CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“HEY, SEXY.”
Rowdy smiled even before he got his eyes open. Avery rested half over his chest, one leg over his lap—just as she’d slept all night. He moved his hand, realized it was curled over her ass and said, “Looking for another swat, huh?”
She kissed his chin, his jaw, the top of his cheekbone and finally his mouth. “The wonder of it is that Dash somehow thought the women were talking to him.” The kisses trailed over his throat to his chest. “Because you are by far the sexiest man I have ever known.”
He rumbled a groan, enjoying how she rubbed against him. “I can’t imagine a better start to my day than having you naked, your mouth on my body.”
“My hand doing...this?” She curled her fingers around his erection, squeezing gently.
“Yeah,” Rowdy managed to say. “That, too.”
“Then you’ll love this.” He heard the smile in her voice, and the growing lust.
She kissed her way down his body, her mouth so hot and sweet that he stopped thinking and could only feel. She’d wrung him out last night, not only physically but emotionally, too.
When she’d climaxed, twice, she’d told him again that she loved him.
More and more she said it, and more and more he enjoyed hearing it.
He needed to hear it now.
“Tell me again.” Tangling a hand in her hair, Rowdy held himself perfectly still as she lightly bit his abdomen and then licked the spot.
“I love you, Rowdy Yates.” She brushed her cheek over the head of his dick. “So much.”
After last night, he should have been mellow. Instead, she easily put him on the ragged edge.
Never, not once, had Avery asked him how he felt about her. She didn’t demand he reciprocate. She didn’t insist on a declaration.
She just gave to him. “Again.”
“I love you.” Her lips touched his shaft in a butterfly kiss, making his every muscle coil tight.
Like an addict needing a fix, Rowdy squeezed his eyes shut and begged, “Again.”
Her tongue licked from the base up to the head.... “I love you.” She closed her mouth over him.
He groaned loudly, lost, immersed in sensation. His hips lifted off the bed as he strained upward against her.
She took him deeper, her tongue curling around him, her mouth so hot and wet—
“Avery.” He loved saying her name. He loved feeling her mouth, having her pleasure him. He loved...her.
Oh, God, he was lost. So fucking lost.
She stayed with him, sucking, licking, and he knew he wouldn’t last a second more.
He cupped one hand around her nape, keeping her close, and cupped the other to her cheek, his thumb finding her wet bottom lip. Such a turn-on. So fucking hot.
“Avery,” he said again, this time lower, his voice like gravel as he felt his testicles tighten, the hot surge of release.
It was too much.
It would never be enough.
He held her to him and let go, pleasure ripped from him, tension drained away.
He wasn’t aware of Avery crawling back up over him, or of her snuggling in close and holding him tight.
But he heard her when she whispered, oh-so-sweetly, “I love you, Rowdy Yates, and I always will.”
Still breathing like a bellows, he struggled to get it together, to fight the dampness burning the back of his eyelids. Thank God, Avery asked nothing of him. She just stayed close, curled around him, her hand over his thumping heart.
Time passed and still he didn’t move. He wasn’t sure he could. He knew Avery hadn’t gone back to sleep because she idly stroked him and every so often, almost as if she understood his turmoil, she pressed a gentle kiss to his ribs.
He could have stayed there like that for hours, recovering, wallowing in her love, fighting demons and struggling to make decisions, but the intrusion of his cell phone forced him to move.
Avery rolled to her back and stretched. That stalled him for a minute, seeing her lithe little body drawn tight, her hair all fanned out around her, her small pink nipples and her sex—damp with need.
She relaxed again, smiled at him and said, “The phone?” with such a knowing, seductive note that he felt himself stirring again.
“Yeah.” Rowdy twisted and grabbed up the cell phone to check the caller ID. His sister. Shit. He answered with, “What’s up, kiddo?”
“I’ll be at your door in five minutes. If you’re doing anything I don’t want to see, stop and get dressed.”
He knew Pepper well enough that he could tell nothing was wrong. “The reason for the visit?”
“Logan is off working and I’m worried and I need a distraction. Alice and Marcus are busy with house stuff today, so you’re it.”
Avery had already sat up and pulled on a T-shirt, but no way would he leave her unsatisfied. “Can you make it ten minutes?”
“Seriously, Rowdy? It’s the butt crack of dawn. I figured I’d be waking you.”
“Sorry, no. Give me ten and then we’ll greet you.”
She sighed dramatically. “I’ll stop to buy coffee and doughnuts.”
