Dynamite (Stacked Deck Book 10)

by Emilia Finn

  Our eyes meet in the mirror. She holds a hair clip between her lips while she works, and when she realizes I’m staring, she smiles back. “Yeah, he’s awake now too.”

  “Good morning, Luke!” Miranda’s voice echoes first from the phone, and then because of the bathroom. “It’s Miranda here, honey. Sleep well?”

  “Yeah, because that’s not weird,” Ally grumbles around her hair clip. “He’s still sleepy, Mom. But he looks good, all rumpled in my bed. He has a tramp stamp, though.” Her brows knit while she works and tries to study me in the mirror. “It’s a flower… but, like, just above his ass. Between the dimples.”

  “It was a dare.” I flop back on my pillow and go back to sleep. Or, well, I pray for sleep. “Rob dared me to do it, and Emma made me follow through.”

  “It was a dare,” Ally repeats for her mom. “Because his family is just as crazy as he is.”

  “Rob got a dolphin above his ass,” I speak into my pillow. “I won.”

  Laughing, Ally runs a hair straightener along her long, red locks, and curls the very ends. When she’s satisfied with the way they bounce, she yanks the cord from the wall and sets down the straightener. “I’m gonna have to hang up in a sec, Mom. I have to get ready for work, and I have this freeloader in my room, so I have to get rid of him too.”

  “You’re smiling,” Miranda teases. “Just admit it.”

  I lift my head and catch Ally’s grin before she makes it disappear. “Yeah, she’s smiling.”

  I turn onto my hip with a groan, and when Ally passes by the bed, I whip an arm out and hook it around her naked ribs. Pulling her down into my little spoon, I press a kiss to her flushed cheek, and take the phone with my free hand.

  “Mrs. Laramie. How are you doing today?”

  “I’m well, honey. And you?”

  “Better this morning than I was yesterday morning.”

  “Bet you are,” she snickers. “You’re a man, right? A good man.”

  “Um…”

  “Treat my Ally right, and we’ll have no troubles. But make her cry, and I’m coming over that way to rip your fucking head off.”

  “Uh…”

  “We good?”

  I clear my throat and remind myself that this woman, while seemingly kind and innocent, was also once a homeless, pregnant teen. It would do me good to remember that. “We’re good.”

  “You swear?”

  “Yeah, I swear. I’m gonna do it right.”

  “Are you in love with my daughter?”

  I choke out a soft laugh. “Yes, ma’am. I’m certain I am.”

  “I’m going to make a plan to swing by in the next few weeks. Dinner, family time, getting to know you. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

  “Er… yup.”

  “At your home. Your apartment. Do not ask your mother to host me.”

  My smile drops away. “You don’t wanna meet my mom?”

  “No, I do, but we’ll be doing it in your apartment, the apartment you’ve cleaned, while we eat the meal you cooked. Do you understand what I’m asking of you?”

  “To show you how I live?”

  “There it is. I’m so excited to come and meet you. I’m especially excited to see how my uptight daughter handles dating someone like you.”

  “And someone like me is…?”

  “Unpredictable,” she answers easily. “Uncontainable. Allyson likes to be in control of her world, she likes neat lines, and no deviations to her routine. She especially doesn’t like commitment. But now you’ve got her falling in love with a guy in a town she never intended to like—”

  I don’t know, Miranda. She hasn’t told me she loves me back!

  “—and word on the street is you and your brother come with your own pre-packaged reputation.”

  “I want it on record I wasn’t actually the one who blew up the pet food factory.” I toss my family under the bus without remorse. “I was there, but it wasn’t my fault. In fact, I was the one trying to smother the fuse, if you understand my meaning.”

  “Was there C4 involved in this explosion?”

  “No, ma’am. Just a whole bunch of stupidity and a few felonies thrown in. The real culprit is still walking free, no charges on their rap sheet, no beady eyes following them while they walk Main Street.”

  “The perfect crime,” Miranda laughs. “Alright, I’m in traffic right now, and there’s a bus in front of me farting its toxic fumes into the atmosphere and refusing to move into its own damn lane. Move!”

