Free Second Chance Love (Heaven Hill Book 6) by Laramie Briscoe Page A

at her eyes. “Spill.”
    “Fine,” she huffed. “Rooster came over and we had dinner. Dinner lead to drinks. Drinks lead to us making out in the rain in my backyard. End of story.”
    “No, no, no, not end of story. How was it?”
    “Are you and my brother in a marital rut, woman? Damn.”
    “No.” Denise shook her head. “Your brother is never in a marital rut. I’ve just never heard you talk about a guy before. Now you’re coming to work with a hickey.”
    “There’s not really much to say. I’m sure we’ll go out again, but we didn’t make plans before he left.” That bothered Roni more than she could say. She wished they had made plans, that Rooster had wanted to see her so badly, he couldn’t leave without knowing the next time they would be around each other. Of course she wouldn’t voice those thoughts, but it did bother her.
    “Well, you need to look alive, ’cause lover boy just pulled up and, oh my God, he’s in uniform. Back when we didn’t like him so much, I couldn’t say that, but now I can.” Denise looked out the window, waving.
    “Stop!” Roni hissed at her.
    “I’m trying to help you,” she hissed back as Rooster came in.
    “Hey, ladies, how’s it going?” he asked both of them, but his eyes were on Roni. As soon as their gazes met, it was like all the air was sucked out of the room.
    “It’s going great, but if you’ll excuse me, I have to go save my daughter from having her heart broken by Cash at the ripe old age of one.” Denise got up from the chair and made her escape.
    “You’re a traitor,” Roni yelled after her as she shut the door.
    Rooster gave her a once over before a shit-eating grin spread across his face. His eyes had landed on the mark he’d given her. His face turning wolfish. “Finally, we’re alone.”
    Roni hadn’t been this scared, in such a good way, in a very long time.

Chapter Twelve

    “I ’m glad I got you here by yourself,” Rooster was saying, but Roni wasn’t sure she was following any of it. All she could do was watch the way his mouth moved, the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down while he talked.
    “Are you listening to me?”
    She shook herself out of it. She had to get a grip; otherwise, she’d be crazy by the time he was done in this office. “Sorry, I’m listening now.”
    He walked around the desk and stood in front of her, holding his hands out.
    There was no hesitation as she grabbed those hands and let him pull her up. Once she stood in front of him, he caressed her neck with his hand, paying special attention to the part that held his mark.
    “It’s cute that you can’t pay attention to me, but I’d really like for you to.”
    Nobody had called her cute in a very long time, and she didn’t know how to respond to that. “You have my full attention,” she told him, putting her hands at his hips to steady herself. Her gaze met his and she did her best not to sway.
    “I realized after I left that you and I didn’t make plans about when we could see each other again.”
    Her heart soared. He did want to see her again. There had been doubt in her mind, and she’d hated that. “No, we didn’t.”
    Rooster was having just as hard a time concentrating as she was when he saw her eyes connect with his lips. Throwing caution to the wind, he exerted a small amount of pressure on the back of her neck and pulled her lips to his. He told himself that he couldn’t let this get out of hand. They were too old to be acting like teenagers, making out where anyone could see them. Using his free hand, he pulled her tightly to his body, so that they touched from head to toe. He wanted her to know exactly how much she affected him. There shouldn’t have been any doubt in her mind.
    Roni fought to get her head about herself, but she was breathless and her stomach was doing funny things. She’d never been the type of woman to get all caught up in a man, to let passion overrule every part of her life. Hell, she could count