~ Ace ~
Pulling up into her driveway, Ace saw another vehicle sitting there.
Barbara cursed under her breath. “It’s David. Stay here. I want to talk to him alone.”
He didn’t like that directive, but he wasn’t going to push his weight around. Yet. “You got it, angel. If you need me, just signal.”
“I’m in no damn mood to deal with him tonight. I’m just going to ask him to leave.”
Stepping out of the SUV, she walked briskly up to her front porch. The bastard was just sitting there waiting for her, calm as could be. Ace wanted to get out of the vehicle and make sure he knew his sweet angel was off-limits, but that was the kind of thing most women found offensive. Therefore, he sat on his fat, jealous ass biding his time.
The windows were tinted and it was dark out, so he was fairly certain David didn’t know who was in the vehicle. It was unfortunate that Ace could hear every word they were saying and see every gesture. It pissed him the hell off that Barbara’s body language closed down and she kept her distance as she spoke to him. It was clear to him that she was afraid of her ex.
Her voice sounded strange when she spoke. “David, why are you—”
“Where in the hell have you been?” he cut her off.
She stiffened. “I don’t owe you answers to those kinds of questions anymore.”
“The hell you don’t. You changed all your passwords.”
“Of course, I did. They’re my accounts, and we’re not married anymore. Why would I allow you to sign into my bank account, e-mail, cell phone and GPS? You have no right to that kind of information about my life.”
“I’ve been worried sick about you,” he said, switching tactics. It was obvious the guy was used to manipulating situations to go his way.
Barbara sounded tired when she spoke. “You promised that you’d stop interfering in my life if I didn’t take out a restraining order.”
“That was before I found you whoring around with another man.” His arm flew out, waving at toward Ace. “Who’s the shithead in your SUV? Is he some fucking college kid who doesn’t even have his own car?”
“Turn around and get into your car,” Barbara instructed, her patience long gone. “This is your last chance. If you can’t stop, I’ve be visiting the magistrate in the morning.”
Grabbing her arm, he seethed, “Like hell you will. I’m not letting you destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to build.”
The instant he laid hands on her, Ace was out of the vehicle and on the ignorant piece of shit inside of a minute. Jerking him back, he slammed the shocked man into the side of her house. “I believe Barbara asked nicely for you turn around and get into your car. I gotta say, I’m nowhere near as nice as she is. You give me any lip, I’ll break your fucking face.”
Looking from big biker to his ex, David stammered, “Ace, what are you doing here?”
“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer. You’re an adult. You know exactly what I’m doing here. Just because you’re too stupid to know a good thing when you see it, doesn’t mean I am.”
“You can’t be trying to date my wife—”
“Don’t get cute with me, you stupid fucker. She’s your ex-wife and she chose me, so yeah, we’re together now.”
Barbara stepped closer to him. “I’m tired of being with men who cheat and complain constantly, David. Ace is my something better, and we get along great. I’ve been telling you for a while that it’s really over.”
“I can’t believe…”
Ace interrupted his mumbling. “You can’t believe what? That the woman you were married to could be interested in a messed-up biker?”
“I can’t believe she’s really not coming back,” he said, shock covering his face.
“I’m not caring so much about how hurt your little feelings are about this. You’re harassing the woman, and tonight you grabbed her hard enough to leave bruises. I swear, if you so much as look at her again, I’ll rip your fuckin’ head off. Do we have an understanding?”
David’s expression switched from shocked to determined on a dime. “Wait until my father hears that a member of your club is interfering in my—”
“Stir up whatever trouble you want,” Ace dared him. “Darkness has already said that if you can’t stop, we’re giving you a dirt nap. Same for your old man, if he gets himself involved in this situation.”
“Do you know who you’re talkin’ to?” David practically shrieked.
Ace took a step forward, placing them nose to nose. “Do you? I don’t think you do, ‘cause you’re talking to me like I’m one of those frat boys you used to party with in college or one of the people who kowtows to you at the office. Do I look like a man who gives a shit what little David wants or doesn’t want?”
During the last of his speech, all of David’s motivation seemed to evaporate. His expression turned from enraged to angry to annoyed and finally to something approaching devastated.
“In case you’re wondering, I’m going upstairs with my girl, and I’m gonna make her scream my name at least four or five times tonight. You’re an ignorant fuck for giving up such a sweet tasting lady. Stupidity is apparently your cross to bear in life, though. I suggest you get the hell out of our lives before something bad happens to you.” With a sharp jerk, Ace released the man.
As he watched David stagger down the steps and get into his vehicle, Ace was all kinds of aware that he’d mishandled that situation. Turning to Barbra, he tried to find the right words to apologize for all the male posturing. Before he could figure out how to approach the conversation, though, she spoke.
