“Do we really need the gun?” she asks.
“I doubt it, but I like to be prepared. I have a permit for a conceal and carry so that isn’t an issue. I think he is gone, but he may come back and try something.” He pauses and glances at her. “I don’t mind popping a cap in his ass if he does try something.”
He turns toward the door and looks out into the brightly lit parking lot. If there was one thing she could be grateful for, it was that her boss really made sure he had enough lights in his parking lot. It kept the bullshit to a minimum and the security, including the cameras and the bouncers, took care of the rest. “Yeah, ready.”
Pulling her keys out of her purse, Mia adjusts the strap on her shoulder so it is comfortable and walks out of the bar behind Jake. She could see the bouncers chatting with a few of the waitresses across the parking lot, but the rest of the lot is clear. Jake waves to the group and Mia does as well as they walk towards her car.
Jake scans the parking lot every few seconds and it feels like she is walking in a warzone. Who knows, maybe her life had become a warzone. When he gets to the car, he says, “Hit the remote, but don’t get in.”
Mia does what he asks and he manoeuvres around the car. He opens the back doors and peers inside before closing them and doing the same with the front seats. When he appears happy with it, he says, “Pop the trunk.”
Despite being on edge, Mia rolls her eyes, “Do you really think someone’s going to be in my trunk?”
Raising an eyebrow at her, Jake points to the trunk, “Open it.”
She jams her thumb on the trunk button and it pops open...inside is nothing but a spare tire and a road safety kit. Jake looks almost disappointed. “What did you expect to happen?”
Much to her surprise, he kneels down on the ground and starts searching under her car with careful deliberation. “Nothing really, but you can’t be too safe,” his words are somewhat muffled as he looks under her car.
Standing up, he dusts off his knees and continues, “I teach female self defense classes on my weekends. Women aren’t aware enough. That is the first thing they need to learn before they learn anything. Attackers will hide in the backseat, even in the floor space on the passenger seat. You would think someone would see that, but when you become comfortable with your routines, you don’t notice things like that until it is too late. The same with the trunk. Your backseat has a leaver opening up the trunk to the rest of the car. Someone could wait in the trunk and climb out.”
Mia’s mouth opens in shock. She is learning so much about Jake tonight and it is a bit unnerving. Somehow, he was shifting from the harmless friend to a scary one. She was just glad he was on her side. “And under my car?” she asks.
He grins and there is a slight smile, “Old habits die hard. I was checking for an explosive, but I doubt some drunk from a bar would have an explosive handy or the know-how to secure it to a car.”
She felt the whoosh before she could hear it. “I don’t think he is that dangerous,” she says, but she feels sick as though her blood has rushed from her brain, “He’s just a harmless drunk that knows Damon,” she adds.
But he wasn’t. He was a dangerous killer who knew where they were. She needed to flee. Needed to get Damon and get the hell out of here. Pushing the panic aside, Mia says, “Well, thanks for going over my car and walking me to it. I should really get home.”
He nods, “Yeah, you do and go straight home.”
Mia climbs into her car and inserts the key. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes as she turns the ignition. The car shudders to life, but no explosion ends her night on a bang. She sighs and then laughs. Jake was cute, but he was a lunatic. Explosives rigged to her car!
Pulling out of her spot, she waves at Jake as he climbs into his own car and then navigates out onto the nearly empty streets. Despite being a major city, there really isn’t a lot of traffic out. Glancing in the rear view mirror, she spots a set of headlights that seem to be following awfully close.
Panic races through her blood, turning it to ice. Is that car following me? She turns a corner and watches as the car comes around it behind her. Panicking, she weaves through the streets as the car follows her.
Oh my God! Is he following me or am I just being paranoid...
****
Mia sighs against the door as she feels it click behind her. It has been a terrifying hour and she still isn’t sure if the guy was following her. When she’d first spotted the headlights, she had made a few turns just to see if the car followed. After the fourth turn, it was clear that he was following her so she headed out towards the busier areas of the city where the after party clubs were in full swing.