  She shouts it so loud, Ally laughs, and I jump.

  “Sorry, honey. I really have to go. Tell my daughter I love her dearly, and to call me tonight so we can plan this dinner party. I want to come there soon.”

  “What do you eat? What don’t you eat?”

  “I don’t like mushrooms. I do like red meat. I like green beans, and I love mashed potatoes.”

  “Alrighty.” Laughing, I plan this menu in my mind, and listen to a bus chug along on Miranda’s side of the call. “I’ll let you go so you can drive safely. And I’ll tell Ally you said hey and that you love her.”

  “I heard her,” Ally snuggles into my side and purrs. “Love you, Mom.”

  “Thank you, handsome. Also, please take your hand off her naked booty right now.”

  I glance down and grin. My hand isn’t on her ass, but my cock is. And from my point of view, that’s way better.

  But for the sake of maintaining relations with this woman, I tell her none of that. Instead, I clear my throat, and try to hide the lust swirling in my blood. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Have a good day at work,” Miranda calls out. “Love you both.”

  Then she hangs up, and Ally’s bright red blush makes itself apparent when I look down at her.

  “She threatened you.”

  I toss the phone aside and roll so Ally flops to her back, and I see all of her. “It’s a mom’s job to make sure her baby is being taken care of.” I press a kiss to her lips. To her jaw. “She’s sweet.”

  “Miranda Laramie is not sweet. She’s a viper, she’s dangerous, and she’s mean.” But then Ally’s eyes change. “She also told you she loves you. Which is like…” Her eyes widen. “That’s a big deal. She doesn’t even know you.”

  “She was joking.”

  I glance across the bed to the clock on the table, and when I see we’re already essentially late for work, I crawl between her legs anyway, groan when the tip of my cock touches her fiery heat, and when she says nothing, but nods, I slide on in and sigh. “So fucking perfect.”

  I bury my face against her neck and fall deeper in love. Deeper, harder, headier, so I’m not sure I’ll ever find my way out again. But that’s fine, because this one time, love doesn’t scare the shit out of me. Not when it feels this good. And not even if Ally refuses to say it back.

  She will eventually, I’m certain of it. But until that day, I’ll work on convincing her.

  Ally

  Updates

  Dressed, showered, makeup on, hair brushed – again – I slide my feet into a pair of sensible pumps, and smooth my hands over the fabric of my skirt. And while I do all that, Luke sits on the end of my bed, dressed in the clothes he wore last night – he’s fully clothed, but somehow, he still manages to make it look erotic.

  If he wanted to switch his pants out for just boxer shorts, if he wanted to undo the buttons on his shirt, and open the fabric a little to show off his chest, if he’d just sit back and open his legs, he could make this look like a professional photoshoot for hot guys with arrogant smirks.

  His hair is messy, his stubble that much more grown-out since yesterday, but his eyes are bright and playful.

  “I’m heading to the lake this afternoon.” He grins the grin that gets him laid. “I have to keep going on that damn pier before I land my ass in jail for violating court orders.”

  I press my hands to my chest and sigh. “My Prince Charming. You’re the catch of the county, Luke Hart.”

&nb
sp; “Shut up,” he snorts and pushes to his feet.

  I stand by the coffee table, by the vase of roses that make me smile each time they catch my eye, but they lose all my interest as I watch Luke walk toward me. He has this swagger, this stride that fizzles my brain cells and sets me up for a painful fall. But I like it anyway. I like looking at him, and feeling those zings of power pulse in my blood.

  “If, after all these years,” he rumbles and comes closer, “after all of that bad behavior, it’s certain I’m going to prison, then it can’t be because I didn’t finish my community service.”

  “You’d rather go down in a blaze of glory?”

  “Of course.” He leans in and plops a kiss to my cheek. “Come down after work and hang with me? We can have a picnic dinner or something. Make a night of it. Then we’ll share a bed again, because no way am I ever gonna sleep alone now that I’ve found you.”

  “You just jump right in, huh?” My heart flutters the way a hummingbird’s wings do. I should run with it, enjoy it. But the pain is too real, too terrifying to risk. “You just go from ‘Hey there, legs’, to sex, to ‘Let’s never sleep apart again’?”

