FriendlySeduction Read Free

Two
     
    Rob stared at Sara’s retreating back in confusion. Just
seconds ago he’d held everything he’d ever wanted in his arms. And now she was
running away from him as if the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels.
    What the fuck had made her run before he had the chance to
say something? He looked around the bar as if the reason for her sudden flight
was among the drunken crowd. Cursing under his breath when he spied Marc making
a beeline toward him, Rob wished he could find his own hiding place.
    “Awww, your evening not going how you imagined? What’s the
matter? Couldn’t close the deal?” The smug grin on his friend’s face caused a
muscle below his own eye to twitch.
    “What the fuck is your problem?” Rob crowded Marc. “Why
couldn’t you just take it like a man? She chose me. Get over it.”
    Taking a deep breath, Rob made himself back away. He was the
most by-the-book officer on the force but everyone had a breaking point. If he
didn’t keep his distance, he’d be in a shitload of trouble. There would be hell
to pay if his captain heard he started a bar brawl.
    A dim little voice in the back of his head reminded him that
Marc was his best friend. Regardless of the fact that he was acting like a
schmuck.
    Rob turned away and strode to the men’s room. He needed a
couple minutes to calm down before he went to find Sara.
     
    Marc watched in disbelief as Rob disappeared into the john.
Did Rob think he was going to play nice? Because as far as Marc was concerned,
it wasn’t over. One dance together did not make them a couple. Not in his eyes
anyway. Especially considering the way Sara hightailed it away after. Rob
must’ve said something really stupid. The dipshit.
    Taking advantage of Rob’s rare naïveté, Marc hurried over to
the bar and snuggled up behind Sara.
    “Hey, princess. Can I buy you a drink?”
    Sara stiffened at his question.
    “What is it with you two tonight?” She swiveled around on
her barstool to face him. He loved the way the movement trapped her between his
legs before she turned her head away to cough.
    Did she just cover up saying cock block with her
cough?
    “What’s up, Marc? Where’s your girl du jour?”
    “Very funny, Sara. I’m here to see you.” He moved in a
little closer. “How about another dance?”
    “Ugh. I’m not drunk and I don’t need you two shadowing my
every move. I want to have some fun for a change!”
    “And you can’t have fun with me?”
    Sara shook her head and raised her drink to her lips. “Not
the kind of fun I want to have,” she murmured behind the glass.
    Marc couldn’t believe his ears. What kind of fun was she
looking for and why wasn’t he a candidate?
    “Oh hey, look. There’s your old flame, Bethany. Why don’t
you go over and rehash the good ole days?”
    He didn’t even turn his head. Sara still hadn’t forgiven him
for dating Bethany. He could admit it—he had been a vain, egotistical jerk in
high school. Dating the most popular girl had seemed like a dream come true to
his small, adolescent, hormone-fueled brain. It took one very memorable
confrontation in the quad to remind him that Bethany Larson might have been
built like a Greek goddess but she had the soul of Medusa.
    He never did tell Sara about his eavesdropping on them in
the quad that day. Or that the episode was the reason he had broken up with
Bethany. Maybe he should have. Sara apparently thought he was the two-timing
Lothario Bethany and her clique had made him out to be.
    “About Bethany—”
    “I don’t want to talk about Bethany. Or any of those other
anorexic women you date. I just want you two to leave me alone so I can have
some fun with one of the guys here who thinks I’m fuckable and doesn’t relegate
me to the could-only-be-a-friend column.”
    Marc stared at her in shock. She was here for a hook-up.
Sweet, innocent little Sara Banks was on the hunt for a one-night stand and
hadn’t come to him.
    Over his dead body.
    He had to play