I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, waiting at the side of the bar for the last drink order.

“Three beers for you, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Hal.”

I placed each beer on the tray and lifted it carefully from the surface. All I had to do was drop these drinks off at the table and I could walk away.

I didn’t have to look at Mister-six-foot-five-sex-on-a-stick. I certainly didn’t have to flirt with him, no matter how much I liked it. I knew I was in a bad spot. I had taken this job out of financial desperation, but that didn’t mean I had lost my dignity. I could do this. I could be around an insanely attractive man and not lose my damn mind.

I straightened my shoulders.

As soon as those football players walked in tonight, the other waitresses started fighting over who got to serve them. But since the bar was divided into sections the fighting didn’t last long. They ended up in mine. Mine. As if I had some kind of ownership over Kane Hawkins.

I took a big breath and walked steadily to the table.

“Here you go.” I served each beer.

“Thanks, Julie.” His grin was as sexy as the rest of him.

“I’ll check on you gentleman in a few minutes.”

I wanted to say or do something, but didn’t know how or what just yet. My brain said one thing, and my body said something totally different. His eyes met mine and I couldn’t deny the flash of dirty thoughts that ran through my head.

I needed space. Air. A place to breathe. I knew that much. I bolted from the table and found a quiet place in the back hallway on the other side of the storage room. There was a screen door that led to the employee parking lot. I leaned against the wall and tried to steady my breathing.

My first night. The very first night here and I was acting like a drunk college girl being hit on by the school’s quarterback. I had to get my shit together. I wasn’t eighteen and he wasn’t a sweet cute guy. No. He was a professional football player. That couldn’t be a good thing, could it?

I tensed when I heard the sound of boots cross past the employees only boundary. His shadow made it around the corner before I saw him. The only light came from the storage room. His face was dark. His body towered over mine.

“Hey.” Kane’s voice was low and sexy.

He pressed his hand into the wood over my shoulder, closing the gap between us. I placed my hands against his chest like I was going to push him away but I didn’t. I couldn’t.

“Hi,” I whispered.

I didn’t know what was happening. I could smell the beer on his breath and faint traces of cologne from his shirt.

“What are you doing back here?” he asked.

I hadn’t been able to look him in the eyes all night. Too much lust and hunger was buried there, but I took a chance. As soon as I did, I knew it was a mistake. He wanted to devour me. Now.

“I needed a break,” I whispered.

“Break from what?” he teased. His body leaned into mine and I sighed. He was a solid mass of muscle and strength.

“Just some stuff.” Oh my God. I sounded stupid. “What are you doing back here? It’s staff only,” I challenged.

I knew exactly what I wanted to hear from him. Some kind of reassure that he wasn’t the man I had heard about. That the fact that he had followed me back to the private hallway meant he didn’t think of me like he did the rest of the bimbos that worked here. I wanted something that I knew Kane Hawkins wasn’t capable of giving me.

“I missed you out there.”

I let a laugh slip. “Really?”

“Really.” He sounded certain. At least certain enough that I wasn’t willing to argue with him.

“You followed me back here because you missed me?” I asked, my voice raspy with nervousness.

“Yes. That’s what I said.”

“Was there something you needed? Out of beers already?” I asked.

“No nothing like that.” His lips brushed over mine without touching my skin. “I wanted to see if I was right.”

My heart pounded. Thank God there was blaring music and a bar full of people celebrating the Sharks’ win or he would hear what he was doing to me.

“Right about what?”

“How it would feel to kiss you.”

My eyes grew wide as I drew a ragged breath.

Before I could return his surprising answer with a smartass comment he ran his fingers over my lips and slowly dragged them down between my breasts. I sighed with lust. So much fucking lust. He stopped just shy of the waistband of my cutoffs and wrapped his other arm around my waist.

“H-how … ” I squeaked out as his fingers slipped under the hem of my shorts.

Even in the dark I could see his perfect sexy grin.

“Nice. Cotton panties? That's a first.”

I could barely control my breathing. “I’m not your type.” And I wasn’t. I’d never done anything close to this before. Why was I doing it now?

“I think we both know we’re incompatible for anything in life outside this bar, but in here…” He kissed my throat. “In here we could be fucking incredible.”

“What do you want to do?” I asked naively. I wanted to hear him say it. I wanted to know.

“Everything,” he whispered in my ear and I could feel the sudden wetness between my legs. My breathing was erratic and the only way I could keep my knees from buckling was to squeeze his arms as tightly as I could.

“Do you always get what you want?” I asked, knowing the answer.

“When I want something I go after it and I always get it, baby.”

Oh God. He was an arrogant asshole. Cocky. Brash. And yet I was falling for it like a damn groupie. I was pinned against the wall, reveling in the feel of his body holding me in place.

I rolled my eyes, needing to find some of my own strength buried somewhere inside me. “Did you really just say that to me?”

He smiled and slipped his fingers past the fabric. My breath hitched and I moaned.

“You do have a wild streak somewhere in there, don't you?” he asked as my wet warmth covered my fingers. I groaned as he slowly circled my clit and ran his finger to my entrance.

“I-I can’t do this here. Were in a hallway.” I didn’t even recognize the raspiness of my own voice.

“Call me Hawk. I want to hear my name on your lips when I give you an orgasm. You understand?” he asked as he plunged a second finger inside me.

My head fell back against the wall. His fingers were thick and skilled. My hips jumped at every touch.

“Do you want more? Do you want me to kiss you? Do you want me to fuck you? Tell me.”

I laughed and he pressed my clit with his thumb, almost bringing me to my knees. Holy shit. The heat radiating off our bodies was palatable. I liked it and now, more than even I imagined, I wanted more.

“Hawk, I can't do this,” I whispered, knowing I was clenching and gripping his fingers with sudden rhythm.

“Why not?” he asked running his lips down my neck. My eyes closed from the intensity of everything we were doing.

The eroticism of potentially being caught. The taboo of hooking up with a customer on my first night. The good girl in me craving this bad boy. Knowing everything about this was wrong. So wrong. There was nothing right about any of it except how good he made me feel in this moment.

“Look at me. I want to see the lust in your eyes,” he commanded.

I was lost in pleasure and sensation. His fingers had taken me to the brink of insanity. I had no thoughts. No power to make a rational decision. I was drawn to this man. This football legend. This sex god. This complete stranger like a moth to a flame. Hawk knew what he was doing when he made my body seize with pleasure. He knew what he was doing when he touched and kissed me. There was nothing sexier than that.