Jack (Dangerous Love Book 2) Read online

  JACK

  Dangerous Love Series

  By

  Kristin Alexander

  Copyright © 2019 Kristin Alexander

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Jack

  I stood against the wall by the keg at Mark Cassidy’s party. Bored. My usual routine at these things was to have a few beers, talk to a few friends, and find someone to fuck. Sometimes not even in that order. I’d already had a few girls hint that they were available, but I wasn’t interested. I would probably end up with one of them anyway. There was no way I was hooking up with Shelby anymore. She was a decent lay, but too fucking crazy, too much of a hassle.

  I glanced to the right to see my best friend, Nikolai Ivanov, kissing Hannah Prescott, the girl who he was supposed to be pretending to date. If they were faking it, they both deserved a fucking Academy Award. Hannah had been getting hassled by some douchebag, Jeff Connors, so she asked Nik to pretend to date her, so the douchebag would leave her alone. Nikolai was a big guy with a tendency to punch first and ask questions later. I could see why Hannah chose him. Since Connors had just shown up at the party, I guess Nik and Hannah were making sure Connors got the message but were definitely taking their acting to new levels of realism.

  Until this, Nik and I had the same philosophy on dating—we avoided it at all costs. I knew his reasons; his father being head of the Russian mob, fucked-up childhood, all that shit. My reasons were family-related as well, but we weren’t part of the mob. My family’s issues were your typical, screwed-up suburban family bullshit. Dad’s an alcoholic philanderer and Mom’s an aloof bitch who won’t leave him because it would look bad. She deals with her bad marriage by traveling and staying away from home as much as possible. I’ve never seen anything good come of relationships—ever.

  My thoughts were disrupted by a blonde head I saw weaving through the crowd, moving toward the keg. I knew who it was immediately.

  Ava Fisher.

  She was new to our school this year, and we had chemistry together. We’d never spoken, but there was something about her. She pulled at me. For that reason alone, I avoided her at all costs. It had been easy enough until I found out today she was my new lab partner.

  Now, here she was again. Staring at her, I felt my body respond to her closeness. My fist tightened, imagining itself tangled in her thick, white-blonde hair. Normally, I liked longer hair on girls, but hers, cut bluntly just above her shoulders, suited her. It was a perfect frame for her pixie-ish features. But it was her fucking eyes, such a pale green that I thought they were contacts when I first saw them. Wide eyes that cut through you when you made eye contact, like she could see inside your head, inside your soul. Those wise eyes were one of the many reasons I avoided her.

  Normally, I would just hit on her, sleep with her, and move on. However, I had never reacted like this to the sight of a girl, so, even though I felt like a bitch admitting it, I was wary of interacting with her. As much as I had been trying to ignore her, I couldn’t help following her trim little body with my eyes as she walked through the crowd toward me.

  I felt my brow tense the closer she got. Fuck, she was sexy.

  I continued to scowl in frustration. The internal conflict wanting to fuck her and wanting to ignore her caused my stomach to knot. My instincts urged me to have her, but my brain was throwing up a stop sign. Ava walked up to the keg and darted a quick glance at me. Her beautiful eyes widened in justifiable apprehension at my undoubtedly sour expression.

  She gave me a half smile, but when I didn’t respond, she just turned to the keg, picked up the hose, and pressed the tap. She frowned when only a small stream poured into her cup.

  Instead of pumping the keg, she looked at the tap and shook the hose, like the beer was stuck, or something, and pressed the tap again.

  What the fuck?

  I was about to step in when she looked up at me in confusion. “Is it empty?”

  I couldn’t help a small snort. I shook my head and started pumping the keg while staring pointedly into her pale eyes, then took the hose, opened the tap and poured her a beer.

  Ava turned bright red. “Oh, shit, that’s embarrassing. Thank you,” she murmured into her cup as she took a quick sip of beer. I watched her pink tongue lick some foam off her bottom lip and nearly groaned.

  Instead, I laughed at her self-deprecation. “Haven’t you ever used a keg before?” I asked incredulously.

  She laughed and shook her head. “What gave me away?”

  I smirked. “I think it’s when you fucking shook the hose to get the beer out.”

  Ava threw back her head and laughed at her own cluelessness. “Not one of my finer moments. I’m Ava,” she said, extending her hand to me. “Ava Fisher.”

  I stared at her small hand like it was a loaded gun, hesitating to touch her, as if I knew I would like it too much. I could be a real dick here and end our contact once and for all by leaving her hanging, making her feel stupid.

  Just as an embarrassed flush started to tint her cheeks and she started to lower her hand, I reached out and snagged it, feeling how cold and soft it was, how delicate her bones were. She shot me a relieved smile that made me immediately regret being so nice.

  “Jack,” I muttered.

  She cocked her head at me. “I think we have chem together. In fact, I think we’re lab partners as of today. Jack Becker, right?”

  I nodded my head, and realizing I was still holding her fucking hand, let it go like it was on fire. Fuck.