“Perfect, thanks.” He disconnected the call and caught Avery before she could leave the bed. “Not so fast.”
“That was your sister, right? She’s due here soon?”
“I have ten minutes.” He drew her down flat to the bed. “And now it’s my turn.”
Trying to fend him off, she laughed. “You just had your turn.”
“And I thank you for that. But as incredible as it was, I enjoy getting you off, too.”
She touched his face. “I can wait.”
“Maybe.” He slid a hand between her thighs, found her hot, creamy, and his heart punched into overtime. “But I can’t.”
* * *
ROWDY WAS IN the shower when his sister knocked on the door. Feeling very self-conscious—he’d told Pepper to give them time to have sex!—Avery went to the door to let her in. Whenever Pepper was around she felt unaccountably nervous, in large part because she knew how close they were. They shared a love stronger than any she’d ever known, and that made Pepper a very special person to Rowdy.
Which also made her a very special person to Avery.
Dressed in requisite jeans and a T-shirt, with one of Rowdy’s flannels to help ward off the morning chill, Avery hurried to the door. She loved his loft apartment, but the floors could be so very cold, and the high ceilings made it difficult to heat. If she ever truly moved in, she’d put down colorful area rugs.
But she and Rowdy weren’t there yet. Her place in his life was tentative at best; she would do nothing to rock the boat.
After giving herself a quick pep talk, Avery opened the door and before she could say a word, Pepper swept in. She carried coffee and doughnuts and, as always, she looked beautiful.
“Where’s Rowdy?”
So much for hello. “He’s taking a quick shower.” Avery secured the door again and followed Pepper down to the kitchen. “He won’t be long. Doctor’s orders. He can only take quick showers until the stitches are removed.”
Pepper grinned at her. “Hi.”
“Good morning.”
Pepper set everything on the table. “You know, I never thought I’d see the day where I had to deal with my brother having a significant other. One-night stand, sure. Groupie, no problem. But a regular?” Pepper shook her head. “Unheard of.”
Disapproval, or mere observation? Avery wasn’t sure. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, I wasn’t complaining.” Making herself at home, Pepper got sugar and creamer and put them on the table. “I think it’s awesome. Rowdy deserves someone who cares, and he deserves to be happy.”
“Amen to that.”
Pepper raised a brow. “Meaning you do care?”
Seeing no reason to lie about it, Avery lifted one shoulder. “I love him.”
Pepper did a double take before smirking. “Huh.” She loaded one of the cups with sugar. “Have you told him that?”
“Many times.” Often, regularly, especially during sex—when Rowdy seemed to enjoy hearing it most.
Pepper missed the coffee cup and sugar went all over the table. “You’ve told him?”
“Yes.” Avery pulled out a chair and grabbed her own cup of caffeine. Her hands shook just a little, but then, Rowdy had made her wild in such a short time, she still hadn’t quite recovered from the mind-blowing release. “I felt he had a right to know.”
Coffee forgotten, Pepper, too, pulled out a chair, her attention rapt. “Wow. And you’re still here?”
“Amazing, I know.” Grabbing the sugar bowl, Avery doctored her own coffee. “But then, I haven’t asked him for anything in return. I know how he feels about settling down.” She hesitated, but because Pepper kept staring at her agog, she gave a mental shrug and continued. “I also know some of his past. Your past. I understand why he doesn’t trust the idea of love, and why he’s...uncertain about settling down.”
Pepper continued to stare.
“Some might think that because he’s bought a bar and obviously enjoys working it, he’s put down roots. But that’s a deceptive notion. If he decided to move on again, the bar wouldn’t keep him here.” She smiled at Pepper. “The fact that you’re here would be the only reason he might stick around.”
“We’re super close,” Pepper said in an aside, then, “That doesn’t bother you? I mean, knowing he might up and take off again?”
“Not enough I guess.” She propped her head on a hand. “Rowdy is such an amazing man in so many ways. How could I not love him?”
“Yeah.” Shaking herself, Pepper used a hand to clear the sugar off the table and went to dump it in the sink. She said nothing as she washed her hands, came back to finish prepping her coffee and took a big drink.
The shower shut off, letting them both know Rowdy would soon join them.
Avery gave her time. She understood that Pepper might distrust her. The last thing Rowdy ever needed was more hurt.
“What will you do if he tells you to hit the road?”
“I’d go without causing a scene.” Avery smiled sadly. “Eventually it’ll happen, right? But my heart keeps telling me maybe not.” She blew out a breath, shrugged. “So I’m happy to stay and wait and love him and...hope.”
