The McGilley Trilogy Read Free

a laugh when they made to get closer. Some would call her a tease, but Brett just put her flirtatious actions down to harmless fun. She was either completely naïve about her sex appeal or completely indifferent to the reaction she inspired, either way it seemed his response to her was just as strong as the younger guys she had eating out of her palm.
    At one point, Kayla had looked over at him just when he had again given in to the urge to sneak a peek at her and had grinned knowingly then waved her bejeweled fingers at him before turning her attention back to her dance partner. Cursing under his breath, he had made a concentrated effort to ignore her once again and had been relatively successful until someone else at the table made a comment that defused his good intentions.
    “Uh oh, it looks like someone’s getting out of line,” Tom Rawlins commented, his hard gaze aimed toward the dancers.
    Brett glanced over just in time to see the young punk he had seen dancing with Kayla when he first spotted her grab her arm as she shook her head no and tried to move away from him. By the scowl on his face and the wince on Kayla’s face as he obviously tightened his grip, he wasn’t taking no for an answer to whatever he wanted from her. Emotions rose swiftly, annoyance and anger rising quickly to the surface. Both were to be expected, but it was the spark of jealousy that irritated him the most, as it definitely wasn’t expected or welcome.
    “God damn it,” he swore as the jerk ignored Kayla’s struggles. Rising from his seat, he muttered, “Excuse me,” to his friends before elbowing his way through the crowd, his thunderous expression helping to clear the way.
    Kayla pulled her arm again, but Stephen refused to let go and she knew by his tight grip she was going to have bruises tomorrow. Damn it, this was her fault. If she hadn’t been so preoccupied with dividing her attention between simply having fun and cutting loose and keeping one eye on the only man she seemed to want tonight, she would’ve taken more notice of her actions and how her partner was taking them. She had dated Stephen briefly over two years ago, but like most of the other guys her age, he had been too self-centered for her to want to spend much time with him, especially in bed.
    “Let me go, Stephen. I’m not going anywhere with you, especially someplace private,” she snapped for about the fourth time.
    “That’s not what your body’s been telling me, baby. Come on, quit playing the bitchy tease and let’s go out to my car.”
    Before Kayla could say anything, a familiar forearm and hand latched onto Stephen’s wrist and simply twisted. Kayla winced when Stephen yelped and dropped her arm, his angry attention turning from her to Brett who looked mad enough to spit nails.
    “Back off. Now.”
    Even Kayla had sense enough to shiver at that softly deceptive tone and the cold look in those green eyes, but she didn’t let his obvious anger stop her from taking advantage of his interference.
    “It’s about time you showed up for the dance you promised me,” Kayla said gaily before she addressed Stephen who stood staring mutinously at both Brett and her. “Thanks for the dance, Stephen, but the rest of my night is taken.” Reaching out, she took Brett’s hand, making it clear who she had every intention of spending it with.
    Brett waited until Stephen stomped off before turning his attention to the little minx grinning unabashedly up at him. In bare feet her head barely reached his chest and even though he knew she was twenty-six, she still looked like a kid just out of high school, something that had his gut clenching as he knew he was going to give in and give her one dance.
    “That situation was your fault, you know,” he admonished her.
    Kayla sighed. “Yes, I know, I admit it, okay? But if you hadn’t spurned me earlier, then I would have been paying more attention to the vibes I was giving off than on you, so you have to accept