TWELVE
Lea
Okay.
Yeah.
Things happened.
Stuff was said.
Shane dropped me off at my still-standing apartment building, giving me a quick, almost rough kiss on the temple, his stubble scratching in a delicious way. Then he patted my ass and told me he would see me later and that he needed to clear the branches out of the parking lot.
I let myself into my apartment and sank down on my bed, my heart still beating way too fast… as it had been doing almost since I woke up that morning. See, I had felt it the night before too. Whatever it was that made Shane give me that speech, I felt it. I didn’t even recognize it, the concept being completely unfamiliar to me. It was a feeling of comfort, of rightness, of… home?
But that was insane.
A person couldn’t feel like home.
I would have been able to push that away, compartmentalize it, trivialize it.
Except then Shane had went ahead and said all the right things.
See… Shane was a bit of a brute. He was rough and tough and manly. He didn’t do teddy bears and ‘good morning, beautiful’ texts. But that was exactly what I liked best about him. He was just… real. He didn’t try, nor did he have to. Like he said, he showed his interest in his own way. And when he spoke, he said things. It was refreshing. It was nice to know exactly what was on his mind… even if what was on his mind scared the bejesus out of me.
The thing was, I’d had a colorful enough life to know that when things made you pee-your-pants scared, they usually turned out to be the best experiences. And I had a sneaking suspicion that giving Shane a chance would be one hell of a story. Hell, even if it crashed and burned. Even if it ended in ashes.
It probably would.
And the closer we got, the more we were together, the more he would want from me. He would want details of my life before, details that I could not give him.
It would fail when I refused to give those pieces of myself away.
But did that mean I should push him away before then?
Yeah, that was the question of the day.
And every time I thought I got closer to figuring it out, more contradictory evidence surfaced.
It was a long, frustrating morning until, out of nowhere, my landline blared, making me actually yelp it was so unexpected. I only connected it for emergencies, to cover my bases, in case something happened and my cell was out of reach. I never gave it out to anyone.
“Hello?”
“You should really have a lock screen on your cell. Just saying’,” the unfamiliar, deep masculine voice said.
My cell? My cell should have been in my bag in my car in front of work. “Who the hell is this?” I snapped, my voice sharp.
There was a deep, rumbling chuckle that any sane woman would respond to. “This is Colton King.”
Colton King? Christ, that sounded like a romance novel or porn star name. “Is that name supposed to mean something to me?
Again, the chuckle. Apparently, Colton King found me amusing. “Maybe not, love. I have your car at my shop.”
“Why would you have my car?”
There was a short pause that I didn’t think anything of at the time before he responded. “Township was doing street sweeps. It had to move. I took the opportunity to look it over.”
A part of me wanted to snap at the presumptuousness of that; the other part was painfully aware that the car really did need to be looked over so I shouldn’t bitch about it being done. “And?”
“It’s not pretty,” he hedged.
“Give it to me,” I demanded, having very little patience for kid gloves.
“The starter was shot. The battery needs to be replaced. Spark plugs, brake pads, two hoses, and two bearings.”
“Christ,” I said, closing my eyes and running a hand through my hair. Granted, I was making decent money at Fee’s, but I knew enough about cars to know that the repairs were insane if you had to pay for labor. Parts cost dirt and I had always been lucky in the past to have someone do it all just for that. But that was my old life; this was my new one. I had to pay for labor. “Okay. What is absolutely necessary right now?”
Colton paused. “The starter and the brakes. The battery will go soon, but you probably have at least a week or so before you have to worry about that. The bearings will start getting loud. Until then, not a huge concern. The hoses and plugs can be done whenever.”
“Oh, good. Alright. Go ahead and fix the brakes and starter. When should I be by to pick it up?”
Again, there was another pause I didn’t know to be suspicious of. “Four.”
“Okay. And where is your shop?”
“King’s Repairs down on Madison.”
“Okay. Thanks. I’ll see you then.”
I hung up, changed into a white tee instead of the long-sleeve black tee, and slipped into dry shoes. Around three-thirty, a cab was out front my building and I had what little nest egg I had nestled in my purse as we headed in the direction of Madison.
King’s Repairs was a low, long blue metal building with three open drive-in doors and a small glass-enclosed office to the right side. I paid the cabbie and got out of the car, moving in the direction of the office. “Hey love,” a newly familiar voice called, no less sexy in person than it was over the phone. I turned back toward the open doors and found Colton King.
And, well, Fee was right. There really wasn’t one bad looking man in Navesink Bank.
Colton King was as tall as Shane but leaner, his strong-shouldered, narrow-waisted body looking very good in the grease stained white wifebeater and the blue jumpsuit he had on, the top part tied low around his hips, leaving his arms on display. His hair was dark, but not black like Shane’s and his face was all sharp angles. From far away, I couldn’t make out his eyes, but they looked dark.
“Colton?” I asked, turning and making my way toward him.