  “What can I say? I don’t believe in wasting time. We have so little of it already.” He wraps his arms around my hips and squeezes so tight that I buckle, but he catches me, holds me up, and buries his lips against my neck. “Don’t pull back, Ally. We’re only just getting started.”

  “I’ll bring a picnic to the lake this afternoon,” I relent on a sigh. “But I have work to do too, so you do the pier, I’ll work on my stuff, and nobody talk to me. I have to concentrate.”

  “Wow.” Chuckling, he uses my insult, and squeezes me just a little tighter. “What work will you be doing?”

  “I’ve been here a while now, and I’ve met enough patients that it’s time I get started on my final paper.”

  “You won’t do that at the end of the semester?” Luke lets me stand again, but he keeps hold of my hand and leads me across the room toward the door. “When work is all done?”

  “No, I think it would be more powerful if I start it now. While everything is still fresh in my mind.”

  “Ohhhh, I get it.” His interested smile turns smug as we move down the stairs. “You’re gonna write your paper on me and my giant dick, aren’t you?”

  An obnoxious throat-clearing sounds from below, bringing my gaze up with a snap, and beside me, Luke’s playfulness makes way for tension and a painfully tight grip of his hand around mine.

  Jason stands at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at us with a type of rage in his eyes.

  “Donnerson?” Luke growls, matching Jason’s rage, and steps in front of me to block my view. “You just fuckin’ insist on being seen, huh?”

  “Luke, st—”

  “Inappropriate discussion topic for a public staircase, no?”

  “No.” Luke’s body grows and vibrates with danger. He’s the guy who fights for a living, the guy with a rap sheet, and community service that is yet to be completed. “This isn’t a public building,” he continues. “It’s private, as was our conversation.”

  “Luke.” I grip his pulsing bicep and try to pull him around. “You need to st—”

  “It was so good to speak with you yesterday, Allyson.” Jason can’t see me, just as I can’t see him. But he speaks bravely and without care for the fighter readying to violate court orders. “I really enjoyed our time together. Our discussion was… enchanting.”

  Luke’s furious gaze comes around to look down at me over his shoulder. His eyes blaze with fire, and his brows shoot up. “Oh?”

  “No. Stop it.” I squeeze his arm as tight as I can. I’m here, and I’m ready to argue back. I refuse to hide or back down, but also, I won’t make a damn scene in front of one of Sonia’s clients. “We’re going to get breakfast. Right now. Me and you.”

  I step around Luke, and smile for Jason when our eyes meet. My stomach jumps for just a second, a strange electricity pulses in my blood, but I close my eyes and shake it off.

  I can’t have a jumping stomach around this man. I will not.

  Dragging Luke away from the stairs, I lead him toward the hotel doors and outside into the fresh breeze. “You need to stop that bullshit,” I hiss as soon as we’re free of the doors. “Dammit, Luke, just stop it.”

  “What bullshit, Ally?” He tugs his hand from mine the second we reach his truck, and instead laps the length of the parking space while I watch. “What discussion did you have? What was so fucking enchanting about it?”

  “I’m not doing the jealousy thing, Luke. I told you yesterday that I will not be peed on just to soothe a fragile male ego.”

  “Fragile?” He barks out. “I’m not fragile, Allyson! I’m protective, and needy, and sometimes I just want a fucking hug. What I definitely don’t want is some stranger turning up in town, staying where you’re staying, being everywhere you are, and calling your discussions enchanting.”

  “You’re needy?” I blow past the rest of his words. Past the alpha tantrum, past the guy with potential stalkerish tendencies, and I stop on the small nuggets of perfection. “You want a hug?”

  “I always want a hug. Fuck! Who doesn’t?”

  So I step forward, and wrap my arms around his torso. He was still pacing, which means our hug is more like a crash, but once we make contact and I clamp my fingers together at his back, Luke’s face comes down to my neck, and his rage turns into something else. Something much more pure.

  “I always want a hug too,” I whisper against his chest, “so if this is what you need, then this is something I can give.”

