Free Brooklyn Rockstar (Kendall Family #1) by Jennifer Ann Page B

would’a guessed.” A deep chuckle vibrates against his throat. “What brought you to New York?”
    I find myself staring at his lips a little too long and heat fills my cheeks. “The friend I came here with tonight. She’s highly persuasive and a lot of fun. Plus I figured I owe it to myself to at least give the big city a try. I never really fit in back home. The small town life just isn’t for me. It sucked leaving my dad behind, but I didn’t willingly sign up to be a farmer for the rest of my life.” When I realize I’m babbling, I set my hands in my lap and lean forward. “Sorry. You weren’t asking for my life story.”
    “It’s all good,” he answers with another alluring smile. “I enjoy listening to beautiful women talk about themselves.”
    Tipping my chin down as yet another warm flush fills my cheeks, I’m able to see more of the tattoo on his arm the way his sleeve has shifted. I know I’ve seen that drawing somewhere.
    “What’s your name?” he asks.
    The bar takes on an unusual slant when it all clicks together.
    The tattoo.
    That voice.
    Those arms.
    Snapping my eyes back up to meet his, I lean closer and reach out to nudge his hat higher on his head. A set of surprised, extremely beautiful icy blue eyes stare back at me, igniting a blazing fire in my belly.
    I jump against my seat, gasping.
    What kind of voodoo is this? I’ve been talking to Charlie Walker? Is this some kind of a joke? Are there hidden cameras I don’t know about? I probably should’ve known it was him by the sexy roll of his voice, but I’d never dream in a bazillion years that he’d be here or that he’d give me the time of day.
    I’m not aware my hand is still on the brim of his hat until he reaches up to pull it back down, temporarily resting his fingers against mine. The skin on skin contact tingles all the way down my arm, seeming to have a direct contact to my hormones. Squeezing my thighs together, I feel my lips part. His shadowed eyes silently plead for me to stay calm as Sharlo appears.
    “Well then,” she trills with two beers in hand. Her eyebrows rise when she looks at Charlie. “Who’s this?”

Chapter 8
CHARLIE
    S hit .
    Finally finding the freckled brunette without drawing any unwanted attention was fucking perfect. But now I see understanding flicker in those big, beautiful brown eyes—that up close have a tinge of honey—just as her friend joins us. I don’t know how she figured it out, but the way she becomes slack-jawed as her gaze darts between me and her friend, it’s clear she recognizes me. Now what?
    The friend sets one of the bottles down to offer me her free hand. “I’m Sharlo,” she announces in a mild British accent. She’s gorgeous as hell, but doesn’t do it for me like the brunette. No one has ever done it for me like the brunette.
    “CJ,” I answer, taking the friend’s hand. The nickname—something my mom tried to make stick when I was little—seems a better idea than tipping this Sharlo woman off too. The brunette’s big eyes snap back onto mine with the introduction. I can’t tell what’s going through her head when she continues to stare, but some of the sizzling hot connection we shared the first time I saw her has returned.
    “You live around here, love?” Sharlo asks in a flirty tone, though I get the feeling she’s simply trying to help her dazed friend along. When she takes a swig of her drink, she wiggles her eyebrows. “Evelyn here just moved into the neighborhood as my flatmate.”
    Evelyn. I finally have her fucking name! I throw Evelyn my best charming smile and wink. “She was just telling me how she moved here from a farm.”
    Evelyn's rapidly blinking eyelids are the only thing to move besides her chest as she takes shallow, uneven breaths. Shit . If she hyperventilates this could turn into a fucking disaster. I have to find a way to calm her down.
    Sharlo takes another drink before turning to her. “Ev? You suddenly look zonked.”
    On