Jake Me

by Sabrina Stark

  "What fight?" I asked.

  "Cat-fight," one of the guys said.

  "Oh for God's sake," I said. "We're not gonna fight."

  "Speak for yourself," Bianca muttered.

  Jake turned to the bouncer on his right. "Fifty bucks, my girl kicks her ass."

  His girl? My heart gave a little flutter until the full sentence hit home. I gave him a dirty look. "Are you serious?"

  "Nah." He shook his head. "Anyone lays a hand on you, they're gonna be sorry."

  Was he joking? I couldn’t be sure.

  Next to me, Bianca gave a little stomp of her foot. "You know what?" she said. "I've had it!"

  "Hey, don't go nowhere," one of the guys said. "I mean, I think we've got a mud-pit someplace."

  "Screw you, pervert," Bianca said, turning on her heels. "I'm outta here." With that, she turned away, stomped down the hall, and disappeared out the large double doors.

  "Damn," one of the guys said. "I was really hopin' they'd go at each other. You know?"

  I whirled around to face them. Slowly, something occurred to me. For two guys dragging Jake off to who-knows-where, this whole scene was surprisingly friendly all of a sudden. My gaze narrowed. I looked to the closest bouncer and said, "So where exactly are you taking him?"

  "To see the boss," he said.

  "Who's that?" I asked.

  The two bouncers exchanged a look. But it was Jake who spoke. "The boss," he said, "is Rango's dad. Wanna meet him?"

  Chapter 56

  From behind a big old-fashioned desk, the squat, balding man looked from me to Jake. He scratched his chin and asked Jake, "So, this the girl?"

  My gaze drifted to Jake. He was sitting with his long legs stretched out in front of him, holding a cold beer to his bloody face. "Not just any girl. My girl."

  I felt myself smile. Jake and I were sitting in two wooden office chairs opposite the guy. The bouncers had left the instant we sat down, leaving only the three of us until one of the bouncers had returned to toss Jake the beer and leave almost immediately. I had been offered a beer too. I declined. The last thing I needed was a distraction of any kind.

  The guy looked at Jake with hooded eyes. "Your girl. So you keep saying. Family, huh?"

  My smile faltered. It was true that Jake and I would soon be related by marriage, but I still didn't like the idea of him referring me as family. It implied all sorts of relationships that weren't exactly legal, considering the things I wanted to do to him.

  The guy turned his gaze on me. "I hear Randall's been giving you some trouble."

  I squinted at him. "Randall?"

  "Randall, Rango," the guy said. "Whatever the punk goes by these days."

  What did someone say to that? Stalling for time, I studied the guy's desk. It had nothing on it except for a highball glass, half-filled with big ice cubes and who-knows-what drink. There was no coaster, and condensation slid down the glass. It eased onto the wood to form a soggy circle around the drink. Funny too, because Rango was so picky about that sort of thing.

  Before I could stop myself, I asked, "Are you really Rango's dad?"

  "Hell no." The guy made a sound of disgust. "That kid didn't spring from my loins."

  "Oh," I said. "I thought—"

  The guy held up a hand. "He's the wife's crotch-fruit. Not mine."

  I shook my head. "Uh, crotch fruit?"

  "Crotch-fruit, kid, devil spawn…" The guy shrugged. "The kid's a shitload of trouble."

  "Oh," I said. "So you're his, uh step dad?"

  He grimaced. "Yeah. But you can call me Lou."

  I leaned forward. "Is his name really Randall?"

  Lou chuckled. "You like that, huh?"

  "Honestly?" I felt my lips twitch. "Yeah."

  Lou was nodding. "Get this. When I meet his Mom, the kid's like seventeen. And he's not in my house two weeks when he decides his name is gonna be what? Rango." The guy gave a wheezy laugh. "What an asswipe."

  I couldn't help it. I laughed too. Rango was an asswipe. Too bad I hadn't figured it out earlier. It would've saved me a whole lot of trouble.

  "If you ask me," Lou continued, "you get a name, you should stick with it."

  I felt color rise to my cheeks. Nearby, I heard Jake give a chuckle, which I chose to ignore.

  Eager to change the subject, I said, "But about Jake…?" I gave Jake a sideways glance. "He's not in any trouble, is he?"

  "Jake?" Lou said. "The way I hear it, he's always in trouble."

  Well, there was that.

  I cleared my throat. "Actually, what I mean is here." I winced. "For the fight. You're not gonna call the police on him or anything, are you?"

  At this, Lou almost bust a gut laughing. He looked to Jake. "Yeah, she's a real card, isn't she?"

  Somehow, I knew he was making fun of me, but I couldn’t quite my finger on why. I looked to Jake for some clue. His gaze held amusement, but no mockery.

  "Lou isn't prone to calling the police," Jake said.

