“But I do want to do it again,” he emphasized, lowering his voice. “I’d gone back to the hotel to get your phone number this morning, but you’d already checked out.”
“Isn’t that my point? Why didn’t you ask for it before you left?”
“Because I didn’t know I wanted it until later.”
“You’re an asshole,” I said, trying to pull my hand free. He grinned shamelessly but didn’t let go.
“Being Fox’s sister complicates things, but I don’t care for the guy much, and I know the feeling is mutual now that he’s with Harley.”
“What does Harley have to do with this?” I asked, confused by his statement. He just shrugged and shook his head at me.
“Don’t really want to get into that right now.”
“I have to go, Mack.”
“Give me your phone number first, Firefly.” My eyes grew wide at the nickname, and I remembered him saying it that night on the side of the road. Beautiful firefly. I’d wondered all week why he’d said that, so I tilted my head to the side and studied him.
“Why did you call me that?” He just stared at me.
“Number.”
“Fine, but I want to ask you to do something.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“I’ll give you my phone number if you make sure my brother wins the race tonight.” I lifted an eyebrow saucily, hoping that what I suggested sounded tempting to him.
Mack scoffed, shook his head, and instantly dropped my hand. “Sorry, babe, but there is a certain way I do business. The way I see it, you’re asking me to give up at least fifteen grand. How would you plan to compensate me?” He ran his finger along the curve of my jaw, “And just so we’re clear, Jonna, I only accept two currencies. You choose. Cash”—he ran the back of his hand down the lower half of my stomach, just below my belly button until his fingers lightly grazed the zipper of my jeans—“or pussy.”
Oh, holy hot damn!
Instead of being appalled by his proposition, I’d never been more turned on in my life. He deserved to be smacked across his face, except I wanted to throw myself at him. My mind replayed scenes from last night and how as soon as we’d shut the door to the hotel room he’d owned my body. There were worst ways to make up for a favor, right?
An engine roaring just a few yards away caught me by surprise, and it brought my thoughts to focus. I couldn’t even believe I was considering the idea. There was no way; I wasn’t that kind of girl. Mack must have seen the way my face fell as I made up my mind when my shoulders slumped.
“Don’t worry. Your brother knows what he’s getting into. He doesn’t need you to stick up for him.”
“But you don’t understand …it’s more than that,” I said as I started pacing along the side of the trailer. Before I knew it I was spilling everything about the situation with Knight and how my brother needed to pay him ten thousand dollars by the end of the night or I wasn’t sure what would happen to Woody and Drew.
When I stopped speaking Mack stood there staring at me but didn’t say a word. That’s when I realized that this wasn’t his problem and that I’d seriously overstepped the boundaries of a one-night stand. Feeling embarrassed by my stupidity, all I wanted to do was get as far away from him as possible.
“Look, just forget it. I’m gonna, um, I’d better get back.” Then I took off running before he had the chance to stop me. God, what the hell was I thinking? I’m sure he was wondering what kind of nerve I had to ask the King of the Carolinas to throw a race to help my brother, who he doesn’t like, and the only leverage I had was that we’d spent a night together. One amazing night, but still. As if my phone number was worth ten thousand dollars.
Get over yourself, Jonna.
There would no doubt be a different girl in his bed tonight. Just thinking about it made me feel so insignificant, and it sucked.
“Where were you?” Tayia asked as she hurried up to me.
“Just talking to Mack. Why?”
“Is everything okay?” She eyed me suspiciously. “You look upset.”
“I’m fine. Can we please not talk about it right now?” It was hard to disguise the anguish in my voice, and Tayia instantly agreed to drop it.
“Sure, hon,” she said as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder and we moved closer to the activity.
A short while later both cars were up at the starting line. They had flipped a coin earlier and Mack had won the toss. He’d chosen the right lane, where he was now sitting while revving the engine and completing his burnout in the new red Mustang GT he used strictly for racing. Drew was working a test pass in the Viper. Suddenly loud horrible rattling noises were coming from the GT, and I knew it wasn’t a good sign. Mack’s crew threw open the hood and all gathered around talking and working quickly to find the source of the problem. After several minutes and a heated argument between several of the crew members, Mack stepped away from the crowd with a grim expression on his face. He walked over to Drew, who was already geared up and seated in his car. Mack mumbled something about car troubles and the word catalytic converter followed by, “I’m out, man.”
“You sure?” my brother asked, clearly stunned. According to the rules, since Mack wasn’t able to race and defend his spot, Drew won by default. This meant the ten grand was his!
“Yeah, it’s not going to make it down the road tonight, but I’m coming for you soon, so be ready.” With that, Mack strode away but not before his eyes found mine. The stare seemed to go on for several moments, or at least it felt like that as time ceased to exist. As soon as he was out of sight, I tuned back into the celebration that was happening around me. Everyone was cheering and hugging each other. Harley was pressed against the Viper with her long legs around Drew’s waist as he kissed her. I envied the way they just seemed to work as a couple.
I suppressed a yelp when I was tugged away from the group and pushed against the side of my brother’s equipment trailer out of view from everyone.
