Trigger Happy (Girls with Guns, #2) by Ashley Bostock Page B

hardly deal with their wandering bodies. She almost snapped when little Vivian picked up her iPod and switched the music to foul-mouthed rap music. For her, that type of music was fine, but not okay for the kiddos. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the forty-five minute class was over.
    As she packed up her things, her other BFF pounced into the studio. "It feels like it's been forever since I've seen you." Gabriella gave her a big hug.
    "I know. That's because you're too busy working."
    Gabriella Crawford or Gabbie, as all her friends called her, recently opened a high-end lingerie store in town. Now, she hardly had time to chill with her girlfriends because she was always busy dealing with the boutique.
    "Hey, I'm here now. Let's go grab something to eat. My treat. When's your next class?"
    "Not until the afternoon. I have my older girls preparing for the fall festival and they pretty much have it down. I hope we win this year, Gab. It would mean the world to me."
    "You are going to win. I know you will. I don't know anyone who takes dancing as seriously as you do Amber. I will definitely be there cheering you on. What day is it?
    "The festival is on the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth. We perform on Saturday at exactly two pm. I'm so excited and nervous, I can't wait."
    Amber locked up the studio and the girls rode together to a locally owned diner. They settled into their booth and agreed to share the best French toast ever made and began to catch up on each other's lives.
    "Yes, so that was the last time I saw him, until I went into the credit union today to apply for a loan. God, Gabbie, I want him so bad that it hurts. And the worst part of it all is he doesn't want me back. At least, he won't admit he wants me. He kissed me today-"
    "Wait, Amber, I don't understand. He doesn't want you but he kissed you? Don't people generally kiss people they want and not people they don't want? Hmm, please explain." She flipped her auburn hair off her shoulder, bending over to stick a forkful of French toast in her mouth.
    "Well. Somehow we got on the subject of how he thought I wanted him and he was just certain that I haven't had as great as sex as I did the night I spent with him. One night and he thinks he can remember my body signals and what my body is suggesting to him. Whatever. I told him to prove it, so he kissed me."
    Amber's body burned as she thought about his kiss. He was such a strong-willed man. His hands on her neck, possessing her like she was a toy, turned her on so badly she couldn't sit still. She crossed her legs underneath the table, trying not to think of his possessive hands all over her body, like she knew they would be if he gave into his...feelings? She wasn't sure what his problem was exactly but if his kiss said anything, he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.
    Gabbie brought her back to the present, "Oh, this is good. He was absolutely right. He nailed you," she laughed. "Well, not literally, anyway. Have you really been unsatisfied with other men all this time?"
    "No, I haven't. At least, I was pretty sure I've been satisfied until I ran into him again. It's like seeing him brought back all these memories and feelings that my body has long since forgotten about, apparently. Now, all it can remember or think about is Gage Alexander, CEO and how mighty he can be. And, he's such a jerk. Which normally, I wouldn't give a man a second glance. With him though, it's as if it ... torments him to be a jerk to me; I can see it in his eyes. I know he wants me, Gabbie. What I don't get is why? Why does he not want to want me?"
    Amber's big blue eyes bored into Gabbie's big brown eyes. Gabbie raised her eyebrows, "That is a fucked up story Amber. Thank God I'm so busy with the lingerie store I don't have to deal with this crap in my personal life. I don't know how - no, I don't know why you do this to yourself. Let me break this down for you, in case you haven't processed this in your own brain: you