  Fortunately, Nik and Hannah walked up and interrupted us. I was grateful for their presence. I will admit—small talk is not my forte when it wasn’t centered around getting a girl in bed.

  “Hey, Ava,” Hannah greeted enthusiastically.

  “Hannah!” Ava squealed. “I’m so glad you’re here. You look amazing! I love that top.” Taking advantage of her closeness, I stared at Ava, trying to figure out what it was about her I found so fucking captivating.

  Ava and Hannah were still talking, when Nik turned to me. “I’m going to hold off on Connors unless he makes a move on Hannah.” Jeff Connors—the douchebag.

  I raised my brows at him. “Is that a fact? Why?” Nik was a fighter. If he had decided not to fight Connors, I figured it wasn’t his choice.

  He shook his head, as though still conflicted about the decision, then reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Hannah…”

  I smirked, and he opened his mouth, probably to tell me to fuck off, when Hannah informed him that she and Ava were going to the bathroom. Nik wasn’t crazy about this, due to Connors’ presence at the party, but let her go off with Ava.

  Ava, fuck. As happy as I was to get some distance from her, I couldn’t help but watch her sexy, denim-covered ass as she walked out of the room.

  Fortunately, Nik was so caught up worrying about Hannah, he didn’t notice my staring. I grinned at him as he watched Hannah leave, his face creased in a worried frown.

  He glanced at me. “What?”

  I snorted. “You have got to be the best fucking actor I’ve ever seen,” I quipped.

  He punched me. “Shut the fuck up. I’m just helping her out.”

  “Oh, well, if that’s how you help her out, would you mind if I ‘helped her out’ after you?” I had no interest in Hannah—I just liked fucking with him. “I mean, if you aren’t into her, I’ll be happy to take her off your hands. She’s looks pretty damned good, now. Especially when her shirt slides forward and I can see down the front–”

  “Keep your fucking eyes off her, Becker.” Nikolai growled, shoving me back against the wall.

  I laughed, pushed his hand off my chest, and refilled my beer. “You’re fucked.”

  “So, what’s up with you and that Ava chick?” he asked dryly.

  My head swung toward him. Fuck. So much for him not noticing.


  “Fuck you, Nik.”

  Chapter 2

  Ava

  My first party after moving to a new town had lived up to all my expectations, and then some. Fighting, drinking, flirting—good lord, what a night.

  I took a sip of my drink, wincing at the amount of Captain Morgan I used in my rum and Coke. I wasn’t much of a drinker, so the chemistry of cocktail making was new to me. I looked over at Hannah, holding a similar drink in her hand, and smiled at how quickly we had bonded over the course of a few hours. I was pretty buzzed, but she was completely smashed. She was currently talking a mile a minute to me about various people in the room who I had yet to meet, gesturing wildly with the hand that contained her drink and spilling it all over the floor.

  “Oops, shit. Did I get any on you?” Hannah slurred, her brow puckering.

  I laughed. “No, you’re fine. However, we’re probably going to end up sticking to the floor considering the amount we’ve spilled on it.”

  Hannah chuckled and went to take a sip of her half-filled cup, but Nikolai plucked it out of her hand and replaced it with a cup of water.

  I knew she told me her relationship with Nikolai Ivanov was fake, but right now it looked anything but. He was leaning against the wall and had her back pulled into his chest, his strong arm wrapped around the front her waist. He was talking to Jack but kept looking around the room to make sure there were no threats brewing. I don’t blame him after the earlier drama with Jeff, a guy who was basically stalking Hannah.

  Hannah and I had gone to the bathroom when Jeff came out of nowhere and cornered Hannah. She screamed at me to get Nikolai, so, even though I’d felt terrible leaving her, I ran and got him as fast as possible. Needless to say, Nikolai absolutely pulverized Jeff.

  I overheard people at the party murmuring about Nikolai’s family and the Russian mob, which I thought was ridiculous until I saw two huge guys arrive in a black SUV, take Jeff, and disappear. I have to admit, Nikolai is crazy hot, but I’d had my fill of dangerous guys. I left all that behind in Michigan.

  “Ava! Drink! You’re making me drink alone and that’s unacceptable,” Hannah accused in a comically fierce voice.

  “Hannah, Nikolai took your drink and gave you water, remember? It happened like two seconds ago.” She stared into her cup with glassy-eyed confusion. I laughed but complied with her request and took a healthy gulp of my overly strong drink, wincing as it burned its way down my throat.

  My eyes wandered over to Jack Becker, as they had done many times tonight, and I found his intense dark-green gaze already fixed on me. The carbonated liquid seized in my throat, and the heat that was warming my chest had less to do with the rum and more to do with being the object of Jack’s focused attention. Jack was ridiculously hot. While Nikolai was brawny, Jack was leaner, his fitted t-shirt showcasing his broad shoulders and the muscles defining his arms and chest. He had medium-brown hair that was very short on the sides, but longer on the top. The dark color of his hair was a perfect contrast for those intense, dark-green eyes that I found myself seeking out time after time.

