by L. E. Martin
“Well, Jace has been bragging to us that you are a mechanic.” Apryl laughed as she gestured to Charity with her cheese stick. “But seriously, that’s really cool. How did you get interested in that?”
“My dad and older brother are mechanics so I grew up with it and found it fascinating. I’m not really all that girly. That’s why it’s usually jeans and a t-shirt for me.”
“You’re girly enough for me.” Smirking, Jace winked at her.
Apryl rolled her eyes. “So maybe since you’ve had a first date, you’re no longer considered a guest so no longer privy to censorship. I’d apologize for it, but you went out with him, voluntarily.” Her eyes twinkling in amusement, she shrugged. Then she glanced at Trinity. “I told the group I knew you from the pediatrician’s office. I hope that was okay.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. And I thought I had recognized you too. You look a little different without a baby in your arms.” Trinity laughed. The sound was sweet and natural, not forced and obnoxious like some of the other girls I had been out with recently. She was a really lovely girl. I was so glad I had convinced myself not to judge her from one night.
She twisted in her seat to look at me. “Since you know where I work, I guess I should ask where you work. Unless it’s a secret.” Her lips curled into a goofy grin.
She was down right adorable.
“It’s not a secret. He thinks he’s a bad ass lawyer, when in reality he’s just a mediocre one.” Jace leaned back in his chair and pointed his mug at me. “But we love him anyway.”
“Oh shit.” Charity gasped.
“You’re an attorney?!” Trinity practically yelled, her eyes widening. The color had drained from her face and a mixture of repulsion and anguish washed over her features. In the next instant, she leapt from her chair and rushed out the door.
The rest of us sat in stunned silence. What the fuck just happened?
“Don’t let her run.” Charity pleaded.
I gaped at her. “But she . . . she doesn’t . . . freaked out . . .what?” For a second time: what the fuck just happened?
Her eyes begged me to go after her best friend.
In a snap decision, I stood up so fast, my chair crashed onto the floor. Then I did what I swore I’d NEVER do.
I chased after the girl.
Three
~Trinity~
“Trinity!” Mitch caught up with me in less than a minute. Not that I was surprised. But I just couldn’t handle him right now.
I stood in the parking lot, gazing out onto the main road but not really seeing anything, clenching my hands into tight fists, debating what to do. Should I walk home or call a cab? I couldn’t stay here and I wanted left the hell alone. An entire spectrum of emotions had raged through me when Jace spoke the one word that had the power to decimate me. First shock, then anger, betrayal, heartache, grief, frustration, and then finally despair. But now, I couldn’t discern one from the other as they all swirled around inside of me in a riot. Why did he have to be a lawyer? Why did I come out tonight and not drink? The emotions revolting inside of me had me visibly shaking and tears streamed down my cheeks. I couldn’t deal with this. Damn it, I was starting to like him. I should just run. But why couldn’t I get my feet to move? Instead, I stood helplessly frozen in place. Even sober me didn’t function well.
“Please turn around and face me.” Mitch’s voice was strong but not demanding.
Slowly, I twisted to look at him. So much confusion on his face. But I couldn’t let that deter me. I would not; I could not.
“I’m not being cocky, but I don’t usually have to chase the girl. Maybe that means something good here. Unless you’re a criminal running from the law, you shouldn’t have had that kind of reaction.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and tilted his head to study me.
I closed my eyes for a moment, the emotions still threatening to consume me. I had to just say my piece and make him leave me alone. We wouldn’t work out. It wasn’t possible. “I don’t trust lawyers.” I spat.
“I should be a little offended but I’ll allow it, for now.” He gave me a little smirk.
“Yeah, use your fancy lawyer words.”
“A judge would be . . . never mind. I don’t understand why you’re pissed at me. I didn’t wrong you. If someone else cheated you out of money or something, I’m sorry but I didn’t. I was having a good time in there.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward the bar.
