by Sybil Bartel
“Are you coming home?”
A pang of something hit my chest when she said home. “On my way now. Why?”
“He’s here.”
“What?” I stepped on the accelerator. “And you let him in?”
“No, of course not. I didn’t even answer the door but I think he knows I’m here.”
“Did you talk to him?” I heard banging in the background.
Siren’s voice dropped to a whisper. “No but he keeps knocking on the door.”
“Okay, hang tight. I’m almost there.”
“I didn’t mean to cause you trouble,” she said even quieter.
“What I’d say about that?”
“You said you would help me,” she admitted.
“That’s right, I offered. You didn’t cause me anythin’. I chose to help you. Got that?”
“Okay…I just didn’t think he’d find me here, at least not so fast.”
Fucking Kendall. “That’s my fault.” Goddamn it, that was a stupid move asking her to check into Randy. “I’m pullin’ in now. Where are you?”
“In the stairwell so he couldn’t see me. He was looking in the windows.”
“Go up to my room and stay there. I’ll see you as soon as I get rid of him.”
“Okay.”
I hung up and gunned it down the driveway. Randy’s piece-of-shit truck was blocking my garage but I didn’t see him anywhere. I threw the Challenger in park and jumped out. “What do you want, Carter?” I called out, slamming my door.
Like he had all the time in the world and a fucking right to be on my property, Randy strolled around to the front from the side yard. “What, no hello?”
“Trespassin’ is a crime. I shoot you now, no court will convict me.”
He held his arms up and smiled like he had the upper hand. “I’m not packing.”
“Your second mistake.”
“Yeah?” He chuckled but there were deep lines of worry around his eyes. “What’s my first?”
“Comin’ to my house.”
He kept up the smirk. “So, I guess we’re not going to lunch?”
He was fishing and I wasn’t going to give him shit. I wasn’t ready to tip my hand yet. He probably knew she’d come to me but he didn’t know she was here or this would’ve been going down a lot differently. “Not now, not ever.”
“It’s like that, huh?”
Smarmy fuck. I wanted to break both his wrists. “It’s like that.”
Randy casually walked to his truck and opened the door. “Just so you know, I got eyes on you, Talerco.”
“Can’t imagine why, Carter.”
Flipping me off, he got in his truck and spun his tires pulling out. I watched his taillights as he hit A1A then I pushed the button on my remote to close the front gate. A second later, I’d locked my front door and was taking the steps two at a time.
“SIREN!” I CUT THROUGH THE kitchen. “He’s gone.”
She stepped out of my bedroom. “I heard.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. Hair flowing around her like sunshine, makeup covering the bruises on her face, wearing a pale yellow dress that hit just above her knees, she looked so damn pretty, I was speechless.
“You didn’t tell him I was here.”
I stepped forward and gently tipped her chin. She’d used powder and eyeliner and from a few feet away, you couldn’t even tell she was hurt. “No, I didn’t.” I turned her face, looking at the swelling, but it was negligible. “You ice it this mornin’?”
“Mm hm. And last night.”
“Looks good. Your leg hurtin’?”
“I’m all right.”
Her voice breathy and soft, I wanted to hear her say my name. “You showered.”
A faint blush hit her cheeks. “I used your bathtub.”
She smelled incredible, like fresh flowers and sunshine and woman and all I could think about was her nipple in my mouth this morning. “Good,” I murmured, tracing her bottom lip with my thumb. “This is almost healed.”
Her tongue darted out and she licked the thin trace that was left over from her split lip. “Yes.”
My heart hammering, my dick hard, I knew I could take her right now and she’d surrender willingly. The thought of her under me, in my bed, it was fucking with me. I let my fingers run up the smooth skin of her thigh until I felt the gauze.
She sucked in a breath.
“You need a clean bandage.” I took her hand and led her into my bathroom. Pulling supplies out of my cabinet, I washed my hands then turned to her. “Lift your skirt.”
“Talon?” she asked softly, not moving.
She didn’t have a clue how sexy she was. “What?”
Bottomless blue eyes full of innocence stared at me. “What’s happening?”
“I’m changin’ your bandage.”
“Please don’t lie,” she whispered. “I see it.”
The muscles in my shoulders tightened. “See what?”
Like she needed air for courage, her chest rose with a deep breath. “Want me, pity me, think I’m pretty, but don’t look at me like you’re looking right now. Don’t look at me like you care.”
I didn’t stop my eyebrows from drawing tight. “Why can’t I care about you?”
“You don’t care about women. You sleep with them.”
My jaw went rigid and I dropped to a squat. “Lift your skirt,” I demanded, my voice harsh.
Her thin, delicate hands with bruised knuckles pulled the yellow fabric up to the top of her legs.
Roughly taking off the old bandage, I cupped the back of her thigh and used my fingers to spread antibiotic cream over her wound. Not wearing gloves went against all my training but I didn’t give a shit, I wanted to touch her. I covered the wound with clean gauze then wrapped a new bandage around her thigh. The whole time I worked she kept perfectly still but the second I was finished, she stepped back and dropped her dress.
