Schuman showed Jace to a room that was on the second floor, over what would be the president’s office. The window had a good view of Tucson, the room filled with basic furniture needed for a bedroom. There was also an en-suite bathroom, which looked clean and functioning. The bed was comfortable as well, as Jace found out when he sat on it. It was king-size. A little small for his sexual activities, but Jace could work around it.
This could work quite nicely for a few weeks.
Fetching his bags from his bike, Jace set himself up. He wanted to make it look homely for the short period of time, but he also needed to be able to put everything into his bags at a moment’s notice. It did help that he could clear out and not have to worry about certain items. Jace had learnt a long time ago not to get attached to things.
Once he’d finished all of that, which didn’t take long, Jace took a long shower. He had been on the road all day and he stank. The hot water was running well and felt like heavy. Jace washed himself all over before dressing in a white t-shirt and jeans. He gave the funny shaped scar on his shoulder a scowl before he covered it up with his shirt. That was another thing of the past that he regretted. Trying to get a tattoo like the other members of Broken Hounds and finding out he was allergic to the ink. It had reacted to his skin immediately.
The tattoo had been removed but the scars were still there. Not a good memory.
Jace could feel himself craving for a cigarette. It had been some hours since his last cigarette and that had been the last of the packet. Jace needed a smoke now or he was going to end up pacing around his room like a junkie on a fix.
Snatching up his wallet, he left the clubhouse and walked around the corner to the bodega he knew was down the street. It sold what was needed and the owners were a lovely couple from the Philippines, who were always smiling and chatty to the Broken Hounds lot whenever they went in.
Jace reached the bodega and was about to go in when the door swung open and a woman carrying an ice cream came out. Jace wasn’t able to stop himself and they collided. The woman gasped and Jace felt the coldness of the ice cream against his chest. He stepped back suddenly, his face going red for the first time in years.
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
Then he caught sight of the woman and his heart momentarily stopped. She was beautiful. Three inches shorter than him, long red hair held up with a claw grip pinning it down, smooth light brown skin and green eyes that sparkled like emeralds. She had a lovely looking mouth. She looked like an athlete, with smallish breasts and a small waist, dressed in a red vest with a scooping neck and faded jeans with sneakers.
Ice cream was on her chest, which had Jace’s eyes zeroing in. It was trickling down her chest and onto her vest, some of it slipping into her cleavage. But she didn’t seem to notice it, staring at Jace with her mouth open, looking a little dazed.
“I…” Jace swallowed and tried to look for something to clean up. “Oh, shit, I’m so sorry.”
Then the woman recovered. She shrugged with a smile and used the napkin around her cone to scoop the ice cream out from her cleavage.
“Oh, well. I didn’t really need to have one anyway.” She went to the nearby trash can and dropped the napkin with offending ice cream and cone into it. “I have to keep off the pounds.”
“You don’t look like you need to lose anything.” Jace was still transfixed by the image of seeing a gorgeous woman scooping ice cream off her chest. “You’re perfect.”
And she was perfect. Physically, she was the most perfect woman he had ever seen. And that was saying something with his long line of women.
“You’re ever the charmer, aren’t you?”
Then Jace realized that the woman was looking at him with an amused smile twitching at her mouth. He shook himself out of his reverie.
“Sorry, I’m not normally that bold.”
“I’m sure you’re not.”
The look on her face and the twinkle in her eyes said she didn’t believe him. Jace knew he was making a fool of himself.
His cock was starting to wake up and press against his zipper. The woman standing there, with the remnants of ice cream on her person, was fuckable, and already Jace was planning on getting her into bed. In his mind, he began to plot how long it would take to get this woman into bed with him.
Then he had an idea.
“One minute. Just stay here.”
He hurried into the bodega and found the ice cream counter at the back. The lady behind it gave him an ice cream like the one the woman had been eating. She also gave him some napkins to clean his shirt, which had vanilla ice cream mashed into it. Jace went back outside and found the woman leaning against the trash can, checking through her cell phone. She looked up as Jace came out; he handed her the ice cream with a winning smile.
“Here.”
Her eyes widened.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. It’s the least I can do.”
Jace could do more than that, but he wasn’t about to jump someone seconds after meeting them. It was a game of patience, to get the woman to drop in front of him and open her legs for his cock.
The woman took the cone and Jace made sure to touch her fingers as she took it. What he wasn’t expecting was for a shock of electricity to shoot up his arm. He saw her eyes dilating and her nipples hardening under her vest. She was noticing the spark as well.
Either that or the cold of the ice cream was taking effect.
“Thanks.”
She took a lick of the cone, her eyes on Jace. Jace suddenly had an image of her on her knees in front of him with her mouth around his cock, and he swallowed back a groan. If she could make him more aroused than he had anticipated just by an image in his head, this woman was going to send him into orbit. And they had barely touched yet.
“Anything for a beautiful woman,” he said smoothly.
The woman threw back her head and laughed. She had a nice, clear laugh.
“You really are a charmer. If those words were cutting, they would go right for the jugular.”
“If it has the desired effect…”
“Well, it might do.” Her eyes were dancing with laughter. “But not on this girlie, handsome. I’m immune.”
Jace openly licked his lips, pointedly looking at her chest.
“Do you want to test it out?”
He could wait to get his mouth on her. He wondered if she tasted as sweet as that ice cream. The woman snorted and snapped her fingers in front of him.
“Eyes up, handsome. No touching and no leering.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No, I’m…” Then Jace realized that, technically, he wasn’t from Tucson anymore. And the woman didn’t recognize him, if she even knew of him at all. He could play on that. “Not really. I was here a long time ago, back when I was younger.” He grimaced. “They weren’t happy memories.”
“Oh?” The woman slanted an eyebrow at him. “Why’s that?”
Why did he have to have said that out loud? Jace shrugged.
“Things happened that I wasn’t proud of. People had different opinions about people I was close to. I couldn’t handle it, so I ran.”
Now he had said it out loud it sounded awful. But the woman looked sympathetic.
“We’re always running from something.”
“I suppose we are.” Jace knew he wouldn’t get anywhere if they were still on the sidewalk. He turned up the charm. “Listen, if you’re not doing anything, fancy getting a drink? We can talk a bit more out of this heat.”
For a moment, he thought he would have the woman in the bar, and then in his bed in the clubhouse, within the hour. Her legs would be around his waist as he pumped his cock into her pussy, making her scream enough for the whole of the city to hear. But the woman shook her head.
“Sorry, I can’t. I’m due to see my brother and sort out the books.”
“I’m sure your brother can handle it for a while longer,” Jace purred, giving her the smile that always worked. “You can’t be that important.”
He waited. And then she was smiling and nodding.
“Perhaps a little drink won’t be a problem.” She held out a hand. “I’m Maddie.”
Maddie? This was Maddie Lyman? Jace couldn’t believe it. He had imagined what Maddie might be like as a grown woman. He had never expected anything as gorgeous and delectable. It was a little unnerving. Jace hadn’t thought Maddie would grow up to make him want to fuck her on sight.
But it had happened and all Jace could think of now was what Maddie would look like naked. He shook her hand.
“Jace. Pleasure to meet you Maddie.”
Maddie Lyman was gorgeous. And Jace knew he had to make him hers. He had to have a taste.
It wasn’t until he was walking down the street with Maddie that Jace realized he had forgotten his cigarettes.