I had been too. I wrapped my arms tightly around my waist. The heart wrenching agony began ripping me to shreds and I feared I wasn’t going to keep my composure for long. The memories never completely faded – but I didn’t want them to – but right now they were pummeling me to the point I was going to fall apart. “I had dealings with an inept lawyer and a dirty one. So I can’t stomach being around one.” I should have stopped there and ran but I didn’t. “Because of them, I lost it all.” My traitorous mouth was such a bitch sometimes. More tears rushed down my cheeks and I choked back a couple of sobs. Then my chest started to cave in, crushing my lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Good, maybe I’d die out here on the asphalt and not have to live through this unspeakable pain anymore.
“Then find a way to get it back. Fight for your house or whatever it was you lost.” His forehead was still scrunched in confusion because he wasn’t getting it.
“It wasn’t money or a possession. I lost my son!” I screamed. Slapping one hand to my mouth, I shoved the other into my hair and pulled, hard. Trying to distract myself from the searing pain gutting me from the inside out. I shook with the intensity of it.
So consumed in my misery, I hadn’t realized Mitch had moved to stand directly in front of me. He cupped my face in his hands.
When I glanced up, I found myself the intense focus of his deep green gaze. “Once again, I’m not being cocky but I’m really good. We’ll get him back. Let me help you.”
“You can’t. No one can.” I wailed. I didn’t want to say the words. I couldn’t. My knees buckled underneath me and I was positive I was going to become well acquainted with the ground but Mitch had reflexes like a ninja.
He grabbed me around the waist and hauled me to his chest. “Please, Trinity. At least let me try. For you. I won’t even charge you. Let me do this for you. Please, I hate seeing you in pain like this.” In my shattered state, I barely registered him kissing the top of my head.
And I gave in. God help me, I gave in. The fact that he was a lawyer – someone in the line of work I had detested – ceased to matter the moment I detected the warmth and compassion in his voice. I wrapped my arms around him and clung to him like he was my life line. Maybe he was. The sobs tore out of me with a vengeance. It was several long seconds before I could catch enough breath to utter the hardest words I had ever spoken in my life. “No one can because he’s dead. He was killed a year ago.” The words whispered from my lips. Maybe if I said them quiet enough they wouldn’t be true. But I knew that wasn’t the case. My son was gone. Ripped from me through no fault of my own other than being young and stupid and alone. The tears poured down my face in a never ending stream.
But before I could collapse to the ground in a heartbreaking heap, Mitch scooped me into his arms and carried me across the parking lot. “Don’t be alarmed. I’m not taking you anywhere other than to sit in my truck.” After crossing about half of the lot, he stopped at his vehicle, popped the locks, and hoisted the two of us into the back seat. Then he slid in next to me and wrapped me up tightly in his arms. “Oh Sweetheart, I wish there was something I could do for you. It is tearing me up listening to your heart ache. This is probably a stupid question, but is there anything I can do for you. Even right now. I feel kinda helpless and I want to help you. Oh God, Sweetheart, I am so sorry.”
“Just hold me.” I sniffled into his shirt. “I need someone to hold me together because I don’t think I can.” My shaking hadn’t subsided and now my side was vibrating. I shook my head at my ridiculousness when I realized it wa
s my phone. But hey, I was in no shape to be thinking clearly. With trembling fingers, I pulled it out of the little pocket on the side of my dress and glanced at the screen. “It’s Charity, making sure you caught up to me. Would you text her back? My phone isn’t locked.” I handed him my phone and then tucked my head into his chest again. The tears still flowing and the pain still shredding me apart but at least I could breathe again.
“I can do that for you.” He typed out a quick message and then set my phone down on the seat on the other side of us. “Do you want to talk some more? Do you want me to take you home? I didn’t think you wanted to go back into the bar. But we can do that if you want. Do you just want to sit in my truck for a while?” He ran his hands through my mass of hair.
