Jacked Up Read Online Free PDF

me, myself, and I.”
    “Then you’d miss Oktoberfest.” He followed her through the turnstile. “And that would be a damn shame.”
    She snorted, but she did reward him with a smile. “You’re Suzy Sunshine, aren’t you?”
    “Nope. I don’t look good in yellow. But sure, I like to look on the bright side. Makes life much more enjoyable.” It was a simple philosophy and one that had always worked for him. He had a family he loved, a job that was a dream come true, and enough money to have some fun now and again. A little less now that he had to pay a fine for showing his backside, but enough to get by.
    The only thing he was missing was a good woman. And he figured the right one would come along when she was supposed to.
    For now, he was getting a beer with Eve Monroe. How was that for an interesting turn of events?
    “I’d wear head-to-toe yellow every day if it made my life more enjoyable. But for now I’ll settle for funnel cake.”
    “What’s so unenjoyable about your life?” From his perspective, her life seemed just fine to him. She had a close-knit family. A job that he imagined paid the bills and then some. A hot body. Maybe she had hemorrhoids and that’s why she was so tense.
    The thought made him smile before he could stop himself. It was hard to imagine Eve had any physical imperfections under those concealing clothes she always wore.
    “That makes you smile? Thinking my life is not enjoyable?” She held her hand out. “Give me ten bucks.”
    That caught him off guard, but he automatically dug into his back pocket. “For what?”
    “A funnel cake. I changed my mind about you paying. If you’re going to laugh at me, I’m going to eat lard on your dime.”
    He laughed. “I’m not laughing at you.”
    “You look like you’re laughing to me. And I don’t think you want to laugh at me. Just ask my brothers.”
    He didn’t need to ask her brothers. He could well imagine. Not to mention, he came from a big family so he had seen his share of sibling squabbles. “You know what would be nice?” he asked her, slapping a ten-dollar bill into her hand. “Would be if you laughed with me.”
    “Are you going to tell a joke?”
    “No.”
    “Then why would I laugh?”
    The kicker was she was serious. Nolan just looked into her brown eyes for a minute, trying to puzzle her out. She stared back. He stared. She didn’t blink. He didn’t blink. There were no answers in those eyes. There was just a competitive gleam sparking as he realized they were suddenly locked into an unintentional no-blinking contest.
    “What are we doing?” he murmured. It was hard to talk when you were trying not to blink.
    “I don’t know.” She was muttering, too.
    Her eyes got wider, and he was amazed at how at ease she seemed. None of her facial muscles moved. She looked like she could pull a ten-minute stint in this spontaneous staring contest.
    But his nose was itchy and he wanted to pull the plug. He knew the perfect way to get her. “I’m going to kiss you.” He wasn’t really going to, but he knew she would react.
    Though he would really like to kiss her.
    She squawked and drew back away from him. Then almost immediately, she realized her mistake. “Oh, you’re a rat.”
    “Maybe. But you have my ten bucks.”
    Her mouth moved. Her nose wrinkled.
    “You know you want to laugh. Come on,” he teased. “Everybody’s doing it.”
    “You’re a dork.” She pressed her lips together hard and didn’t give in.
    “Apparently a dorky rat. Now will you go get a damn funnel cake and quit worrying about
everything
.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She spun on her heel, tossing her hair back in his face.
    It was tempting to smack her on the ass, but he didn’t know her well enough to do that. So he just watched her ass, nicely curved in those jeans.
    That would do for now.
    * * *
    EVE closed her fist around the ten-dollar bill Nolan had given her and fought the urge to sigh. She was