Evergreen Read online

  Evergreen

  Jessica Florence

  This is a work of fiction. Names, Places, Characters, and Events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events, and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of those terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Jessica Florence ©

  Editing by Jennifer Jeffers

  Cover by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations ©

  ISBN-13:

  978-1511448970

  ISBN-10:

  1511448970

  CHAPTER 1

  Ryder

  Just another day with another asshole who thought he could shit on the law and just keep dancing. I shook my head and grabbed my glass of water from the bar. I brought the drink to my lips as I gazed around the nightclub. I hated it here. But when you worked for the FBI, you went where they told you, and right now I was sitting in a room full of fog and lights flashing on the people swaying around on the dance floor.

  Ybor City.

  Located in Tampa, Florida, where the stupid come to play.

  I’d been watching this guy trade off drugs in a VIP booth for about an hour. But it wasn’t him I wanted. I wanted his boss, who my intel told me was going to show up at this club tonight. I turned my gaze back to the crowd, not wanting to draw attention to myself by staring at the guy. Girls were everywhere, scantily clad and grinding themselves against guys that probably wouldn’t even remember their names after tonight.

  “So just a water tonight, huh, stud?”

  The female bartender stared at me, obviously trying to start up a conversation. I gave her a half-hearted smile back, but I had no interest in her. She was cute, probably about five foot four, blonde hair with pink streaks framing her pixie-like face. Her breasts were pushed up on display by her uniform. But unless she turned out to be the drug dealer’s boss, I had no time for her.

  “Just the water,” I answered her politely.

  I downed what little drink I had left and headed toward dance floor. I wasn’t much of a dancer anymore—that was something of the past—but I needed to be inconspicuous.

  A tall brunette wiggled her way over to me. While keeping an eye on my guy, I moved lightly with her as she ground against me. I saw my target nod at another guy heading in his direction. I wrapped my dance partner’s arms around my neck and moved us to face the men. She laughed and continued to wiggle against my obviously-not-entertained dick.

  The new man was shorter than the other. He had a few days’ worth of facial hair growing and a tribal tattoo on his neck.

  Easy to remember. Not a very smart decision on his part.

  I watched as the two men shook hands and sat down. I kept my position on the dance floor until both men got up and headed toward the door.

  “Mm, baby, you move so good,” the brunette I was dancing with said. “Why don’t you and I get out of here? I don’t live too far.”

  She was smiling at me seductively. I took her hands, which were roaming over my chest, off me.

  “Thank you for the dance.”

  I nodded and walked away. I heard her yell at me, but I didn’t care. I had to keep an eye on my target and his new companion. They were taking a right out of the door of the club. I waited a few seconds and then followed them.

  I pulled out my phone and sent my man Rex a text on their location. He would pull a “Bump and Tag” on our tattooed friend.

  Two minutes later I saw a drunken man stumble into the men. I heard some curse words exchanged, and then the drunken man stumbled back in my direction. Nice one. Rex, the man pretending to be drunk, nodded as he passed me. I pulled out my phone and logged into the suspects’ signal. Thank God for technology.

  Just then I stumbled into the middle of a group of women who were shrieking about someone getting married tomorrow. One of the women elbowed me as I passed through, causing me drop my phone and lose sight of the dealers. I tried to get a location visually but couldn’t see them.

  “Fuck!” I cursed.

  “Well, that’s one hell of a thank you,” a feminine voice said behind me.

  I turned around to tell whatever chick had elbowed me to go to hell but was brought up short when I saw her.

  Flaming red hair was piled on top of her oval face. Her blue eyes stared at me intensely. My gaze fell to her pink, pouty lips. Her lower lip was slightly bigger than her top. My thoughts immediately took a turn into the gutter. I imagined all the ways I could tease those lips, tasting them, the way they would look wrapped around my dick. I kept going with my gaze. Her skin was a sweet cream color. A blue corset wrapped around her petite frame, and a pink tutu with pink and blue checkered socks encased her long legs. Then, the outfit finally ended with “fuck me” black heels. I never would have thought all that combined in one package would be sexy, but, damn, I was all about this cotton candy woman.

  “I appreciate you stripping me down with your eyes here, but I have a celebration to get back to, so here, please.”

  I looked back up at her face in confusion. Then I realized she was holding my phone out to me.

  “I’m an asshole. Thanks,” I told her as I grabbed my phone from her delicate hand.

  “Nice to meet you, asshole. I’m Candy Tease tonight. So maybe you aren’t normally an asshole.”

  She smiled at me. I found myself wanting to play with her.

  “Candy Tease. I can see where you get your name.”

  And I wasn’t talking about her outfit. Although I was sure that was what she thought I was talking about. She looked sweet as hell, and I definitely wanted a taste. My dick was throbbing at the thought of just how sweet she was. The sweetest of honey.

  “I don’t think you do. It’s actually a secret.” She winked at me.

  That was all the warning I had before she gripped my shirt, pulling me toward her and crushing her lips to mine. She moaned against my lips. I groaned. After the initial shock hit me, I gave back to her as much as she was giving me. Her lips tasted sweet, with a flavor I couldn’t place. Those perfect lips parted, and I sure as hell took advantage of that, my tongue caressing hers.

