Bidding On The Bachelor. Kerri Carpenter

concentrate.

      He turned, angling himself. His gaze flickered down to take in her lips, which she conveniently pursed for him.

      What in the hell was she doing? She couldn’t do that. Not with him. Could she? She supposed she was officially divorced now. Yes, she was a free agent. She could do anything—or, um, anyone—she wanted.

      And maybe tonight, she wanted Jasper. Maybe she needed the connection with him because it had never felt so easy with anyone else. It wasn’t like they hadn’t slept together a million times already.

      Confused, she threw back the final shot of tequila. Then she nodded to indicate his finger, which was still gently caressing her skin. “Jasper, what are you doing?”

      His grin spread slowly but assuredly. “What do you think I’m doing?”

      Even as the words left his mouth, she was moving closer to him. His eyes flickered down to take in her mouth, and she responded by biting her lip. She opened her mouth to say something seductive, something sexy. In a practiced move she used to perform all the time when she was younger, Carissa flipped her hair and placed her elbow up on the bar. Only, she missed the bar and nearly nose-dived into his lap, and she let out a very loud belch.

      Embarrassed beyond belief, she shook her head.

      Jasper grinned. “Yep, I think we may be done here for the night.” He pushed the mug with her remaining beer away from her.

      “I’m not ready to leave.” But even as the words left her mouth she let out a hiccup. When had she become buzzed?

      “Last call,” George bellowed out from the end of the bar to groans around the room.

      Jasper nodded. “See, time for everyone to go. Not just you.”

      Carissa rose from the bar stool and almost toppled over. Whoa. Maybe she was a little more than merely buzzed. She had to grasp the edge of the sticky bar to keep from falling. “Gotta pay,” she informed Jasper, who had already handed his credit card to George.

      “I got it,” he said.

      “No!” she said defiantly.

      “Consider it a welcome-back present.”

      “No,” she repeated, trying to untangle the straps of her purse. “Gotta be independent. Can’t rely on a man.”

      Jasper scribbled his signature on the check and turned to her. “You can’t even get into your purse. Come on.”

      Suddenly, this seemed like a bad idea. She couldn’t leave with Jasper, her ex-boyfriend. “Nope,” she told him. “You hate me. Can’t go with you.”

      “You have to go with me. I’m going to walk you to your aunt’s house.”

      She swayed and tried to right herself, but Jasper had to reach out and steady her. “What will the peoples think?”

      “I don’t think ‘the peoples’ in this bar really care too much about anything except getting in one last drink order before George shuts down. Now, shall we?” He nodded toward the door.

      Her head felt fuzzy. Thick and fuzzy. And she was very tired.

      “Carissa Blackwell,” Jasper said. “Get your hot butt out the door.”

      “You think my butt is hot?”

      He made a show of looking around her back and then considering. “Yep. That is one fine behind. Now let me get a better view by walking to the door.”

      “Okay, but you’re not the boss of me. I can get to the door by myself.”

      And with that she took two steps forward before tripping and ending up on the floor.

      * * *

      “Everything okay?” George asked, an amused expression visible, even under the depths of his beard.

      “Yeah, I got this.” Jasper turned to take in Carissa, who was currently in a pile on the floor laughing her head off. He sighed. He probably should have cut her off earlier.

      After helping her up, Jasper waved good-night to George and the other patrons who were busy settling their bills. Then he ushered Carissa out the door and into the dimly lit gravel parking lot.

      Even as he concentrated on getting her across the lot, he couldn’t help but think about the night.

      Carissa Blackwell was back in Bayside. Carissa Blackwell was divorced. Carissa Blackwell was incredibly drunk.

      He didn’t want to admit to himself that he’d been flirting with her. He’d looked into her eyes and gotten lost in old memories. Something he’d been adamant about not doing. Seeing her walk into The Rusty Keg had his insides all twisted up. The anger and hurt he’d felt all those years ago had bubbled up to the surface.

      Then she’d admitted her husband cheated on her and something changed. Maybe because of the embarrassment that emanated from her when she told him. Perhaps it was the way her gaze flicked downward every time she said the word divorce.

      Jasper wasn’t entirely sure. All he knew was that the resentment took a back seat to caring.

      Didn’t take much to move closer and eye that tempting mouth. He shook his head. Everyone knew he was a big flirt. That’s how he liked to communicate. And he hadn’t seen Carissa in ten years, so they had a lot of communicating to catch up on. That’s all.

      They walked to the end of the parking lot. She was swaying and stumbling a little more than he would like to see. But cabs weren’t abundant at this hour in Bayside, and he needed to get her home. She stopped in front of him, her long hair settling around her heart-shaped face.

      “It was weird to see you tonight.”

      He didn’t know what to say. That may be the truth, but still.

      “But I’m glad I did,” she continued. “You still make me feel tingly.”

      Tingly? Was that good or bad? “Really?”

      “Yep,” she said. “You were my best friend and my boyfriend. And you know what else? You were my first love.”

      Something softened inside him. “And you were mine.”

      “But now you hate me. Except for tonight when we’re playing nice-nice.”

      He sighed long and loud, a decade’s worth of angst spilling out. “I don’t hate you.”

      “You’re not happy with me,” she said.

      He shook his head. “No. Hey, it’s your birthday though.”

      “Not anymore. Past midnight.” She ran a hand down her side, highlighting her killer body. “Mmm-hmm.” She licked her lips and those mysterious gray eyes met his and he lost all train of thought. He placed one hand at the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. With the other hand, he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

      He shouldn’t kiss her. He really, really shouldn’t kiss her. And yet he was tilting his head.

      Walk away, Dumont. But he couldn’t get his feet to work. It was Carissa who finally broke the spell. She tilted her head up, lips pursed, eyes fluttering closed. Jasper met her halfway, pressing his lips to hers.

      Instantly, he felt a spark. That feeling he only got with her. But it had been such a long time since he’d experienced it, he almost dropped to his knees.

      Instead, he brought her closer and devoured her lips. She wound both arms around his neck, holding tight as she met his lips with equal desire.

      The sound of a car starting snapped him out of the moment. “Damn,” he said, looking around the parking lot, hoping whoever just got in their car hadn’t seen anything.

      When he turned back to her, he saw that her lips were swollen and her eyes hazy. He wanted to kiss her again right there and then.

      “That