The car had followed behind her and she had manoeuvred through the city streets for well over half an hour until she lost it. When she had, she had spent another half an hour avoiding her trip home to make sure that the headlights didn’t appear in her rear view mirror again.
She felt emotionally drained when she pulled into the garage of their beach house...and she felt a little silly. The guy probably wasn’t even following her. He was probably heading towards the afterhours clubs like everyone else.
Breathing in a deep sigh, she screams as Damon rounds the corner. “Where the fuck were you and why weren’t you answering my calls?”
He stops and takes in her white complexion and her large eyes. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Tell me,” he races over and checks her over.
“I’m fine. I thought someone was following me from work, and I took the long way home to make sure I wasn’t.” She looks down at his chest as she talks so he can’t see that there is so much more.
The entire way home, she had thought about telling Damon what had happened. Telling him about Hank, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Jake had handled Hank, she was sure of it, so there was no reason to worry Damon. Plus, she had decided to give up her job once she found a teaching job or something closer to her field.
But until then, she didn’t want to quit her job. It may take a month to find something new and she just couldn’t give up that part of her day where she wasn’t staring at the wall going crazy.
The silence stretches between them and after a few minutes, Mia chances a glance up at him. His eyes are filled with anger and his jaw is tight. “Why would you think someone was following you?” he asks and his voice is deadly quiet.
Trying to think of some reasonable explanation, she says, “Because some guy was a little grabby tonight. He was bounced out of the club, and I guess I was still on edge from the night. When I spotted headlights in my rear-view mirror, I just sort of panicked.”
She breaks free of his hold and walks around him to the kitchen. Pouring herself a glass of water, she takes a long swallow as Damon stalks into the room. “Why the hell did you walk away?” he yells.
“Because I know just where this is going. You already hate that I’m working at the bar and knowing some drunk tried to make a pass at me will only set you off again. I am so tired of fighting with you about all of this.”
“And what do you want?” he growls. “Do you like having drunk guys make a pass at you? Because I sure as hell don’t want that and what if they do more and force you...rape you. That is what I am worried about.”
Mia shakes her head, her shoulders slumping at his words. There were things so much worse than what Damon was thinking...there was the men from his past that could come and take Damon away from her. She wasn’t the one in danger, he was.
“Damon,” she says, tears brimming her eyes, “I don’t want to fight but I will fight you on this. I have changed my life completely for you. My mother barely talks to me, I am finishing school online instead of on campus. I left my job, my school, and my apartment to be with you. I have given enough and for once, you need to be the one who gives.”
Pacing in the small space, she turns and looks at him. “I want this job because I like the people. They are all really nice. I don’t want to be sitting around the house ev
ery day going out of my skull from boredom.”
The tears are streaming down her face, but she doesn’t swipe them away. Instead, she lets them fall as she stares at Damon...the anger is still clear in his eyes and she is positive her words are falling on deaf ears, “I want to have friends and as much as I love you, you can’t be the only person in my life. I need more than just you.”
He flinches, and Mia realizes that she hurt him. He needs her to only need him, but she can’t take the words back and she can’t change the way she feels. She needs friends and Damon should want that for her.
Turning on her heel, she runs to the bedroom, blinded by the tears as she throws herself down on the bed. She doesn’t know how they will ever get back to where they were a few months ago. Even if she quit her job, it doesn’t stop the need that she has to be around people. As much as Damon doesn’t like it, she needs to have friends and get out in public without him.
A half hour after she had thrown herself on the bed, Mia wakens to the sound of the bedroom door opening. She hadn’t even realized she’d fallen asleep. Looking up there her tear-stained lashes, she says, “I don’t want to fight anymore, Damon.”
He sits down heavily on the bed. “Neither do I.”
