Pure Wicked (Wicked Lovers #9.5)(22)
Author: Shayla Black

“Go shower and eat something. It’ll sit until you’ve rested.” Jamie assured, then turned his attention back to Hayden.

Suddenly, she got it. He wanted to put her ex in his place, man to man. Bristol bit at her lip. She should tell Jamie that she could fight her own battles because she could. But the idea of a shower, a meal, and a way to avoid her ex were too much to pass up. Besides, she had the feeling he would only keep insisting.

“Sure.” She smiled. “Thanks.”

“Don’t do this,” Hayden protested. “ You’re making a big mistake. Talk to me.”

“You let me go, so it’s my mistake to make. Bye.”

After a sarcastic smile and a wave, Bristol turned toward the back of the shop and headed for the stairs, feeling as if Jamie had lifted an enormous weight from her shoulders—at least for now. Come Wednesday, she’d be alone again, and Jamie would have moved on. But today, he could chase Hayden off, lock her door against the little insect, and hold her tight.

It wasn’t romance, she assured herself. But it felt pretty damn good.

* * * *

Jesse heard Bristol’s footfalls fade as she headed upstairs. When the door closed, he turned to Hayden with a blistering glare. “Leave her the fuck alone.”

“Or what? You’re not going to stay. And I’ll still be around.”

Hayden had him there. Jesse knew he couldn’t remain indefinitely, even if sharing a bed—hell, a kiss—with Bristol was one of the most singular pleasures he’d ever experienced. For a well-seasoned hedonist, that was saying something. Still, her ex was trouble, and Jesse was determined to make sure that the asshole gave Bristol a wide berth even after he was gone.

“Are you nothing but an entitled tool who thinks you should have everything you want, and fuck everyone else?”

The scrawny guy reared back as if the question shocked him—or slapped him across the face. “What does that mean?”

“I used to be one, so I know all the earmarks,” Jesse assured. “Why else would you pursue Bristol if it’s only going to hurt her? You left her. Now she doesn’t want you anymore. Obviously, that makes you feel lousy, but no one gives a shit about your pride. And young, naive Presleigh would be crushed if she had any idea you were here, sniffing around her older sister. You either care about your fiancée enough to be faithful or you’re not ready for marriage.”

Listen to me being all wise and shit…

“It’s none of your business,” Hayden shot back. “You might have spent last night with Bristol, but you don’t care about her.”

“And you do?” he challenged. “If you could dump her for her sister, then come back looking to get laid, I don’t think you care at all.”

Hayden managed to look indignant. “I came to check on her, not for sex.”

“But you wouldn’t turn it down, would you?”

“I-I wasn’t thinking that. I…”

Hayden’s seemingly perplexed expression was bullshit and told Jesse that sex with Bristol might not have been bobbing on the top of her ex’s frontal lobe, but it had been swimming somewhere in his brainpan.

“The hell you weren’t.”

“You don’t know me,” Hayden finally snarled. “Fuck you.”

With that, he turned and pushed out the door. The bell rang with shrill violence. The heavy glass slammed behind him.

“Good riddance,” Jesse murmured, locking up and killing the lights before flipping the sign on the door to read CLOSED.

But the asshole brought up some really good points, namely that in a few days, Jesse would be gone. Right now, he didn’t dig the thought of leaving Bristol behind. Kimber was the only woman he’d felt any actual emotion for in the past, and at the time he hadn’t cared enough about her—or himself—to fly right. The punk he’d been years ago would probably have related to Hayden’s dilemma, still being hot for one girl while engaged to another. In fact, Jesse vividly remembered the night he’d been in that position. He’d chosen wrong, siding with booze and easy ass, rather than love or respect. The decision had haunted him ever since because he knew he’d fucked up and hurt someone special. He refused to let Hayden do the same to Bristol.

While pondering ways to make the prick keep his distance, Jesse’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it free and saw Candia’s contact pop up on the display. A quick glance told him he was still alone in the little bakery.

He pulled up a bistro chair and answered. “Hey.”

“Where are you?” She sounded frazzled.