  "Yeah," Lou said. "I like to solve my own problems."

  Something about that statement seemed vaguely ominous. I recalled the things that Trey had mentioned in the job-trailer, something about Rango's dad being someone you don't mess with. At the time, I figured he was spinning tales to stall me. Now, I wasn't so sure.

  Again, I looked to Jake. He looked fearless as usual. But in truth, that didn't offer a whole lot of comfort. How did you gauge something like this when nothing scared the guy?

  I turned back to Lou. "But he's not in trouble with you, or the club, or anything, is he?"

  Next to me, Jake spoke. "Luna, don't worry. We're good. If we weren't, you wouldn't be here."

  I didn't know what he meant by that, but for some reason, I didn't like it. If things were bad, where would I be? Hiding out and letting him solve things alone? That didn't seem quite right.

  In front of me, Lou spoke. "Jake and me, we're square." He gave a slow nod. "That fight? Pure gold."

  "So you saw it?" I asked. "And you're okay with it?"

  "That ass-kicking?" Lou's voice hardened. "The fucker deserved it."

  Like I was going to argue.

  Lou leaned forward. "Let me tell you something. I've got a handful of clubs – a couple in the suburbs, one in Chicago, and a new one we're putting up in Vegas. Tank, he's a V.I.P. at all of them. When he shows up, it's good for business." Lou frowned. "Not so good for my people."

  I knew exactly what people he meant. "You mean the waitresses?"

  "And more," Lou said. "The guy's an asshole. Runs the help ragged, tips for shit too."

  Given what I'd seen with my own eyes, that wasn't terribly surprising. Still, I recalled what Bianca had said earlier about Tank getting an appearance fee to be here. "But, wasn't he invited tonight, or something?" I asked.

  Lou grinned. "Not just invited. I paid him to be here."

  I couldn’t help but ask, "Why?"

  "Payback." Lou's grin widened. "And publicity." Lou flicked his head toward Jake. "That fight you saw? By tomorrow, it'll be all over the news. And I’m not talking local only. I'm talking national. Shit, maybe international."

  I almost laughed. "So you set Tank up? Does he know this?"

  "Shit no," Lou said. "Far as Tank knows, Jake's getting tossed out on his ass. Better publicity that way."

  I turned to Jake. "So that's why we were here tonight?"

  Jake leaned forward. "One of the reasons." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out Rango's little black book, which I had returned to him just a few hours earlier. Jake placed it on Lou's desk and said, "and there's the other reason."

  Lou reached out and picked it up. He leafed through the pages and looked up, turning his attention to me. "I heard you had some fun with this."

  In spite of his friendly tone, I knew enough to be careful. "Just with Rango's stuff," I said. "I didn't even look at the rest of it."

  "Rango's stuff," Lou said as he reached down to open his top drawer. "I've got some of his 'stuff' ri
ght here."

  Lou pulled out a stack of printouts. I had no idea what they were until he read from the top sheet in a clear, deadpan voice. "Whoops, I crapped my pants." He looked up, as if waiting for me to say something.

  I cleared my throat. "It was a joke. I mean, he didn't really do that." Under my breath, I added, "That I know of."

  Lou's mouth twitched. "His mom will be glad to hear that." He shuffled to the next page. "I pee sitting down. Is that weird?" He shuffled through a few more papers. "And my personal favorite," he said. "Need to know…Can you get V.D. from a goat?"

  Oh my God. I'd forgotten about that one. Color shot to my face. "I guess I was a little miffed," I admitted.

  "Gee, I'd hate to see you pissed off," Lou said.

  "I've seen it," Jake said. "It's not pretty."

  I turned toward him. "Hey!"

  He grinned over at me. "And I wouldn’t have it any other way."

  Chapter 57

  Five minutes later, we were outside, heading toward Jake's car. I couldn't decide what, exactly, I was feeling – relief, anger, happiness, all of the above. This was vintage Jake. No matter what he did, I ended up feeling all crazy and mixed up inside.

  Walking fast, I said, "You could've warned me, you know."

  "Warned you against what?" he asked. "Following me in there?"

  There was so much more to it than that, but why quibble? I stopped moving and turned to face him. "Well, yes, actually."

  Standing on the sidewalk, he pulled me into his arms. "Like you would've listened."

  I felt myself frown. It was true. I wouldn't have listened. "Okay, fine, but still…"

  He extended his arms out to grin down at me. "Still what?"

  I was feeling weird and sulky. There was still so much that I didn't know, and he was so maddening when it came to giving answers. "Did you and Rango really fight?"

  "It was something like that," Jake said. "And just so you know, it was sanctioned by Lou, so you don't have to worry."

  "Sanctioned?"

  "A fight for a fight. Remember?"

