Read Online Wild Child by Molly O'Keefe - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Molly O'Keefe
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all he ever did with her. Piss her off and apologize.
“It’s late,” Brody said, ever the Boy Scout. “You going to let her walk home alone?”
Jackson looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “No.”
He left his nearly full beer and his friends and walked out into the night to chase down a woman he’d be smart to leave alone. She tampered with his locks, his rules, and distracted him from the plan. She tampered with him , opened up a side of himself he didn’t know.
But as he stepped out the door, he was smiling.
Chapter 5
Monica wanted to make a proper dramatic exit, but Reba was suddenly interested in sniffing every square inch of the sidewalk. Peeing on every blade of grass, marking her territory.
“Please,” Monica muttered. “Who are you kidding?”
She heard footsteps behind her and yanked on Reba’s leash. Without having to look, she knew who was coming. Could tell by the whiff of superior condemnation in the air. Could tell by the way her skin rose in goose flesh, attracted and repelled in equal parts. “Go away, Jackson.”
“It’s late,” he said. “You shouldn’t walk alone.”
“Stuff it.”
“Look, I’m sorry.”
In the bar, he’d touched something awful, something searing and painful, and it obliterated her interior landscape, those things about herself that she’d created and honed. Her indifference, her strength, her hard-won acceptance of her past, her parents—all of it. He just stirred up a dust storm of doubt and anger. And now she was a quivering ball of pain, all over again.
And she wanted to return the favor.
She whirled on him. “You say that a lot, Jackson. But what exactly are you apologizing for? For treating me like a pariah one minute and a woman you want to fuck the next?”
He flinched at her language. Good, yes . Because thatwas how she felt, like flinching under his attraction and his judgment.
“Yes. For all of it. For all of it, I’m sorry.” Standing under a streetlamp, the starkness of the light did him no favors and she loved it. Look at the mayor now. Wrinkled and ravaged and guilty .
But it wasn’t enough. She wanted him to bleed.
“You think you’re special because you want to fuck me? Because you’re not. You’re not special. You’re a boring, judgmental ass.”
Okay , she stopped herself. Enough. Just walk away .
She turned, tugging on Reba’s leash, but she heard Jackson’s footsteps behind her.
“What!” She whirled again. They were in the shadows now, between the streetlights, and he kept walking until he was close enough for her to see him clearly.
“My poor manners aside, is it just me you don’t like, or is it any man who wants to fuck you?”
She wasn’t going to tell him how long it had been since she’d had sex. How long it had been since she’d even noticed when a man looked at her with real interest in his eyes. And she refused, absolutely refused, to remember how nice it had been in his backyard to flirt with him. Really flirt, not this crap she did every day, this mirror she held up to the world, reflecting only what people wanted to see.
With him, she’d been herself. As much as she was ever herself in the company of other people. And she found herself terrified by the honesty of the moment, of the honesty he seemed to require of her right now.
“I am sorry for how I’ve acted toward you. I …” He continued after a breath. “It has been a very long time since I’ve been interested in a woman like I am in you. And it’s thrown me off. It’s made me … rude. And I am sorry.” She opened her mouth but he held up his hand. “I know how you feel about me being polite, but sometimesan apology is more about the person with regrets than the person being apologized to.”
God, the things she knew about regret! The steam emptied out of her, leaving her rattled. “Fine. I forgive you, but I think … I think we should just stay away from each other.”
He laughed. “It’s a small town.”
“I
“It’s late,” Brody said, ever the Boy Scout. “You going to let her walk home alone?”
Jackson looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “No.”
He left his nearly full beer and his friends and walked out into the night to chase down a woman he’d be smart to leave alone. She tampered with his locks, his rules, and distracted him from the plan. She tampered with him , opened up a side of himself he didn’t know.
But as he stepped out the door, he was smiling.
Chapter 5
Monica wanted to make a proper dramatic exit, but Reba was suddenly interested in sniffing every square inch of the sidewalk. Peeing on every blade of grass, marking her territory.
“Please,” Monica muttered. “Who are you kidding?”
She heard footsteps behind her and yanked on Reba’s leash. Without having to look, she knew who was coming. Could tell by the whiff of superior condemnation in the air. Could tell by the way her skin rose in goose flesh, attracted and repelled in equal parts. “Go away, Jackson.”
“It’s late,” he said. “You shouldn’t walk alone.”
“Stuff it.”
“Look, I’m sorry.”
In the bar, he’d touched something awful, something searing and painful, and it obliterated her interior landscape, those things about herself that she’d created and honed. Her indifference, her strength, her hard-won acceptance of her past, her parents—all of it. He just stirred up a dust storm of doubt and anger. And now she was a quivering ball of pain, all over again.
And she wanted to return the favor.
She whirled on him. “You say that a lot, Jackson. But what exactly are you apologizing for? For treating me like a pariah one minute and a woman you want to fuck the next?”
He flinched at her language. Good, yes . Because thatwas how she felt, like flinching under his attraction and his judgment.
“Yes. For all of it. For all of it, I’m sorry.” Standing under a streetlamp, the starkness of the light did him no favors and she loved it. Look at the mayor now. Wrinkled and ravaged and guilty .
But it wasn’t enough. She wanted him to bleed.
“You think you’re special because you want to fuck me? Because you’re not. You’re not special. You’re a boring, judgmental ass.”
Okay , she stopped herself. Enough. Just walk away .
She turned, tugging on Reba’s leash, but she heard Jackson’s footsteps behind her.
“What!” She whirled again. They were in the shadows now, between the streetlights, and he kept walking until he was close enough for her to see him clearly.
“My poor manners aside, is it just me you don’t like, or is it any man who wants to fuck you?”
She wasn’t going to tell him how long it had been since she’d had sex. How long it had been since she’d even noticed when a man looked at her with real interest in his eyes. And she refused, absolutely refused, to remember how nice it had been in his backyard to flirt with him. Really flirt, not this crap she did every day, this mirror she held up to the world, reflecting only what people wanted to see.
With him, she’d been herself. As much as she was ever herself in the company of other people. And she found herself terrified by the honesty of the moment, of the honesty he seemed to require of her right now.
“I am sorry for how I’ve acted toward you. I …” He continued after a breath. “It has been a very long time since I’ve been interested in a woman like I am in you. And it’s thrown me off. It’s made me … rude. And I am sorry.” She opened her mouth but he held up his hand. “I know how you feel about me being polite, but sometimesan apology is more about the person with regrets than the person being apologized to.”
God, the things she knew about regret! The steam emptied out of her, leaving her rattled. “Fine. I forgive you, but I think … I think we should just stay away from each other.”
He laughed. “It’s a small town.”
“I
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