Rowdy came out dressed in jeans, still pulling a T-shirt over his head.
Pepper launched from her seat and went to him. “How’s your back?”
“I’m ready to get the damn stitches out.” He caught her up in a hug before she could get behind him. “No, don’t start mothering me. My back is fine and you looking at it won’t change anything. Avery checks it enough for ten women.”
“Hey!” Avery gave mock protest. “I’m not that bad.”
“You’re not bad at all.” He winked at her. “So, kiddo.” Slinging an arm around his sister, he steered her back to the table. “You’re at loose ends today?”
“Logan is working on a big case, so I need to be preoccupied.” She said to Avery, “Cleaning house and doing laundry just doesn’t cut it for me, not when I start worrying. And I hate worrying.”
“That’s what you get for marrying a cop.”
Pepper rolled her eyes at Rowdy. “Cop is not a dirty word, you know, no matter how you say it.”
Their banter never failed to make Avery smile. “I always enjoyed mindless work, but I know what you mean. When I want to be distracted, playing bartender does the trick. I get so busy I don’t even have time to think.”
“I should learn to do that.” Reseating herself at the table, Pepper picked up her coffee. “I could help out at the bar and—”
“No.” Rowdy fished a doughnut out of the bag. “Get that thought out of your head right now.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want you hanging around a bar, that’s why.” He pointed the doughnut at her. “And I can guarantee Logan will feel the same.”
Mulish indignation straightened her spine. “If it’s okay for Avery, why isn’t it okay for me?”
Rowdy didn’t look at Avery—a very deliberate move, she knew.
“It’s not great for her, either,” he grumbled.
“Don’t go there, Rowdy.” Though he wasn’t ready to admit it, Avery knew he was starting to care. Not as much as she did, but enough that he saw things differently now. “I love my job and I’m keeping it.” Until you break things off, and then I’ll go to mend my broken heart elsewhere.
He hooked a chair, turning it so he could straddle the seat. “I’m still the boss.”
“And you’re fair.” She wouldn’t let him start making her decisions for her. “That means you won’t fire me unless I deserve it, and we both know I don’t.” Please tell me I’m right, that you wouldn’t do that to me.
“You’re a good worker,” he agreed. Taking his time, he sipped his coffee, took a bite of doughnut. “But I was thinking you could just work an earlier shift—”
She sat up a little straighter. “I need all the hours I can get.” And she wanted to be there with him. “All the hours I’m used to getting.”
“You’re staying with me now.” He threw that out as if it made perfect sense, as if they’d somehow committed to each other when they both knew that wasn’t the case. “That cuts back on your bills, right?”
But for how long? She wouldn’t put him on the spot by asking. “I still have my apartment, still have the bills associated with it.”
“So cancel your lease.”
Her heart nearly jumped into her throat. What was he suggesting? She searched his face, but she couldn’t tell. He could be so damn enigmatic when he chose. “I like my independence, Rowdy. You know that.” But if you tell me you care, that you want me to stay with you, I’d risk it all.
What he said instead was, “It’s not safe for you there.”
Her heart sank again. She wanted him to want her, not just feel a need to protect her. “Maybe not right now,” she agreed. “But once we deal with Fisher—”
“Once we deal with him, there’d be no reason for you to stay away from your folks.”
Hurt stole her breath. “You’re telling me to go back home?”
“Wow.” Pepper’s timely interruption kept Rowdy from answering. His sister bounced her gaze back and forth between them. “What’s going on? Who’s Fisher?”
Rowdy gave her a very abbreviated explanation. Protecting her privacy, he made Fisher sound more like an annoyance than anything else.
“Sounds like a real dirtbag.”
“A wealthy dirtbag,” Rowdy agreed.
“The worst kind.” Pepper wrinkled her nose. “I agree with Rowdy. Don’t go back there alone.”
“And speaking of Fisher...” He slid his cell phone across the table to her. “Give your mom a call, see if you can set up that visit. I’d as soon not wait around for him to make another move.”
She’d just promised Pepper that she wouldn’t cause a scene or kick up a fuss. But the timing was all wrong, coming out of nowhere. Somehow she’d expected to sense when Rowdy started to pull away.
Instead, he’d blindsided her.
Pepper didn’t seem to realize that Rowdy was setting up an exit plan, but Avery saw the signs loud and clear. She just didn’t know what to do about it—except to give him what he wanted.