  I did remember, and now, I actually understood. By agreeing to fight Tank, Jake was cleared to fight Rango too. It made sense in a Jake sort of way.

  "About Rango," I said. "On the dance floor, what'd you tell him?"

  "You don't want know."

  "Why not?"

  "Because it's a secret."

  "A secret?" That was the lamest excuse, ever. I made a sound of frustration. I loved him. And I wanted him. But I was so over this sort of thing. I felt my chin jut out. "Jake, seriously. I do want to know. And I don’t like it when you give me the brush-off." I gave him a pleading look. "Okay?"

  He pulled me close and said into my hair. "It's no brush-off."

  "It is, too," I insisted. For some reason, it suddenly seemed very important to push the issue. I mean, if I didn't start insisting on answers now, would I ever? "And I don't like it," I told him.

  He hesitated a long moment before saying, "You really wanna know what I said?"

  I nodded against him.

  "I told him," Jake said, "that if he ever fucked with my future wife again, I'd fuckin' kill him."

  I gulped. "Uh, what? So, were you joking, or, uh?"

  "I love you," he said. "It's no joke."

  Suddenly, I could hardly breathe. I pushed back to meet his gaze. "I love you too."

  "Good," he said, "because I need a favor."

  At that moment, I could have promised him anything. "What?"

  "Sometime in the next month or so, when we happen to be out someplace, can you pretend we never had this conversation?"

  I felt my brow wrinkle. "Why?"

  He brushed a stray lock of hair from my forehead. "Because, you deserve better."

  "Better than what?" I asked.

  "Better than a passing mention on a cold sidewalk."

  I knew exactly what he was getting at, and I loved him all the more for it. "I already have the best," I told him with a smile. "I have you."

  "Just promise me. Alright?"

  Like I could deny him anything. And to be honest, this was a promise I was glad to keep, because it sounded just like the unlikely fairy tale I had always imagined for us. "I promise," I told him.

  His lips curved into a smile. "You remember the day we met?"

  How could I forget? I'd been twelve years old. He'd rescued me from bullies double my age. He'd been my hero. And then, when I grew older, he'd been my fantasy. Now, standing here in the cool night air, he was real. And he was mine. It almost seemed too good to be true.

  I met his gaze. "I remember."

  He glanced down. "The way you looked at me…"

  I had to laugh. At the time, I felt older than my years, practically a teenager, or so I'd thought. "Yeah," I said, feeling my cheeks grow warm as I tried to make a joke of it. "I thought you were dreamy, like a movie star."

  "I'm not talking about that," he said.

  "Then what?"

  "There was something about your look, I could tell, you thought I was one of the good guys."

  "You were one of the good guys." I smiled at the memory. "My knight in shining armor."

  "That's not me," he said, pulling me close. "But for you? I wanna be."

  And somehow, as I lost myself in his steady embrace, I just knew he would be, no matter what.

  The End

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  Other Books by Sabrina Stark

  Unbelonging (Unbelonging Book 1)

  Sometimes, the Place You Belong Isn't Where You Began... With an accounting degree that's getting her nowhere, Chloe Malinski spends her nights waitressing and her days housesitting in a neighborhood that's infinitely beyond her reach or comfort zone. But she knows all too well that no one wants a pauper in their mansion, so she's gotten good - maybe a little too good - at faking it 'til she makes it.

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  Rebelonging (Unbelonging, Book 2)

  How do you come back from the biggest screw-up of your life? That's the question for Lawton Rastor, the billionaire bad boy from Detroit, after he lets the girl of his dreams not just slip through his fingers, but run away, fast – and with good reason.

  How do you resist a guy who's irresistible? That's the question for Chloe Malinski, the world's most overqualified waitress, after a nightmarish night leaves her vowing to avoid her fantasy guy for good – no matter how hard he works to win her back.

  Chloe finds Lawton impossible to resist. Lawton finds Chloe impossible to forget. But finding that place to belong isn't easy when neither one knows where the other truly comes from.

  Illegal Fortunes

  The Only Thing More Dangerous than the Bad Boy You Left Behind is the Man He's Become… If she was such a good fortune-teller, she should've seen it coming. But part-time Tarot-reader Selena Moon is as surprised as anyone when Jim Bishop, the bad boy she left behind, returns from who-knows-where to reclaim the one girl he could never forget.

  She's fearful of repeating the past. He's never been afraid of anything – until now. Because with murder and mayhem surrounding Selena, fate, along with an unwelcome rival, might steal her away before he finally has the chance to win her back for now and always.

  Author Web Site

  www.SabrinaStark.com

  From the Author

  Thanks so much for reading. Also, thanks in advance to thos
e special readers who take the time to leave a review. I read and appreciate every one. Romance readers truly are the best!

  © Copyright 2015 by Sabrina Stark.

  All rights reserved. This book and any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.