Chapter Thirteen
Orange Jumpsuits and Foam Swords
Harlow
“Lars says hi.”
Well, that’s in the top five weirdest post-sex pillow talk starters.
Lifting my head off Kase’s naked chest, I looked down at him. “Did you see him today?”
“Yeah, stopped in about the Eddie thing.”
When everything went down with Eddie, my mind had been pretty stuck on the Kase part of things. Since I had the answers to those questions, new ones began to form. “What’s Eddie’s beef with Lars? I thought they’re business partners.”
“They were.”
I took a wild stab in the dark. “The camera thing?”
He nodded. “It was a long time coming, but that was the last straw.”
“I don’t get why he was working with him to begin with.”
“They’re cousins.”
My brows shot up. “Really?” I pictured Lars and Eddie standing next to each other, but couldn’t see a single shared characteristic, physical or otherwise. “They don’t even seem to like each other.”
“They used to be close.”
“Wait.” I sat up and brought my knees to my chest.
Kase’s eyes slowly travelled down my body, though my legs blocked most of it.
I exaggeratedly cleared my throat. “How do you know Lars?”
Kase inhaled deeply and weaved his hands behind his head. “We did time together.”
I slammed my hand down on his abs. “No way. Why was he in?”
“He has a quick temper and an even quicker left hook.” He rubbed his stomach. “Though nothing compared to you.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s crazy.”
“When he got out, he didn’t wanna work for anyone else. Unfortunately, banks are less than willing to get into business with a dude fresh out of an orange jumpsuit. He and Eddie were tight, so Eddie became the face of Wicked.”
My nose scrunched as I tried to imagine Eddie as the face of anything other than a strong topical cream or an extra strength pest control.
“He wasn’t like that before,” Kase said, clearly reading my thoughts. “Power, pussy, and blow change people.”
Not wanting to even think about Eddie and pussy in the same sentence, I cringed.
Kase took pity on me, wrapping the conversation up. “Anyway, Lars said he’d handle him. But if you see Eddie, let me know right away.”
I nodded, hoping like hell I never saw him again.
Dropping a hand to my knee, his thumb stroked across it. His face softened. “Jake came with me to see Lars.”
“Okay,” I said, drawing out the word until the invisible light bulb flickered over my head. “Which means Jake now knows I used to work for Lars.”
“He gets that it isn’t his place to tell anyone. That said, ipo, he really fuckin’ hates keeping shit from his wife.”
I hated feeling like I was keeping a secret from Piper. Knowing that I was also making Jake keep one didn’t sit well. Opening up the little bit I had was well worth it, even if it hadn’t been easy.
It’s not like she’s gonna judge. Just handle it like any other important conversation.
Build up the courage.
Practice a succinct delivery.
And then awkwardly blurt it out at an inopportune moment.
“Piper and I will go for drinks soon.” I thought about it for a moment before adding, “Strong ones.”
Kase didn’t respond verbally, but the smile he gave me said plenty.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I gathered my nerve before inhaling and forcing the words out in a rush. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why do you always call Piper ‘Jake’s wife’ or ‘his wife’?”
“Why you asking, ipo?”
I shrugged. “Just curious.”
Kase sat up fully and shifted to face me. “Jake’s like a brother to me. He had no issue giving me a job, even before he knew the full story of why I did time. His shop is worth a fuck ton, but he’s never treated me like I needed to earn his trust, or like I was less than him.”
“Piper said you two are closer than brothers.”
“We are. Without a doubt. And in all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him happy like he is with Piper. Since the first time she walked into the shop, that was it. And every time I call her his wife, he smiles. And I like that for him.”
I thought back again to what Ray said months ago. “You really are a big romantic.”
“Yeah.”
Looking down, I picked at nothing on the sheet. “So it’s never been…”
Reaching out, he ran his hands up my calves. “I love Pipe like family, but it’s never been anything more.”
When Kase and I were still ignoring each other, I used to watch him because Ray was right and I did have a giant crush. He always looked at Piper with loads of affection and love, but never lust. And never like he was in love.
“That’s what I figured, but I was curious.”
“While we’re sharing,” he started, shaking his head. “And I’m probably gonna fuckin’ regret asking this, but what happened with Lars?”
My brows shot up. “Why are you asking that?”
“He reminded me that he’ll be at the Hyde opening. You two in the same room, my mind is gonna fuckin’ torture me thinking it was some Cirque du Soleil shit between you two.”