She picked up the phone and rose out of her chair. “I’ll make the visit for as soon as I can.” Quietly, she walked out of the kitchen, going to the couch for a modicum of privacy to talk.
* * *
ROWDY COULD HEAR Avery on the phone, but not exactly what she said. She sat with her back to them, her head bowed, her shoulders showing defeat.
Pepper kept talking to him. She had a hundred questions about Fisher, and he answered as succinctly as he could without giving away anything important—like how much he loved Avery. How important she’d become to him.
How, in such a short time, she’d impacted his life.
He needed some time away, right now, before he cracked.
Avery rejoined them. “Mom is busy until next weekend. Is that too far away for you?”
Like a stay of execution, he was glad for the additional time with Avery. “That’ll be fine.” He pushed to his feet. “I’m going to run to the security store to get some stuff.” Before either woman could ask, he detailed the measures he’d take. “I want to put up some more security cameras at the bar, but also here at my apartment.” He reached out to touch Avery’s hair, letting a long corkscrew lock glide through his fingers. “At your apartment, too.”
Pepper lifted her brows. “I thought you wanted her to get rid of the place.”
He knew he’d confused his sister, but then, he was also confused...by so many things. “I do. But either way, as long as others think she’s there, I want to take some precautions so if anyone comes around there snooping, we’ll know it.”
Avery didn’t pull away from him. “I can be ready in ten minutes.”
“Why don’t you and Pepper hang out and visit? I won’t be long.” He picked up his keys, put them in his jeans pocket.
Suspicion brought Avery out of her chair. “You promise you’re not going after Fisher?”
“I told you we’d confront him together.” He didn’t look at her as he went to the bedroom to get his shoes. “I don’t lie.”
Avery said gently, “I know.”
At the same time Pepper snorted. “Since when?”
To his sister, he clarified, “I don’t lie to you, and I don’t lie to Avery. That’s what I meant.” When necessary, in other situations, he had no problem at all saying whatever he needed to.
Then again, he’d just told Avery that she should stay with him, without explaining that he wanted her to get rid of the apartment, to cut back at work, all because he wanted her safe—away from the inherent danger in his world.
A lie of omission, if not an outright whopper.
The significance of that statement wasn’t lost on his sister; he’d just elevated Avery’s importance to him in a very big way.
Again Pepper looked back and forth between them. She caught on, understanding that he needed some time alone but didn’t want to leave Avery by herself. He and Pepper had always had that special connection, a way of communicating without words.
Faking a bright smile, Pepper said, “I would like to hang out, Avery, if you don’t mind.”
Avery’s smile was too strained. “I’d enjoy that, thank you. If you don’t mind, I’ll go take my shower right now, and then we can visit.”
Rowdy caught her hand as she headed past him.
She hung back a few seconds before coming in close, wrapping her arms around him.
God, it felt good. Rowdy hugged her close and pressed his mouth to the top of her head. “I won’t be gone that long, babe. A few hours, tops.”
“I know.”
But he sensed her gloom and it bothered him. “If you’re fretting, don’t.” He nudged her face up so he could see her eyes. “All I have planned is to buy security equipment, maybe go by your apartment to get whatever you need then come back here with you.” He looked into her eyes, willing her to understand. “Believe me?”
Her smile touched his soul. “Always.”
Hand over her heart, Pepper said with stageworthy drama, “So romantic. I’m ready to swoon.”
Rowdy tossed one of the bed pillows at her.
She caught it and hugged it tight. “If you’re going to install new equipment at the bar, I can help with that, right?”
“Sure.” Keeping Avery close, he asked, “How late will Logan be working?”
“Hard to say. Guess it depends on what he finds.” She tossed the pillow back to the bed. “Since he’s out being heroic and all, I probably shouldn’t complain.”
Keeping in mind what Peterson had disclosed, Rowdy understood why Logan might be so busy. Like him, Logan wanted to keep Pepper safe, well away from the cruelty that existed in everyday life.
To help keep Pepper busy, he made an offer—with conditions. “I don’t want you leaving the bar alone, but if Logan comes by to get you when he’s done, then you can hang out with us as long as you want.”
Pepper agreed, then called Logan to fill him in while Rowdy finishing getting ready to go.
He was glad Avery would have company, and appreciated the opportunity to go by her apartment to make a few arrangements. If Fisher even drove by, Rowdy would know about it.
He was an expert at setting up surveillance, and he knew how to cover his tracks. Fisher was as good as busted—and then he’d be out of Avery’s life once and for all.