God that felt so wonderful. I closed my eyes at the soothing touch. No way did I want to go back into the bar. And if he took me home, maybe he could fuck the sadness out of me, at least for the night. Since I had given up drinking. Or fuck in his truck? I’d never done that before. But I was in no condition to spend the night in a jail cell. “Would you take me home?” I murmured into his shirt. “I didn’t drive so I won’t leave Charity without a ride. Although Jace would make sure she got home safely.”
“I can take you home. Let me text Jace to let him know what’s going on.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a short text. Then he hugged me close and pressed a kiss to my temple. “You ready to crawl up front? I’m talented, but I can’t drive from back here.” I could hear the smile in his voice. And I was big time counting on that talent tonight.
I leaned back to look up at him. “Yeah, thank you. I feel bad pulling you from your night with your friends.”
“They get enough of me. Besides, you need someone tonight. And I’m glad I can be that someone. I know we just met but I want to be there for you, if you’ll allow me to be. I don’t know your whole story but I hope to one day. And from the way it sounds it’s not easy for you to trust, but you can trust me.”
I wasn’t entirely sure about that but at the moment I was willing to give it a shot. Especially if he could make me forget the pain for a while. “I want you to take me home. I could use someone tonight.”
“Let me help you out.” He slid out of the truck first and then held his hand out for me.
I slipped my tiny one into his much larger one, liking how his warm hand gripped me snugly. His hands reminded me of ones that would protect, comfort, soothe, and pleasure. Good God, it had been forever since I’d been with a guy. I had to make sure I didn’t come across as a desperate idiot. Although my breakdown in the parking lot sure hadn’t done me any favors.
After walking me around to the passenger side, he gave me a boost into the seat since I was wearing a dress. As soon as I was situated, he closed my door and then circled the front and hopped in the driver’s side. Then he turned the ignition before stretching his hand over to me. “I’m great at hand holding. It might make you feel a little better.” He gave me a charming smile.
Despite the residual heartache still knifing apart my insides, his comment prompted a small smile from me. I lifted my hand toward him and he entwined our fingers.
“Bark out directions so we don’t miss your place.”
About fifteen minutes later, we pulled into the front of my apartment.
“Stay put.” He rushed around the truck before opening my door. Then he took my hand in his and I led him up the short sidewalk to my front door.
Once inside, we kicked off our shoes and I led him into my living room to sit down on the worn tan couch. Twisting to face him, I asked, “Do you want something to drink? Or eat? We didn’t get to snack on much at the bar.”
“I’m fine. But if you want something to eat, I can help you make it.”
“I think I just want a glass of water. I think I cried out all of my fluids.” I stood up. “Do you want a glass too?”
“That sounds great. Do you need help?”
“No. I think my shaking has subsided.” Only once in a while, a little leftover tremor would race through me like a shiver from being cold.
I walked the short distance to my kitchen to retrieve two glasses from one of my overhead cabinets and then I filled them with water from my jug in the refrigerator. When I returned to the living room, I offered him one of the glasses before sitting back down beside him. Then I took a long drink, downing over half of the contents before setting my glass on the chipped coffee table.
“You weren’t kidding.” He smiled at me. He had such a beautiful and at the same time devastating smile. I bet he had no problem dropping girls’ panties. Well, he’d have no problem dropping mine tonight. I’d gladly rip them off in an offering of gratitude.
“So, do you want to watch something on television? Talk some more?”
Twisting so that I sat sideways on the couch, my right leg angled atop of the cushion, I inched closer to him. Then I placed my hand on his chest and fiddled with one of the buttons of his shirt, intentionally not meeting his eyes. “Sorry, I’m not really good at this whole seductress thing.” And I wasn’t sure if I was any good at the sex thing either but I didn’t say that because I was sure that wouldn’t help my attempt at the temptress thing. Leaning forward, I pressed a kiss to his neck.
Gently resting his hands on my shoulders, he moved me away from him slightly and studied my face. “Sweetheart, that’s not why I came into your apartment tonight.”
