Page 5 of Breathless With Her

“I take it the high school reunion didn’t go well?” he said dryly. “Amelia, my sister, mentioned it.”

“Does watching your husband screwing the head cheerleader while doing drugs count aswell?” I asked, surprised that I had even said the words aloud.

As I blinked, trying to collect my thoughts, he gave me a tight nod and glanced over at the bartender. “We’re going to need two shots of your best tequila.”

“I take it one’s for you?” I asked.

“Nope, I had my beer. Both are for you. Figured you needed it.”

And right then and there, I knew Devin Carr was going to be my best friend.

At least, for tonight.

Chapter 2

Devin

* * *

I grinneddown at the woman in the sequined dress, holding out my single beer bottle to clink with her first shot glass. When I came into the bar earlier for a drink after a long day, I hadn’t expected to find such entertainment. But now that I had? I wasn’t going to let it slip away.

Plus, I’d seen the look in her eyes, the one that spoke of pain and a manic energy that meant she could end up doing something she regretted in the morning. I’d been there before, and since I knew Erin—at least a little bit—I wasn’t about to let her do something she would hate. Not that I’d let someone Ididn’tknow do that if I knew it might happen, but this was a little more personal.

Erin tossed back the shot, and I took a sip of my beer, setting the bottle down after. I had a feeling I would have to make sure this one got home safely—after I got the full story out of her.

I knew Erin from back in the day when I dated her older sister, Jennifer. Jenn and I were the same age, while Erin was a little younger. I thought she was possibly older than Amelia, my baby sister, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. All I knew was that she was younger than me. Maybe even younger than my younger brother, Caleb.

So, with the age difference, we hadn’t actually been at school at the same time, but I did know who she was.

I also knew that she had married her high school sweetheart. My sister had mentioned it at some point, even though it wasn’t like we’d grown up in a small town. Denver was a big place. Even if we lived in the suburbs, we didn’t know everything about everyone.

However, the fact that I knew Erin had just come from her high school reunion dressed as whatever the hell she was dressed as…?

Yeah, I needed to know the story. I was nosy like that.

“Feel better?” I asked, studying her face.

She had wide-set eyes, and yeah, they had a bit of a manic look to them, but it wasn’t too bad. The light green of the irises was almost piercing, and it was hard to keep focused when they were right on me. I didn’t think Jenn had those eyes, and I really hadn’t noticed the color of Erin’s eyes during any of the times we had met back in the day.

But I was noticing now.

Though considering she still had a wedding ring on her finger—even if it turned out that he might be cheating on her—yeah, I shouldn’t be looking at those eyes. Or the sharp slant of her cheekbones, or the way her blond hair was curled and pinned up on the top of her head in some weird prom hairdo.

I wasn’t going to notice any of that. Or her curves.

I was just going to listen. And make sure she was okay. Because that’s what I did. I made sure everybody in my life was okay.

My older brother Dimitri was the same way. We were the ones that took care of the younger siblings, even if we were a little annoying.

So I was willing to make sure Erin was okay, too. Because it looked like she’d had one hell of a night already.

“I haven’t done tequila shots in far too long,” she said, throwing the other shot back.

My eyebrows rose, and then I snorted, taking a sip of my beer.

“Looks like you got the hang of it, though,” I said, studying her again.

“Well, I’ve had a really shitty night. But I shouldn’t have another shot of tequila. I should probably just have some water. Because I drove here. And I really wasn’t thinking about what would happen next.”