Wanting It All: A Naked Men Novel Read Online Free Page A

engine revving hot. Or the enthusiasm she matched him with, stepping in even closer and gripping his forearm.
    “Hey!” The exclamation broke him out of the lip-lock as much as the tug on the short hairs at the back of his neck. His friend Annabeth frowned at him. Tightened her already severe black ponytail. Then she shot a thumb toward the elevator. “There are three hundred and seventeen rooms and suites spread over these eleven floors. Go take your sexifying into one of them.”
    Madison didn’t appear the least bit embarrassed by the interruption. She wiped at the smear of lipstick on her chin while she aimed an amused look at Annabeth. “You know, you’re the second person to tell us that in the last ten minutes.”
    Nice, the way Madison rolled with the punches. And Knox always enjoyed watching someone stand up to Annabeth. The waitress was tough. A smart-ass. Which was why he and his friends adored her. Annabeth didn’t just serve them drinks. She dished out gossip on who was newly available, offered advice on what women wanted, and laughed at their dirty jokes. They didn’t come for the drinks, or the view. They came to hang with Annabeth. And out of respect for that friendship, none of the five of them had ever hit on her. Which happened to be one of the hardest things Knox had ever done…or
not
done.
    “Maybe the universe is sending you two a message,” Annabeth snarked with a sneer curling her upper lip. But she gave Madison an assessing up-and-down, obviously impressed by the other woman’s spine.
    Knox usually let Annabeth hassle him. Actually, he didn’t
usually
bring women here at all. Too obvious. Too touristy. Plus, he didn’t like taking his hookups to any of the spots that mattered to the ACSs. Already, things with Madison were off the rails. Weirdly enough, he didn’t mind. So he shut down Annabeth’s sure-to-be-endless nitpicking with a gentle tweak of the apron strings at her waist.
    “If I follow through on that so-called message, you don’t get a tip. This is Madison’s first night in D.C. I planned to order her the good stuff—the
expensive
stuff—in celebration.”
    “In that case, I’m Annabeth and I’ll be your server tonight. Please follow me to your table.” She gave a flounce as she spun on her high black heels. But she apparently couldn’t resist a parting shot. As Annabeth led them through the crowded room to the balcony and a table right on the edge, she said, “Pervert.”
    No point denying it. “You know you love me for it.”
    “That’s not it at all. I’m endlessly entertained by the notion that women fall for your Casanova shtick.”
    In a stage whisper, Knox said, “In case you weren’t clear, I’m on a date. Right now.”
    Madison fluttered her hand between them. “It doesn’t bother me. Technically, I haven’t fallen for your shtick. I fell for the obvious and impressive muscles you used to keep me on the sidewalk. The kick-ass way you kiss. Plus, the sheer amount of words you spit out per sentence.”
    “I don’t talk that much,” he protested. Knox settled her into the U-shaped black-and-white striped chair.
    “Compared to men in Alaska?” She snorted. Pointed across the table as he sat down. “You talk more than a teenager hopped up on soft drinks and candy.”
    Knox filed that away to tell Logan. See if in all his globetrotting he’d ever stopped in the forty-ninth state. Because Logan doled out words as stingily as life jackets on the
Titanic.
He’d fit right in up there.
    Annabeth caught Madison’s wrist. Turned it left and right. “I love that bracelet. The contrast between the turquoise and silver really makes it pop.”
    “Thanks.” She peeled it off her wrist. “Here, you should take it.”
    A bark of disbelief made heads turn at the red couches along the wall. Annabeth crinkled her nose. Gave Knox a sideways
Where did you find this one?
look. “I can’t take your bracelet.”
    “Sure you can. I made it, I can give it