I burst out laughing. “No. He kissed me at work one night, but it was pretty obvious I wasn’t, ummm, into it.”
“How?”
“I started thinking about all the school work I had to do.”
It was Kase’s turn to laugh.
There was a comfortable closeness between Kase and me that seemed to grow with each passing day. The more we opened up, the tighter we became wrapped in each other.
Putting my hands on his shoulders, I pushed him to his back. I threw my leg over his hips to straddle him, the thin sheet the only thing that separated us. “While we’re sharing,” I started, leaning down so my lips brushed his. “When you kiss me, I forget I even have homework. I forget everything.”
“Fuck, Harlow,” he said, his voice a low growl. Cupping the back of my head, his mouth took mine.
I broke away, leaning over and twisting my torso to grab a condom. Handing it to him, I shifted up his stomach so he could reach behind me and put it on. He gripped his cock as I raised myself onto it.
My head dropped back as I slid down. The feeling of fullness increased with each rock. The tension coiled tightly in my gut, throwing off my rhythm.
Gripping my hips, Kase sat up.
“Oh fuck,” I muttered, my muscles clenching as his pelvis ground against me.
Cupping my breast, he rolled my nipple between his thumb and finger. His other hand spanned my hip, controlling my speed. “Play with your clit.”
Going between us, I rubbed, alternating between firm and light pressure.
As the pressure built again, I lost my rhythm and pattern.
Bringing both hands to my hips, Kase used his hold to move me up and down his cock.
No longer able to concentrate on my clit, I clutched his biceps, my nails digging in. Small pulses of pleasure shot through my body, becoming more powerful as I came.
Curling his arm up, Kase weaved his fingers into my hair and held my head in place.
“Look at me,” he ordered with a rough whisper.
The intimacy of the eye contact and the intensity of his gaze was almost too much.
Almost.
Combined with his unrelenting and savage thrusts, however, all I felt was a frenzy of lust and happiness.
I smiled, small and quick, before my focus went hazy. As I came again, I heard his own groan mix with mine.
When we finished, Kase fell onto his back, still keeping hold of me. His hands stroked any bit of my skin he could.
Lowering my head, I could feel his heart pounding. I pressed my lips to his chest as I caught my breath.
And then I fell into a deep and restful sleep.
*******
“Only one day left, Fire Crotch,” Deborah said with a dramatic sigh.
After the gruelingly long day I’d had, there were zero fucks left in my reserve tank. There was no way I could even fake it.
Instead, I kept my back to her and continued packing my bag.
“I guess it’s better for you, though. You’ll probably want to keep an eye on your boyfriend.”
Now what does that mean?
Grabbing my stuff, I turned around slowly, trying to hide how curious I was. “Is that so?”
Deborah smirked, knowing she had my attention. “Well, I would. Given,” she took a calculated pause, “you know.”
“No, I don’t know. What?”
“After he came to pick you up, I asked your party girl intern friend about him. Since she didn’t have much to tell, I did some digging.” She tried to smile but her face didn’t seem to know how and it came out like a weird grimace. “Now I’m trying to figure out if you know or not. I’d hate to be the one to share such disturbing news.” She tapped her fake nail to her overly lined lips. “Maybe I should tell Andrew first.”
School that morning had been a ridiculous clusterfuck of chaos and stress as everyone crammed for finals. I’d just dropped into bed, desperately needing a nap, when my phone went off like a banshee mid-orgasm. Andrew, my intern supervisor, was distracted as he’s asked me to hurry in, hanging up before I’d even said two words.
Another day, another scandal.
Running on adrenaline and copious amounts of caffeine, my self-control was non-existent. My patience was even less than that.
Not bothering to hide my irritation, I asked, “What’re you talking about?”
“Normally I wouldn’t gossip about this sort of thing,” she lied through her capped teeth. “But since we work with so much sensitive material, I’m thinking it isn’t a good idea to have the girlfriend of a convict around. It could—”
I sighed in exasperation. “Is that what this is about?”
“So you know?”
Before I could stop myself, I laughed. “Of course I do.”
Her face twisted up. “What’s so funny?”
“You. You find out my man did time, and your plan is to threaten me?” Absolutely done with her bullshit, I moved toward her. I got a badass thrill at watching her take a big step back, putting her out in the hallway. As tempted as I was to do it again, I stayed in the room where I was hidden. “You wanna know what seriously sets him off?” When she didn’t respond, I continued. “Seeing me upset.”