“Lea,” he said, inclining his chin at me.
“All done?” I asked, not offended when his eyes dropped for a brief once-over.
“Just about. One of my guys should be bringing it out in a minute.”
“Great,” I said, reaching for my wallet. “What do I owe you?”
When he didn’t answer, I looked back up to find him running a hand down the scruff on his face. “See, that’s the thing…”
I felt my brows draw together. “What’s the thing?”
He exhaled and dropped his hand, shrugging his shoulder. “It’s taken care of.”
“What’s taken care of?”
“The bill.”
“How is the bill taken care of? I just got here.”
“And you got it all fixed, not just the brakes and starter.”
“Alright, you’re going to have to explain this better.”
“See, I got a call this morning from an old buddy…” he started.
And right then, I knew. My mind flashed back to Shane saying he appreciated something as he hung up.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Shane did this?”
Colton’s face broke into a big grin, all white teeth and charm. “He said you would be pissed.” He paused, then went on, “If it is any consolation, it was fix your old POS or have him buy you a new ride.”
To that, I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, sure.”
“If you’re Shane’s, he’d want you in a safe ride.”
“I’m not anybody’s anything. Which is why you are going to let me pay for whatever you did to my car.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, shaking his head like he was apologetic, but the light in his dark brown eyes said he wasn’t.
“Sure you can. Shane won’t care.”
“Shane will come over here and flip shit,” he corrected. “I’ve been in enough fights with him to know I don’t want to be in any more. Accept the gift, love. It’s just some car repairs. Doesn’t make you any less independent. Besides, this way, you can drive it over there and give him some shit about doing something like this without asking first,” he added with a devilish little grin.
“You know what, Colton King? I like the way you think.”
Then, as if sensing my agreement of the transaction, my busted-up piece of shit car came pulling out of the door behind him. “Did you guys wash it too?” I asked, smiling a little.
“Vacuumed out the inside too. Figured if Shane was paying, might as well make it a good bill.”
I laughed at that. “You’re an odd friend.”
Colton moved away to take the keys from his guy who nodded at me then ran back into the building. Colton reached into the pocket on the driver’s side door and held out my cell. “Seriously put a lock on this. I could have looked at all the naughty pictures you have saved,” he told me as I took it.
“I don’t have any naughty pictures.”
“I know. I checked,” he said with that lazy, flirtatious grin again before he moved away. “Go give him hell,” he said as a goodbye as he disappeared inside his building.
I got in my car, shaking my head at the fact that they had even Armoral’d my interior, then turned in the direction of Shane’s warehouse.
See, when I had woken that morning and finally gotten a good look around, I had to admit it was better than I thought it would be. My expectations were a bit low with the not having walls in the bathroom thing. It was a typical bachelor pad, uber masculine with all its exposed metal beams and brick walls and simple, stained concrete floors. It was a massive space, taking up the entire floor. To the furthest end was the kitchen I had become acquainted with in the dark, but it was nicer in the light which made the slate countertops really pop. The appliances were all stainless steel and new. The fridge was almost twice the size of any normal one I had seen before. Directly in the door from the stairs was a framed, but not finished bathroom. To the center of the room was the bedroom space with the king-sized bed I had slept in, two nightstands, and a dresser across from it with a giant TV that sat in front of the row of windows that lined the whole front of the building and looked down on the street. There was an oversize beat-up leather arm chair in a corner with a lamp, but no real living room. There was a wall behind the bed and bath space that I didn’t get a chance to peek behind, so I had no idea what I might find there.
The building had four floors. The first, as Shane told me, was unfinished. I was left wondering if the top two floors were as well.
But those weren’t exactly at the forefront of my mind as I parked out front, stupidly annoyed that my car was driving so well. I found out about halfway through my drive that Colton had fixed my radio too. It hadn’t been working when I bought the car so I never even thought to touch it. But then I heard a low hum and turned the knob and, sure enough, there was music.
It wasn’t that I was ungrateful.
It was that he was overstepping.
I learned to be ultra aware of behavior like that, knowing where it had led in my past.
I needed to make it clear that doing things, even nice things, without my permission was not acceptable.
I climbed up the external stairs and paused, hearing slamming from inside. On a shrug, I banged loudly on the door until I heard something crash inside. “Fuck. Keep your panties on,” Shane’s voice called, a little breathless. There was another crash. “Just come in,” he growled, sounding distracted.
I let myself in and came to an almost immediate stop, seeing what he was doing that was so loud. He was putting up Sheetrock for the bathroom.
Hearing the door slam, his head snapped in my direction and a slow, knowing smile spread on his face. “Colt called you, didn’t he?” he asked, pushing up off the floor and brushing his hands on his shirt. “That fuck.”
“Um, what the hell were you thinking having him do that?”
“I was thinking that your car was dead and that Fee said it needed to move.”
“Right. But I could have handled it.”
“I don’t doubt that, Lea. But I handled it instead.”
