The men were close to my age and adorable in a nerdy kind of way. Maybe if my head hadn’t been full of Jackson, I’d have chemistry with one of them, but all I wanted to do now was help these boys fly.

“H-h-hi,” the tall one said. He wore cute wireframe glasses and a button-up shirt that had an ink stain on the sleeve. “I’m George.”

“I’m Lilly. Nice to meet you, George.” I tossed my hair over my shoulder and smiled up at him, before sneaking a glance behind him. The girls they’d struck out with were watching us. “You weren’t having much luck tonight, huh?”

He glanced at the girls’ table. “Yeah. But—”

“I’ll tell you what. I’m not going to go home with you, but I want to dance and drink, without having to worry about anyone ruining my fun.” I ran my hand down his arm, rocking forward on my toes. He sucked in a breath at my touch and watched me with a bewildered expression. “If you agree to hang with me tonight,” I said, making eye contact with each boy, “I’ll make sure those girls come slinking back to check out what they’re missing. All you have to do is keep up with me on the dance floor, get my drinks from the bar, and flirt back. It’s a win-win situation. You in?”

George looked at his friends, eyebrows raised. The one wearing a shirt with a glow-in-the-dark periodic table of elements stepped forward. “I’m Henry. Can I get you a drink, milady?”

I gave him a sultry smile. “Milady? Aren’t you the polite gentleman? I’d love a Sex on the Beach. And the first round’s on me, gentlemen.” I waited until Henry made it to the bar and nodded at the bartender when he looked at me to confirm the drinks were on me. Then I grabbed George’s hand and that of his quiet friend, and dragged them onto the dance floor.

Jackson who?

Chapter 9

Jackson

The second Amanda walked out, I leaned on the door and let out a sigh of relief. The entire meeting, the possible recruit, had been nothing but forward and ballsy. I tried to keep it all business, but the woman had been determined to treat it as a game of seduction. No matter how many times I tried to shut her down, or fended off her wandering hands, she hadn’t gotten the hint. So when Lilly had come home, it had seemed like a good idea to try to use her as a shield.

To call her my sister, so the woman would act appropriately.

Yeah. It hadn’t been.

If anything, it had only made my discomfort worse. Not because I wanted Amanda. I didn’t. At all. She wasn’t my type, and I wasn’t interested in doing anything with her besides signing her up for the army. No, the cause of my discomfort had been my sister. Lilly had taunted me with dirty words, and reminders of what we’d done, when I was trying my best to forget it ever happened. To forget how good she tasted, or how she cried out my name when she came, or how she clung to me as I took her there. To forget how badly I wanted my cock inside her—

Damn it, there I went again.

I was obviously failing horribly.

All I could think, breathe, smell, and feel was Lilly Hastings. She haunted me. One tiny sliver of a bite hadn’t been enough, and never would be enough.

But it had to be.

Without warning, I replayed the way her mouth had felt pressed against mine, and the moans she’d made when she came all breathlessly. Groaning, I tugged at my too-tight jeans and cursed under my breath.

She was killing me.

I would go up to my room and jack off again, if I thought it would help. But I knew from experience—both last night and this morning—that it wouldn’t do a damn thing. Nothing would, except bringing her back to my bed to finish what I started last night. And I wasn’t gonna do that.

Damn it all to hell and back.

Her parting shot about not waiting up floated through my mind and filled me with an inexplicable rage of jealousy. If she even thought about bringing home a guy, I would…do nothing. Because she wasn’t mine. Couldn’t be mine.

And I had to accept that.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out with a scowl. Recognizing the name on the display right away, I swiped my finger across the screen. “Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s me. Tyler.”

I rubbed my forehead. I had a headache named Lilly building fast and strong. “Yeah. I saw. What’s up?”

“Your sister is here.”

I straightened. “My sister?”

“Yeah, there’s a cute little blonde here, who said she was your sister, and she’s dancing with three guys who are clearly into her. She’s looking pretty intent on going home with all of them, and she’s been having them bring her drinks since she got here. She’s gotta be two seconds from falling on her ass.” Tyler paused. “Sister or stepsister, I thought you’d want to know she’s here and not in the right mindset to make smart decisions.”

The line clicked off, and I cursed under my breath, grabbed my keys, and went to my truck. She thought it was funny to go out, act irresponsibly, and get so drunk she couldn’t take care of herself? Well, it wasn’t. There was a difference between rebellion and stupidity. And I was going to tell her as much…

As soon as I saved her pretty little ass again.

Pulling into the bar’s lot, I parked directly next to her fancy red Cadillac. Growling, I threw the door open and marched inside, scanning the crowd for her familiar hair. My gaze snagged one blonde, but she was in a group talking to three geeky guys.

No Lilly.

Did that mean I was too late?

Heart pounding, I made my way over to the bar. If Tyler served her, got her wasted, and let her leave with a strange man…he was a dead man. I would rip his heart out, piece by piece, and feed it to the—

Halfway across the room, I sighed in relief.

Lilly sat at the bar, chatting with Tyler, her hands flying as she spoke animatedly. She was still here. Not trapped somewhere with three strange men who had no problem taking advantage of a girl like her. The relief I felt didn’t last long.

In fact, the fury set in almost immediately.

Walking up right behind her, teeth gnashed together, I didn’t bother with words. Didn’t bother with logic. Instead, I picked her up, threw her over my shoulder as if she weighed nothing—which she did—and headed for the door. She kicked and screamed for a good three seconds. It was as ineffective as a moth landing on my arm.

“Quit squirming or I’ll drop you on your ass,” I snapped.

“Help—!” It took almost another three seconds before her inebriated brain realized who I was. But after that, she froze. “Jackson. Put. Me. Down.”

“Nope.”

She punched my back, right above my kidney. “If you don’t put me down and let me go back, I swear to God I’ll—”

“Lilly? Do you need help?”

The three geeky guys had circled around to block my path to the front door. These guys? These were the ones she’d been dancing with? The urge to kick their asses, to fight, was strong. If they knew what was good for them, they’d back the hell off before I stopped fighting that particular battle. “She’s fine.”

Lilly laughed. “It’s okay, boys. Jackson may be a jackass, but he won’t do anything bad to me. He’s my big brother.”

It was official. I was going to kill her. Glaring at the guy in front of me, I snarled, “You heard her. Now move.”

The skinny nerd stepped back, bowing slightly. “M-milady.”

Biting back a scathing reply over the outdated and corny-as-hell term, I strode forward, flipping off Tyler, who was fighting back laughter as he held the door open.