My face fell and tears pooled in my eyes. “I’m such an idiot. You don’t want me either. Donovan didn’t want anything to do with me after one fuck.” I pushed on his chest to shove away from him but his arm wound around my waist, keeping me planted directly in front of him. “That’s all I was to him was one little fuck. But I can’t even get that out of you.” A few tears escaped down my cheeks and I angrily swiped them away. God, I was a pathetic mess.
“Donovan was a douche.” He grabbed my face, roughly. “I like you. I came out tonight hoping to get the chance to get to know you. And then I took you home because I care about you and you needed someone tonight. If you weren’t an emotional wreck right now, I’d fuck your brains out.” He gave me a devilish grin and my insides turned to mush. “But I’m not looking for a one night stand anymore. I want something real, a relationship, and I want to try that with you. You won’t be one little fuck to me. So fucking you right now would not be the best way to start that.”
I had thought it would be a fantastic way to start that. My lips pulled down into a pout.
“I don’t want to mess this up. I want to do it right. I think you are beautiful, even with your face all splotchy, and your eyes swollen, and your nose all snotty.” He rubbed his thumbs across my cheeks. “I want to have something with you. I thought about you all week. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. So I would like to spend the night with you if you don’t want to be alone and want me to stay. I think I could learn to be a cuddler. I was never much of one.” He shot me another one of his disarming smiles. “But no sex tonight. And it’s not because I don’t want you. I’m hard as a rock sitting here, so don’t doubt your skills as a seductress. Let me take you on a proper date and we can end that night with some naked time.”
“If you don’t want me, that’s okay. I get it. I come with a lot of baggage.” God, why was I begging him? I should cut my losses, kick him out, and go curl up in my bed and sob, alone. What guy turns down sex if he likes you? None, so he doesn’t like you, he feels bad for you.
Growling, he shoved me onto my back on the couch and his strong body came down on top of me. “Does this feel like I don’t want you?” Eyes flaring with heat, he ground his erection into my thigh.
I groaned. Holy shit. He had the goods to pleasure a woman thoroughly even though that weapon could possibly kill me. But I’d die an exceptionally happy and satisfied woman.
“I’m trying to be good here. You are not in a good place right now and I refuse to take advantage of that. You say you want me right now but what if tomorrow you come to regret
our snap decision? That would be a bad way to start out a relationship.” His eyes bore into mine.
“Well because of me, we didn’t exactly start out real well anyway.” I dropped my gaze from his. I was completely fucking this up.
Placing his fingers gently under my chin, he lifted my face to meet his sincere eyes. “I’m considering tonight our first meeting. Even though it went off the rails, I now know a little more about you and I like what I see, even the painful parts. And not because I enjoy seeing you in pain; I hate it. It tears me up inside. But because now I understand a bit about why you acted like you had. You weren’t just some drunk looking for attention. You are dealing with a shit ton of pain, albeit not in a very productive way that night, but you are hurting.”
He tunneled his hands into my hair and cradled the back of my head before pressing his lips to mine. When I opened on a sigh, he swept his tongue in and it sought out my own. He probed all of the recesses of my mouth, tasting every little space. He had an amazing mouth, soft lips yet firm, demanding, and controlling. And I couldn’t help wondering how incredible it would feel on other places of my body. But I had to shake those thoughts away, at least for the night. But just being possessed by his kiss alone sent electricity rocketing through me. He would be so worth the wait. I moaned into his kiss.
He popped his mouth off of mine and grinned down at me. “You are delicious. And I just wanted a little taste. If I don’t stop now, I’m really going to have a hard time saying no. And I think you liked the taste too.” He winked.
“Jerk.” I pouted.
A cocky grin lifted his lips. “Why don’t you go get a shower? Get refreshed and then come cuddle with me on the couch. I’ve never been a cuddler but I think I could learn to like it with you.”
“A shower does sound tempting. I won’t be long.” I wiggled out from underneath him and scurried down to my bathroom. I wanted to get back to him as quickly as possible. I missed the heat and comfort from his body. I hadn’t realized I was cold until I was scampering down the hallway.