ARROGANT BRIT (A BRITISH BAD BOY ROMANCE) Read Online Free PDF Page A

edges of the card as I scanned her identification. I checked
out her address, noting that it probably wasn’t more than maybe ten minutes
from my rental house. Convenient…

 
    As I handed her the card back, my thumb slid
along the stony glare of her photo, and I smiled with validation. Well, what do you know…?

 
    “You’ve got a corner of this card slightly
peeling up, and there’s a subtle laser engraving on your name at the top,” I
chuckled. “I’ll be damned, it actually is a fake!”

 
    “Say it a little louder for the people in the
back, why don’t you?” Clara snarled as she slipped it into her pocket.

 
    She opened her mouth to follow that up, but
the bartender returned with our drinks. We gratefully accepted them, turning to
regard each other carefully.

 
    “Cheers,” I grinned cheekily, clinking the
lip of my tumbler to that of her highball glass. It had been a bold move, but
it usually worked… and I was surprised to actually sniff out a fakery. Ballsy girl, I thought to myself.

 
    “Cheers,” Clara disdainfully replied,
watching me coolly as she took a large sip from the straw. It was clear that
she was attempting to sum me up.

 
    “Why don’t we get a table?” I asked,
motioning towards the various high-tops. “I’d like a little more room,
honestly.”

 
    “I’m actually waiting on somebody,” Clara
chirped up. “Boyfriend’ll be here any minute.”

 
    “Boyfriend,” I nodded thoughtfully.

 
    “That’s right. Big guy. Bigger than you.”

 
    “Is that so? Is he a former Marine, too?”

 
    “Oh yeah, definitely,” Clara smiled. “He’s
way more handsome too. Doesn’t need to try and win me over with cheesy pick-up
lines or anything.”

 
    I grinned playfully, taking another sip of my
iced whiskey. “Hey, I almost take personal offense to that one, love.”

 
    “I told you not to call me that.”

 
    “And I told you that it’s a cultural thing,” I
reminded her. “It’s just how we greet beautiful women. Part of the deal.”

 
    “You’re starting to lay it on thick.”

 
    I began to retort, but it turned out that she
was half telling the truth. A moment later, another young lady about Clara’s
age strolled up to us, brushing long blond bangs back to expose expensive gold
earrings.

 
    “Hiya, Clara. Who’s this guy?”

 
    Oh good, here comes the cavalry.

 
    “Just some guy from the Marines’ banquet I
had to work tonight. He’s kind of a total misogynist jackass. Where’ve you
been, Nat?”

 
    “Sorry, girl! I was tied up with Jared for a
hot minute there!” She smiled unabashedly, leaving zero subtly in the
implication. Her smile faded as she turned to me. “You can go ahead and leave,
though. I’ll take it from here.”

 
    “Classy,” I grinned. “Tell your friend you’re
late because you were riding dick and dismiss
me in the same burst of air? What else can you do with all that lung power?”

 
    Nat, as Clara had called her, planted
her hand on her hip and gave me that classic simmering bitch face that I knew
all too well.

 
    “Look, Tiger, you’re barkin’ up the wrong
tree if you’re trying to bring my best friend home tonight. She’s already got
enough to worry about without some smarmy, arrogant fuck bothering her.”

 
    Just to send the point home, she waved lazily
at me with a wrist in the dismissed motion.
“Now, piss off.”

 
    I laughed, taking a swig of my whiskey. “I’m
sorry, I just thought we let our friends make their own decisions… Clara, if
you want me to go, just say the word.”

 
    She turned to me with a sweet grin. “I’ve
told you to buzz off a few times now, remember?”

 
    I grasped at my chest. “You’ve wounded me.”

 
    “I’m sure you’ve experienced worse than that…
Marine.”

 
    For a brief moment, I had a flashback to a
knife fight in the Afghani dust. Within seconds, I could practically taste the
dust in my