Free Summer Fling: Compass Girls, Book 3 by Mari Carr & Jayne Rylon Page B

days earlier. She knew he was waiting for an answer, but she still wasn’t convinced a couple months of getting laid were worth throwing away eight years of friendship. Regardless of Liam’s assurances that they would be fine, she knew better.
    Sex would change everything.  
    Ultimately, if it had just come down to that, she would have said thanks but no thanks.  
    However, Liam was offering more. He’d dangled something she wanted desperately even though she feared crossing over a line that would be the equivalent of opening Pandora’s box.
    Submission. She had felt that desire tugging at her since the night she’d lost her virginity, yet she’d never given in to it. Never trusted anyone enough to experiment, to explore, to submit to. She’d never allowed herself to discover if her feelings were genuine or mere curiosity.
    She trusted Liam. Completely. He’d never hurt her, never take things too far. In fact, it was perfect. Jade suspected Liam would never fall in love again. He’d given his heart to Celia years ago, so she didn’t have to worry about emotions gumming up the works.  
    For three days, she’d struggled to decide. She hadn’t mentioned his proposal to her cousins because they didn’t know about her attraction to the concept of submission. It was the only secret she’d ever kept from Sienna, Hope and Sterling.
    She wasn’t sure how they would respond to that admission. Would they take it in stride or see it as some sort of weakness? Deep inside, she knew they’d love her even if she sprouted an extra head. After all, Hope was in a committed relationship with Clayton and Wyatt, an honest to God threesome, just like Silas, Lucy and Colby. None of the cousins had blinked twice when Hope fell for two handsome cowboys.
    However, she could only imagine her cousins’ faces when they discovered Miss Independence, take-no-shit-from-anyone Jade longed to submit to a man in the bedroom. Hope had never hidden her yearning to find a relationship just like her parents, so it came as little surprise when she did. Meanwhile, Jade hadn’t given her cousins any indication of how dark her desires ran.
    Now she would be trapped with Liam and no closer to deciding what to do. “Are you listening to me, Bruce?” she repeated. “I’m fine doing this on my own.”
    Bruce ignored Jade’s protestation. He walked behind the bar and dug into a drawer for his car keys.
    Jade studied her boss’s face and took pity on the man, letting the subject drop. Bruce was pale and sweating profusely. She wondered for a moment if she should take him to the hospital.
    “Are you okay?” she asked quietly when Bruce turned to leave.
    He turned around and gave her a weak smile. “Yeah. Got a bottle of Maalox by my bed. I’ll drink some of that before I go to sleep. If it still hurts in the morning, I’ll go to the doctor.”
    Wow. He was sick. “All right. If it gets too bad tonight, call me. Okay?”
    Bruce patted her on the shoulder. “You’re a good girl, Jade. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back to normal in a few days.”
    Jade pretended to shudder. “Damn. Don’t know if I should root for you to get better or not? Normal’s not exactly pretty on you.”
    Bruce chuckled. “Little minx.” Then he looked at Liam, who’d claimed a stool at the bar and was watching their interaction. “Keep an eye on her. Don’t like her walking through that dark parking lot alone.”
    Liam nodded. “I’ll take care of her.”
    Bruce walked out the back door, leaving Jade and Liam alone in the quiet bar.
    “I’d tell you I don’t need a babysitter, but I know it would be wasted breath.”
    Liam gave her a smile that was too charming, too handsome. While she’d always acknowledged his hotness factor, it had never taken her breath away like it did lately, which was another reason she was hesitant to accept his offer. Sexual attraction was one thing, but falling for Liam would be outright insanity. She wasn’t about to play