“I’m sure. Go have fun.”


With a burst of excitement, Brett grabbed her purse from the counter and made a dash to the door. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t forget to bring your man!” he called after her.

She stopped to toss him a grin. “Jeez. I think you love him more than you love me, and you haven’t even met him.”

“Ten grand, princess. Ten grand.”

Brett was laughing as she hurried out of the shop. For all the headaches they gave her, her family was one of a kind. She was lucky to have them, which only made her feel worse that she hadn’t lived up to their expectations in the past.

But that would change. She’d already eradicated any and all bad influences from her life—first and foremost being Troy. Their relationship had made her lose focus of what mattered to her, and she still wanted to kick herself for letting him take over her life the way he had. The jerk had used her for free tattoos and a place to crash, blinding her with his gorgeous looks and winning smile.

She wouldn’t get fooled again. Nope, her next relationship was going to be with a man she could trust. Someone she could talk to, count on. Someone with substance.

Until then, she had three more weeks with AJ to look forward to. Three whole weeks to explore the mind-blowing sexual connection she hadn’t seen coming.

And God, she couldn’t wait to start exploring.

…

The male voice crackled through AJ’s earpiece as he slid two bottles of Heineken across the counter to a customer.

“You’ve got a visitor,” Jerry, who manned the club’s security booth, informed him. “I sent her up to your office.”

The way AJ’s libido roared to life, you’d think Brett was standing naked in front of him instead of tucked away in his upstairs office. Last night should have been enough to satisfy the dark, restless urges for a while, but nope, twenty-four hours of pure, carnal fucking had barely scratched the surface.

He needed more, damn it.

Ignoring the ache down below, AJ headed to the register to make change for the customer. Then he signaled to Henry that he was ducking out and took off for the narrow staircase leading upstairs.

A glance over the railing revealed that Sin was already packed—a very encouraging sight, especially considering the night was still young. In the three years Sin had been in business, the club’s clientele had tripled. These days, people lined up around the block to gain admittance, while Sin’s owners happily reaped the rewards.

AJ had brought up the club’s success to his father during their phone call earlier, hoping it might sway his parents’ less than positive opinion about his line of work, but he shouldn’t have bothered. No amount of bragging would convince them he’d made the right choice by not going to work with his dad. His stake in Sin was simply another black mark against him.

He shoved aside the reminder, not in the mood to fall into the guilt pit tonight. God knew he’d lived there every frickin’ day of his life. He worked way too hard to be the son they needed him to be, and the thought brought a twinge of irony as he realized Brett was doing the same thing. Trying to meet the high expectations set upon her, but like him, she didn’t quite fit in that saintly mold, either.

She wouldn’t be there tonight if she had.

He reached the top of the stairs, his cock throbbing in anticipation as he zeroed in on his closed door. Christ, he’d never wanted a woman so badly before. The second he walked into that office, he had a better shot of winning the lottery than of restraining himself.

But why? Why didn’t he feel the need to rein in that part of himself when he was with Brett? He had no answer for that, but he knew it was part of the reason he hadn’t run screaming in the other direction when she’d dropped the boyfriend bomb earlier.

Hell, he’d pretend to be her husband as long as he got her naked again.

AJ was halfway down the hall when a familiar strawberry-blond head popped out of the neighboring office.

“Hey!” Darcy Grant broke out in a huge smile at the sight of him, quickly running up to throw her arms around him in a warm hug.

AJ pasted on a pleasant smile as he hugged her back. Though he’d never admit it to her or Reed, being around Darcy still brought a twinge of discomfort. Sure, he’d remained friends with most of his ex-girlfriends, but it was different with Darcy. She was dating his best friend now, which meant she was part of his life whether he liked it or not. The fact that he didn’t have a choice in the matter grated slightly.

“How’s it going?” she asked. “I haven’t seen you around lately.”

“Yeah, I’ve been at my folks’ place a lot.”

Her blue eyes went serious. “How’s your mom doing?”