“But you didn’t have the right to do that.”
“Was I overstepping? Maybe. But this wasn’t a trick. It wasn’t me trying to gain your trust. It wasn’t something I did with strings attached. Okay? Your car needed to be fixed; I had it fixed. Case closed. It doesn’t mean anything. You can still tell me to fuck off at anytime and you’ll never hear a word from me about doing it.” Well, that effectively took the wind out of my sails. He paused for a minute, watching me with those light eyes I swore could see right through me at times. “Tell me to fuck off, Lea,” he demanded, his voice a little quiet. But I couldn’t. As much as I knew I should, I couldn’t force those words out. “You can’t, can you?” he asked, a wicked little victory smile on his lips. “Well, if you aren’t going to tell me to fuck off, why don’t you come over here and give me a proper hello?”
I felt my eyes get a little heavy at the insinuation, but I planted my feet. “Why should I have to come to you?”
His smile went even more sinister. “You asked for it, you pain in the ass. Remember that,” he said, charging at me. Three things happened in almost the exact same second: his hand went around and grabbed my neck at the base of my skull; his arm went around my hips; his lips slammed down on me. My own hands went out instinctively, grabbing his arms and pulling me tighter to him. Which my hyper-active libido was happy to oblige. My legs went up, folding around his hips. My back slammed against one of the walls he had just constructed and his lips ripped from mine and he smiled at me. “Yeah, walls were a good idea.”
His head dipped and his mouth crushed into my neck as one hand moved from my ass and slid around my belly, working my button and zip and slipping inside. His fingers pressed against the material of my panties, but the tight material of my pants wouldn’t allow for more than that.
“Fucking skinny jeans. Worst goddamn invention ever,” Shane growled, reaching for my legs and unwrapping them from around him. As soon as my feet touched the ground, his fingers snagged the waistband of my jeans and pulled them down to mid thigh. His fingers didn’t tease. They didn’t pause. They pressed down on my clit through my panties and started working it in fast circles. His eyes got heavy as he watched me slowly start to lose control.
“Shane, please…” I groaned, needing more than his fingers on me, needing him buried deep inside.
“Please what?” he asked, no smile, dead serious about making me say it.
“Please fuck me,” I demanded and his eyes went dark as one hand went into his back pocket, fished out his wallet, found a condom, then tossed the wallet away. He released his button and zip with one hand, pulling down his pants and boxers, exposing his hard, straining cock and I felt my pussy tighten in anticipation.
I lost his finger as his hands grabbed my hips and turned me roughly, pushing my front up against the wall. Then my panties were yanked over my ass and down my legs. There was the barest of pauses as he protected us before his hand reached out and slapped my ass. “Love this fucking view,” he murmured, his knee pressing my legs slightly apart. His cock pressed between my folds, teasing upward and pressing against my clit for a second before quickly moving back down and slamming inside me in one deep thrust.
He fucked me then, just as I requested.
Fast, hard, borderline brutal.
Just as I wanted.
I came hard way too shortly after and Shane followed right behind me, his head in my neck, growling out my name as he did so.
“So that was a proper hello?” I asked when I found my voice again.
Shane chuckled, biting hard into my shoulder. “Fuck yeah it was.”
“So that is how I need to greet you from now on?” I asked, smiling mostly because he couldn’t see it.
Shane went silent for a second then he pulled back from me, sliding out of me, turning me, eyes finding mine. “Is that your way of saying you’re in?”
Was it?
I guess it was.
“No promises though,” I warned, knowing there was no happy ever after in my future.
“Can’t give you any either,” he agreed with a nod, one hand moving down to snag my panties and dragging them back up my legs. “Would be lying if I tried. So let’s not even try to do that shit. We can just let it happen, yeah?”
He made it sound so easy, so possible. I almost believed him. “Yeah,” I agreed, but my smile was half-forced.
“Okay. Good. I gotta deal with this condom. When I get back, your ass is helping me put up the walls.”
“Why should I help you put up walls?”
“Because we’re going to be seeing more of each other and I’m not going near your apartment building,” he told me as he went into the bathroom.
I reached for my pants, putting them back in place. “Why not?”
“Because I own the place. Don’t need my tenants hearing me fuck you all the damn time. That means you’ll be here a lot. And, I imagine, a bathroom with walls is a prerequisite for you staying here.”
“I think bathrooms with walls are a prerequisite for anyone,” I said, defending my stance on the matter as I leaned down and grabbed the nail gun.
Shane came back out then, raising a brow. “I don’t know if I trust you with that thing.”
“Don’t say anything to piss me off and you won’t have to worry,” I smiled, aiming it at him with a wink.
“Yeah, what are the chances of that happening?” he asked with a grin.
Then there it was again.
Comfort.
Rightness.
Home.
And it was scary.
I was worried.
But I wasn’t going to let the fear get the better of me.
Because what was on the other side of it, yeah, I had a feeling it was going to be epic.