Chapter Nine
Reid pulled back his damp hair, tying it in a knot at the base of his skull, and grabbed his black shirt from the closet.
It’s me taking care of what’s mine.
Mine.
He still couldn’t believe he’d said those words to her. But yesterday morning, standing in her kitchen, shit, it was as if someone else had taken control over his vocal cords. That one small sentence—it was not him. Those words should not be coming from a man like him, and went completely against the way he chose to live his life, the way he had been living his life for as long as he could remember.
But he couldn’t walk away, not yet. Staying at her place, surrounded by her things, her scent, knowing she was in the next room, had driven him bat-shit crazy. The need to stake some kind of claim over her was not something he could ignore. He realized that now. Just what that was, what it meant, he had no clue. Something had changed, though. Rusty had dropped her guard a fraction more, let him see another piece of her. And he liked it. Liked everything she showed him.
Both women had been out cold when he got them home, and neither had batted an eyelid when he’d carried them to the porch seat, not until the alarm went off when he’d used Rusty’s key to get in. Thankfully, Piper had roused herself long enough to punch in the code, then stumbled to bed.
That left him and Rusty. After he’d carried her to her room, woken her so he could get her to drink a glass of water, dodged her cute yet sexy attempt at a striptease, he’d watched her curl up under the covers and pass out.
Leaving her had not been easy.
He’d never, not once, had the urge to just sleep with a woman, without fucking, but he’d wanted to get into bed beside Rusty, pull her into his arms, and hold her. Which was messed up.
Instead, he’d taken the couch, the foreign urge enough of a kick in the pants to get him out of her room. Still, he hadn’t left her place, couldn’t.
Then in the kitchen the next morning, even hungover, she was gorgeous. And when he’d pulled her into his arms…shit. He didn’t know how she did it, went from redhead vixen to sweet and shy, totally innocent, but she did, and just that glimpse of vulnerability nearly did him in.
But when she smiled, giving it to him without any barriers, full-on happy…Christ, he loved it. She hadn’t been hiding from him, she’d let him see what she was feeling, and it had taken all his strength not to lead her down the hall to her bedroom and show her exactly how much that pleased him.
Shit was getting complicated. His feelings for her were getting complicated. He’d never wanted another woman the way he wanted Rusty. Hell, he’d never put in this much effort for any woman in his life, never had to. He’d tried to fight it, but seeing that soft side and holding her in his arms had made it impossible.
Then all of it, everything he’d been dwelling on during the night while he lay on her couch—the being out drunk, the risks she’d taken—had come flooding back. It had sent his possessive instincts goddamned haywire, and he’d staked his claim the only way he could: he’d called her his.
It was a mistake. That wasn’t where this was heading.
His course was set, wasn’t it? He wanted West Restoration, wanted to cash in on what the West girls could bring to the table, take R.I.P. to the next level.
He should give her up. But he couldn’t, not yet. He wanted Rusty as well, for however long that might be.
But whatever happened between them, it had a use-by date. It had to.
So yeah, he’d bathe in her light, because he was a selfish prick, then he’d move on when they’d both had their fill. The last thing he wanted to do was extinguish that fire in her eyes, and he would if he stuck around. The dark, toxic crap in his veins would see to that. At least this way they could part on good terms, start their business relationship without any hard feelings.
Focusing on work, making sure his businesses were successful, that was what he had to concentrate on. In the end, that was all he had, all he could ever have.
Shoving his feet in his boots, he laced them up, tagged his leather jacket, and grabbed his keys.
For now, though, he planned on enjoying every moment he had with her.
A short time later, he was pulling up outside Rusty’s tiny mauve and yellow cottage. Shutting off the engine, he climbed out and jogged up the steps to the front door. Music played inside, so he put a bit of muscle behind his knock. A few minutes later the door swung open and Piper stood there smiling up at him.
“Hey! You’re here.”
He grinned, guessing the curvy blonde had that effect on most people. “Looks like it.”
“Rusty won’t be long.” She winked conspiratorially. “She wasn’t sure what to wear, she doesn’t date, so…”
Piper was shoved out of the way, and Rusty stepped in front of her sister. “Thanks, Pipe. I can take it from here.” He took her in from head to toe and damn near bit off his tongue.
Rusty stared at her sister and jerked her head toward the kitchen, eyes going wide, and said to Piper, who was still standing there watching them, “I’ll see you later.”
Piper offered up another smile and a little wave, then as far as he was concerned, vanished. He didn’t say good-bye, didn’t know if she went to the kitchen, or if she was beamed up to the goddamn Starship Enterprise, because he couldn’t take his eyes off the woman in front of him.
