Ash Rising (DEAd Series) (8 page)

“Who’s that?” Ash jerked his chin at the small, dark-haired girl.

Rico
glanced over his shoulder and grunted. “Some chick Gina went to college with. Can’t remember her name.”

Ash stepped
aside to get a better look. The girl was all curly dark hair and big blue eyes, her face animated and open as she teased Gina. She threw her head back to laugh and caught him staring. Instead of being embarrassed by his blatant regard, she tipped her head and returned his gaze with interest. He grinned and sauntered over to them.

“Hey, Genie.” He used Gina’s nickname to get her attention.

“What do you want?”

“Just sayin’ hi.” He let his killer grin spread across his face and took the other girl in. Jesus, she was cute.
He calculated who she could be in the scheme of things even as his body reacted.

Gina’s eyes narrowed as she
followed his gaze to her friend and then shot back to him. “Oh, no. You stay away, Ash.”

“Wha
t?” He pretended hurt innocence.

“She’s a good friend
of mine, a really good friend—practically family. You stay away from her.”

“H
ello, friend,” he said smoothly and held his palm out. “I’m Ash.”

She glanced at Gina’s stormy countenance
but smiled and placed her hand in his. “Hello, Ash.”

H
is fingers closed around her much smaller ones, cradling the softness and vulnerability of fragile bones and soft skin. A wave of protectiveness—of possessiveness—rose sudden and unexpected. He jerked back and rubbed his hand on his thigh.

“See, now.” Recovering instantly, he curled his mouth into a practiced, seductive grin
. “I introduce myself, and you’re supposed to do the same. I say, ‘I’m Ash,’ and you say, ‘I’m…?’ ”

She leaned
forward in a conspiratorial manner. “I don’t think Gina wants me to tell you my name.”

He
closed the distance between them, until his lips brushed her ear. “Do you do everything Gina wants?”

“No.”
She brought her head back to look him in the eye, and a sly smile curved her mouth. “But I’ll do whatever
you
want. Ash.”

Holy fuck
. A laugh burst from him, and he grabbed her hand. “Your name, sweetheart. I want your name.”

“Liz.” The smug expression on her face faded as he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers. “I’m…Liz.”

He smiled over the tops her knuckles. A shiver moved through her—slight, almost imperceptible, but unmistakable.

“Liz,” he murmured
, drawing out her name. A little charm worked every time. “How nice to meet you.”

His voice stroked across her senses.

She could only stare as a thick dark brow arched over his blue eye, wicked, mischievous, and stunningly gorgeous all at the same time. She sucked in a breath and tried not to gawk, but damn. His lips were as beautiful as the rest of him, full, masculine, and marvelously shaped, and the rough scruff framing his chiseled cheeks and chin made their softness more apparent. He’d barely touched her, but awareness prickled her skin. Her stare moved from his mouth only when the corner quirked up on one side.

Gina grabbed h
er arm with a huff of aggravation and marched toward the house. Ash should have looked ridiculous standing with his hand still in the air in front of his face, but he didn’t. He looked…good.

“Don’t
let him put his mouth on you—anywhere.” Gina pulled her along like a reluctant child. “You have no idea where it’s been.”

Liz tripped after Gina, staring over her shoulder at Ash. “
Pretty.”

She
must have murmured louder than she thought, because Gina huffed again.

“He’s a total jerk,” Gina
bit out, and Liz finally turned away from his tall, eye-catching figure.

“He is?” Liz cast
a last wistful glance over her shoulder. Ash still watched her, and he winked, a devastating smile curving his sinful mouth. She smiled involuntarily in return, wincing when Gina noticed and tugged on her arm.

“He is. A
lways got girls panting over him. Never stays with one, though. Just uses them up and spits them out.” Gina’s voice was bitter, and Liz shot her a glance.

“Have you…” Her
voice trailed off mid-sentence.

“Have I what?”

“You know. Have you? With him? With Ash?” Liz held her breath. She hadn’t realized how badly she wanted the answer to be no until she asked the question.

Gina’s eyes widened for a second, and a fa
int blush washed over her cheeks.

“No! Me and Ash?
” Gina snorted and grimaced. “God, no. No way.”

The
telltale color in her face gave Liz a hint to the true story—the reaction of a woman scorned. Shame followed the surge of gladness at the expense of her friend’s feelings. No woman wanted to be turned down, especially by someone like Ash whoever-he-was, but
whew
. Thank God nothing had ever occurred between him and Gina.