  Holy fuck, this woman was amazing!

  She suddenly pulled back a bit so that our lips were barely touching. “Cotton candy-flavored lip gloss,” she whispered against me.

  Then she did the strangest thing. She turned around and walked away.

  What the hell?

  I stood there stunned. I could still taste her. No fucking way was I going to let her walk away. She made a turn into a nightclub ahead. I started to follow her, then stopped and pulled out my phone. Those assholes were still being tracked, thank Christ. I pulled up Rex’s number and pressed call.

  He answered on the first ring. “What happened?”

  “I got mobbed by a group of bachelorettes and lost sight of the targets. Nice work on the tag, by the way.” I laughed remembering him stumbling like a fool.

  “Yeah, well, it worked. I’ll keep tabs on our guys. It looks like they’re on the road, going south on 75. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  Not much we could do now until they stopped.

  “Sounds good.”

  With that taken care of, I had some unfinished business to attend to. I walked like a man on a mission. I had one thought driving me. Cotton candy.

  CHAPTER 2

  Andi

  I couldn’t believe I’d just kissed a stranger—albeit a really hot stranger. I rubbed my thighs together just thinking about his body against mine. He had a hard, muscular body, an
d his black t-shirt did nothing to hide his masculinity.

  I leaned up against the cushioned seat where the rest of the girls were gabbing about how my friend Nikki was going to miss out on all the hot guys still out there. God, if only they had seen the hot man I had just assaulted. I closed my eyes and thought of his face. His brown hair, cut short, was just enough that I wanted to run my hands through it. He had beautiful green eyes, with long lashes that fanned over high cheekbones. And I knew for a fact that his lips were kissable. He definitely knew what he was doing with that mouth.

  “Andi, honey, what are you drinking? Because you look like you’re about to have one hell of an orgasm right there,” Jules, a girl from our reading group, said from the other side of the VIP area.

  I just laughed it off. “Still just water. Somebody has to make sure our precious girl gets home tonight.”

  I winked at Nikki. She just shook her head at me. Nikki had been one of my best friends since high school. She worked as a teacher at that same high school, and she was getting married tomorrow to another teacher.

  Mr. Zachary Tombs.

  He was a really good-looking science teacher. Not geeky at all, and he treated my Nikki like a goddess. I was so happy for them. There was no way she would get drunk before her wedding.

  She stood up swiftly. “Alright, ladies. I need to dance.”

  We all hooted our excitement and made our way to the dance floor.

  We were attracting attention from everyone, because when you dressed like a rainbow sugar plum fairy, you were quite the eye-catcher. All of us were dressed in corsets and tutus of all different colors. It was fun, especially since I loved to dress up.

  We gathered in a circle and started swaying with the beat.

  I was having a great time, when Jules moaned, “Oh Lord, I would sell my soul for a piece of that.”

  Curiosity coursed through me. I started to turn around to see what guy she was looking at, when hands gripped my waist, bringing me close to a warm, hard body.

  I was two seconds away from blowing my shit, when a sexy voice whispered against my ear, “Did you think I would let your sweet fucking lips walk away without another taste? I don’t think so, Cotton Candy.”

  I shivered at his words. Whoever this stranger was, I didn’t want him to let me go. His hands gripped me harder bringing me flush with his obvious hard-on.

  “I can’t get the taste of your lips off my mind. I wonder if you are sweet everywhere. I bet you are.”

  He spoke as he ran his nose up the side of my neck. The feeling made me start panting.

  Dear Lord, what was this man doing to me?

  “Move for me, sweetness.”

  My hips started moving of their own accord; my body wanted to please him. I heard a growl of satisfaction from him. My eyes closed, just giving into the feeling of this mysterious, sexy man. I twisted my hips against him, laying my head against his shoulder. My hands slowly crept up and joined his; our fingers entwined against my corset-clad waist.

  “What am I going to do with you, sweetness?” he purred against me.

  I wanted nothing more than to do dirty things with him. As long as he touched me and kept talking, I was a goner. His lips touched my neck, and I practically convulsed. A moan slipped through my lips. Then someone coughed.

  My eyes opened wide, and my head snapped up to its normal position. Jules, along with all the other girls, stared at us. My cheeks flared red. Oh my, this was embarrassing. I was rubbing my ass against a guy I didn’t know.

  “Um…” I tried to let go of his hands, but his grip tightened, refusing to let me go.

  “We were just thinking about heading out. Somebody here is getting married tomorrow. So, um…” Jules paused, giving me an option to leave with them or stay with this man.

  Thankfully I wasn’t the only sober one in the group, so I could stay if I wanted. I wanted him so badly, but I kind of felt like a hussy now that my mind was clearing from the sexual beast on fire behind me.

  “No, it’s okay. Um, we should go,” I answered.

  “Alright, Andi,” Nikki said, saying my name a little louder than normal. “We will meet you outside. I’ll grab your purse on our way out.” She winked at the man behind me as she led the other girls toward the door.

