Free That First Kiss by J. C. Valentine

get rid of her, but she wasn’t someone I slept with.” He stared into her eyes, willing her to believe what he was about to say next. “That woman is my sister.”
                  “Oh.” Piper frowned and her eyes dropped to the floor. “But why would you want to do that?”
                  Tate rolled his eyes and dropped her arm. Piper watched as he crossed the room and flopped down on the couch. He patted the cushion next to him and Piper’s feet obeyed, carrying her there and seating her at the opposite end of the sofa. “I did it because I knew it was the only way to get her to leave. Marie is probably my closest friend, but she can be really intense and really freaking nosy sometimes.”
                  Piper mulled over his words. “So let me get this straight,” she said, situating herself so she was facing him directly. “You asked me over so your sister would think that I was one of your floozies and leave?”
                  Tate grimaced at her choice of words. “It sounds worse when you say it, but basically, yeah.”
                  “You’re a piece of work,” she said with disdain.
                  “Never claimed I wasn’t.” They stared at one another until, finally, Piper looked away. “Do you want to watch a movie or something?” Tate asked, breaking the silence.
                  “Depends. What movie is it?”
                  “The Expendables.”
                  Piper pursed her lips, determined not to smile. She failed. “Sure. I can’t resist Stallone. Or Lundgren. Or Van Damme. Statham is pretty swoon worthy too…”
                  “Maybe I wasn’t so far off base with the floozy bit,” Tate said, earning a pillow to the side of the face. “What did I say?”
                  “Just start the movie, asshole,” Piper chirped playfully, her grin spanning her entire face. She had to admit, never in a million years would she have thought she would be sitting in the middle of Tate’s living room getting ready to watch a movie with the guy. It was such a natural, everyday thing to do. Something friends would do. The way he was smiling and teasing lightened the severity of his face, giving him a more approachable appearance.
    Dare she say it, when he behaved like this, the man was almost likeable.

 
     
                 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    9
     
    She had just enough time to head home, shower and change before heading out to meet Tate. Tonight, as with nearly every Saturday night since she signed on to this job, he insisted that she join him at the after-hours club.
                  “I need a DD,” he’d told her, and Piper grudgingly agreed. Never mind that he could take a cab—he wouldn’t hear of it. Plus, it counted as overtime, and she could always use the extra cash. Only now she was stuck sitting in a darkened corner while her boss and former one-night stand tried to hook up with anything with a pussy.
                  The Night Life , a restaurant/bar, was teaming with college grads and random people on the hunt for a good time. It was Friday night, one of the busiest nights for partygoers, or so Piper assumed. She never had been one for the night life, content to just sit at home and take in a made-for-TV movie or a good book.
                  This was so not her scene.
                  The only reason she agreed to subject herself to such…insanity, was because of the added bonus, but she was seriously wondering if the cost to her self-esteem was worth it. The problem was—and if she was being completely honest with herself—as much as she detested Tate Larson, she was finding it more and more difficult every day to say no to him.
                  On the outside, he was everything she had dreamed her fantasy man would be: tall—at least 5’11”—pale