  “Ally…” He groans and squeezes me tight while his heart hammers against me. “I don’t know how to be selfless. That talk last night about altruism? That was me. That was all about me.” He peppers a kiss to my neck. To my shoulder. To my ear. “I’m a selfish motherfucker. I’ll want your attention, I’ll be that annoying kid who screams ‘watch me, watch me, watch me’, only to then bounce a ball on my knee or some stupid shit. I’m a man, but with childish tendencies. I’m scared of commitment, but I’m terrified of losing you. How’s that for fucking weird?”

  “How does that make you feel?”

  “Stop analyzing me!” He shoves me away to go back to pacing, but I laugh as I stumble, and when my laugh turns to a piggy snort, Luke races back again and slams his lips to mine.

  “It makes me insane,” he breathes out. “It makes my brain swirl faster. It makes my heart race, and my stomach drop, and my toes tingle, and my cock swell, and my throat dry, and my palms clammy.” He pulls back and shoves his palms in my face. “I’ve never had sweaty hands before you. Never!”

  “So you’re vulnerable,” I tease. “And being vulnerable scares you.”

  “No, Allyson.” His nostrils flare with rage. “Being vulnerable pisses me off. I gave up some of my power when I met you, so now you control my happiness. You control everything. And that annoys the shit out of me.”

  Laughter bubbles in my chest. “You’re so focused on what you lost, that you fail to see what you gained. I’m not running away, am I? You seem to have control over me too. My happiness. My sadness. My damn mood, and my morning walk to work. Us fighting about this stuff is fine. We’re both stubborn, independent people, so it’s going to take some time to iron out the bumps. But arguing about a guy neither of us actually knows, about a client who had his first hour with Sonia yesterday…”

  “Wait.” Luke comes to a screeching halt. “He’s a client?”

  I shake my head. Then nod. Then shake it again. “I can’t discuss this, Luke. I can’t discuss who is and who is not a client. But I need you to know that I won’t fight about it either. It’s a waste of our time, and it’s literally a non-issue for us. No matter how this all shakes out, I will not let you control who I speak to. I can’t. I refuse to start that nonsense and create a precedence.”

  He stares down at the ground, swallows, and kicks rocks when I stare so hard, he must surely fe
el the heat. “I need to trust?”

  “Yes.” I step closer and lay my cheek on his chest. “Yes, you need to calm the hell down, and trust. Because if there’s no trust, then we may as well walk now.”

  “What if I say I trust you, but I don’t trust the guy who may or may not want to toss you in his murder van and hold you hostage?”

  I choke out a soft laugh, and even knowing I’m messing up my makeup, I remain plastered to his chest. “Then I’m going to have to ask you to trust me to handle myself. I don’t think the guy owns a murder van, nor do I think he would steal me even if he did.”

  He scoffs. “That’s naïve of you.”

  “I think he’s a guy who needs someone to talk to. He needs a friend—”

  “Oh, good!” He throws his head back to study the sky. “You’re gonna be that for him, and I’m expected to chill the fuck out and trust while you get ice cream and watch movies, right?”

  “You’re so dramatic,” I grumble. “And no, I don’t get ice cream with anyone except you.” I stop, pull back, and lift a brow when our eyes meet. “Though I’d like it on record that you’ve yet to ask me out for ice cream.”

  He grunts. “Saturday. I promise.”

  “And no, Sonia will be his friend. His professional friend, who is paid for her time. She won’t get ice cream with him either, but she will talk with him, she’ll try to help him through whatever he’s got going on.”

  “Which is?” he prods. “What’s he got going on?”

  Thoughts of a young couple flash through my mind. Young love, parades, and picketing rallies. Politics, and women’s rights. Fast happiness, and slow pain. But then I shake my head. “I absolutely cannot discuss that with you, and you know it. But I can say that he’s in this town on legitimate business, and he’s seeing Sonia with legitimate reason. That’s as far as it has to go with you.”

  “And I trust?”

  “Yes. You put aside your inane obsession with flexing your biceps and wanting to be the best fighter in the room, and then you smile and stop trying to put me on a pedestal. You know I won’t stay there anyway.”