Read Anyone but Alex (The English Brothers Book 3) for Free Online

just a little bit harder than they had a moment before. That slight, but unmistakable, shift in her breathing would almost be enough for a man looking for an opening to make a move on her.
    But instead of taking a step forward to pull her against him—to see if he was right and if kissing her perfect lips would lead to a passionate, impromptu fuck against the brick wall of a cold, dark balcony—Alex froze. The same eyes that had trusted him as a child now looked at him as an adult, and he was powerless to misuse her. Every protective instinct rose within him, and all he could think was that he needed to stay away from her.
    “We’ll go back inside separately,” he said softly, exhaling in a rush as his body, primed and ready for pleasure, balked that none was forthcoming. “You go first. I’ll wait a while, and then—”
    “Alex, your reputation doesn’t bother me. Didn’t you hear what I said?” she asked, her forehead deeply creased in confusion.
    “Yes. Every word,” Alex said through clenched teeth. He winced, shaking his head. There was something wrong with him—something deeply wrong with him—if he didn’t at least reach for this living goddess. “But, I’m no good for you, Jess.”
    “I see,” she said softly, pulling his jacket more snugly over her chest, which released a strong whiff of Polo Black. He fleetingly wondered if she would smell like him when she took it off. Glancing back at her face, it surprised him when her stunning red lips tilted up in a sweet, understanding smile. “But, I didn’t actually offer anything, Alex.”
    “Didn’t you?” he asked, fairly certain he’d seen the offer in her eyes, even if she wasn’t aware she’d made it.
    She shook her head. “I just wanted you to know that I don’t judge you for your personal choices. You were a friend to me when I needed one. And though I’m sure you don’t need one, I’d like to be yours all the same.”
    Her words were like a bucket of cold water over his head , and Alex didn’t know whether to be touched or slighted.
    Friendship ? She was offering him friendship ? Was she actually saying she didn’t want to date him or sleep with him or otherwise learn what it would feel like to be with Alex English? He searched her face, but it was pristine and unstudied in the moonlight, her eyes earnest, if a little sad. She wanted to be his… friend ? Alex didn’t know how to be friends with a woman. The few times he’d tried, he’d ended up sleeping with them anyway.
    “Friends,” he said, trying not to grimace.
    She nodded, smiling brightly at him like their being friends was an actual possibility when his body was raging with want for her.
    “Or do you not do friends?”
    “Oh, I definitely do friends,” said Alex without thinking.
    He grimaced in embarrassment, but t o his relief, Jessie wasn’t at all offended. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open softly before she started laughing. It was musical and soft, a sound so welcome Alex found himself grinning and wishing he could hear Jessie Winslow laugh every day for the rest of his life.
    Finally she took another sip of her martini, shaking her head, her face a mixture of amusement and skepticism. “Do lines like that actually work?”
    “You’d be surprised.”
    “I guess I would be.” She tilted her head to the side and grinned. “What’s your best one?”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. Lay it on me.”
    He studied her face, but it was open and amused, and he decided to answer her honestly.
    “Are you an interior decorator?”
    “No,” she said, looking confused by the sudden shift in conversation.
    “Because the whole room got more beautiful when you walked into it.”
    She gasped before breaking into gales of laughter, her shoulders shaking under his oversized jacket. When she could finally speak, she demanded, “Tell me another.”
    He gave her one of his sexier smiles, then dropped his eyes obviously to her chest. When she smacked his arm, he