Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Taken.
I didn’t know if it was that one word, the glare, or the growly voice that had Paul tip his cowboy hat my way and run scared. They had a different effect on me, though. That dominance made my panties damp and my nipples hard. Either the earlier guy and Paul were meek men, or Cody was just that possessive or both, but I was starting to see the kind of man that drew me in. Got me running hot.
“Hey, tiger. Been a long time.”
I blinked and realized I wasn’t the only one with hard nipples. The woman who’d sauntered up to the bar beside me was in a tight t-shirt, tight enough to know she’d be able to feed her children with ease with huge boobs and very pointy tips. She might poke someone’s eye out with those things.
I also realized that the tiger she spoke to was Cody. It was her turn to sit her forearms on the bar, which only put that t-shirt elasticity to the test. There was no question she knew what she was doing.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes then give her credit. If she had it, she should flaunt it. But at Cody?
“Hey Tessa.” Cody wiped the bar top and tossed down a coaster. “Wine spritzer?”
She gave him a megawatt smile. “You remember what I like. I remember what you like, too.”
Maybe I was still a kid because I felt like gagging. And clawing her eyes out. It was clear they’d been together in the past. He’d done things with her he hadn’t done with me.
Oh shit.
I set my burger on my plate and wiped my mouth with my napkin. Had he gone down on her, too?
I glanced at her body–lithe and thin–and the snug Daisy Duke jean shorts she had on. I would think a quarter would bounce off that butt. And her legs… long and toned. She was beautiful, bold, obviously experienced… and Cody’s age.
They probably had a lot in common.
All of a sudden, I felt like a girl in her mother’s closet trying on her high-heeled shoes and makeup. I wasn’t fierce. I couldn’t hip check the woman and growl taken. She’d probably claw my eyes out with her talon-like fake nails. Sure, I felt like I’d been taken by Cody, but had he been taken by me?
Cody sat a glass on the bar, filled it a third with wine, added seltzer with the soda dispenser, then set it on the coaster. “All I’m offering is the drink.”
His gaze flicked to me, which had Tessa turning her head to look down at me. I was a foot shorter sitting on the stool.
She cocked her head, her blonde hair styled with thick curls, slid over her shoulder as she took me in. I wasn’t sure if her sparing me only a second or two of her time was a good thing or a bad one. Either she found me lacking or didn’t give me much notice.
Both stung.
She was who Cody should be with. Why wasn’t he claiming her? Why didn’t he say she was his mate? It was obvious she wanted to be. Was I all confused about the mate thing because I was young and naïve? Did Tessa know and want it? Want him?
It seemed so.
“You sure?” she practically purred. “I can meet you in the storeroom again.”
“All good, Tessa.” He looked to me, his gaze flicking to my mouth and back to my eyes. Winked. “I've got what I need.”
Tessa turned to me again, studied me a little more closely this time. Her fake eyelashes fluttered as she narrowed her gaze. Okay, it was time to go. I might be able to get through the door, but I was playing at grown up here.
“Thanks for the burger, Cody.” I climbed from the stool. “I need to get going. I have to be at work early tomorrow.”
Tessa sniffed. “Yes, it’s probably past your bedtime, isn’t it, sweetheart?”
“Tessa,” Cody warned. He looked troubled, like maybe he agreed I was too young. “I’ll see you later, Riley.”
That was it. See you later. As in a brush off. I’d heard that sentence from Matt and Ethan. Knew it meant they definitely wouldn’t be seeing me later.
A slow smile spread across Tessa’s face. One of success. Of power.
She won, that was for sure. She just didn’t know there really wasn’t any competition. Because I had no doubt that she would get her way, get Cody in the storeroom, and have him call her his mate by last call.
13
CODY
Tessa Jones fucking tried to make Riley feel bad.
It had fucking worked, too. That was the part that killed me. Riley had sashayed into the bar looking more vibrant than the sun, and she’d slunk out like a popped balloon.
I should’ve done something to make it right before she left, but Tessa’s comment had smacked me in the face.