The feud between Jett and his father had gotten out of hand to the point that I was afraid it was going to destroy my best friend and everything he’d ever worked for. That was why I found myself standing outside of Goldie’s room, about to break her door down with my knocking. I would do anything for Jett, and if that meant inserting myself in the middle of his relationship, then I would.
Without her permission, I blew through her door. The shocked look on Goldie’s face was priceless.
“What the hell?” she shouted.
“Are you seriously just waking up?” I asked, taking in her position on the bed.
“Are you seriously barging into my room again? For the love of God, get a hobby.”
Sassy fucking woman. “It’s noon and you’re not answering your phone,” I stated, pointing out why Jett had panicked and made me check on Goldie.
She was living in the Lafayette Club with Jett, diving head-first into their relationship until Leo, Rex’s father, threatened the safety of Goldie, making sure to point out he knew Goldie was Jett’s crutch. Jett had made it his mission to make it look like he’d cut all ties with her. That was why she was staying with Diego and helping him out with some of the paintings in his club. It was a temporary solution, but it was putting a strain on their relationship.
“It’s noon?” she asked. “God, that phone sex must have really taken it out of me.”
Even though Goldie was my best friend’s girl, I still couldn’t help the way she made me feel, like the dark life I was living had some ray of hope. She wanted to be friends, but I wanted to stay as far away as possible because hearing about her having phone sex with my best friend only tightened my heart and irritated me.
She scanned my body and saw the bandage wrapped around my arm. Thanks to Jett’s dad and his take-no-prisoners attitude, I was nursing a gun wound.
She stumbled out of bed, so off balance she flew forward, but I caught her before she face-planted into my sternum. Wincing from the pain, I steadied her.
“God, I’m sorry.” She straightened up. “Are you okay?” she asked while eyeing my bandage.
“Just a scratch,” I replied, not wanting to draw attention to me. “How come you’re not answering your phone?”
“Uh, just a scratch? A fucking bullet went through your skin.”
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” I ignored her, knowing I was pushing her buttons.
Frustrated, she threw her hands up in surrender and grabbed her cell.
She looked at it and pointed the screen at me. “It’s dead. I guess I didn’t plug it in last night.” She plugged it in quickly and then turned back toward me. “Why? Do you have a secret you have to tell me? Did you finally lose your virginity last night, and you want to talk about it?”
“Cute,” I said while blowing out a long breath. “Jett was just trying to—”
Before I could finish my sentence, a whirlwind of black hair and caramel skin stormed into the room, running directly into my back.
“Goldie, did you see—” The woman stopped in place when she slammed into me. She looked up at me as I turned around to see who had just barged in. Her bright green eyes widened at the sight of me. “Oh my God, who’s the Adonis?”
The woman standing in front of me was every man’s wet dream. Her body was toned from her long legs to her shapely ass to her mouthwatering breasts, which were on display in the form-fitting top she was wearing. Even though she was gorgeous, probably the most fucking gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, it wasn’t her exterior that was making my heart pound a mile a minute. It was the way she looked deep into my eyes. It was stupid to think something so deep about someone I had just glanced at, but in that moment, I knew the woman in front of me saw right into my soul. She looked past all my indiscretions and saw me for who I was. The realization hit me like a pile of bricks and a small smile twitched at the corner of my lips. I couldn’t help but smile. This whirlwind took my fucking breath away.
I knew she was feeling the same way about me by the way she looked into my eyes, the way she licked her lips and perused my body. I didn’t believe in love at first sight—I thought it was a notion for daydreamers and romantics—but I was at least believing in lust at first sight because I knew I wanted this woman. I needed her. She had a cure for the pain coursing through me. I could feel the pull. She was going to be dangerous to my well-being.
The heat in the room turned up dramatically as we looked at each other, not saying anything.
Goldie cleared my throat and said, “Uh, hello. You can eye-fuck each other later. Why are you both here?”
Ignoring Goldie, I introduced myself. “Kace,” I said while holding out my hand to her.
“Lyla,” she said back, placing her small hand in mine.
I held on to her hand as our connection grew deeper. Too bad the attention-grabbing Goldie was standing a few feet away.
“Oh, so you just give her your name as if it’s nothing, but I had to agree to be a part of your little gentleman’s club world before you introduced yourself to me?” It was true, she been allowed to know me until after she’d agreed upon coming onboard. It was just a form of torture that I took pleasure in, especially with a mouthy one like Goldie.
Keeping my eyes on Lyla, I answered, “It’s not my club.”
Growing more frustrated by the minute, Goldie broke the electric pull between Lyla and me by poking Lyla in the side. “Why the hell are you here?”
Slowly turning away from me, she held out a magazine to Goldie. “Just delivering the news.”
Fuck!
I quickly reached for the magazine, but Goldie’s little paws were quicker than mine, and she snatched the magazine from Lyla before I could.
“Give me that,” I said sternly.
“What are you going to do about it?” she asked as she jumped up on her bed, distancing herself from me.
Not wanting to play her games, I walked over to her, grabbed both her legs, and pulled them out from under her, making her fall ass first onto the mattress. I grabbed the magazine from her, rolled it up, and stuffed it in the back of my jeans.
“Hey, that’s mine!” she said while trying to regain her balance.
“Call Jett,” I said to Goldie, and then I eyed Lyla up and down and said, “Let her call Jett.”
“Give me your number, and I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Her gaze spoke future promises if I did.
“Say nothing, and I’ll think about giving it to you,” I teased, wondering who the fuck the man was who was living in my skin right now.
“Good enough for me,” Lyla responded as she followed me out of Goldie’s room.
“Traitor!” Goldie shouted as I shut her door.
Lyla walked in front of me as we descended the stairs. The minute we exited the back door, the thick Louisiana air hit me hard. Lyla stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, her hands in her back pockets, and spun around to face me. Her breasts were propped up from the position of her hands, making it impossible to look away.
“Do you have any plans?” Lyla asked, looking confident and sexy.
“No,” I responded, running my hand through my hair.
“Treat me to lunch?”
“That’s awfully presumptuous of you to think I would buy you lunch.”
She gave me the once-over, a smirk crossing her lips. “By the way you eye-fucked me upstairs, pretty sure you’ll be buying me lunch. Let’s go, beefcake. I’m hungry.”
Without me agreeing to her terms, she grabbed my hand and started walking me toward Jackson Square. I should have known Lyla would be trouble. She was friends with Goldie, and right now, it was looking like Lyla was more of a sassy counterpart than Goldie.