Read Online Hen Party 1 (Hen Party #1) by Ashlyn Brady - Free Book Online
Authors: Ashlyn Brady
Ads: Link
Kyra or Maddy got injured. “Kyra, don’t move.” She turned her head at the sound of his voice. “Maddy, go to the public bar until Kyra cools down,” he ordered. There shouldn’t be any more conflict there. Maddy was a tough woman, and the worst of the louts had left the pub.
“Okey-dokey,” Maddy conceded with a shrug. “I’ll be back,” she threw over her shoulder before heading to the door.
He rubbed a hand across his forehead at Maddy’s easy surrender and her threat to continue the fight later on. Where would it end?
Chapter Five
Kyra frowned as she watched Elin’s dash to the front bar door with stripper Paul following after her. “Where is Elin hurrying off to?” She turned to ask Jovanni. “Why is she leaving the lounge with Paul? Kyra was thinking out loud and Jovanni didn’t have the answers to her questions.
“Is she upset with me because I stood up to Maddy? Is Elin deserting me?” Kyra ran her fingers through her long locks. “What have I done? Have I ruined my friendship with Elin? I have to speak to her and sort this out. Oh no, the sleaze bags in the bar might get to Elin.” Kyra went to take off after her friend.
Jovanni stopped her by cupping his hands around her shoulders. “You don’t have to rush off in a panic. The louts have left the bar.” As he tried to steady her, he felt a tremor pass through her body and his hands. With each passing moment of the party fiasco, she was dancing on the edge of her nerves and heading toward her own personal collapse. She bit down on her lip and looked up at him with soulful eyes. She melted his heart a little bit more.
“Calm down before you hurt yourself,” he said.
She wriggled her shoulders free of his grasp. He had to look away from her halter neck dress to keep his thoughts about her sexy breasts in check.
She stared trance-like at the door. “Don’t tell me to calm down,” she said, her voice quivered. “I want to get rid of Maddy forever.”
“I know you do. You’ve tried your best to end the stud show, you can’t do any more,” he assured.
Red-faced, she dragged in a breath. “Who are you to decide what I can or can’t do?”
The air sizzled between him as he hesitated to tell her why he cared about what happened to her. Because of her written reports to him, she was his trusted manager, the lady who intuitively knew how to get under his skin. She probed his thoughts, poked his emotions, and streamed light through the dark clutter.
The bitter self-talk about his ex-lover Gina had quietened, but his chest was still tight with jealousy over Marco’s contentment with Elin.
Jovanni wanted a loving woman by his side, too, and now there was only one smart, principled beauty to pursue. If he could find a way to breach the divide between the personal chemistry he had with her and their business positions. What about the family expectation of him to pair up with a girl from good Italian stock? Marco’s choice of a blond, Australian fiancée wouldn’t be forgotten for a generation.
“I’m a bystander watching a group of women lose control of their behavior,” he said candidly. “Before you blast me with your flaming temper again, consider this: Maddy isn’t blessed with an attractive figure like you, so she uses whatever means she can to draw attention to herself.”
* * *
Joe’s mention of physical appearance put a sour taste in Kyra’s mouth. “I know Maddy wants attention, demands it even. That’s how she is. But you’re wrong to think that I use my body to get noticed. How I look on the outside hasn’t brought me a lot of happiness so far.”
His eyes skipped over her face. He didn’t have a comeback. She wondered if he’d experienced his own false starts to relationships with good-looking women.
He looked away for a moment.
The Henriettas gathered around the front bar door.
“When Maddy finds her place in the world she’ll stop behaving in such a self-destructive manner. I think the same
“Okey-dokey,” Maddy conceded with a shrug. “I’ll be back,” she threw over her shoulder before heading to the door.
He rubbed a hand across his forehead at Maddy’s easy surrender and her threat to continue the fight later on. Where would it end?
Chapter Five
Kyra frowned as she watched Elin’s dash to the front bar door with stripper Paul following after her. “Where is Elin hurrying off to?” She turned to ask Jovanni. “Why is she leaving the lounge with Paul? Kyra was thinking out loud and Jovanni didn’t have the answers to her questions.
“Is she upset with me because I stood up to Maddy? Is Elin deserting me?” Kyra ran her fingers through her long locks. “What have I done? Have I ruined my friendship with Elin? I have to speak to her and sort this out. Oh no, the sleaze bags in the bar might get to Elin.” Kyra went to take off after her friend.
Jovanni stopped her by cupping his hands around her shoulders. “You don’t have to rush off in a panic. The louts have left the bar.” As he tried to steady her, he felt a tremor pass through her body and his hands. With each passing moment of the party fiasco, she was dancing on the edge of her nerves and heading toward her own personal collapse. She bit down on her lip and looked up at him with soulful eyes. She melted his heart a little bit more.
“Calm down before you hurt yourself,” he said.
She wriggled her shoulders free of his grasp. He had to look away from her halter neck dress to keep his thoughts about her sexy breasts in check.
She stared trance-like at the door. “Don’t tell me to calm down,” she said, her voice quivered. “I want to get rid of Maddy forever.”
“I know you do. You’ve tried your best to end the stud show, you can’t do any more,” he assured.
Red-faced, she dragged in a breath. “Who are you to decide what I can or can’t do?”
The air sizzled between him as he hesitated to tell her why he cared about what happened to her. Because of her written reports to him, she was his trusted manager, the lady who intuitively knew how to get under his skin. She probed his thoughts, poked his emotions, and streamed light through the dark clutter.
The bitter self-talk about his ex-lover Gina had quietened, but his chest was still tight with jealousy over Marco’s contentment with Elin.
Jovanni wanted a loving woman by his side, too, and now there was only one smart, principled beauty to pursue. If he could find a way to breach the divide between the personal chemistry he had with her and their business positions. What about the family expectation of him to pair up with a girl from good Italian stock? Marco’s choice of a blond, Australian fiancée wouldn’t be forgotten for a generation.
“I’m a bystander watching a group of women lose control of their behavior,” he said candidly. “Before you blast me with your flaming temper again, consider this: Maddy isn’t blessed with an attractive figure like you, so she uses whatever means she can to draw attention to herself.”
* * *
Joe’s mention of physical appearance put a sour taste in Kyra’s mouth. “I know Maddy wants attention, demands it even. That’s how she is. But you’re wrong to think that I use my body to get noticed. How I look on the outside hasn’t brought me a lot of happiness so far.”
His eyes skipped over her face. He didn’t have a comeback. She wondered if he’d experienced his own false starts to relationships with good-looking women.
He looked away for a moment.
The Henriettas gathered around the front bar door.
“When Maddy finds her place in the world she’ll stop behaving in such a self-destructive manner. I think the same
Similar Books
