Gracie kicks off her shoes into the entry closet, drawing my attention back. I can see her much better in this light. Supermodel cheekbones and sapphire eyes, framed by tousled, wavy dark brown hair. A heart-shaped ass tapering down to legs that look miles long even without heels. Soft, full breasts nuzzling together under her white linen blouse. It hits me all over again that she's a woman. She's been a woman for a while, but now, she has her own career, her own place...and her own love life to prove it. I feel twin sparks of arousal and jealousy.
We get our drinks from the fridge—another beer for me, a wine cooler for her—and sit down on the couch. Even at the opposite end, I can catch whiffs of her peachy perfume. The walk home must have made her sweat. She sips her wine, red lips kissing the edge of her glass.
I swallow back the urge to touch her. Smell her, taste her...stop it, Hudson. I'm noticing everything about Gracie and I can't turn it off.
“Come closer,” she coaxes. “I want to show you something.” She pats the cushion right next to her.
I scoot over as casually as I can. My cock is already starting to twitch to attention, but I should at least try to keep acting normal.
Fortunately, my mind jumps right back out of the gutter when she opens her laptop on the coffee table. On the screen is the website for the online dating service she'd been talking about. And at the top right, there's a “23” hovering over her envelope icon. She has twenty-three new messages. Twenty-fucking-three.
I clench my jaw. Of course men would jump all over a piece of fresh meat, especially a beauty like Gracie. She'd be a textbook girl-next-door type if she weren't so striking. Gentle, sweet...and innocent. How many of these pricks are just aiming to take advantage of someone like that? How dare anyone touch her?
Oblivious to my growing rage, Gracie clicks around, opening two new tabs. Each shows the profile of a different man. They look ridiculously wholesome and bland, like stock photo models or athletes on cereal boxes. “These are some of the guys I've been talking to. See, this one likes writing poetry and training his dog. And this one volunteers at a soup kitchen...would a serial killer do that?”
She probably picked the most harmless-seeming guys on her list to show me. Not that that stops me from wanting to growl at them.
I shake my head—at myself more than her. I need to pull my shit together. She's just trying to ease my mind, make me stop worrying about her safety. There's no way for her to know that this is pissing me off all over again. “It's not that easy to tell,” I say. “Somehow I don't think a psycho would list 'duct tape' and 'blood' under his hobbies.”
“Somehow I don't think an evil person would love animals and homeless people,” Gracie fires back. She raises her eyebrows at me: See, I can play this game, too.
“Hitler was a vegetarian who cried when his dog died.”
She gives me a weird look. “How do you know that? And why is everyone trying to keep me from living my life? For Christ's sake, I'm twenty-two. Are you going to stop me from getting on city buses next?”
I shift to sit facing her, willing to risk losing myself in her wide blue eyes. “No, Gracie. I just don't understand. Look...why do you want to do this? Really?”
Praise for Screwed
"Irresistibly sexy, witty and delightful." (Vilma's Book Blog)
"For fans of dirty mouths and dirtier deeds, Hayden Oliver is the man for you! Screwed is definitely a guilty pleasure read." (USA Today bestselling author R.S. Grey)
"Dirty and delicious -- I loved Screwed!" (New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Probst)
"Kendall Ryan brings her talent for writing sexy men and steamy romance to her first (and hopefully not last) romantic comedy. Readers will be squirming and laughing as Hayden "The Playboy" Oliver attempts to be "just friends" with sassy, smart Emery Winters. He's so screwed." (USA Today bestselling author Daisy Prescott)
"Screwed is a hot, humorous, heady, and hypnotizing romance that sucks you in from the very first page--consuming your heart, soul, and panties--you'll want to eat up this deliciously decadent book with lightning speed. Kendall Ryan's writing is refreshing and raw--a breath of fresh air--sprinkled with humor and heat." (Karen M, Bookalicious Babes Blog)
"Screwed is sexy, flirty, and funny as hell. Hayden and Emery's chemistry was amazing, pulling you in from the very first page as you find yourself lost in their story, not wanting it to end." (New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kelly Elliott)
Chapter One
Gracie
I’m in a celebratory mood as I sip my third appletini and glance around at the sleek modern décor of the lounge. My brother, Hayden, invited me out for a congratulatory happy hour after I completed my first week as Peterson Design's newest architect. I was all too happy to accept. Free drinks at a posh club in downtown LA? Count me in.
I hadn’t counted on the fact that Hudson Stone, his best friend and business partner—and my lifelong crush—would also be joining us. When he strolls in looking like a walking aphrodisiac, the temperature in the club seems to rise ten degrees and my underarms start to sweat. He's as tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome as ever. Despite the slight chill in the early fall air, he's dressed in jeans and a black short-sleeved T-shirt, which do nothing to hide his delicious muscles.
I panic for a moment about how I look, dressed smartly in a jacket and slacks that were fine for the office, but not so much for an evening out. But the vodka coursing through my veins quickly takes care of that. And when he gets close, his cologne- and pheromone-laced scent delivers a powerful punch that knocks all other thoughts out of my mind. Hello there, libido. My pulse pounds in time with the low thumping music.
“Congratulations, Gracie. You’re finally an adult now,” Hudson says, leaning down to give me a one-armed hug where I sit perched on my barstool. My pussy squeezes a little at the tone of his warm, husky voice right in my ear. Did I mention I need to get laid? Like, yesterday?
“Something like that.” I shrug off his compliment. At twenty-two years old, I’ve been an adult for a long damn time. It’s frustrating that he’s taken so long to see me that way. No matter how sexy his voice is when he says it...the prick.
Hudson slides onto the barstool next to mine. Within seconds, a bouncy-chested blonde waitress arrives to fulfill his order, and probably anything else he’d like, too.
His eyes watch her backside as she saunters away. It’s then that I notice women throughout the club venturing hungry gazes over toward Hudson, openly admiring his chiseled arms and broad shoulders. He could easily have his pick of any woman here, and later, I’m sure he will. A fact I try not to dwell on.
“Cheers,” my brother Hayden calls out. He raises his glass, pride beaming across his face.
“To Gracie.” Hudson’s eyes linger on mine for several intense moments. A warm shiver races through my body, my heartbeat thudding away. Seriously, they need to adjust the thermostat in this place.
Our moment ends when the eager waitress delivers Hudson’s beer, lingering at our table even as we all ignore her. I look away and squelch my disappointment.
But when I glance up again, Hudson is still looking at me as he takes a sip from his frosty pint glass. I wonder what he sees when he looks at me after all these years.