Can't Resist Him

River Bend, Volume 4

Molly McLain

Published by Molly McLain, 2015.

CAN’T RESIST HIM (River Bend, #4) by Molly McLain

Cover Design: Sommer Stein, Perfect Pear Creative Covers

Cover Photo: Sara Eirew

Copyright © 2015 by Molly McLain Books, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a media retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) with the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher of this book, excepting brief quotations used in reviews. Purchase only authorized editions.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, etc. are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities to real people, locations, events, etc. is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

OTHER WORKS BY | MOLLY MCLAIN

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Epilogue

Note from the Author

Acknowledgments

About the Author

OTHER WORKS BY

MOLLY MCLAIN

CAN’T SHAKE YOU (River Bend, #1)

CAN’T HOLD BACK (River Bend, #1.5)

CAN’T GET ENOUGH (River Bend, #2)

CAN’T WALK AWAY (River Bend, #3)

Sometimes what you want and what you need are two very different things.

Always relegated to the “friends with benefits” corner of small town River Bend, Jenny Riley is done giving the milk for free. Falling hard for a bad boy? Not in the plan, either.

Sexy, emotionally-wounded Marine Reservist Brody Nelson just needs someone to lend an ear. A friend. Friends to lovers? That’s more than he bargained for.

Neither wants a relationship. A long distance friendship should be enough.

It’s not.

Warning: This books contains a tattooed, pierced hero with a few surprises up his sleeve...and a hella sexy one down his pants.

Prologue

“It’s not you, it’s me.”

Yeah, right.

Jenny Riley sucked in a deep breath, wet her lips, and willed her heel, currently clad in a spiky black knee boot, not to stomp through Reed Fletcher’s stupid, clichéd foot.

“You really don’t have to do this.” She shot a glance around his shoulder to make sure Annabel, her receptionist, was still out to lunch. She was and, thankfully, she’d flipped the Open sign to Closed on her way out. At least there’d be no witnesses to this...whatever it was. “You’ve got someone new, right? I get it. We’ve done this before.” Repeatedly. To the point, it was actually kind of embarrassing.

Reed shook his head, his brow drawn together. “It’s different this time. Or at least I think it is.”

“Good. I mean, yay for you. I’m sure she’s great.” Great in a way she apparently wasn’t, because fuck buddies weren’t great for anything other than, well, fucking. Gah, she was so pathetic. What did she think would happen? He’d fall in love with her? Ha!

“Jenn...” Reed reached out for her and the second his fingers touched her arm, butterflies whirled in her stomach.

Dammit. She was not attached to him. She’d known what they were and what they weren’t. To have thought for even a second that she might mean something more to him...

“I hope we can still be friends.”

Ugh. The other ‘F’ word she hated so much.

“Of course we will. We’ve been friends forever.” She pasted on a smile as the chimes on the front door jangled and Annabel bustled in. Snowflakes glistened on her hat and she held two steaming cups of coffee in her hands.

“Hey, Reed,” the young woman greeted him brightly—and cluelessly—despite the cold following her inside the salon.

He flashed a quick smile, then turned back to Jenny, his voice low. “Have dinner with me tonight. Let’s lay this to rest, once and for all.”

God, that sounded awful. Like their on-again-off-again fling was something they’d struggled with. Hell, maybe he had. Could she possibly have been any more naive?

“Tonight’s not good,” she muttered, still sweeping up the hair from her last customer because it kept her from simply standing there, looking as awkward as she felt. “I’m helping Ally get ready for Vegas.”

“How late will you be? I can grab take-out and come over when you’re done.”

No. Just...no. “Reed, seriously. It’s fine. This isn’t that big a deal.” Only it kind of was and she hadn’t realized it until now. How ridiculous was she, falling for a guy who’d made it clear from the get-go that he’d never fall for her?

He nodded, but the frown on his face didn’t fade. “You’re something special, Jenny Riley.”

But apparently not special enough to keep him interested in more than the warm space between her legs.

Her throat began to constrict and her lungs began to burn, and she nodded, too, hoping like hell he’d get the hint and leave before the full reality of what he’d just told her sank in.

He didn’t want her anymore. Just like every guy before him and the ones in between, too.

“Thanks,” she managed to say. “I hope she’s the real deal this time.”

Just like that, the tension melted from his expression and his dark eyes lit up. His cheeks even flushed a bit. Imagine that—River Bend’s most renowned womanizer blushing over a girl.

“You’re such a dog.” She shoved him away and rolled her eyes. Damn him for never getting all soft and gooey about her that way.

“Hey, someone had to be the player around here.” He laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling her in for a friendly hug. Like they hadn’t, just a few weeks ago, licked every possible inch of each other.

“I guess the same could be said for me.” She pinched his side and held her breath. Don’t breathe him in. Don’t let him—this—get beneath your skin.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about this some more?” he asked into her hair.

Shaking her head, she pushed away and straightened her apron, keeping busy so she wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. “Nah, it’s best this way.”

He gave a soft grunt and shuffled back a few steps. “Goddamn, I feel like a prick right now.”

And she felt like a fool. What the hell was wrong with her? Maybe the holidays were making her sentimental.

The chimes rang again and her first client of the afternoon ambled in from the mini-blizzard outside. Venturing a small, apologetic smile up at her now former lover, Jenny shrugged. “Duty calls.”

Reed mirrored her expression. “I hope you find the real deal, too, princess. You deserve it.”

Damn right she did. And one day she’d have it. Probably not anytime soon, but someday.

***

“Bullshit!” Brody Nelson slammed his hand down on the dull metal table before him, rattling his commander’s coffee cup and bouncing his pen.

Jeffords settled back in his chair, crossed his arms over his utility-clad chest, and chuckled. “You know, it’s not every day someone gets pissed at me because I tell them they can’t go back to war.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not every day you’ve got a miserable son-of-a-bitch like me, itching to go back either.” Brody shoved a hand back over his hair, the top just long enough to be against regulation, though he wasn’t sure why he gave a shit—the corps apparently didn’t care. “I don’t know why you can’t just push this through. Swap me out with someone who’s got a family...kids. Someone to fucking come home to.”