Read Online Wildcard by Mina Carter and Chance Masters - Free Book Online Page B

same. He smiled as he wove his fingers in and out of her hair.
    He’d catch flak from the boys over this. He remembered all the fun chiding all the “cherries” for going out and getting married to a girl who wouldn’t last. This though, this would. He was going to make sure of it.
    “Oh yes. You’re stuck with me for good now.”
     
    * * *
     
    Four hours. That was all it took for his life to completely turn around. Michael leaned in the doorframe and watched as Jasmine slept on the sofa. In all honesty, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her since he’d run into her at the store. She amazed him. Far from the diner waitress or store assistant he’d expected her to be given her group of friends that night, turned out his little Jasmine not only had beauty but brains as well. She was a lawyer, no less. No wonder she’d been so comfortable throwing words like “injunction” at Julian.
    He pulled out his cell phone and sent Parra a text message to see if he could go get his truck from the grocery and drop it off at his apartment. Within a minute he got a reply, so he replied with a “thanx, owe u a beer.”
    Just about to tiptoe his way over to Jasmine, he heard the distinct sound of tires on a driveway, then the idle-down of a car engine. Instinctively, his gaze flicked toward the living room door, like a German Shepherd watching the house. On silent feet, he padded across the polished wood floor until he got a good view of who was here. Julian was just climbing out of the fancy car he’d screamed off in earlier.
    Great, this guy again. Just what he needed.
    A glance back at Jasmine assured him that she was still fast asleep. Good. Mike headed for the door; time to sort this jerk out once and for all.
    He opened the door and stepped outside, shutting it softly behind. Once he felt the doorknob grab its notch in the door frame, he took two steps forward, a scowl on his face. Stabbing an index finger back toward the road, he spoke with a sense of authority gleaned from his time in the army.
    “Put your ass back in your car and get the hell out of here. Now.”
    In the back of his mind, the two voices started to bicker with each other about his treatment of the other guy, but he overrode both. He was giving Jasmine a hard time, and that ended the morality debate for him.
    Julian paused when he saw Michael on the steps. Thunder filled his expression. “What the fuck? Who the hell do you think you are, kid? Now fuck off before I call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing and harassment of my wife.”
    “One.”
    Mike started a count. Julian just looked at him as though he’d taken leave of his senses. Shutting the door of the car, he took a step closer up the driveway. Most people would have expected Julian to have backed down by now. But Mike wasn’t most people. What he really wanted was for Julian to disregard his warning and continue marching his happy ass right up to the door, where Mike would promptly introduce his face to the driveway.
    “Oh that’s cute. They teach you to count in preschool?”
    “Two.”
    A few more steps. Just a few more steps. Mike clenched his fists, his heart rate accelerating as his body braced itself for action. Still Julian made no show of backing down.
    “Get the hell off my wife’s porch, you fucking hick.”
    “Three.” And that was that. As soon as he finished saying the number, he launched forward.
    Within seconds, Mike had bounced him off the porch steps, the driveway, and onto the hood of his car.
    “Not…your…wife,” he ground out. He reached down and grabbed an angry fistful of shirt collar, and dragged Julian back to his expensive-looking Mercedes Benz, yanked open the door, and threw the beaten heap of Julian back into his car. Then he slammed the door shut.
    “Now listen up and listen good. You’re going to pull out of this driveway, and you’re going to leave her alone. Do you understand? Nod your fucking head yes!”
    Julian did as