Please enjoy this teaser from “JACK” in RED BLOODED (Red Hot & Blue) in paperback and eBook everywhere Tuesday, September 19th!
AND don’t miss the release week festivities on my Facebook Page. Stop by, play some games and enter to win fun prizes all week long starting Sept 19 at Facebook.com/CatJohnsonAuthor.
Jack Gordon leaned in, about to close the deal on what he hoped would be a mind-erasing kiss—because he could really stand to erase some memories right about now.
He was just concentrating on not coughing from the overwhelming cloud of perfume that surrounded her, and now him too, when the blonde’s hand on his chest stopped the downward descent of his head toward hers.
He moved back again, almost relieved she had stopped him.
She was right. This kiss was probably a really bad idea. His heart still had the bruise from watching Carly, the woman he’d had a crush on for two years, fall hard for his best friend Trey.
That was in addition to the fact that Darlene, the current near recipient of his impending kiss, worked at Carly’s bar as a cocktail waitress.
Darlene held one finger in the air. “Hang on.”
Sticking two fingers into her mouth, she pulled out a purple piece of chewing gum. He watched with fascination as she stuck the gum on the doorframe of the back entrance to the bar. Then she grabbed the neck of his T-shirt, yanked him to her and shoved her tongue nearly down his throat.
He was still recovering from that surprise attack when she reached down and grabbed, right through his jeans, what he considered to be his private property.
Jack jumped back, pulling his violated pelvis with him. “Whoa, there. Wait a minute, Darlene. What’s the hurry?”
The cocktail waitress ran her hands up and down his chest. “But, Jackie. I’ve had my eye on you for years and you’ve never given me the time of day. Now that you’ve finally come to your senses, I’m not letting you get away.”
He backed up, and she stepped closer, pinning him against the railing of the much too small staircase landing.
Her mouth was just closing over his again when he heard someone very loudly and obviously clearing her throat. He pulled back and looked down to see Carly standing at the bottom of the short staircase.
“Darlene, are we already closed for the night?” Carly made a show of glancing at her watch.
Jack felt his face grow hot at being caught sucking face behind the building with the waitress.
Darlene didn’t seem to care though. She glanced toward Carly without blinking an eye. “No.”
“Oh? Sorry, I assumed since my only cocktail waitress is out back making out with one of my customers we must be closed.” Carly waited a beat. When Darlene made no move and still had yet to remove her hands from Jack’s chest, she continued, “Darlene. Get inside and back to work.”
Darlene rolled her eyes in a move that could probably get her fired if Carly wanted to be a hard-ass boss.
“I’ll see you later,” Darlene said with a wink at him before she sauntered back inside.
Jack dropped his gaze to the ground, too embarrassed to look Carly in the eye. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. From what I saw, you were the one being attacked.” She stepped up and wiped her thumb across his mouth. “Lipstick.”
He rubbed his mouth and tried to ignore the knowledge that his cheeks were most likely as red as Darlene’s lipstick smeared all over his mouth. “Yeah. I can take down a man twice my size in hand-to-hand combat, but they don’t teach us a defense for that kind of assault in training.”
He dropped down and sat on the top step, running both hands over his face.
Carly sat next to him and bumped her shoulder against his. “What’s wrong, Jack?”
Jack glanced sideways at her. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “You just don’t seem yourself lately and I never in a million years imagined Darlene was your type.”
He smiled sadly. She wasn’t. His type was sitting right next to him—and she belonged to his best friend.