[Southern Arcana 2.0] Crossroads by Moira Rogers

I was hot shit. Then she found out how old I really was and never spoke to me again. You women and your older men. You break a guy’s heart.” She couldn’t resist teasing him. “Uh-huh. So you’d rather I went and found someone younger, that’s what you’re saying?”
    He nipped her lower lip. “Miraculously enough, I find myself more forgiving of the trend as I grow older.”
    “I wonder why.”
    “Like I said, it’s mysterious.”
    “Not so much.” She studied him, curious. “First love.”
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    www.samhainpublishing.com

    Crossroads
    His body tensed, just for a second. Even after he relaxed, his laughter sounded forced, his voice strained. “I thought I was in love once. We’d been together a year when my parents died, and she was great through all of it…until I told her I had to come back to New Orleans. She was human. I couldn’t explain why Kat had to stay here.” He shrugged one shoulder, the muscles bunching under her hand. “It got ugly.
    She got mean. It went to hell so fast maybe it was never love at all.” He hurt , and Nick wanted to make it stop. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
    “No, it’s okay.” The corner of his mouth ticked up. “It means I understand that you have to help Michelle. That’s what good people do. They take care of the ones who need them.” It was one thing they had in common—responsibility to others. “It still sucks sometimes.”
    “Yeah, it sure the hell does.” He stroked his thumb along the side of her neck. “What about you? Any ex-boyfriends gonna come after me?”
    There had been casual dates and a few steady ones, but nothing important. Nothing like Derek. “I haven’t had much time. I don’t have a general manager at the bar, so I’ve been handling most of the day-today stuff myself.”
    “By choice? Or because the bar can’t support a manager?”
    “Mahalia didn’t have one, and I guess I just haven’t gotten around to hiring one yet.”
    “So if you found someone interesting enough to make time…” He flashed her a wicked grin. “We could have a date outside the house some time. One where we keep our clothes on.”
    “Hey, that was my plan all along, before life intervened.”
    “I’m derivative.” His fingers tickled up her back, brushing along the line of her bra. “I’m also considering stealing your bra.”
    Nick reached back and slapped at his hand. “You didn’t earn this lingerie. You lost the game.”
    “It wouldn’t be stealing if I’d earned it.”
    “Thief.” She didn’t care. She just wanted to kiss him.
    So she did, his jaw first and then his lips. His fingers crept back up to her bra strap, and he unhooked it as his tongue teased just inside her mouth.
    Nick bit his lower lip and pulled away. “Ready to admit to your ulterior motives?” she asked softly against his ear.
    “I wasn’t aware they were very ulterior.” The wet heat of his tongue dragged along her jaw, and he laughed, low and dirty. “The mating urge may not be scrambling my brain at the moment, but I’m still a man with a really hot chick in his lap.”
    “I was talking about the strip poker.” At least, she thought so. It was hard to remember with his tongue on her skin.
    He found the sensitive spot above her pulse. “Does anyone suggest strip poker for innocent reasons?” www.samhainpublishing.com
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    Moira Rogers
    The telephone interrupted Nick’s answer, and she groaned. “Hold that thought.” She handed him her lace bra. “And this too.”
    He yanked her back and nipped her neck once, then released her. “If we weren’t at Shapeshifter Alert Level One, I’d rip the phone out of the wall.”
    “If something happens, Jackson or Alec will call my cell. It’s got to be work.” It turned out to be Phillip, the closest thing she had to a bar manager, with the minor crisis of a missed delivery. Nick mouthed an apology to Derek, who pouted ridiculously for two seconds before tossing her bra at her.
    She caught it and headed