First

“So you really won’t talk to him?” she whined.

Owen crumpled up the wrapper of his po’ boy. “Living in a girl’s dorm isn’t that bad. It’s nicer than a lot of the others.”

“I guess.” She slid down from the arm to a couch cushion. “I hope I at least get a cool roommate.”

“Me too, because then maybe you won’t show up here uninvited all the time.” I couldn’t resist. She was so easy to annoy.

“And don’t worry, Hailey. I’d be more than happy to visit your new friends anytime.” Jared winked.

“Arrgh! You guys are useless. Thanks for nothing.” She stormed out just the way she arrived.

Owen got up, pushing back his chair. “Seriously, how am I related to her?”

Jared collected our plates and brought them to the sink. No one would believe how much of a neat freak he was. “I don’t know, she’s hot and you’re ugly as shit.” He grinned.

“Don’t even start.”

I laughed. My roommates were definitely entertaining.

Chapter Three

“You better be ready to pay up,” Owen taunted. We’d spent the better part of an hour searching the Quarter. After striking out at the classier lounges and bars, I didn’t want to admit that my friends were probably right. I finally gave in, and we walked into the Cat’s Meow. It had been a while since I’d dragged myself into that place. It’s not like it was much worse than the rest of the Bourbon Street bars, but you also had to suffer through horrible singing. The current song was no exception.

I looked over toward the stage and, sure enough, there they were, singing Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I had really misread her, or maybe it was the friend who convinced her to come. “Fine, I’ll get you your money later.”

It’s not like I cared about two hundred bucks. The important part was that I’d found the girl. Mmm, yes, and she was wearing a short skirt. So maybe singing wasn’t her strong suit, but she looked good doing it.

I bought a beer and went ahead and got a shot for her. I had a feeling she was going to need it when she was done. There was something about her expression that said she wasn’t having as much fun as she was pretending to. But I was. Hell, I was having a great time. That jean skirt was so short. I got a real nice view.

“Are you sure they’re legal?” Leave it to Owen to ask such a dumb question.

“Yeah, they’ve got to be eighteen.”

He frowned. “You sure? Do you really want to mess with jail bait?”

“Shit, Owen, they’re not kids. They got in here, didn’t they?” Jared argued.

I tried to ignore them. I was still enjoying my view.

“They could have fakes. But it’s your problem, not mine.”

“Exactly, go find your own. Or wait, you don’t do girls anymore.” Jared smirked.

“Shut the f**k up.”

“Both of you shut up.” The song ended, and I watched as the girls jumped off the stage. I waited until they separated to make my move.

She was definitely flustered, not even paying attention to where she was going. I walked directly into her path.

“You look like you could use this.” I pushed the shot into her hand.

She looked up at me, and I saw the recognition in her eyes. She remembered me. She nodded and then downed the shot.

“What was that?” She coughed a little. I probably could have gotten her something tamer, but what would have been the fun in that?

“A jaeger shot.” I laughed. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe I did that.” She looked back over her shoulder, like she was making sure the stage was still there.

“It really wasn’t so bad. It was more entertaining than if Cyndi Lauper performed it herself.” Much more entertaining. I looked at her up close for the first time. I watched as a few drops of sweat ran down from her neck and disappeared into her tank top. She had a nicer chest than I originally thought. Add in her killer legs and she was hotter than any girl I’d ever seen.

“So, thanks for the shot, but I need to find my friend.”

“Hey, you can’t run off on me again.” If she thought she was getting away this time, she had another thing coming. She was mine. “Besides, your friend appears to be unavailable.”

Surprisingly, Jared didn’t already have her in a corner somewhere. She was occupied by some guy who looked like he was in town for a conference. I knew the type. He was looking to score, have a story to run home with. The blonde was drunk enough he might just get lucky.

“Run off on you again? That implies we’ve run into each other before.”

So she was going to play that game?

“I saw you at the Crescent City Hotel this afternoon, but you took off before I could say hello.” I leaned in closer, using the blaring music as an excuse, even though I could hear perfectly well. Damn, she even smelled good. I didn’t recognize the perfume—but it was light, the right kind.

“Oh, I didn’t notice you.”

It was time to act interested in her life. “You here for vacation?”

“I’m here for work, actually, at the hotel.” She flipped some of her long brown hair off her shoulder.

“Are you around for the whole summer then?” Not the tourist I expected. If the sex was as good as I knew it would be, a longer stay could be convenient.

“Yeah, I’m here until I start school in the fall.” So Owen wasn’t completely off. She was probably fresh out of high school.

“All right, so where are you going to school?”

“Princeton.” She tried to hide a smile. She was proud, but didn’t want me to know it.

“Nice.” Smart girls weren’t necessarily bad, as long as they didn’t overanalyze everything.

“You in school?”

“Yeah, I’m going to be a senior at Tulane.” Maybe she’d loosen up a little if she realized I was in school. Some girls were like that. They assumed you were a good guy if you were in college. It made no sense, but it usually worked.

“Oh, so you live here?”

“Born and raised.”

“I didn’t think locals hung out at places like this.”

“We don’t usually, but they’re great spots to meet girls from out of town.” Or more specifically, it was a good spot to find her.

She shook her head. “Ah, so you’re one of them.”

“One of who?” I tried to figure out what group she was throwing me in with.