by Roma, Laurie
“That motherfucker said that to you, and your mother agreed?” The words came out before he could stop them. Kali turned to him, looking at him with wide eyes, but he didn’t care if he’d shocked her.
“Jared…”
He loved how she called him by his real name. She was the only one who did. Christ, she could call him anything she wanted, but he’d really love to hear her scream out his name as he took her. Hearing that her boyfriend was now ghosted, Hammer wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. So what if she was too good for him, she was single now, but not for long.
His little fairy was going to belong to him.
Hammer forced himself to take a deep, cleansing breath, then let it out slowly, once again finding his calm center. Tonight he would make sure she knew that she didn’t have to worry about her ex and anything he’d said to her in the past. He would show her just how perfect she was…perfect for him.
“Come on, Kali. I think this conversation needs to happen over a drink. Let’s go over to The Fox Hole and sit down. That is, if you don’t mind going out with me after I’ve just gotten done with a workout?”
“No.”
A brow lifted as he paused. “You don’t want to be seen with me?”
“No! I meant, I don’t mind. I mean, of course I do. It’s just…Jared, I don’t understand,” she said on a rush, the confusion clear on her pretty face.
Hammer tilted his head to the side. “What don’t you understand?”
“Why you want to go talk about this. With me.”
He laughed. “Honey, you’ve got some explaining to do. We’ll go have a drink, and you can tell me why you think you need to listen to a bunch of stupid advice, then I can tell you why you’re perfect just the way you are.”
He hid his smile as she let out a startled sputter. Not giving her a choice, he pulled her over to where he left his shirt. He wished he had time for a shower, but he didn’t want to leave her alone too long so she would have time to reconsider. Releasing her momentarily, he pulled a black t-shirt over his head, then turned with a questioning look when he heard her sigh. He noticed she was blushing again and turned his back to her to grin as he pulled on a pair of dark-gray sweatpants over his shorts, then picked up his black hoodie. He’d seen that look on women’s faces before and knew exactly what it meant.
So, his little fairy liked his body.
He could definitely work with that.
Chapter Two
Kalista was totally confused as they walked the four blocks over to The Fox Hole.
It was a nice night out, a little on the cool side, but she didn’t mind the walk and had told him so when he’d asked. She knew he had a mean looking motorcycle sitting out in back of his gym, but she had never ridden on one before, and didn’t want her first time on one to be when she was so nervous.
It always gave her a sense of belonging to walk around the place she’d claimed as her home. Breakers was a small coastal town in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico that sometimes felt secluded from the rest of the world. During the summer months it became a haven for tourists, with its boardwalk and access to the water and numerous festivities for people to enjoy. There was a large square in the center of town that was perfect for meeting with friends and family, or simply just enjoying the variety of shops. In the winter months, like now, it was quieter, and the town belonged to the locals.
The streets were almost empty now with only a few other couples enjoying the cool January air, but she could see a crowd outside of the bar they were walking toward. When she had gone over to Fight Hard to speak to Jared, she never imagined ending up on a date with him. If it was a date. She glanced down at her hand that was still held in his firm grasp and determined it was. She liked the way her hand was engulfed in his larger one, but it baffled her why he was holding it at all.
Since he had first taken her hand in his gym, Jared had only let it go when he had dressed. It had amazed her when he had taken her coat from her and helped her into it, even taking the time to zip it up himself. She’d felt strange allowing him to do such a simple task for her, almost as if she were a child, but what she felt around him was definitely not juvenile.
This night was turning out completely surreal.
When she had opened her Sinfully Sweet bakery two years ago, she never thought a man like Jared would open a MMA gym right across the street. It had been a difficult decision to buy her building, wondering if she would lose out in street traffic not being closer to center of town, but since she had opened her doors, the town had seemed to expand around her location.
She had always figured the empty warehouse across the street would have been converted into an apartment building or something, but the former owner was a stubborn old man who had refused to sell to anyone…until Jared “The Hammer” Caufield had come home and announced that he was opening his gym and rehabilitation facility.
At first, Kalista had been worried about all of the hard-bodied members of the gym as she watched them park their motorcycles and muscle cars on the street in front of her shop. She should have been used to it, since there was tattoo parlor a few doors down, but it didn’t take long to discover that all of the men were very respectful to her, no matter how scary they looked.
She had a feeling Jared was the reason for that.
From the moment he had come into her bakery and introduced himself after he bought the property, Kalista had developed an unhealthy crush on the big man. During the day, she looked forward to when he would visit, and her heart skipped a beat every time she saw him. She had even been guilty of covertly looking out the window of her shop just to catch a glimpse of him during the day.
Kalista knew he had been in the Army before he had started a career as a MMA fighter. When she had found out what he’d done for a living she had looked him up on YouTube and could see how he had won so many of his fights. He was so strong and powerful as he used his skill to take down his opponents. She couldn’t help but admit that she felt a primal sort of lust whenever she watched him fight someone and win.