The green dress she wore sat mid-thigh, showing off her killer legs, hugging all the right places. She had on black heels, sexiest shoes he’d ever seen, and her arms were bare, all that colorful ink on display. Her hair hung down her back, sleek and shiny, and the color of her dress made her eyes more vibrant than he’d ever seen them. Exquisite didn’t cover the way she looked.
“Jesus,” he rasped. She bit her lower lip, and her cheeks turned pink. Fucking gorgeous. “Come here.”
“Is this too much? I didn’t know where we were going…maybe I’ll get changed?” She took a step back. “Yeah, I should get changed…”
“I said come here, Foxy.” She stilled, then obviously realizing his reaction was not a bad thing, moved toward him, biting her lip all the way. “Hey,” he said when she stopped in front of him.
“Hey,” she whispered back.
He slid a hand over her hip, because he had to touch her, and smiled to himself when he felt her shiver. “You’re not getting changed.”
She looked up at him. “Okay.”
Taking her hand, he led her from the cottage, out to his car. He could feel the nerves radiating from her. Then Piper’s words came back to him. She doesn’t date. What the hell did that mean?
Rusty was a mystery, and he planned on learning some of those secrets tonight.
The drive to dinner started quiet, but not uncomfortable. If anything the air felt charged, damn near electric.
He needed a distraction, because the way she looked, smelled…shit, she had him close to busting through the front of his jeans, and he had a whole meal to get through yet. Then something her brother said popped in his head, and he jumped on it, anything to take his mind off the intensifying ache in his balls. “Why are you and your girls called the Axle Alley Vipers?”
She turned to him, and going by the wide eyes, he’d surprised her. “Who told you that?”
“Your brother.”
“He has a big mouth.”
“So it’s true?”
She sighed. “Yes, it’s true.”
“You gonna tell me why?”
“Do I have to?”
He grinned, couldn’t help it. “You do now.”
“Shit.”
He barked a laugh. “That bad?”
“God, I can’t believe I’m going to tell you this.” She let out another sigh. “It started when we were in high school. A few of the local boys came up with the name after an incident at my dad’s garage.”
“An incident, huh? Keep talking.”
She shifted in her seat. “Okay, well, Piper was going out with this guy. They’d been seeing each other for a few months. She was crazy about him, but we all secretly thought he was a bit of a douche. Anyway, long story short, he came on to me, and Piper heard the whole thing. We were in the garage, and she threw a wrench at him. Unfortunately, Piper can’t throw for shit, and she missed. But Alex was with her and went ape-shit, tackling him to the ground. Deke jumped in and pulled her off. And Piper’s boyfriend, seeing his chance, jumped up and made a break for his car. But in his hurry to get the hell away, he flooded the engine and the car stalled, and I…”
Reid was struggling to hold it together, but with how miserable Rusty sounded reciting her tale, he didn’t dare laugh. “And you what?”
She groaned. “I went after him, climbed in my dad’s tow truck, and rammed the asshole’s fender. I’d pushed him halfway across the parking lot before my dad came out and stopped me.”
“Shit,” he choked out.
She snorted. “You can say that again. The guy actually did crap himself.”
He laughed, unable to hold it in. “Poor bastard.”
“He totally deserved it.”
“Yeah, I guess he did. I bet you have a few more stories like that?”
The smile slipped, and she looked away. “Yeah, a few.”
He didn’t know what just happened, what caused that killer smile to drop, but he got the feeling if he pushed, she’d push right back, and he didn’t want to ruin what had started off to be a really good night. So for the rest of the drive he kept things light, worked at bringing that smile back.
They arrived at the restaurant a short time later. Costa’s belonged to Law’s aunt, and he came here often. The atmosphere was cozy; he guessed some would say romantic. It was also welcoming and had the best pizza in Miami.
When they walked in, Law’s aunt Connie bustled over, making a fuss over him, kissing both his cheeks, then scolding him for not coming sooner. He’d known the family since he met Law in high school. He didn’t know what either of them would’ve done without Connie and her family over the years. They’d been there for Reid when he’d had no one but his mother, and she’d barely been able to take care of herself most of the time.
These people were family to him. He’d never brought a woman here before and decided not to think about his reasons for bringing Rusty tonight, what it might mean.
“And who is your lovely date?” Connie asked, a smile on her soft, round face.
“This is Rusty. I thought she should try some of your world-famous pizza.”
Connie beamed. “Always the charmer.” She turned to Rusty, who was still clutching his hand. “Rusty? This is a nickname, yes?”
“Ah, yes.”
