The Harder You Fall by Gena Showalter Page B

feelings for her. Why he was so rude to her and why he’d tried to charm her at the diner. Now she had a pretty good idea. He wanted her, but he didn’t want to want her. The same way she wanted him but didn’t want to want him.
    He couldn’t have been clearer about his desire to go all the way if he’d pressed a massive erection between her legs—which he had. Even now she gasped with need, attempting to cut all ties with logic, common sense and self-preservation.
    I know your parents don’t want us to be together, Anna Grace. I’m from the wrong side of the tracks and you’re...you. The one every girl wants to be, the one every boy wants to date. But when it comes to the man you marry, only one thing should matter. Who is willing to do anything to make you happy? That’s me. I’m that man.
    â€œAre you wanting a one-night stand?” Jessie Kay asked, hoping...praying for a denial.
    â€œYes.” West’s voice was nothing but a rasp.
    Well. His affirmation wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it sure was disappointing. He would take her here and now, then return to his date, acting as if nothing had happened. Because it hadn’t—not really. Not for him. Jessie Kay meant nothing to him. A moment of pleasure, easily forgotten.
    I’m an appetizer, she’s a meal.
    I’m the drive-through, she’s the five-star restaurant.
    I’m the slut a man can bang, never the girl he’ll take home to momma.
    The knowledge hurt Jessie Kay deep inside, pouring salt on old wounds that festered. West hadn’t asked her to be his date—and he never would.
    â€œDo you have many of those?” she asked, trying to control her temper. “One-night stands, I mean.”
    â€œNo.” The grip he had on the hem of her dress tightened, pulling the material down, revealing the upper edge of her bra. “You would be the first.”
    The firmness of his tone said she would also be the last. “Why make an exception for me? Because I’m special ?”
    He frowned at her sneering tone. “Because we’ll be good together. Because I can’t stop thinking about you.” Pretty words, but not really an answer. “I’ll take care of you, Jessie Kay.”
    Oh, he would, she had no doubt about that. But he would only take care of her until he finished with her and zipped up his pants. “Then what? We pretend it never happened?”
    His eyes narrowed, flashes of fire under his lids. “Yes,” he hissed. “We pretend. We become the friends we were meant to be.”
    Something inside her snapped, and she pounded her fists into his shoulders. “You think I’m easy to get and easy to walk away from. Well, I think you’re a bastard. How about that?”
    â€œI think you’re a woman with needs. I know I’m a man with needs, and I know we can help each other out.”
    Help each other out. The phrase echoed inside her mind, again and again, more insulting each time. “I don’t need your help, West. I take care of myself very well .”
    â€œBut you’ll have more fun with me.”
    â€œDon’t be so sure. You haven’t seen the things these fingers can do.”
    His fury switched direction, now projecting a take-off-your-panties heat that singed her to the bone.
    â€œI’m not looking for a one-night stand, or even a two-month affair,” she said. Not that he’d offered the latter. She swatted his shoulders again, just for good measure, and this time, he stepped back, putting distance between them. “I’m especially not interested in becoming your side slice.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t be a side slice.” His lids lowered, looking heavy, and his lips softened. “You’d be the full meal.”
    Dang him! She shivered. “Your girlfriend is waiting outside this room. You plan to screw me and return to her. You’ll sleep with her