Did she think he would make this painless for her? “No, what do you mean?”
“Your friends will think we were in here together. Intimately.”
“Is that so bad? After all, we’ve been there and done that, remember?” He couldn’t deny he got pleasure from her mortification.
Planting both hands on hips, she looked up at him with a smirk. “Interesting that when it’s in your favor, you’ll admit that you remember me.” Those words were said with a saucy toss of her hair.
“Don’t get all cocky. You came in here of your own free will and locked the door behind you. What? Did you think we’d be the only two people in the whole place that’d need to use the restroom? It’s a bar. What do drunks have to do frequently when they get wasted?” Erection deflated, he could think clearer. He took her hand. Even when she tugged, he held on. Seeing question in her eyes, he explained, “Don’t worry, honey, it’s only for looks.”
The action may have only been for appearance, but he felt a strange tug in his chest. He was fully aware of the softness of her palm against his calloused one. The way her fingers threaded between his, comfortably, even when she looked petrified. There would come a point when he’d really have to think long and hard on what was wrong with his libido.
Throwing open the latch, he came face-to-face with Johnson. “All yours, buddy.”
“’Bout time, Conn–” The words froze on Johnson’s lips. His eyes opened to the size of saucers as he looked at Jasmine.
She buried her face into his shoulder as if she was the good schoolgirl caught with the bad boy doing naughty things.
Johnson stood there like a dummy.
Shawn sneered. The man needed to pick his tongue off the floor and reel in his senses. Hadn’t he seen a beautiful woman before? “Something wrong, Johnson?” Shawn met the man’s gaze head on.
Sputtering, Johnson finally managed, “Uhh, nope, not a thing. Didn’t see nothing, either.” The other man rushed past Shawn into the stall and closed the door.
“Coast is clear. You can pull yourself out of my ass now,” Shawn said to Jasmine.
She backed up and darted a glance down the darkened hallway. Smoothing her hands down her waist, she sighed in what seemed like relief. “You and I have lots to talk about.”
Dragging a hand across his buzz cut, he wondered if he could outrun her. Of course. So why didn’t he? The less he said to her, the less chance he had at revealing his true identity. On the other hand, he didn’t like the idea of taking blame for something he hadn’t done. “This isn’t the place to have that talk.”
She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Then where?”
“Are you staying in this area?” He didn’t know where the lady came from. Shane had called him the night before he left and said he had taken a bit of time off to play in the sand after he did an interview for a magazine. Well, apparently he meant play–literally. But he hadn’t mentioned a woman.
A couple came barreling down the hallway, their drunken laughter vibrating the walls, and Shawn’s ears. He glanced at his surroundings and caught the exit sign over a back door. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” When they stepped into the alley behind the bar, the cool air felt good to his shaken senses.
Jasmine didn’t look so good. Her pale color worried him.
“Hey, you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t argue. “I’ll meet you at your room tomorrow.”
“Oh no, I get where this is heading.”
“Huh?”
“I tell you where I’m staying, you show up, and one thing leads to another. Before either of us knows what hit us, we’ll end up getting into something we shouldn’t have gotten into in the first place.” She breathed in deeply.
His eyes were tired. He rubbed them, but it didn’t help. After an exhausting day, this was the last thing he needed. Coming into the bar hadn’t been his idea in the first place, but after a lot of coaxing from the men, he’d finally agreed to grab a beer with the group. It was the one bar in town where they could come in their ABU’s, and straight from work, and not catch hell for it since the owner was a retired airman. Damn, he wished he’d followed his first instinct and gone home and crashed. “Look, Jasmine–” He lifted his hands in defeat. How could he make this easy? “I know you came here tonight dead set on raking me over the coals, but give me a break. I was only half of that one-night stand. I’m assuming you drove a long way to tell me you felt used. Maybe I felt a bit used too.”
The muscles around her eyes twitched. “Are you finished?” Her face turned a greenish color.
Just as he opened his mouth to ask her if she needed something, her eyes widened. He didn’t have time to react. She spewed all over his uniform. Shawn swallowed back his own urge to vomit. With doe-eyes, she stared back at him. Damn, he could almost feel sorry for her, but the fact was, he felt sorrier for himself. He wore her puke.
“I’m sorry,” she said through her fingers covering her mouth.
“How much did you drink, woman?” He stared down at the murky brown stain on his jacket. The thick chunks dripped onto his boots. “Ahh, shit!”
“Not a drop.” She dug inside her purse. Looking for a weapon? She might be drunk. Or worse, jacked up on drugs. She didn’t seem to be either, but he couldn’t guarantee it. Then she pulled out a wad of napkins. Dabbing her mouth with one, she stuck out the rest for him. “Here.”
Glancing at the tissue, he huffed. Was she joking? “What will that do?”
Hesitating, she said, “I’m staying at the Oxford Inn.” She pointed to the motel next door to the bar. “You can use my bathroom to clean up.”
“Are you sure you’re not afraid that I’ll jump your bones?” Which wouldn’t happen, he mused. Beautiful woman that she was, insane he wasn’t.
“Sex is the last thing on my mind.”
Chapter 2
Jasmine unlocked the door to her room. Shane’s eyes were on her, she knew. Turning, their gazes met and her breath caught. He leaned casually against the wall, powerful and virile, as if he belonged there with her. Did he work to look that cool and composed? Her insides melted. What had she been thinking by inviting him back to her room? Sure, she had puked all over his ABU’s and the odor of the vomit suffocated her, yet she didn’t owe him anything. That should teach him a lesson to not be an ass.
Pushing open the door, she stepped aside so he could pass. He filled every inch of space with his size, including her available oxygen, making her dizzy. Once the room stopped spinning, she tossed the keys onto the table and slipped off her shoes. “Bathroom is in there,” she said. He came to the room to clean up and then maybe she could get down to the nitty-gritty of why she had come.
“I'll take you up on that.”
“Please do.” The smell of vomit wafted underneath her nose as he walked by her. In the logical part of her brain, she realized she should be mortified. Maybe her lack of embarrassment stemmed from Shane's casual attitude about the whole thing. She wondered how other men would handle being vomited on by a woman they barely knew.
Jasmine listened as Shane closed the door to the bathroom. Rustling sounds drew her attention. Imagining him taking off his shirt made tingles spiral up her body. Her hormones weren’t out-of-whack because he was partially naked on the other side of the wall. In fact, he had nothing to do with her raging emotions. She denied any connection. The water came on. Moving to the far side of the room, she tried to block the sounds of splashing water.
Once before, she’d