“Are you implying he’d physically—”
“No.” Thinking on it for a second, I clarified, “Well, not a woman at least. But if he were to see me upset, he might feel inclined to talk to some of his friends. Ones with ways of finding out about people. I mean, I know my investigative skills are decent, but compared to what they could dig up?” I shrugged.
Her face paled, her mouth dropping open. When footsteps approached, she looked over and jumped. She turned and rushed away without another word.
Inhaling deeply, I walked into the hall and almost crashed into Kase.
He caught me around the waist. “Whoa, ipo.” Taking in my expression, he glanced up at Deborah’s retreating back and his face hardened. “The fuck did that fake bitch do now?”
“It’s more what I did.”
“Which was?”
“Oh, no biggie. I just let my emotions get to me, totally blowing any chance I had at getting a fall intern spot.”
While I enjoyed giving her an infinitesimal taste of what she deserved, I instantly regretted risking my future.
Stop being so melodramatic. There are plenty of other stations to work for. I mean, sure none of them have the viewership or ratings this one does. But who cares about that, right?
Suddenly feeling like I turned down Harvard to go to an unaccredited online school, my stomach dropped and my chest felt heavy.
Ahh, anxiety. Long time since I’ve seen you, old friend.
“What happened?” Kase asked, his usual humor gone.
“I’ll tell you on the way home. After we stop for margarita supplies.” Looking down the empty hallway, I shook my head. “Fuck the margaritas, I’m going straight tequila.”
*******
It was over.
Part of me wanted to run from the building, cheering like a kid on summer vacation, but the logical side was obsessively planning.
I’d been optimistic about getting accepted into the fall internship. Actually, despite Deborah’s threats, I’d even thought I had a pretty good shot at the summer, if a spot opened up.
That all went up in the smoke of the bridge I burned.
As I prepared to leave the station for possibly the last time, I couldn’t help feeling lost. My melancholy mood was slightly lifted when I walked outside and saw Kase leaning against his car.
Still in his grease stained jeans and undershirt, his already inked skin was covered in dried paint. Even his dreads, pulled back into a bun, were splattered.
“What’re you working on?” I asked, going up on my toes to kiss him.
“The finishing touches of Pipe’s surprise.” I opened my mouth, but he spoke first. “That’s all you’re getting outta me.”
“Fine,” I sighed, drawing the word out as I shot him a dirty look.
“I’d be a lot more worried if you weren’t grinning.” Dipping down, he kissed the side of my upturned lips. His beard was rough against my cheek as he moved his mouth to my ear. “How about we go home, dip into that tequila, and I give you more to smile—”
Unfortunately, his very appealing offer was interrupted. “Harlow!”
I turned around to see Andrew approaching. “So much for a quick escape,” I muttered.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Andrew said, failing to hold back a smile. “But we just ordered a pizza and there’s cake to celebrate the interns.” He glanced around before lowering his voice. “Since you basically carried them all, I feel like you should have a huge piece.”
“Oh, my boyfriend is here, and—”
“Bring him in.” He jerked his head to the side. “I think everyone is watching from the window anyway. They’ll be happy for the chance to use some of their newfound investigative skills up close.”
I looked at Kase, bugging my eyes out in a silent plea for him to come up with an excuse.
Instead, he smiled at me before lifting his chin at Andrew. “Sounds like fun.”
He reached his hand out. “I’m Andrew, by the way.”
I scrunched up my face as they shook hands. “Sorry, that was rude of me. Andrew, this is my boyfriend, Kase. Kase, this is Andrew. He’s the intern supervisor at the station.”
“I’m going to take a shot in the dark and guess you work at a garage,” Andrew said as we started into the building. “Which one?”
“Hyde,” Kase answered.
Andrew stopped. “No shit?” He grimaced at me. “Sorry.”
Hearing him swear threw me. Not because of what he said, just because it was him saying it.
Though he was only in his mid-thirties, Andrew came across as older. He was usually quiet, and always professional.
“I’ve never heard such coarse language, but it’s okay.” I put my hand to my chest. “I think I’ll survive.”
After giving me a smile, Andrew turned back to Kase. “I hate to put you on the spot, but what are the chances you can get an old Buick Roadmaster alternator without it costing an arm and a leg?”
“Year?” Kase asked.
“‘55.”
Kase pulled out his phone and touched the screen a few times. “Can’t guarantee it, but I’ll put my feelers out. Does Harlow have your number?”
“Yeah. Thanks, I really appreciate this. My dad’s been working on this restoration since before he retired but he can’t find that part. I wouldn’t ask, but his birthday is coming up.”