Washing my hands, I looked at her in the mirror. “You wanted me inside you this mornin’.” I was a dick for saying it but she didn’t get to throw an insult about me not caring and get away with it.
Bright pink spread across her cheeks and she quickly looked away. “Do you think Randy knows I’m here?”
I should’ve known. I shut the water off. “Is that what this is about?” I asked formally.
“What do you mean?”
I turned around. “Why you’re putting up a wall.”
She wrapped her arms across her stomach and dropped her gaze. “I’m not putting a wall up.”
Bullshit. “Did I hurt you this morning?”
Her head popped up. “No,” she said firmly.
“I’m not talking about physically.”
“Where’s your accent?”
“Where’s the woman who was in my bed this morning?”
“You’re scaring me,” she whispered.
Coiled tension ripping through my muscles, I nodded and walked into the kitchen. Grabbing the first takeout menu my hand settled on, I dialed and rattled off an order then hung up. I didn’t glance at her as she stood nervously by the breakfast counter. “I’m going to my office to make a few calls. Stay inside.” I walked to my bedroom without waiting for a response.
Sitting at my desk, I had to count to thirty before I was calm enough to dial André. When he didn’t answer his cell, I called his office.
“Luna and Associates,” Ariel answered.
“Hey, Mama.”
“Talon.” I could hear her smile. “What’s happening, sexy?”
“Where’s your boss?”
“Who knows? He doesn’t tell me half of what he’s up to.”
I doubted it was even half. “How’s Conner?”
“Taking up the number-one slot in my all-time-favorites list.”
I smiled. “He makes the top of my list, too.” Her two-year-old kid was cute as hell.
“You only say that because he doesn’t talk.”
I laughed. “You’re probably right.”
Then I sobered. The reason Conner didn’t talk wasn’t anything to laugh about. “What’s his doc say?”
“You know shrinks. They say the trauma of seeing me beat up was a blow he’ll need time to get over. Reassure him, love him, he’ll start talking again when he’s ready, blah blah blah. Like I don’t know how to be his mother.”
“You’re a great mother.”
“Damn, what’s gotten into you? Why are you being so nice? You trying to get laid?”
I smirked. “Always.”
“Ha.”
“Tell André to call me.”
“Call his cell.”
“He isn’t answering.”
“Really?” She sounded surprised. “That’s weird. He never goes off the radar. When’d you try him last?”
“Right before I called. He check in with you today?”
“No. I haven’t heard from him yet. And now that you mention it, he usually calls with some bullshit excuse just to make sure I showed up for work if he’s not going to be around.”
Fuck. “I’m sure it’s nothin’.”
“Are you lying to me? Should I be worried?”
I forced a laugh. “’Bout a former Force Recon Sniper? Shit, don’t waste your time worryin’ ’bout him. I didn’t nickname him Patrol for nothin’.” My phone beeped with a call from the gate. “I gotta go, darlin’. Hug the little man for me.”
“You know it.”
I hung up with Ariel, buzzed in the delivery driver and went downstairs to meet him. When I came back upstairs with the food, Siren was setting two places at the kitchen table. If I wasn’t in such a shit mood, I would’ve enjoyed the scene for what it was. I missed the life I’d had with Leigh. I missed waking up next to her, eating meals with her, knowing someone waited for me at home.
I watched Nic’s movements and couldn’t help but compare her to my ex-wife. They were totally different but neither wasted words and both were reserved. Leigh had come from money. She’d been polished, elegant. I didn’t know what Nic came from, but she had the same mannerisms about her. Despite her injuries, she was all woman, feminine and graceful.
I set the food on the table Leigh and I had picked out and suddenly it hit me. The familiar sharp pain in my chest wasn’t sharp. I’d just thought of Leigh twice and neither time had brought the grief or anger I breathed through every time something reminded me of her.
Thrown, I stared at the small blonde woman in front of me. Without warning, my favorite memory of Leigh played in my mind.
Her dark hair blowing in the wind, her skin golden from the Hawaiian sun, her head fell back in laughter at something I’d said. Drifting on our boards, waiting for the perfect wave to ride in, I reached over and grabbed her hand. Then I gave her the words for the first time. “Love you, LeighLeigh.”
“Love you more.” She smiled wide then excitement hit her eyes as she glanced over her shoulder. Pulling out of my grasp, she spun her board, paddled three strong strokes and effortlessly caught the next wave.
The memory fell away but there was no punishing grief. No debilitating regret. No anger at her for leaving me and not telling me she was sick.
“Talon?”
I glanced up and found Siren watching me.
“Are you okay?”
I didn’t know what I was. “All good. You hungry?”
“I wouldn’t have minded making lunch. You have a lot of food in your refrigerator.”
I was getting used to Siren’s way of not answering questions directly. “You cook?”
“Yes.”
I pulled a chair out for her. “That somethin’ you enjoy?”
She didn’t sit. “Are you still angry with me?”
“Who says I’m angry?”
“It was something I said.”
Inhaling, I ran a hand through my hair. “Sit.”
She lowered herself, favoring her left leg, and I pushed her chair in. “Thank you,” she said properly.