“You owe me,” Mack said against my ear.
“What?”
“You heard me. You owe me for that win your brother just got right now.”
“There was no race. You had engine problems. You didn’t know that was going to happen.”
“You sure about that?” I stared at him for a second because I wasn’t sure. Did he do something to his engine? Why would he? Then it dawned on me. He may have given up the number one spot but not because he’d been beaten on the road. He was still on record as the fastest, regardless of him forfeiting on a technicality.
“Mack. You threw the race?” I asked with disbelief.
“You owe me,” he repeated.
“Why would you do that for me?”
“Let’s just say, there is a way we can both benefit.”
Then, he pulled me in for a kiss. No, it wasn’t a kiss, it was a ravaging. Our tongues tangled together as his grip tightened on the back of my neck and he held me close. It reminded me of last night and the way he kissed me almost exactly like this as he pounded into me. He was powerful, virile, and wasted no time taking what he wanted. I also pushed away the nagging feeling that this entire proposition wasn’t about sex. Mack wasn’t the kind of guy who needed to worry about getting girls to sleep with him. Besides I’d already proven to him last night just how easy it was for him to have me.
With some effort, I pushed Mack away and took a step back to clear my head and draw in air. When I looked over at him, he appeared unaffected. In fact, he was reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone.
“Yeah,” he barked. I waited while he turned his back and spoke in low clip tones. With shaky fingers, I combed back the curls that had fallen from my ponytail, and I started to worry that people would notice that I was gone. Tayia and Blake were my ride home and they were probably looking for me.
“Mack,” I whispered to his turned back. When he didn’t answer I repeated myself a little louder. He whirled around with an annoyed look on his face. Well, screw him.
“I’m outta here,” I called out and made my way past him, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop.
“Look, just take care of it,” he ordered into the phone and ended the call. “Where the hell are you going?”
“I need to leave. People are probably looking for me.”
“What did you decide?”
“About what?” I played dumb, even though I knew what he was talking about.
“Jonna,” he growled, not at all amused by my attempt at stalling. As much as I didn’t want to be the girl who’d agree to his proposition, I was that girl. I’d already had a taste of Mack King and I was hooked. Conscience be damned. All I had to do was just be smart and not fall in love with him.
I shrugged, grabbed Mack’s phone out of his hand, and dialed my phone number. When my cell buzzed in my pocket I pulled it out to show him. He gave me a satisfied nod as he scanned my body, his eyes full of wicked promises I knew he could deliver.
“Later, Firefly.” I watched him turn and stride away as if he owned the road he walked on, and in a way, he did.
Chapter Four
“Jonna Lee!” my mother called from outside my door. “We’re gonna open in thirty minutes. I need you down here.”
I was still lying in bed, but I hadn’t been sleeping. All I could think about was why Mack would throw the race for me. While it was flattering that he would do such a thing, I hardly thought that the one night we spent together could get such a reaction from him. And what was with the firefly nickname and why did it make my insides feel mushy?
“Jonna?” Mama called my name again.
“Alright, I’m coming,” I yelled as I got up and walked three feet to my tiny bathroom. It was so small that it wasn’t large enough for a bathtub, only a stand-in shower. I’d convince my dad to convert the space above the restaurant into a studio apartment. Of course, Mama hated the idea, but Daddy did it for me anyway. He and Woody spent the entire winter, which was the off-season for the restaurant, building it for me. However, he did agree with my mother on one thing, I couldn’t move in until after I graduated.
I loved the space. It was small but just right for me. I had a tiny kitchen with a short marble countertop that also doubled as my kitchen table. A small couch and coffee table were my only living room furniture. A flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall and my bed was all the way to the far wall on a built-in platform—which was Woody’s idea—with stairs leading up to the elevated space. This effectively separated the bedroom from the rest of the area and was my favorite thing about the place. It was a cute little apartment, and it was mine.
I also had to agree to work at the restaurant since I decided not to go to college. School was never for me. There wasn’t a single thing that I enjoyed doing or was even good at. Tayia has wanted to be a writer for as long as I’ve known her. She’s a talented storyteller and a creative liar, which is part of the reason we’ve remained friends for so long. She also loves books. Nearly every surface in her room is covered with them. It was quite annoying. I didn’t like reading; I didn’t like books. In fact, I didn’t like many things except my little apartment.
After I’d showered and forced my wild blonde curls into a ponytail, I threw on an Annette’s Catch T-shirt and shorts. Then I made my way down the stairs and walked into the back entrance of the restaurant.
“Morning, Daddy,” I called when I saw my father standing in the storage room stacking boxes.
“Morning, baby girl,” he said with a wide smile. Hal Fox was an intimidating-looking man for those who didn’t know him. I was told when my family first moved to the island there weren’t very many varieties of people living here so a six foot four African American weightlifting champion took some getting used to. It didn’t take long for Annette’s Catch to become successful. It was centrally located and right next to the ferry dock. My mother had always been a real people person and could charm anyone. She was the reason we had so many regular customers and a full bar nearly every night.