They sit in silence for a few minutes before Damon says, “Look, Mia. I can’t tell you that I like you having this job. There are just too many assholes out there who would want to hurt you and most of them like to go to bars. Maybe you won’t have anything to worry about, but that won’t stop me from worrying.”
He looks over at her and pulls her up until she is nestled in his lap. Mia breathes in his scent and feels comforted by it as he rubs his hands up and down her back. Despite her distress, she can’t help the instant warmth that flows through her body at his touch. “You have to give me time,” he says. “You know, to wrap my head around you working at that bar.”
Mia nods, hope filling her. Does this mean he is going to accept her working at the bar? It might, but she swallows her excitement a bit. Like he said, he needs time.
She wraps her arms around him and sighs into his warmth. She needed him tonight. “Where were you tonight? I tried phoning but you didn’t answer,” she asks.
He stiffens slightly, “I stopped and had a beer with Karl from the garage and then I came home. I was an ass.” He sighs before he says, “I was pissed that you were working a double shift and a night shift so I turned off my phone. Is that why you didn’t answer when I called you?”
Mia shook her head, “No, my phone is dead, and I forgot the charger at home.”
Unable to help herself, she kisses his chest and slides her hands under his shirt to feel his warm skin. He hardens instantly and she squirms around on his lap eliciting a groan from him when she does. “Stop that,” he commands.
“Stop what?”
“You know. I want to give you something and then you can thank me for your present.” He leans back slightly and pulls a cylinder off of the dresser. Placing it in her hand he says, “Like I said, I need time to accept you working where you work. But whether I accept it or not, you need to accept the fact that there are creeps out there and you need to be alert.”
Mia nods as she turns the pepper spray over in her hands. “You sound like Jake.”
“Jake?” He raises an eyebrow at her.
She laughs and smoothes the frown from between his eyebrows. “The guy who tends bar with me. He is some self-defense instructor. He went over my car tonight like he was searching for a bomb. He told me I needed to be more alert, too.”
“Sounds like a smart man,” he says. “You don’t have a thing for this Jake, do you?”
Mia rolls her eyes and places a kiss to his jaw line. She shifts until she is straddling his lap and feathers more kisses along his jaw moving up to Damon’s lips. Kissing his lips, she says, “No...he’s just a friend, but he is a smart man...he’s just not my man and I don’t want any man but you.”
Damon sighs against her lips and says, “That’s good because, now that I have you, I am never letting you go.”
He takes control of the kiss and Mia whimpers under his hunger as he nibbles on her lips. He sucks the lower lip into his mouth before his tongue plunges into hers. Shifting her, Damon pulls off her shorts and underwear before he tears off her t-shirt. Mia gasps at the sound of ripping and pulls away. “You have a dozen white t-shirts,” he says as he unhooks her bra.
Mia is shivering in his arms, but she isn’t cold. Instead, her body burns with a need to have him inside of her. She reaches between them and struggles with his button. He helps her and before she can catch her breath, he is naked and his cock is buried deep inside of her.
She arches back and he hungrily sucks at her breasts, sending a spiral of heat straight to her core. Rocking her hips, she groans as his cock rubs against her g-spot. They move with each other, Damon’s hands under her ass as he helps her lift up and slam back down on his cock.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Mia kisses his lips and sucks his tongue into her mouth. She shudders as her orgasm builds, and Damon invades her mouth and her pussy. She can feel her depths fluttering along his shaft and then she is crying out as her orgasm takes her to the stars.
Damon cries out a moment after her and she continues to move up and down his shaft as he shoots deep inside of her. Catching her breath, she stares into Damon’s beautiful eyes. He smiles and says, “Let’s go to bed. We’ll worry about the work stuff tomorrow.”
Chapter Eight
“Mia, I’m going to go grab a few cases to stock the shelves,” Jake yells out as he heads for the storeroom.
Not bothering to reply, Mia turns to the bar and continues dusting the top of it. The place is dead today, and the last customer left about twenty minutes ago. Jake and her had made up the time with doing some deep cleaning of the bar while it was empty.