I took a seat across from her so I could watch her instead of looking out at the ocean. “I was angry. Now I’m not.” I was the one who’d told her I didn’t do commitment. I couldn’t fault her for her opinion.
Opening the Chinese takeout containers, she didn’t react.
I went for broke. “You’re not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
I studied her. “Someone more emotional.” Someone who didn’t look beautiful because of her scars. Someone who didn’t have me bending over backward to get her attention…someone who didn’t take away the sharp edges of my past.
She set her hands in her lap and her gaze followed. “About this morning.”
“Which part?” Because there was a hell of a lot of shit that encompassed.
She paused and when she spoke, she didn’t answer my question. “You’re not what I expected either.”
I leaned back in my chair. “What you see is what you get.”
She looked up and this time, the expression on her face was one hundred percent readable. Head tilted, holding back a smile, eyebrows raised, she was going to call me on my bullshit. “I think we both know that’s not even close to true.”
Damn, she was sexy. “You think I’m lyin’?”
“I think you’re grieving the loss of your wife.”
I shut down my expression and reached for the food. Heaping shit on my plate, I kept my movements controlled. “That was a long time ago.”
“What was she like?” she asked curiously.
“Bossy,” I lied, shoveling food in my mouth.
“That surprises me.”
I choked down the food. “How so?”
“You’re bossy. It doesn’t fit.”
“You spend a lot of time thinkin’ ’bout what fits?” I didn’t want to talk about Leigh with her. I wasn’t ready for that. I might never be ready.
“Randy and I never fit,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“I thought we had a deal.” I didn’t care if she was talking shit about him, I still didn’t want to hear his name cross her lips.
She shrugged. “I think you want to hear why I was with him for so long.”
I wanted to know how this woman had gotten inside my head. “No, I really don’t,” I lied again.
She told me anyway. “He took care of me. I mistook it for love. I thought I owed him.”
“Not much of a reason to stay with someone.”
“Are you judging me or yourself?”
My muscles tensed. “Excuse me?”
“You told me your wife died but you also called her your ex-wife.”
“Your point?” I tried and failed to keep the edge out of my voice.
“There’s a difference between being a widower and your ex-wife passing away…after you were divorced.”
Fucking hell. “Eat your lunch, Nicole.”
“You don’t have to put me up for a week. I’ll find somewhere else to stay.” She took a bite like nothing she’d just said was inflammatory.
I pushed my plate away. “You ready to have a normal fuckin’ conversation?”
She set her fork down.
“Because I’m tired of this bullshit. Say what’s on your mind, all of it. At once.” I held her shocked gaze for three heartbeats. “I’ll start. I’m not discussin’ my dead wife with you. I don’t give a damn about your past with Randy fuckin’ Carter. You’re stayin’ here until you heal, find a new place and get a job. I don’t expect shit from you in return except to stay away from your ex. You wanna go back to him? Get the fuck outta my house right now.”
She swallowed.
“Questions?” I barked.
“I’ll cramp your lifestyle.”
“No, you won’t.” I did what I wanted, when I wanted.
“But you asked what I would do when you brought—”
I didn’t let her finish the sentence because I knew that was what this whole thing was about. “I’m not thinkin’ ’bout other women right now.” I dropped my gaze to her breasts long enough for her
to squirm.
“Oh.” She blushed.
Yeah, oh. “We clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Your turn.”
She clasped her hands in her lap and cleared her throat. “Thank you for taking me in. I had nowhere else to go except Candle and he makes me uncomfortable. My family doesn’t know I live in Daytona, not that going to them was an option. I’ll look for a job and a new place. I wish I could say today was an isolated incident but Randy will be back.”
“I can handle him.”
“I know you can, and thank you for offering, but I’ll talk to him.”
“You honestly think that’ll work?”
“It’s not about… This isn’t what you think.” She looked out the window. “We have an…understanding.” Something close to grief clouded her features. “Besides, it won’t matter what he wants.”
Hearing her determination took the edge off but she needed to know I wasn’t going to let this slide. “I’m gonna have a conversation with him. I already told you that.”
She inhaled and looked at me. “Why?”
I held her gaze for five long seconds. “Because I give a shit.”
For two heartbeats she didn’t react then she exhaled. “Okay,” she said quietly.
“Good.” Not that I needed her permission.
She was quiet a moment and I knew there was something else.
“All of it,” I reminded her.
“I haven’t been with anyone in over a year.”
Of all the things she could’ve said, that was the last thing I was expecting.
“I caught him with someone last year,” she explained. “I’d had my suspicions before that. We haven’t…” She cleared her throat. “We haven’t been together since. He begged me not to leave him. I gave him one condition. He agreed. He said he’d get my trust back. He didn’t—he couldn’t. I knew that but I needed…to save money. And he wasn’t charging me rent.” She shifted in her chair. “Anyway. This morning? It’s just…” Her voice turned quiet. “It felt good. You felt good. I got carried away. I know you’re not a one-woman type of guy and I’m not casual. Thank you for not taking advantage.” She looked up at me with all the innocence I’d felt in her kiss.
“Welcome,” I said roughly.
WE FINISHED OUR LUNCH IN silence and I started to clear the table.