  As I coughed and wiped at my watery eyes, Mark Cassidy came over and threw an arm around my shoulders.

  “You alright, Ava?” he asked, flashing me a charming grin.

  I darted a quick look at Jack and watched as his eyebrows knit together as he eyed Mark’s hand gripping my shoulder.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, Mark. Just made my drink a little too strong,” I replied lightly as I took another sip and shrugged my shoulders, hoping Mark would get the hint and remove his hand.

  He did not get the hint. Instead, he took my cup and put his mouth on the part of the cup that still held the residue from my lipstick, and took a sip. Oh, Jesus.

  Mark had invited me to this party, and although I didn’t have any interest in him romantically, he flirted with me pretty hard. I had only accepted his invitation because I’d heard it was going to be a big party and, being new, I wanted to meet people. I figured he would forget about me in the crowd. Well, he was really making his intentions clear now.

  I took a deep breath, frantically trying to think of a way to diplomatically tell him to leave me alone without damaging his ego and creating a scene.

  As if sensing my distress, Jack gave Mark a hard look and asked, “Where’s Delia, Cassidy?”

  Mark threw Jack a quelling stare, but slowly removed his arm from around my shoulders.

  “Who?” I asked.

  “His girlfriend,” Jack deadpanned.

  My brows jumped in surprise. I hadn’t been interested in Mark, but he’d hit on me so aggressively, I just assumed he was single.

  I threw Mark a side eye. “You have a girlfriend?”

  Mark sighed and shot Jack another dark look. Jack, unfazed by Mark’s aggravation, instead focused his intense stare on me. “Jealous, Ava?”

  I snorted. “Hardly.” I held Jack’s eyes for a moment, so he could see that I truly wasn’t into Mark Cassidy, but Jack’s expression gave nothing away. Instead, I swung my disapproving gaze back to Mark. “So?”

  He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Technically, yes.” I raised an eyebrow. “But we’re heading towards an open relationship, I swear.”

  “Is she here?” I darted a look around, half-expecting a furious banshee to jump out and start swinging at me.

  “No, she’s at The Dells with her parents.” Mark started smiling at me again, as though my only issue with him having a girlfriend was her possible presence at this party. “So, Ava–”

  I put my hand up to halt whatever was about to come out of his mouth. “Oh my god, Mark, no. Don’t even say it. I wasn’t interested in you to begin with, but I’m definitely not interested now.”

  Mark’s expression morphed from cajoling to furious in the span of a second. “What the fuck, Ava? You’re here, aren’t you? I invited you and you came. That seems pretty interested to me.”

  I rolled my eyes. This was something I had wanted to avoid. “Wow, Mark, you have a pretty healthy ego. Did you invite Jack?” I asked, nodding my head at Jack, who had stepped a foot closer to me at Mark’s outburst, and his fists opening and closing in anticipated violence. “Did you invite Dylan Grayson? Did you invite Rachel Pratt? Are they all interested in you, too?”

  Mark face flushed red with embarrassment as he pointed his finger one inch from my chest. “Fuck you, Ava. You’re just pissed that you found out I had a girlfriend.” I shrank away from him instinctively, shocked at unexpected vitriol in his response. “You–”

  Suddenly, there was a body between me and Mark. Jack placed his hand on Mark’s chest and pushed with enough force to knock him a few steps back. “Cassidy,” Jack gritted softly. “You need to settle the fuck down and back up.” Mark started to step towards Jack, but quickly reconsidered as he scanned Jack’s muscled forearms folded over his chest. Jack had at least three or four inches and many pounds of muscle on Mark’s far slighter frame.

  Mark looked between us with impotent fury, then stormed off.

  I stared at Jack’s back, waiting for him to turn around so I could thank him, but instead he marched over to the keg to get himself a beer without saying a word. I stared at him, a tangle of emotions twisting inside me; gratitude and attraction, rejection, and confusion. I was going to follow him, but Hannah was suddenly at my side to give me a consoling hug.

  “Jesus,” Hannah whispered, her violet eyes wide. “Are you okay, Ava?”

  I shook my head, incredulous. “What is going on tonight with the guys here? Did someone put testosterone in the beer?” I asked Hannah.

  Hannah burst out laughing. “I know, right? That about killed my buzz. Let me make you a drink–yours are terrible,” Hannah teased good-naturedly, turning to the counter so she could make us some much-needed drinks. “No more rum and Cokes! How about rum and orange juice?” Hannah asked quizzically.

  Both Nikolai and Jack responded with an expression of disgust, but it sounded fine to me. “Sure!”

  “Great.” Hannah started whipping around the kitchen grabbing ingredients for our drinks. “Wait! Let’s do a shot!” Hannah cried out as she handed me one of two solo cups filled a quarter full of Bacardi.

  “Whoa, Hannah, I think you’ve had–” Nikolai popped off the wall to reach for Hannah’s cup.