“What is your given name?”
He felt Rusty stiffen slightly at his side, then she mumbled, “Jane.”
Jesus. The name couldn’t be more wrong for her. The woman was no plain Jane, not at all.
Connie screwed up her face. “Okay, I’ll call you Rusty.”
Rusty made a little snorting sound and squeezed his hand. He could feel her body shaking against his. “I’d like that,” she said, laughter in her voice.
Connie headed across the restaurant, showing them to their table in the back. She took their order, brought them wine, and bustled to the kitchen.
He took a sip of the tart liquid, smooth on his tongue. He rarely drank, his introduction to alcohol, and more importantly what happened to some people when they drank it, had put him off the stuff for life. He only made an exception when there was a special occasion.
He looked across the table. Like tonight.
Rusty was playing with her napkin, smiling over at him. “This place is great.”
“I spent a lot of time here as a kid. The place is owned by Law’s family.”
“You’ve known him a long time?”
“Yeah. I guess you could say they’re like my family as well.”
She fidgeted with the napkin some more. “And your family. Where are they?”
“My folks split. I’m close with my mother. My father…we don’t talk.”
“Oh.” She looked a little surprised, but then nodded. “I know what that’s like. After my parents split, my mother vanished. She chose her new man over her kids.” She shrugged. “Some people just aren’t cut out to be parents, I guess.”
Wasn’t that the truth—or married in his father’s case. “That had to be hard, growing up without her.”
“I had Dad. I also had Piper and then Alex, and an overprotective big brother who watched over me. I did okay.”
“Your brother, he get in a lot of fights?”
She frowned. “Yeah, nearly every week. Why?”
“A wild guess.”
She snorted. “They usually started because he was protecting Alex’s honor.”
“Babe, I’m guessing he spent a lot of time protecting yours as well. What you’ve got going on didn’t happen overnight. You’re gorgeous. The boys at your school would’ve been following you around by their dicks as soon as they were old enough to notice.”
The humor making her eyes sparkle, dimmed. She seemed to close off before his eyes, then glanced down at her hands, shoulders stiff.
He reached over and took her hand. “What just happened, Rusty?”
She lifted her head, and goddammit, the wall was up. “There’s more to me than the way I look. I stupidly thought you already knew that.”
The pizza arrived, and he waited until their waiter left before he spoke. He’d worked out for himself she didn’t trust guys, that she got uncomfortable when they paid her too much attention. But he wasn’t just any guy. He didn’t know the reason for it, but he did plan on finding out what had caused it. “Foxy.” She was back to looking at her hands, posture stiff. He was sure she’d bolt any minute. “Look at me, Rusty.”
Finally, she lifted her head, no fire in her eyes, no light.
“I’m not stupid. I can see there’s an issue. Someone did you wrong, and it left a scar. But I’m not gonna bullshit you. You’re fucking stunning. I’m not gonna lie and say that isn’t one of the reasons I started chasing you. And I don’t chase women. Ever.”
She narrowed her eyes, dropped her napkin to the table, and started to stand, no doubt ready to storm from the restaurant. He kept hold of her hand, tightening his grip, not enough to hurt but enough to let her know she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Let me finish?”
She scowled but planted her ass on her chair, still not looking thrilled by his honesty.
“Like I said, I’m not stupid, so it took me zero-point-three-seconds to work out there’s a hell of a lot more to you than the way you look. I saw that the first time you aimed those eyes on me. You’ve got a head on your shoulders, and you’re extremely talented at what you do. You’ve also got good, loyal friends, and that says a lot about you, too. Beyond that? Well, I’m hoping you’ll give me a shot and show me.”
He meant every damn word. He didn’t know why it was important for him to give it to her straight. He just knew he needed her to know.
Eyes wide, she stared at him across the table, then blinked, making it a struggle to stay in his seat and not drag her around into his lap. “You want me to show you?”
“Yeah, more than anything.” And fuck, he meant that, too.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, the action vulnerable somehow, calling to all of his protective instincts. “I…I don’t know what you want, what you’re asking?”
“What I want? You, naked and in my bed.” He held her gaze. Not letting her shut him down this time. “What I’m asking? That you’ll trust me when I say that having you naked and in my bed isn’t all I want, and that you’ll give me a chance to prove it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know…”
“I can’t make you any promises. I don’t know where this will lead, but I want to find out.” As he said the words, he knew as much as he’d tried to deny them, he meant them. Every damn word. He should get up and walk out, stop this now, but he couldn’t, couldn’t walk away from her. That scared the hell out of him. “You gonna give me that shot, Rusty?”