Designing Woman (The Sloan Brothers Book 2) by Jo Willow

other room.  It’s larger than it looks and there’s a small stage at one end.  We’ll have small groups on Friday and Saturday nights.  You should come in one night and check it out.”
    “If you’ll be here, I’d love to.”
    He moved a half of a step closer and I took a sip of my drink.  He lowered his head to the side of mine and sniffed me.  I turned towards him and our noses brushed before he pulled back abruptly.
    “Did you just sniff me?”
    “Mel’, you smell incredible.  It’s like vanilla and coconut, but it’s subtle.”
    I sipped again and placed my drink back on the bar.
    “It’s my shampoo and body wash.  I can’t keep track of trendy scents, so I stick with scented shampoo and body wash.  Do you like it?  Is it too strong?”
    “It’s perfect.  It makes me want to lean in for a nibble.”
    I grinned at him and raised my eyes up and down once.
    “Remind me to check and see if they make deodorant and lotion in that scent.”
    His laughter was loud and it was real.  The hand that was on my back slipped a little sideways and he squeezed my waist.  I leaned into him and laughed along.  Now we were nice and cozy.
    He looked at me with twinkling eyes that were lit by the smile he still had on his face.
    “I hear you want me in your personal space for awhile.”
    “You’re talking about nibbling on me Austin.  My space is your space.  You game?”
    He studied me for a long couple of minutes and it was a look I recognized.  He was trying to decide if I was trouble with a capital “T”.  If I was, he was doing the math to see if I’d be worth it.
     
    I could have downed my drink before I did this next bit.  That way, if it hadn’t have worked out, I could have blamed the alcohol.  I could have, but I didn’t.  I swiveled on the stool and ran my hands up his chest to his neck.  His eyes never left mine and his hand stayed on my waist.  He raised his other hand to join it and he pulled me a little closer.  My thumbs were slightly moving up and down below his ears and his eyes left mine and went to my lips.  I gave the hint of a tug and that’s all it took.  His lips were on mine.
    He was tentative at first, still not sure if he was dealing with a psycho hoarder, a nymphomaniac, or his kid sister’s best friend.  Talk about Mystery Date... I went for the nympho.  I was still reeling from Anton’s second betrayal in one night and I figured I had nothing to loose.  It had already been lost.
    I moaned against his lips and touched his bottom lip with my tongue.  I felt his hands pull me in tighter and away we went.  It was his bar, what were they gonna do?  Throw us out?  Highly doubtful.
    The kiss was possessive on his part and I liked it.  Most men were afraid to kiss me like Austin was kissing me.  He was asking me a metric shit-ton of questions and I was answering every single one of them.  It seemed I had me a new roomie.
     
    He stepped between my legs to get closer and tugged my hair with one of his hands to pull my head back for a better angle.  That’s when we heard someone clear their throat.  Then another person, a female person, cleared their throat too.
    “Austin?”
    If it was his girlfriend, I was gonna go postal.  My disappointment card was full for one night and one more would be pushing my limit.
    He leaned back but held on to me.  I liked that.  I held on right back.  He turned his head at the same time I did, and there stood Chase and Ayla.  He pulled me into his chest where my cheek rested quite nicely.  He smelled of leather and forest.  Clean, but deep.  I sniffed him again.
    He put one finger up at his sister and grinned down at me.
    “Did you just sniff me?”
    “Turnabout is fair play handsome.”
    He kissed me once more quickly, then turned back to his sister.  Chase looked like he was working a Rubik's Cube that had fourteen different colors.
    “Ayla, you’re staying with Pierce and I’m moving in with Mel’.  Chase,