“Rumor has it you saw her naked and then walked away.”

Sam choked on his beer and looked around to see if anyone had overheard her. “Jesus.”

Emma carefully licked foam from her full lower lip. “How much did you hate yourself after?”

Sam frowned. “Look, I can respect that the girl-talk thing happened, but I’m not really the spill-my-guts kind of dude.”

She ignored him. “Do you regret it?”

Every day.

“We’re not good together,” he said, surprising himself by talking to a woman he barely knew. Surprising himself even more because the words felt false the second they left his lips.

&

nbsp; “Don’t I know how that goes,” Emma muttered, her eyes going kind of faraway as she glanced toward the end of the table. Sam tried to follow her line of sight, but she turned back before he could see what had made her eyes go wistful.

“She’s not what you think, you know,” Emma said, holding his gaze.

Sam’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve known Riley since she was seventeen. I think I know who and what she is.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed right back. “Do you?”

Sam’s confidence faltered, because it was clear this smart woman was trying to tell him something.

“Hey, guys!”

They both glanced up to see Riley smiling down at them. Was it his imagination, or were her teeth clenched when she looked at her friend?

“Grace was looking for you, Em.”

“Grace!” Emma called, leaning back in her chair to holler at her friend. “You were looking for me?”

Grace’s sweet, even features scrunched up for a second, her gaze flicking between Emma’s amused look and Riley’s pointed one before she gave a hesitant smile. “Um. Yes?”

“Told you,” Riley said, all but dumping Emma out of the chair.

Tags: Lauren Layne Sex, Love & Stiletto Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net