Free September: Calendar Girl Book 9 by Audrey Carlan Page A

was a trigger for me. Only he was the wrong man, the wrong voice.
    I shook my head as visions of Wes and me rolling around his bed, laughing, enjoying one another in a way I’d never experienced with anyone else paraded past my subconscious. Hard, fast sex up against walls until both of us lost our minds. Spending hours using our mouths, kissing every inch of each other’s skin. Sucking him off, over and over, until my mouth hurt and Wes couldn’t get hard any more. In turn, he’d go to town on me. He’d give me so many orgasms with his mouth that my body ached, the space between my thighs felt strange without his mouth locked on it, and I’d pass out. The nights in Miami where we’d made love, whispered our commitment into one another’s mouths, promised forever—all of those things were at the forefront of my thoughts. Everything came back to him, back to the man I loved. There would be no way I could violate that trust.
    Even with Ginelle’s life on the line, I couldn’t betray Wes like that. There had to be another way. Blaine waited patiently, swirling his wine glass between two long fingers as if he had all the time in the world. Overconfident, smug bastard. Why had I not noticed these traits before I got in deep with him?
    “Blaine, I’m going to need a little time to think about it.” I fluttered my eyelashes, giving him a bit of my flirty nature, desperately trying to sway him.
    His eyebrows narrowed. “No. You decide now, tonight.” The tone brooked no argument. Even his body visibly tightened. His hand gripped the wine stem so tight I hoped the glass would break, shatter in his palm, forcing him to need stitches.
    Daydreaming of his destruction didn’t help me get any closer to figuring out how to get out of what he wanted yet still save my best friend.
    “What if I added a little something to my request?” I played with my hair, twirling a lock around a finger. “An incentive for you, to give me a little time to think?”
    He tilted his head and his gaze focused on mine. “And what would that incentive be, pretty Mia?”
    “A kiss.” I decided on a whim.
    One thing Blaine loved, told me a million times over when we together, was kissing me. Once, he went so far as to say he could survive on my kisses alone, bread and water be damned. That was the only ace I had to play. The rest of my cards were a fat bluff. And if I kissed him and made it believable enough, I think he’d enjoy the challenge. Blaine appreciated a good chase and liked to build up the anticipation of getting what he wanted.
    “Hmmm, you play a hard bargain, my pretty Mia. What are your terms?”
    “Two weeks, and you let Ginelle go, tonight, now, immediately.”
    He scowled, and his hand turned into a fist. “And how do I know you wouldn’t just up and disappear, leave me hanging?”
    I chuckled. “You’d find me.”
    His eyes lit like the ball dropping in Times Square in New York City signaling a brand new year.
    “Besides. It’s not like I could check Pops out of the hospital and hide Maddy and everyone else I loved. You forget, Blaine. I know exactly how you operate, and there is nowhere far enough away to escape your grasp. Am I wrong?”
    He leaned back and rubbed at his chin before wiping his bottom lip with his thumb—a gesture that used to soak my panties instantly. Now I was dry as the Sahara desert. His charm, good looks, and sexy gestures did nothing for me anymore. A laid-back movie-making surfer who made horribly bad decisions to tread on unguarded land in a third world country did it for me these days and every day. The thought of Wes tore at my heart, but I breathed in and out slowly, cooling my jets so I didn’t break down. Having a meeting with the devil did not allow for cracks in my armor. I could cry when I got back, but I knew better than anyone never to let your enemy see you weak. They strike when your soft spots are exposed. I’d never give him that opportunity again.
    “No, you’re not.