Boston Avant-Garde: Impetuous by Kaitlin Maitland Read Free Book Online

She had finally lost her mind.
    Hopping a little, she pulled on her strappy silver high heels. The yellow cab still sat on the curb several hundred yards away. She could almost believe the dingy car was wreathed in holy light. All that was needed was a choir of angels to sing when she pulled open the door and stepped inside.
    Free at last!

Chapter Five
    “Your girl’s back, Nicky.”
    Nicolai ignored Logan’s blatant look of curiosity and pulled the basket out of the fryer. “I told you what to say to her, Flynn. I meant it.”
    “I tried that already.”
    “Try it again.” He used tongs to put fresh fries into the waiting baskets.
    Flynn came all the way into the kitchen, ducking around the make table to stand in the middle of the line. “Seriously, Nicolai, if you don’t come now, you’re going to be breaking up a riot in about thirty seconds.”
    “How much trouble can one girl get into?” He nodded to Logan to finish the cheeseburger baskets and wiped his hands on the towel hanging at his waist. What he wanted was a shower. Despite the thick apron tied around his midsection, his jeans and white tee were spotted with grease and food debris. Working the make line was his least favorite job. Jack’s had a limited menu, but what they had was in high demand with their college clientele.
    He followed Flynn out of the kitchen. The bar stools were empty, and only half a dozen patrons were scattered around the tables. Everyone seemed to have congregated down by the jukebox in a space he kept for use as a dance floor. A solid wall of people had gathered in a loosely defined semicircle. Most of the audience was male, and something in his gut told him it was the wild girl who had them all enthralled.
    Anger wasn’t something he generally gave in to. He was slow to boil, and rarely did he ever explode. Until now. He could practically feel the smoke pouring out of his nostrils. Blood rushed in his ears, punctuated by the thunder of his heart.
    He couldn’t fault the audience for looking. How could they not? She was sensual lust personified. Her white dress hardly covered her rounded ass cheeks. Her legs were sleek and graceful as she danced a hypnotic beat in her silver heels. The top portion of her outfit barely managed to hide her full, swaying breasts. Every movement served as a tease, her soft flesh winking in and out of sight, with one shoulder totally bare and the other exposed like a promise.
    “Oh hell no,” he growled.
    Someone jumped out on the dance floor. It took him a minute to recognize the beach bum from the night before. With Nicolai out of the picture, Beach Bum was eager to try and get a piece of what he’d missed. He moved in behind her, hips gyrating with the music’s beat. When he grabbed her waist and tucked in so close their bodies touched, Nicolai lost it.
    He moved through the bar like death walking. A few stragglers saw him coming and stepped aside. The rest he shouldered out of the way. Beach Bum paled beneath his tan, scuttling backward and blending into the crowd.
    “Thought you were busy.” She gave him a fleeting look but didn’t pause in her sinuous dance.
    “Thought you got the message last night.”
    She stopped moving, challenging him with her gaze. “I’m looking for my next one-night stand.”
    An irrational jolt of jealousy nearly brought him to his knees. He didn’t believe for one second she was being serious. She was fucking with him. And dammit all to hell, it was working. He couldn’t imagine her with anyone else. Nobody should kiss those curves or experience her uninhibited passion on display. Nobody but him.
    He didn’t have anything else to say to her claim. Before she could open her mouth and add something equally ridiculous, he reached out and plucked her off the floor. She squeaked as he flung her over his shoulder. When he put his hand on her leg to hold her steady, his fingers slid over her silky inner thigh. Her warmth seared him like a branding iron.