But a video couldn’t even compare to the real thing…
It never failed to leave her tongue-tied just being in his presence, and seeing him tonight with his shirt off had almost brought her to her knees. His body was like living art. With thick, corded muscles covered with tattoos, he was the epitome of a bad boy. Instead of scaring her, seeing all of that ink made her want to run her hands over each and every line. She was fascinated with his body, and tried to look at him as little as possible so he wouldn’t guess what she was thinking. She’d heard about his injury, but it was easy to see from his workout that he didn’t let it stop him from staying in shape. She’d been mesmerized as she had watched those strong muscles ripple when he stretched out after kicking those heavy bags he had hung up at his gym.
God, she really hoped she hadn’t been drooling before he had put his shirt on tonight.
And boy, was that a shame. Covering up his body was like hiding a piece of fine art in a dark closet where no one could see it. He had a raw masculine beauty that made her heart stop just by looking at him. One glance from his penetrating dark eyes was enough to make any woman drop to her knees, and that cloak of confidence he wore told her he knew it.
Yeah, Jared Caufield had become her ultimate fantasy.
Lately she had spent several restless nights thinking about him and his god-like body. Deep down she knew that it was part of the reason David had broken up with her. He didn’t like that her bakery was right across the street from Fight Hard, and he never failed to bitch about all the rough looking men that hung around outside. He had tried telling her it would hurt her business, but she had just laughed because it had done the exact opposite.
Every day women came into her bakery and stayed to sit at one of the small tables, sometimes fighting to see who could claim a seat near the windows so they could ogle the men coming and going from the gym. In addition, all the men who worked out at Fight Hard came to her shop for coffee a
nd food.
About a week after the gym opened, Kalista had started making a variety of high protein sandwiches using the freshly baked bread they made every morning. Once the men found out, she had a hard time keeping up with the orders and had to have her two full-time assistants, Becca Nuria and Anna Cortez, make the sandwiches throughout the day so they could wrap and stock them in a separate open cooler. Since then, she had also started making a few selections of salads and soups to offer as lunch specials that she switched out depending on her mood.
David hadn’t believed her when she told him how successful this new stream of business was. Toward the end of their relationship, he had noticed her looking at Jared and had taken pleasure in telling her that a man like that would never be interested in a fat little nobody like her. She had grown up hearing those types of remarks from her mother, so it wasn’t anything new, but David’s comments had begun to wear on her. She knew she couldn’t pick her family, but she could choose boyfriends.
Obviously, she had chosen poorly.
She had started seeing David less and less, until she had been at dinner with Becca three weeks ago and saw him sitting across the room with a beautiful brunette with breasts the size of her head. Shocked, Kalista couldn’t believe her eyes when David had kissed the other woman with a passion they no longer had. Adding insult to injury, when he had turned his head and saw Kalista watching, he’d smirked. She hadn’t known what to say when they had come over to her and Becca’s table. He had introduced Kalista as his ex to his new girlfriend, and the other woman had laughed.
“You were dating this frumpy little thing?”
“Not so little. I mean, look at her,” David had whispered in his date’s ear, making her laugh. He had said it softly, but Kalista had still heard him. David had turned back to her and told her he expected his things he’d left at her place to be returned to him by the end of the week.
Unable to think of what to say, Kalista had simply sat there, gripping Becca’s hand in hers as David and his new girlfriend left the restaurant. Becca had called in her sister, Nikita, and their other friend, Zoe, who was a bartender at The Fox Hole and a frequent customer at the bakery. Nikita and Zoe had wanted to go kick his ass, but Kalista begged them not to. They helped her gather the few items that David had left at her place, but instead of boxing it up so she could return it, the three other women had thrown his stuff into a metal garbage can and lit it on fire in the alley behind her bakery. At first she had been shocked, but after a few minutes she couldn’t help but join in her friends’ laughter.
Since David had never really invited her to stay over at his apartment, she didn’t have to worry about him retaliating. Kalista hadn’t grown up in Breakers like David had, but she knew whatever he said about her around town, people liked her more than they did him so her reputation was safe.
It didn’t take her long to realize that she was better off without David. He had always complained about the smell of fresh bread and baked goods that floated up from the main floor when he stayed the night at the apartment she had over her shop, but it had always made more sense for them to stay at her place because she had to wake so early. It was when he started making snide remarks about how she must be sampling too much of what she made that allowed her to see the real, horrible man beneath the sophisticated veneer he presented to the public.
When her grandmother had died, she had left Kalista a sizeable trust. Kalista’s mother and father had tried to tell her she was too foolish to be in charge of the money herself and demanded she sign it over to them, but she had refused. She knew if she had done that she would never have seen another cent of it. That money had given her freedom to follow her dream, and it allowed her to purchase the building and start her business, which was something she would always be grateful for.
It was a new year, and Kalista was glad to be starting it off fresh without David in her life. Now, if she could just get a man like Jared interested in her that would really start her year off right. No, not a man like Jared. She wanted the real thing. An hour ago she would have thought there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening, but now she wasn’t so sure.
