“I’m good,” he said, gaze narrowed at her.
Jess turned back to the guys as they each licked and salted the side of their hand and lifted their shot. “Lick, sip, suck,” she said. And then she was licking the salt, swallowing down the golden liquor, and sucking hard on the lemon. A shudder rocked through her.
“One more for good measure,” Jeb said, pouring and passing the salt again.
They did the second shot, and Jess could already tell it was a good thing she’d eaten a big dinner. Warmth bloomed outward from her stomach, and her head got just a little bit light. It felt damn good after the stress of the past week.
Jess won the second game of pool, too, and that one earned her a twenty. Blake insisted on two more tequila shots to even his odds, and Jess laughed as she teased and taunted him. Her muscles loosened and her body felt flushed. The guys were funny and flirty and the tequila made them even funnier.
Best of all, her troubles floated away and Jess could just be and let all the crap go. At least for a few hours.
Ike watched Jess play pool with the prospects for over an hour. She was damn good at the game and sexy as fuck bending over the table in those tight jeans and flashing cleavage down the front of her loose shirt—where she kept stuffing her winnings. In typical Jess fashion, she was sarcastic and full of trash talk and flirting nonstop. Ike had been sporting a semi for a long time now, and he was starting to go a little out of his mind.
And he wasn’t the only one getting turned on. Blake and Jeb were eating Jess’s antics up, not to mention looking at her like they wanted to spread her out on the table between them and make a meal of her. They made no effort to hide their appreciation of her assets when she took her shots, and if Blake adjusted his junk while watching her one more time, Ike was going to punch him in the fucking throat.
“Bunny said you might be staying here for a few nights,” Jeb said, sitting on the side.
“I don’t know how long,” she said, studying Blake as he tried to make a hard shot. “But definitely tonight.”
“Nice,” Jeb said. “Where are you staying?”
“Oh, uh, here?” She looked to Ike, her gaze shuttered, her expression that careful neutral she’d been wearing around him all day. It was making him insane and causing a feeling in his chest like someone had punched him there and yanked out some important stuff. “I’ve never been here before, so…”
Ike studied her eyes, but he couldn’t get a read on her. He couldn’t tell what the look meant. Was her question purely informational? Was she wondering if she and Ike would sleep together? Was she looking for his permission to sleep wherever she—or her and the prospects—might want?
Fuck if that last possibility didn’t make the blood go from a simmer to a low boil in Ike’s veins. He almost felt like the fever was back, though he knew it wasn’t. This heat was coming from the possessive, territorial part of him. The part that said, She. Is. Mine.
He squeezed the neck of the beer bottle hard enough that he feared it could break in his hand. “We’re upstairs,” he bit out, not including the detail that Bunny had given them separate rooms. Or that Ike had requested it be that way.
“While most of the club’s away,” Blake said, “we’re upstairs, too.” He gave her a look that made Ike want to break things. “Your turn.” The guy winked at her.
Jess grinned as she lined up what should’ve been an easy shot—and missed. She was a little thing and had now thrown back part of a beer and four tequila shots. Ike had only seen Jess drunk a handful of times, not enough to remember how fucking fluid and sensual her body got under the influence. She had him gritting his teeth and aching in his jeans.
“Aw, shit,” she said at her miss, making the guys laugh.
“’Bout time I give you a spankin’,” Blake said, his gaze very obviously skating down to her ass.
Jess raised her eyebrows in challenge. “Think so, huh? Do it if you’re man enough.” She used the pool cue to hold herself steady.
“Better get that ass ready for me,” Blake said.
Annnd that’s when something snapped inside Ike’s brain. “Game’s over,” he said, shoving off his stool. “You two, clean up and get the fuck out.”
The fact that the prospects hesitated before following his order ratcheted up his pissed-off factor by about ten. The fact that Jess was glaring at him like he’d ruined her fun—and her chance to get laid—had him wanting to destroy things with his bare hands. The fact that Blake paused in the doorway like maybe he was thinking of asking Jess to come with him pushed Ike all the way to homicidal.
“What part of get the fuck out don’t you understand?” Ike said, glaring at the prospect. The kid disappeared into the hallway, the door swinging shut behind him.
“What’s your problem?” Jess said, hands planted on her hips.