Read Ride (Alpha Male Romance): In Between the Covers (Carolina Bad Boys #3) for Free Online Page B

brushed my thumb across her mouth. “Maybe I think you’re more special than anyone I’ve ever met.”
    Her lips parted. I thought she’d invite my fingertip inside.
    She reeled back. “Maybe I am. But you aren’t.”
    Her cold words stole that tiny bit of warmth from my heart. She had every right to think I wasn’t worthy because I knew I wasn’t. And it ate at me more than ever before because of her.
    I scraped back my chair. I pivoted away to stand at the sink with my arms braced against it. My voice came out low. “You’re right. As always. And this is when we say goodnight, precious.”
    When I turned around, her chair was empty. The mug of tea I’d made her sat abandoned on the table.

Chapter Six
    Avery
     
     
     
    I DIDN’T SEE MUCH of Jase the next two weeks. He left breakfast out for me. He had dinner warming in the oven, but other than that, he was MIA. I didn’t blame him. I’d been a bitch. Worse, I didn’t know how to apologize. As the days passed, it became harder and harder to think of a way to tell him how sorry I was.
    He had always seemed so easy, unaffected by anyone, like he didn’t give a shit what anybody thought. But I’d seen the hurt flash across his eyes. I’d watched his mouth tighten and his face harden.
    I didn’t want to feel the instant attraction Jase generated just because he looked at me. Just because he touched me.
    I didn’t like him.
    I still hated Jase Goddamn Everly. Except I really didn’t hate him at all.
    He didn’t know it, but his gruff voice sent slivers of heat into my belly. His tats peeking from the cuffs of his sleeves and the collar at his neck made me want to do things I’d never done with any man. My body furled and tightened every time I thought about him.
    I had a feeling his nonchalance was almost as formulated as my shy shell.
    A confusing tumble of emotions and reactions filled me because of him, but none of them were bad. Well, he did make a point of pissing me off more often than not, but he fired me up. He wasn’t threatening, but something about him was dangerous. Yet, I knew he’d never do anything to hurt me.
    I hate him. He’s a player. He thinks I’m a game. And a player just like Jase hurt me.
    I still needed to say sorry to him.
    ****
    The second weekend after I’d thoroughly dissed Jase—who’d done nothing more than take me into his home and look after me while asking nothing in return—I stumbled into the bathroom between our bedrooms. Half my hair fell into my eyes. My eyes were sleep blurry because I’d stayed awake half the night waiting for him to come home. I’d hoped to catch him alone and finally force my apology on him.
    My blurry eyes cleared quickly when I saw what, or rather who, was already in the bathroom. I might’ve even squeaked like one of those silly baristas I worked with.
    Jase stood at the sink rubbing a towel over his hair. The many muscles on his naked back flexed and popped. His shoulders bunched. His biceps bulged. The tattoo I’d seen coiling up his neck was part of the same tribal design covering the entire length of his right arm. The pattern of swirls and stars and intricate bands of black ink curled around his shoulder and continued down the side of his back. It fanned along the wall of his ribs.
    The ink led me to his butt.
    From behind, his ass looked muscular and firm wrapped inside the towel.
    When he turned around, my gaze stayed put, coming into contact with a sizable bulge.
    I definitely squeaked. I know I blushed. My hand rose to cover my mouth and I finally lifted my eyes to his face. Throwing aside the towel he’d used on his hair, he leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. Then he graced me with one of his lazy, insolent grins I hadn’t seen in so long.
    My feet wouldn’t budge as I kept looking, that time taking a return trip all the way down his broad, sculpted chest. My jaw dropped open before I snapped it shut. The damp towel clung to him, knotted very low on his