Hothead (Irresistible 4)

His stare was so unflinchingly serious that I wanted to roll my eyes.

Oh, I’ll make you smile, asshole, I smirked as I put a hand on his muscled shoulder and leaned into his lips.

“B

aby,” I purred, managing to suppress my need to snort right in his face. A little thrill darted over my skin as I let my hand fall from his shoulder down to his chest. Fuck, that’s hard, I noted as I leaned in close and bit my lip. “Please don’t be mad.” I rubbed his chest and took satisfaction in how I could feel him exhaling at my touch. “I promise I’m all yours, and if you don’t believe me, I’ll make it up to you when we get home tonight. Okay?” I finished softly, in the sweetest, breathiest voice I could muster.

Amusement gleamed in Drew’s eyes. I could tell he was fighting it, but finally, the corners of his mouth curved up.

“And you’ll wear the little maid costume with the garters, right?” he smirked.

I rolled my eyes.

“Totally. As long as you wear the male version of it and help me do my laundry.”

“If you think this isn’t getting me hard, you’re wrong.”

“Jesus,” I snorted, pushing away from him.

Drew laughed as he caught my hand to pull me back but just as he did, I heard Hillary’s gasp. I gasped myself, startled as I turned to find her standing at the other end of the room, staring at what I thought was us till I realized her gaze was going past my shoulder and out the window.

I looked over just in time to see someone turn away from our window.

He had clearly been looking in a second ago, but now he was storming toward the front door, and all I needed was a half-second glance at those brown curls and that red and blue polo to know exactly who he was.

It was Mike.

9

EVIE

I had to give Hillary credit for rushing outside and doing her best to convince him not to come in. She went as far as to tug on his arm and try to lead him across the street, but despite those efforts, it wasn’t long before Mike was dragging her back to the front door of the restaurant, his neck and jaw so tight it looked like he might burst a capillary.

“Holy shit,” I said, stunned and only vaguely aware of Drew’s hands guiding me to sit next to him.

“Breathe.” He was unfazed as he draped an arm over my shoulder. “We just did rehearsal and now it’s showtime. I thought you were ready.”

“I am ready,” I insisted, close to believing it myself. I just hadn’t expected this kind of wrath from Mike, and I was startled. It looked like I should be preparing myself for a war.

Of course, the Mike outside and the Mike that came in wound up being two totally different people.

I heard him hissing, “I’m fine. I’m fine,” to Hillary just as he came in. Then he jerked out of her grip and approached our table, wild-eyed and wearing a big, crazy smile I’d never seen on him before in my life.

What… on Earth.

He had tons of fake smiles in his arsenal after years of working PR, but this… this smile looked almost deranged in the way it twitched at the ends. Considering his completely unnatural expression, I was actually a surprise that his voice came out sounding so passably cordial.

“Hi. Wow. Unless I’m mistaken, I do believe you’re Drew Maddox,” Mike said, holding out his hand and managing a chuckle, albeit a strained one in which he simply said the words “ha ha” without turning them into convincing laughter.

Oh God. This was already good.

“Hey man, nice to meet you.” Lifting his muscled arm off my shoulder, Drew reached over my lap and shook Mike’s hand. Lord. I felt an odd shriveling sensation when I noted how Mike’s hand looked like that of a hairy child’s in Drew’s grip. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Michael. Michael Stuart,” Mike said as I leaned in close to Drew. My heartbeat picked up as I caught Mike’s eye while murmuring into Drew’s ear.

“As in my ex, babe,” I said, taking a sick pleasure in the way Mike flinched at the word “babe.” “Hey,” I offered Mike a polite smile while taking further pleasure in the way his wild, almost panicked eyes traveled in nervous ticks all over me. My face. My hair. My dress. His nostrils flared and most tellingly, The Vein made its appearance. It was notorious among our group of friends for coming out on Mike’s broad forehead whenever he was worked up or pissed off, and today, it looked bigger than I’d ever seen it.

Still, he kept smiling that crazy smile.