“I’m sorry about David. He’s just not had his listening ears on lately. I’ve told him repeatedly that we are never getting back together. I’ve refused to allow him to set foot in my new place. Honestly, I’m not one of those women prone to sending mixed messages to their ex. I’ve tried everything I know, and he just won’t quit.”
“I’m sorry about some of the things I said,” Ace told her.
Smiling indulgently up at him, she murmured, “I know what you mean. You were all kinds of possessive. It was real cute. Maybe this is what it will take for him to finally get the message.” Turning, she began to unlock her front door. The moment they stepped inside, she closed it and reset the security alarm. “You aren’t really going to give him a dirt nap, are you?”
“I could lie to you if you like.”
She gave him an indulgent half-smile. “I want the truth, if you don’t mind.”
“Well, the truth is, if the crazy fucker gets to the point that he poses a real threat to you or begins spilling his guts about club business, the club will take whatever steps are necessary to neutralize the threat.”
“Up to and including killing him?”
Ace shrugged. He wasn’t going to sugarcoat anything. “That would be seen as a last resort, but that option is not off the table just because his father is close with us. We like the old man, but his son is seen as more of an asswipe, if you know what I mean.”
“I probably know better than most exactly what an ass he can be. Dealing with David always sucks the fun out of every situation.”
Smiling down at her, Ace cupped her face in his hands. “Why don’t we take a sexy shower and see what we can do to rekindle the romance?”
“You think my crazy ex is that easy to forget?”
“What crazy ex?”
Perking up, Barbara jumped up and gave him a kiss on the chin. “You’re a funny man. Let’s go enjoy a sexy shower. I like that term, by the way.”
“You’re the first woman who ever made showers sexy for me. Before you came along, showers were just the place I went to have a little wank and scrub the dirt off my body.”
Turning, she grabbed his hand and tugged him along after her. “Well, from now on, I get to do all the stoking and scrubbing on your hot body.”
“You say that so much, it’s starting to go to my head. I’m starting to think of my body as hot, and that’s all kinds of wrong.”
Looking over her shoulder as they ascended the steps, her eyes dropped to his lips. “You are all kinds of hot, so get over whatever’s going on in that brain of yours.”
Ace went where she lead willingly, both mentally and physically. Along the way, he noticed that she had a nice little home. The walls were light and modern. The colors were cheerful pastel pinks, yellows, and blues. The style was very much Barbara and he could tell that she took genuine pleasure in decorating her place.
Once they were naked in the shower, it was a repeat of the evening before. Her soft, loving hands rubbing shower gel over his aching body was exactly what his inner beast needed to calm the fuck down. When her hands were gliding over his skin, it was easy to believe that this thing between them had legs and was really going somewhere. It was when they were separated that things got squiffy.
Putting his hands on her hips, he tugged her closer. Her beautiful breasts rubbing against his chest felt fantastic. In the small, enclosed area with nice, warm water flowing over them, they stood encircled in each other’s arms. This was getting to be his new safe place. It used to be lying in the field of wildflowers, only his brother found him there in his dreams and ruined that experience for him. This was the one place where he could simply be, without the worry of anything awful intruding on their moment.
They took time to just enjoy each other, caressing one another with soapy hands. Something slid into place in Ace’s mind as he lathered her breasts, and he decided then and there that he was keeping her. No more doubt and no more feeling unworthy would be tolerated in his mind. Regardless of who in the world objected, he made her happy. He could tell by the way she looked at him and touched him. She was as reluctant to leave their special place as he was. To his mind, that meant she must be feeling something very similar to him.
They didn’t leave until the water began to run cold. “I love showering with you,” he told her softly.
Drying him off with a fluffy towel, she responded quietly, “I like showering with you, too. Maybe it’s wasteful to stay so long, but it’s the one place where no one else can touch us.”
She didn’t need to explain that she meant mentally instead of physically. Somehow, Ace just knew what she meant. He stood, running the towel over his chest as she turned her efforts on her own body. Though drying her off filled a tiny hole in his soul, something about watching her run the pristine white towel over her own pale body was strangely erotic, in and of itself.
He watched her lay the towel aside and pick up her blow dryer. Instead of using it on her hair, she turned it on and let the warm air flow over her skin. Watching her glide it up and down her arms, over her chest, and down toward her bare privates was strangely tantalizing. Eventually, she shot a blast or two through her long red hair, as she finger combed it into place.
Catching him watching, she motioned him over and repeated the process with his massive body. Only she also ran her other hand tenderly over his scars and the intricate tattoos covering his massive arms and chest. She way she handled him made him feel valued and maybe even a little cherished. Everything to do with this sweet, loving woman moved him almost to tears.
What kind of crazy man could ever give up something so precious?