“Oh, there you are,” Mama said as she came through the kitchen’s double doors. “Time to get to work, Missy.” She handed me a tray full of salt and pepper shakers and nudged me into the direction of the dining room. “Make sure there are two shakers on every table, one salt, and one pepper.” I rolled my eyes at her turned back. I hated how she always treated me like a child who needed to be told what to do all of the time. Of course, I knew to put one salt and one pepper shaker on every table. I may only be nineteen, but I wasn’t an idiot.
“Mama, I’m gonna quit.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she replied over her shoulder.
****
If I wasn’t already obsessed with Mack, it had gotten even worse after the night of the race. I tried to put him out of my mind and almost had managed to fool myself, until I’d caught a glimpse of him that night at a party at the Risto house. The family was new to the island and had bought up a lot of land. Throwing these big lavish parties seemed to be their way of making friends. James Risto, or Jamie as he preferred to be called, was in the crowd with Mack and his crew. Jamie was also the newest heartthrob on the island with reddish-brown hair and deep dimples. He seemed like a loner, though, and pretty much kept to himself, which was why it was odd that he was hanging with Mack.
The men were all talking in low tones in a back corner of the room, and it was clear that it was a closed conversation judging by the way they had their backs turned to everyone. I needed to get out of there fast because I didn’t want him to see me, so I set down my cup and promptly walked away from whoever was talking to me. I had no idea what he was saying anyway, just a bunch of blah blah word sounds coming from his mouth.
I hadn’t even wanted to come to this party, but I’d gotten notifications that everyone who was anyone on the island was going to be here so, of course, I came. There was no way I was going to hear all the evening highlights second hand. Except when I looked around all I saw were the same annoying faces from high school. The drama queens, the slackers, and some who’d been considered the cool kids. Everyone was just here for the weekend, to be seen and brag about their new grown-up lives. Yeah, it was definitely time to go.
I was feeling a little tipsy as I stumbled through the crowd looking for Tayia, and when I found her she was on the phone outside, talking rapidly and shaking her head.
“Blake. Stop it. No, you won’t.” When I reached her, she put a hand over the phone so that Blake wouldn’t hear and said, “Are you ready to go? He’s being a jerk.” Then she began talking back into the phone.
“Yes. Yes, you are being a jerk . . .” I tuned out the conversation. It seemed like those two were constantly arguing, and it was getting old. A few minutes later, Tayia ended the call and we were making our way across the lawn when I noticed moving shadows on the side of the house. As we got closer to the car, I saw the same group of men Mack had been talking to. They were crowded around a single guy who was staring at one person in particular.
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head at the action in front of me. It was like a scene out of a movie, not something you’d see happening in real life. Three guys, including Jamie, were standing in front of a man I instantly recognized as Knight, the shithead racer who had been pissing off everyone and building a long list of enemies.
“Do you think I’m playing some sort of game with you?” a deep voice growled.
“I have no idea what you are talking about, man. Listen, I got my own problems to worry about . . .”
“Problems? What you thought were your problems are going to seem like a goddamn fairy tale if you keep getting in my fuckin’ way.” When the man behind the voice stepped from the shadows, I saw that it was Mack.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, then hiccupped before covering my mouth. When heads started turning my direction I quickly grabbed Tayia’s arm and dragged her out of sight.
When we were driving away all I could think about was how dangerous that situation looked, and I wondered what sort of
things Mack did that would involve Knight getting in his way. Yet at the same time, I had to admit that seeing Mack again did something crazy to my insides. When any sane girl would run in the other direction, I found myself wanting Tayia to turn the car around.
****
“Jonna?” Harley called my name from the other side of the dining room causing me to jump. I’d been hiding in a booth and checking my phone for the hundredth time for a call from Mack. Pathetic? Maybe.
“What?” I yelled back into the empty room and watched as Harley made her way over to me while frequently looking over her shoulder. She slid into the seat across from me and narrowed her hazel eyes as I tucked my phone into my apron.
“What are you doing?” she asked and tilted her head to the side.
“None of your business. What do you want?” I snapped distractedly, but Harley along with the rest of my family never paid much attention to my crabby disposition.
“I need you to help me do something.” When I didn’t say anything, she continued. “I need you to help me pick up a box of my stuff.”
“A box? From where? Blake and Tayia’s? Are you moving in with my brother?”
“No, no. It’s not that. The stuff is, um . . . well, the stuff is in Charleston.” She looked away nervously.
“Okay, why do you need my help? Why can’t Drew take you?”
“Because the stuff is at my ex-boyfriend’s house, and Drew doesn’t exactly get along with my ex.”
“Oh,” I replied instantly as understanding dawned on me. I knew there was no way my brother would want to take her to an ex-boyfriend’s house.
“Look, I don’t want to keep this from Drew, but it’s just a quick thing. It’s a box from my Gram’s house. Stuff I saved before her house was sold. I just want to go, grab the box, and that will be the end of it. Drew will never have to know, and conflict will be avoided.”
The pleading look she gave me, I knew, was rare for her. Harley never asked people to help her do things. She was stubborn, kind of like me. I had no doubt that if she could have found a way to get to Charleston on her own she would have, but she didn’t have a car and it was too far to walk.
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