Free Conquer Your Love by J. C. Reed Page A

and my life . The good, the bad, and the horrible.
    “Like it?” Jett whispered behind me.
    As usual, my abdomen twisted and knotted at the sound of his voice, and
my heart began to beat faster like a helpless butterfly in a glass cage. I spun
around and smiled at Jett, barely able to keep my eyes off him. He was dressed
in a V-neck shirt and tight jeans that barely managed to hide the perfect
sculpting of his hard muscles. The sunlight caught in his eyes, reminding me of
dark-green gemstones.
    Oh.
    God.
    Oh god. He was stunning.
    No. He was sinfully perfect, from his dark hair to the way his mouth
twitched at the corners whenever he was about to smile.
    Tiny butterflies came to life in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to hate
him so much, to be done with him once and for all, because in some way he was
like a drug—the more I tasted him, the more I became addicted. But the
way he smiled at me, and the way he cocked his head to the side, expecting my
reaction upon seeing him, reminded me that I was human. Weak. Prone to making mistakes. And I could only hope I wasn’t
about to make yet another one. Because in the end—no matter how much I
liked him or he liked me—he was still Jett Mayfield. The
man who played dirty. The man who played me.
    My knees weakened and my mouth turned dry as he moved toward me—so
confident in his stride—until he was close enough to touch me. I inhaled
the earthy scent of his aftershave and let it slowly engulf my mind.
    A sexy smile played on his lips. His green eyes looked alluring in the
sunlight. The beginning of a stubble shadowed his tan
skin, making me want to run my fingers over it. I turned away from him and
toward the clear blue lake because it was easier than looking at him. There was
still so much pain inside stemming from his actions and the realization that if
he hadn’t lied, if he hadn’t tried to trick me, we might still be together.
There might still be an us .
    “Brooke.” His voice was deep and strained. Guarded. Ignoring my
disturbing attraction to him, I leaned over the balustrade as far as I could
and took a deep breath as I tried to control the turmoil inside me. I might not
be able to shake it all off, but I wasn’t going to show him just how big a soft
spot I still had for him either.
    “I’m glad you could come. I thought this would be the ideal place to
meet and talk.” He touched the small of my back, oblivious to the storm raging
inside me, reminding me how gentle he was. How amazing we once were together.
    “I didn’t expect this.” I turned to face him and our gazes interlocked,
making my knees go weak.
    “You said you wanted a public place. I believe the exact words were
‘outside, where anyone can see us.” He leaned against the railing and shot me
an amused look that brought with it the most gorgeous dimples. Dimples that
made you wish you would drown in them.
    I crossed my arms over my chest, as if the action could put some
distance between us.
    “Yeah, but I meant having other people around, Jett. Lots
of people. Think fast-food chain.” Being seen wasn’t much of a put-off
to him. He had made that pretty clear on the lakeshore.
    “What’s wrong with the people present?” He nodded at the waiter, amused.
    I heaved a sigh in mock exasperation. Whatever I said, my arguments were
lost. I had given in to his request to talk and was ready to listen. But I
could already tell coming here was a mistake. The place was too beautiful; too
perfect. Away from the distractions of a club or the people employed in his
office, any ounce of determination to fight the stupid attraction between us
dissipated into thin air.
    “You wanted to see me, so let’s get to the point,” I said. “What did you
want to talk about?”
    “Let’s have lunch first.” His tone left no room for discussion. “We’ll
talk later.”
    “Fine.” Hungry as I was I didn’t argue with that, even though I doubted
I’d be able to swallow more than a few bites in his