Chapter Nine
Lara walked slowly behind the other women. For the rest of the day, she’d tried to get her mind to focus on other things, but the memory of his hot mouth kept coming back.
All she could do was keep running her fingers over her lips.
The kiss had been good. Very good. Like the kind of good that made her want to strip naked and see what else he was good at. Not only that, but she’d gotten a feel of the goods and now knew that Magnus was a man who wouldn’t disappoint.
“Okay, you’ve got to tell me what happened,” Courtney said finally. The other women turned to look at her as they made their way down the street to Joe’s.
“Did something happen?” Nyx grinned at her. The hybrid woman always looked like she was in on some sort of secret. Lara found it more amusing than anything.
Lara shook her head and pushed on. “It’s nothing.”
Taylor stared at her pointedly. Her reddish hair pulled up high on her head made her look even more serious.
“Really?” she asked.
Lara sighed. She was going to have to tell them something. Before she knew it, she was spewing out the whole morning with Peter. It sucked, but it was still safer than telling them about the kiss. She could barely deal with her feelings over what had happened with Magnus. The Peter situation was far more straight-forward.
She opened the door to Joe’s and stepped inside. The delicious smell of great wings was always the first thing to greet her nose.
The group all moved into a corner and took over a table.
“Wait a second,” Jenna said as she sat down. “So he’s asking you for sexual favors?”
Lara nodded to Joe, the older man who owned the place. He knew what to do: bring pitchers of beer and several kinds of wings.
“Well, he didn’t straight-out say it, but it was strongly implied.”
Nyx frowned. “Well, did you imply that he should fuck off?”
Lara snorted loudly. “And just how do I do that? He’s my boss.”
Nyx grinned and held up her middle finger. “Something like that should work.”
This time it was Taylor’s turn to snort. “I like her!”
Nyx and Taylor grinned at one another.
“What about if you start your own news site?” Jenna asked. “You don’t have to worry as much about overhead that way, but you can still pursue the news.”
Lara stared at her as Joe placed the pitchers on the table along with the wings.
It wasn’t a bad idea really. She wanted to do more, but Peter was never going to go for it. If she started her own site, she could do what she wanted. Say want she wanted. Really, the only problem was her ability to make money. A girl had to eat and drink beer.
“Just think on it,” Jenna said and smiled.
Lara nodded and poured herself a beer. It was nice to kick back and enjoy the evening.
“Should have known I’d find you here.”
She shivered at the voice of the man standing close behind her. Lara turned and found Peter standing just behind her chair.
“What can I do for you, Peter?” she asked and turned to confront him.
He looked her up and down. She’d brought a little pale gray sweater dress with her to work and just changed at Courtney’s before they left, then stashed the bag with her laptop in her car.
She shifted a little, uncomfortable under his stare. It was obvious he had been drinking, and if he was that much of a dick without booze, he was likely even more so under the influence. It’s not like she wanted to find out either way.
“Don’t try to hide,” he said and gave a crooked smile. “You wore it to be noticed didn’t you?”
A smirk appeared on Nyx’s face, again like she was in on some little secret. A second later, a large hand landed on his shoulder, and Peter jumped.
“She wore it for her boyfriend,” Magnus said from behind Peter.
The heavy man swayed as he turned to glare at Magnus. “And who the fuck are you?”
Magnus raised a brow and slipped past him to sit close by her side.
“I’m her fucking boyfriend,” he said and slipped his hand over her shoulders.
Lara leaned into him.
“Boyfriend?” Peter said and stared down at her. “But I thought…”
She shook her head and offered a smile.
Peter looked between Magnus and Lara, confusion and anger warring in his expression.
“Goodnight, Peter,” she said.
The angry man stormed out the door. Sure, she’d be lucky to still have a job Monday, but it might be worth it if she didn’t have to see his ugly ass anymore.
She turned to Magnus.
“You’re here,” she said quietly. He looked at her and nodded. His arms tightened slightly around her shoulders.
“We just thought we’d pop in and get a drink,” Rem said and stepped into their sight.
Jenna frowned at him. “You said you’d stay out of our hair.”
He gave a wide grin to the women at the table.
“I am, right, ladies?” He smiled. They nodded, already falling under his charms. “Besides,” he looked over to where Magnus had his arms around Lara, “it looked like we needed to step in.”
Lara blushed but didn’t move to push Magnus’s arms off her. They felt good, and she was tired of pretending there wasn’t some attraction going on.
Rem leaned back and nodded to her from across the table.
“Go ahead with your book club meeting,” he said. “We won’t say a word. It will be like we’re not even here.”
Lara snorted loudly. She seriously doubted that but was willing to try.
Just like they had been told, she ignored the massive arm around her shoulders.
Slowly, one by one, they started to talk about the most recent book selection. Jenna and Nyx hadn’t had the chance to read the story, but they were just as eager as the rest to jump right in. And after some time, Lara did forget the men were there. Mostly. Sometimes she’d move just right, and his hand would dip a little lower on her shoulder. Each time it got closer and closer to grazing her breast.
Finally, it dipped just low enough. If she moved he’d brush across her. Magnus shifted from around her and placed his massive hand on her thigh.
His large thumb brushed the bare skin there, and she shivered. It swiped across again, and she knew it wasn’t a mistake. She certainly didn’t feel like it was a mistake.
Lara looked over at him from the corner of his eye, but Magnus was a stoic man. Nothing ever really seemed to show on his face. When she looked back at the other women, they seemed to have no clue about where his hand was.
This time he moved a little. More warm fingers brushed against the tender skin of her thigh. Her breath hitched in the back of her throat. It wasn’t a big movement, and yet it was so intimate. She knew she shouldn’t feel so tied to him, but there was something there. Just trying to rationalize it didn’t even make sense to her. She’d encountered a lot of handsome men in her life, but she’d never felt such an instant connection to someone before.
“So I think the best option would be to send emails and decide the next book,” Courtney said, pulling Lara from her own thoughts.
She nodded along with the other women.
“I guess that’s it then,” Courtney said.
Lara jumped up from her seat, not sure if she could take sitting there any longer while Magnus slowly drove her crazy.
Taylor stood and gave her a funny look, but it was Nyx and Jenna she worried about more. Both had a knowing look on their faces.
She was startled when Rem spoke. He’d been so quiet through the whole thing that she had forgotten he was there.
“Who goes where?”
Taylor nodded to Courtney. “I’m saying the night with Courtney.”
Rem nodded.
“Where are you parked?” Magnus said in her ear.
She’d been so quick to get away from his light touches that she’d not really thought about what might happen next.
Lara turned to look at him. He’d kept his sunglasses off. Actually, all three of them had. She hadn’t really noticed, but she guessed that was the point. Besides, wearing sunglasses at night was far more likely to stand out.
His deep blue eyes stared back at her, and she shifted a little under the weight of his stare.
Well, maybe not normal.
“My car’s at work,” she finally said.