  I let go of the man’s hands and turned around to face him. Oh my God, he was so fine. His eyes were dark and flared with desire. He was looking at me like he wanted to take me right then and there on the dance floor. Desire pooled between my legs. If he propositioned me, I wasn’t sure I would say no.

  I spoke first, trying to break the spell he held over me. “Um, I have to go.” I was just full of words.

  “It would appear so, Andi.” He drew out my name as he spoke, as if he was savoring my name on his lips.

  I shifted from one leg to the other. He slowly moved closer. He was like a predator, and I his prey.

  “This isn’t the end, sweetness. I will find out the answer to my question.”

  I raised my chin slightly, bringing our lips inches from each other. “What question is that?” I whispered.

  He growled and kissed my lips with a fever I’d never experienced before him. I wanted to wrap myself around him, feel all the pleasure I knew he could bring.

  He slowly eased back and spoke against me. “If you taste as sweet everywhere else.”

  He smiled a half-mischievous smile. That same smile made me feel bold. I wanted to accept his challenge.

  “You can find out, if you can find me.”

  With that gauntlet thrown down, I left him staring at me fiercely as I walked away. I threw a little extra sway in my hips as I passed through the door.

  I ran into the girls, who were all waiting to hear what had happened with my mystery man. I just shook my head.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  I put my arms around Nikki’s shoulders and walked us toward our car.

  CHAPTER 3

  Ryder

  Eight hours.

  Eight hours since I’d had her against me. Eight hours since I’d tasted her perfect lips. Eight hours since she’d thrown down the challenge for me to come find her. And you could bet your sweet ass I was going to find her.

  I tossed and turned in bed after I got home, then finally gave up and took a cold shower. I let my hands work myself to ease the steam of her off my mind. I couldn’t get over how crazy she made me. I hadn’t put this much thought into a woman in a long time.

  I sat in bed, just thinking about how I was going to go about finding Andi, when my phone beeped with a text. Rex.

  Rex—Meet me at the diner.

  Here we went.

  Ryder—K

  I quickly got up and dressed before heading to The Diner.

  Ten minutes later I was sitting across from Rex while he chowed down on a waffle and some bacon. His blond shaggy hair in his face made him look like a lazy surfer.

  I shook my head as I drank some coffee. “So, what you got for me?” I asked.

  He looked up with cheeks stuffed with food, then took one giant gulp and spoke. “Well, our dealer has set up camp in a fancy house by the bay. I’ve got some guys going over today to keep an eye on them.”

  This was good news. Hopefully all these little breadcrumbs would lead me to my main goal. Draco.

  Draco Skeller was a bad mother that no one had been able to touch. Even though he was as guilty as possible, whenever it came time for trial, the witnesses disappeared or forgot their testimonies. He traveled all over the world, sipping piña coladas while murdering people, selling women on the market, and was running a big business in drug trafficking.

  Even though the FBI was located in Tampa, the city remained a large drug area, especially with the international airport and bay ports.

  Everyone who had tried to take Draco down had failed. I’d been working on his case since I became a part of the FBI three years ago. I knew everything there was to know about him and every person and creature related to him: his mother;
his dead dad, whom he shot; his asshole son, Gavin; even their ankle-biter dogs, Kida and Luigi.

  “Good deal. I’ll talk to Mack about seeing if we can get someone inside. See if our tattooed friend can lead us to Draco.”

  Rex just nodded. We both wanted to get this guy.

  “So I saw that chick maul you last night. Did you take her back to your place and ride her?”

  I laughed. Asshole. He always found some way to play on my name when it came to women. Ride her, Ryder.

  “Nope, but I’m going to find her.” I drank more of my coffee while I watched him study me.

  “What?” I asked. He was looking at me like he was trying to figure out who I was.

  “Never knew you to be the chasing type. They usually just come to you. You do your thing, then pay for a cab home.”

  He did have a point. My job was everything. I never put in extra work with women.

  But I couldn’t get over the way Andi had melted in my hands as she’d pressed her ass against me. The soft moans as she’d felt my desire for her. Hell, the way she’d kissed me and challenged me. It was too much to bear.

  I just shrugged. No way was I going to tell him that.

  “Alright then. Just don’t let it interfere with your work. I would hate to see boss man kick your ass if you mess something up over a chick.” He finished the last of his breakfast.

  “No worries there. The bureau comes first,” I told him straight.

  He nodded, threw down a twenty, and saluted me.

  “Peace, I’ll be around. Let me know if you need anything,” he said, then walked off toward whatever surveillance cave he had set up.

  I checked to make sure the twenty would cover the bill and headed to my truck. With my bag in the back, I gunned it toward the gym.

  I kicked my ass working out for an hour before my mind started wandering back to a certain sexy redhead. I wondered if she was up and getting ready for her friend’s wedding. What would she be wearing? Or better yet, what would she be wearing underneath? Yeah, it was time for me to leave the gym. There was a strict “no boners in here” rule. I grabbed my shit and headed home.