They continued talking about the project as we walked into the station conference room, but I wasn’t following half of what they said. All I did know was, despite his vague answer, Kase would most likely bust his ass to hunt down the part. His face was determined, and I could almost see his mind working.
At the sound of Kase’s voice, Deborah turned our way. Slowly taking him in, she looked like she wanted to devour him. After a moment, her eyes widened and her face paled.
Confused by her reaction, I glanced up at Kase and saw what she was scared of.
His expression was hard and humorless as he glared her way. Since she didn’t know him, all she saw was the tattooed, badass ex-con, not the sweet and funny romantic.
After snapping something at the crew member she was talking to, she darted from the room like it was filled with ghosts, exes, and timeshare representatives.
Kase looked at me, his face softening. Winking, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
I couldn’t help it.
I burst out laughing.
*******
“You mad?” Kase whispered in my ear, his beard tickling my neck.
Our bodies still connected, he used his weight to push me down onto my belly. His hands by my head supported him so I could still breathe.
“Umm, no? Mind-blowing orgasms aren’t on my peeve list.”
He chuckled, the sound amazing to hear and feel. “Not for that. You mad we hung out at the party?”
“No, it was a lot of fun.”
Most of the interns stuck around for a couple hours, chatting and reminiscing with the crew members and other staff that popped in and out. Only a couple of us had applied to repeat the experience in the fall, so there were a lot of phone numbers exchanged and a few tearful goodbyes.
It was very end-of-summer-camp.
Deborah had steered clear of the party while we were there. When she’d been forced to walk past the door, she wouldn’t even glance in.
It was awesome.
Goosebumps spread across my skin as Kase slowly pulled out of me, his lips trailing down my spine. I heard his soft footsteps on the carpet as he walked away, likely to deal with the condom, but I was too blissfully spent to turn and look.
Coming back a minute later, he stretched out on his side, propping himself up on his elbow. Using the other hand, he played with my hair. “The look on that thundercunt’s face was fuckin’ priceless.”
I laughed, both at his nickname for her and the memory. “And I have you to thank for that.”
His hand left my hair, his fingertips skimming lightly down my back and ass. Settling between my thighs, his finger trailed my sensitive skin. His touch was tender.
“I don’t like anyone fuckin’ with what’s mine.” His face lost all humor, his tone low and firm. “After what you told me, I figured you had that bitch scared. Glad to see it for myself.”
“That’s why you wanted to go to the party?”
Kase nodded. His expression softened, warming as he moved his hand up to rub my back. “You weren’t embarrassed?”
“By my hot as hell man? No, I think I’m good.”
His movements stilled. “Say that again.”
“I’m good?”
“The first part.”
I tried to hold in my smile. “Hot?”
“Harlow,” he warned.
Pushing myself up, I leaned over and kissed his shoulder. “My man?”
Before I knew what happened, I was flat on my back with Kase between my legs.
He grinned down at me, his dreads falling around his face. His blue eyes were bright and playful, making me want to kiss the crinkles near them.
“Oh, I forgot a little something,” I said, scrunching up my face and holding up my hand with my thumb and index finger a small distance apart.
“Yeah?”
“Other than classes tomorrow and Monday morning, I’m yours until the Hyde opening on Tuesday.”
“No Rye?”
I shook my head. “I asked Rhys for the weekend off.”
At my words, the intensity I saw in him took over and his mouth dropped to take mine.
His kiss was hot, hard, and possessive.
It worked out well, ‘cause so was mine.
*******
Kase
Holding Harlow close as she slept, I was wide awake. Her voice echoed in my head.
‘My man.’
She’d said it naturally.
Effortlessly.
Harlow had always been guarded. She listened, bent over backwards to help, but she’d barely shared more than superficial information. It’d still been enough to show she was smart, fuckin’ funny, and seriously fuck all hot.
And definitely worth the wait and the fight.
Only it hadn’t happened.
I’d suited up for a fuckin’ war, only to be greeted by foam swords and cardboard shields.
And I couldn’t be fuckin’ happier.
I didn’t want a challenge. Fuck the chase.
Easy wasn’t my thing, either. I hadn’t been sitting back, waiting for someone to throw themselves at me.
I wanted natural and effortless.
Real.
Inhaling the citrus scent of Harlow’s shampoo, I smiled and closed my eyes.
Before I could fall asleep, my phone on the side table vibrated. Grabbing it, I touched the screen to see a text.
Nox: We need to talk.
Fuck.