As she and Jared walked up to the bar, the other big man stationed at the door waved them to the front of the line. She caught the glares of the people standing in the line waiting to gain entrance, and felt a little thrill when she saw the envious glances of several women.
“Hey, Hammer. How’s it going?”
“I can’t complain.”
The Fox Hole was a biker bar, with all the attitude that accompanied the name. Because her friend worked there, Kalista usually came in during lunch hours when anyone was welcome and it sort of resembled a local restaurant and bar. It was safer that way, because when the sun set the atmosphere of the place changed drastically.
Kalista had only been to The Fox Hole a few times at night, and she had been amazed at the difference. The bar was usually filled with hard-eyed men and scantily-clad women, drinking and having fun. She was extremely nervous going into the place when the daylight hours were over, but she wasn’t now that Jared was holding her hand.
When Malcolm Fox had opened the bar, he’d had a long standing reputation for employing men after they got out of the military, so the place was always well staffed with lots of muscle. Years ago, due to the influx of former military men the townspeople had started calling the men who hung out at the bar the Breakers’ Bad Boys, and the name had stuck. Most of them had tattoos, rode motorcycles, and had an aura of danger about them, but those closest to them knew that they were damn good men. They were fiercely loyal and had a strong moral code that they followed. She knew that Jared was considered one of the Breakers’ Bad Boys, and she could see why he had earned the title.
“Jimbo, this is—”
“I know Kalista. Good to see you, sweets.”
She smiled at the bouncer, recognizing him as one of the men who came in to the bakery often. She made a half-hearted attempt to pull her hand away from Jared’s, but he squeezed it more firmly, retaining possession of it. Giving in to the strangeness of his actions, she used her other hand to wave at the bouncer.
“Jimbo’s wife, Lisa, is pregnant and he is always coming in to buy treats for her,” Kalista explained when she saw Jared frowning at the other man. His big body seemed to relax, and it made her wonder what was wrong.
Jimbo laughed, but she could see the worry in the big man’s eyes. “She loves those marbled cupcakes with the chocolate butter-cream frosting and your fruit tarts. It’s almost time now.”
Kalista reached out and placed her hand on Jimbo’s arm, giving it a pat. “I’m sure everything will be fine. Why don’t you stop by tomorrow and I’ll have a few special items made up that you can take her?”
“Really?” Jimbo’s expression brightened. “Thanks! I will.”
He held the door opened for them and Hammer ushered her inside the dark bar. “You’re a good fairy,” Jared leaned down and whispered in her ear.
Startled, she turned her head to look at him and jerked a little as their lips almost touched. “Wh-what did you call me?”
He didn’t answer her, but squeezed her hand in reply. Loud music mixed with the sound of voices and the tantalizing smell of food and alcohol hit her as soon as they walked inside. He pulled her along with him through the crowd of people over to the bar. Kalista was impressed by the way people automatically moved out of his path.
She leaned on the bar as a place opened up for them. It was much warmer inside and he took off his sweatshirt, then surprised her by unzipping her coat. She allowed him to pull it off of her, then watched as he easily fisted both items in one of his large hands. Facing forward, her breath caught as Jared positioned himself right behind her and she felt his steel-hard erection poking into her back.
Holy crap! If what she was feeling was an accurate indication of his size, he really was big all over. Erotic images danced inside her head as she imagined how he would feel pressed against her, nake
d and sweating.
Heart racing, she tilted her face up to glance up at him only to find he was looking down at her with a soft smile on his face. In an instant, that look had liquid heat spilling from between her thighs, and she fought the urge to rub back against him. She blinked as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then turned to smile as the bartender came over to them.
Kalista looked over at her friend Zoe to see the other woman was beaming a grin at them. Zoe Lang was a beautiful woman, with long black hair and dark, mysterious eyes that were glittering with amusement. “Hey guys, what can I get you two? Kali, you want one of my specials?”
“Ah, sure. That would be great.”
“And you, Hammer?”
“Light beer on tap.”
“Got it,” Zoe said, then left to fill their order.
“What did you order?” he asked as he placed both of his hands down on the bar on either side of her, effectively closing her in. If anyone else had done that she would have felt panicked, but with Jared it made her feel protected.
“I don’t drink much, so when I come here Zoe usually makes me some kind of fruity frozen drink. I know they don’t really suit the bar and all, but—”
“Honey, you can order whatever you want,” he said reassuringly.
“Dude, ease off. Are you trying to squish her or what?”
Kalista turned her head to see Dante Fox walking toward them, carrying a basket of food in his hand. Dante was a handsome man in a rough and ready sort of way, with short black hair and pale blue eyes. He was the owner of the bar, having taken it over when his father decided to retire. Malcolm Fox could still be found hanging out at The Fox Hole, but it was more likely around one of the pool tables or sitting with his friends than actually working.
“Hey, Dante.” Hammer eased back a little, but moved one of his hands to her waist in a clearly possessive gesture that had Dante’s eyebrows lifting.