The cool breeze from the ocean flows through the open patio doors and Mia looks longingly at the beach beyond. There has been an unusual break in the normal Florida heat and everyone was out enjoying the weather instead of hiding from it in air conditioned bars. While it meant the tips would suck today, it also meant that work was pretty easy.
Hearing the door, Mia stands up and says, “Hi, welcome to...” The words die on her lips as she sees Hank walk through the door.
He sneers at her and says, “Well, hello, Mia. I didn’t expect to see you here all alone. Where’s your boyfriend? What was his name, Jake?”
Mia’s eyes shoot towards the hallway leading to the backrooms. She takes a step towards them and stops as six new men walk into the bar. Hank looks back before he looks at her again, this time his smile is filled with evil. “Don’t worry, darling, I brought some friends to deal with Jake.”
The entire time he is talking, he is walking towards her and Mia realizes that if she doesn’t run soon, she won’t be able to get away. “I don’t want to be disturbed when I deal with you. Actually, I want to deal with Damon, but since he isn’t around, you’re the next best thing.”
With that, he jumps towards Mia, and she screams, kicking back as he lunges at her. Her feet connect with his shin and he grunts in pain as she sprints past him. She glances around the room, not sure where to run as the six men pull out their own firearms. She screams again and then she hears, “Mia, duck.”
The world explodes as gunshots ring through the room. She crawls behind the bar as Hank dives to the other side to avoid the bullets. Jake comes around the corner of the bar, his eyes narrowed in concentration as his gun swings back and forth. She counts the shots...one...two...three...four...five...six...and then Jake is beside her, his back pressed against the bar.
“Okay, Mia, you run for the hallway and exit out of the back of the building,” he says quietly. “The six men are down, but Hank is still out there. When I go around the bar, you go for the doorway.”
Crouching behind the bar in horror, Mia shakes her head. She can’t get her mind around what Jake is saying or the fact that he just shot
six men. She shakes her head again to clear the ringing in her ears. “Who are you?” she whispers.
Jake looks at her with sympathy. “I’m a friend of Damon’s, and he asked me to look out for you.”
Mia stares at him in horror. All this time, she thought Jake was her friend, but he had been lying to her. “Mia, I will explain this all later. Right now, you have to run for the exit.”
Jake shoves her towards the door, but Mia stumbles as she tries to gain her footing. As she falls, she feels a hand grabbing her hair and she screams as he wrenches her around. Jake cries out, and he raises his gun towards Hank.
A shot rings out, and Mia screams as she watches blood blossom from Jake’s arm. His gun goes flying through the air as a second shot rings out, and Jake screams as a bullet tears through his leg. “Shut the fuck up, bitch,” Hank growls and he shakes her until she can’t do anything but sob in his arms.
Jake groans in pain as his eyes flutter into unconsciousness. Hank moves towards him and brings his foot down on the gunshot wound. Jake’s eyes open wide and he stares up at Hank and a terrified Mia. “Tell Damon that I have his girl, and if he wants to see her alive, he’s to meet me at midnight near the pier where he killed his first man. He’ll know where it is.”
Hank takes a step back and looks at his fallen bikers, “Those of you who can move, do it and get help for your injuries. Those that can’t, if you’re breathing and you squeal to the police, remember that I will come back and kill you.”
He glances at Jake again, “I should kill you for making this complicated, but I want you to deliver the message for me.”
Then he lifts Mia up like she is nothing more than a sack of sugar as she kicks and screams against him. He smacks her ass and then carries her out of the bar. The last thing she remembers is him throwing her into a trunk and slapping her into unconsciousness.
Chapter Nine
The room smelt like the ocean and the sounds coming to her made her realize that she was close to the shore. Maybe they were already, at the site he had told Damon to meet him. After they had left in her car, Hank had decided to pull out her cell phone from her purse and phone Damon himself. He figured Jake was a little too messed up to deliver the message after all.
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