Looking
over her shoulder one last time, she watched him follow Rico to the car. Despite her best intentions, her gaze lingered on his ass, and oh, boy was it ever an ass worth lingering over. She admired the intriguing curve covered in faded denim—admired him, even if he was a jerk, like Gina said. Maybe jealously colored Gina’s perception, but when a guy was that good-looking… Well, she’d have to make up her own mind. When she glanced back up, Gina glared, and Liz took her turn to blush.

“Don’t go getting any
ideas, girl. Look all you want, but looking is all he’s good for, and don’t forget it. Besides.” She, too, watched the two men get into the car. “He’s friends with Rico. You don’t want anything to do with that crowd. He may be my brother, but he and his friends are bad news. You don’t need that kind of trouble, Liz. Any of it.”

Gina was right.
Her friend had hinted in the past her brother ran with a pretty shady crowd, and that usually meant drugs. She’d always held a faint disdain for anyone who was less than honest, and something worse for those who dealt in illegal substances. But when Ash had looked at her, when he took her hand and touched the back with his sensitive mouth…

Disdain was the last thing she felt.

Liz regretted allowing her friends to talk her out of studying that weekend and going to Clyde’s for a few drinks instead—until she saw him. Ash. He stretched out in a booth across the table from Gina’s brother, somehow detached and untouched by everything around him. Clad in faded jeans, an old, white T-shirt, black leather jacket and worn boots, he looked tired and well past scruffy, all bad-boy dangerous. His eyes, heavy-lidded and bloodshot, rocketed right past bedroom into downright illegal. Ankles crossed and an arm slung over the back of the booth, he lazed while women vied for scraps of his attention like a bunch of cute, energetic puppies.

Drinks were brought to him but sat untouched on the table, words whispered suggestively in his ear, bodies draped over and on him, but those remained untouched as well. Awareness suffused Liz’s face and heated her skin as he ignored everyone else but stared at her.

His attention had to be on something or someone else, but she couldn’t tell what. One side of his mouth curled in acknowledgement of her confusion, but he didn’t drop his gaze. He turned down women, drinks, drugs, and attempts at conversation like some sort of fallen prince, and Liz was drawn to him even though she knew better. She couldn’t stop sneaking peeks. What game was he playing—maybe using her as an excuse to ignore the clamoring for his attention? He was the most delicious thing she’d ever seen, and that included a big old hot fudge brownie sundae with a cherry on top. And whipped cream. She had a mental image of him covered in chocolate sauce and stifled the giggle that rose at the ridiculous—but oddly intriguing—thought.

He noticed her reaction, and interest lightened his features. The heat of a blush worked across her face and she glanced down, unable to look at him while she could taste the imagined sauce on his skin. Alarm sent her heart skittering when she thought he might rouse himself to come over to their table, but Gina’s brother caught his attention. Strong shoulders shrugged at whatever was said, and Liz continued to watch as a renewed stream of girls sat on his lap, ran their fingers along his stubbly chin and over his chest at Rico’s prompting. Faint annoyance lowered his brows as he sent them on their way, deftly whispering, touching, suggesting, so that none of the rejected girls seemed to take offense. How did he do that?

Hopefully Gina wouldn’t notice her distraction. Her friend had taken one look at Ash lounging in the booth with her brother like an indolent jungle cat and scoffed with derision. Liz didn’t understand Gina’s animosity, but asking wasn’t worth risking her anger. Busy trying not to stare, she missed him getting up to leave a while later. Her gaze bounced around the room when he wasn’t in his seat during one of her not-so-covert glances only to meet his amused blue eyes where he stood by the door. He sent her a wink before clapping Rico on the shoulder and exiting the bar.

Alone.

She ducked her head and smiled.

Oh, the thought of him tearing off in the dark on that motorcycle of his, the one he’d left at Gina’s house the other day… Yum. She’d wanted to sit on the big machine and probably would have if Gina hadn’t been there to ridicule. He shouldn’t fascinate her, despite his extraordinary good looks and radiant sexuality. Gina disliked him, he hung out with a bad crowd involved with something not good if not downright illegal, and he was more than a little generous with that glorious sex appeal. She shouldn’t be interested. She shouldn’t be fascinated. She shouldn’t be jealous of the nameless and likely non-existent woman waiting for him in his bed, but she was.

Damn it.

Everyone said he had the devil’s own luck, and the adage proved true as Ash walked down the street in search of caffeine. Satisfaction lifted the corners of his mouth when he spotted a familiar figure, one who had been on his mind the past few days. He’d tried with spectacular failure to get Liz’s number—or any information, really—from Gina about her cute dark-haired friend after seeing them at Clyde’s the other night. And there cute friend stood, on the sidewalk just down the street from his favorite coffee shop. Fate might have been a bitch, but she was his bitch.
She favored Ash, just as women had all his life.