Bad Karma

by J. D. Faver

  Cassie shrugged and turned off the ignition. “Okay. He’ll probably never ask me again, but if he does, I may say yes.” She got out and shut the door before Sky could respond.

  Cassie was unlocking the front door and Sky had just reached the top of the stairs when Zach drove up with his brothers, Warren and Woodrow, in his car. The twins leaped out and rushed up the stairs, with a grinning Zach bringing up the rear.

  Zach bowed from the waist. “My brothers and I would like to share the company of you fine ladies this evening. If you would be willing to have dinner with us, we promise to be on our collective best behavior and not embarrass you in public.”

  Cassie grinned at her.

  Zach leaned close, his deep voice resonating against her ear. “It’s just dinner.”

  Sky fought down the fear roiling up from her gut. “Sure. Let me change out of these scrubs.”

  They all trooped inside and Cassie followed her into her room. “Are you cool with this? Because, we don’t have to go.”

  Sky took a deep breath to clear away the butterflies. “I’m cool with it. I have to start going out sometime. This is a pretty safe venue. I don’t think Zach would let anything happen to me.”

  She found a pair of jeans and pulled a tee over her head. Fluffing her hair, she swiped on lip gloss and gave herself a spritz of fragrance, then aimed the spray at Cassie. Cassie did a pirouette in the fine mist, causing Sky to laugh.

  “Let’s go,” Cassie said. “We have, not two men waiting on us, but three.”

  Dinner took place at a restaurant called The Crab House. The menu consisted of fresh seafood and the specialty of the house was the “boilin’ pot”. The Bailey brothers insisted they order the special and a large bowl of steaming seafood was dumped onto the white paper spread over the table. Everyone ate crab and shrimp boiled with corn on the cob and tiny new potatoes.

  Sky caught Zach’s eye. He was gazing at her with an expression that clutched at her heart. She flashed him a smile. Careful, Sky. This big guy could own your heart.

  After dinner, Warren asked Cassie if she knew how to play pool.

  She shook her head. He then asked if she thought she could hold a pool cue.

  She chortled, her usual self-confidence coming forward. “I’m sure I could do that.”

  “Great, he said. “Because I’m going to teach you how to shoot a mean game of pool.”

  “No,” Woodrow insisted. “We’re going to teach you.”

  Cassie laughed and turned her attention to Sky.

  Sky, for her part, looked at Zach.

  “If you want to, we can go to the game room and shoot some pool. Or I can drop them, and take you home.”

  Sky laughed. “Are you going to teach me how to hold a pool cue?”

  “If you want.” He shrugged. “It looks like we’re headed for the game room.” He drove them down the strip to a brightly lit place with a crowded parking lot. Inside, the lights were dim and quite a few people were playing pool or sitting at tables, talking and listening to music. The postage-stamp sized dance floor was empty.

  A claustrophobic fluttering sensation in her chest brought Sky’s feet to an abrupt halt.

  She felt Zach, standing close behind her, holding her hand, not pushing her. She felt his hand on her shoulder and relaxed, giving him a reassuring smile.

  “Let’s get something to drink,” he suggested.

  Sky felt her throat close up as Zach led her to the bar.

  “What would you like?” He stood looking down at her as though she was a normal woman capable of rational thought. “I’m having a soda because I’m the driver, but you can have anything you want. You’ll always be safe with me.”

  Sky felt her lip tremble as she tried to smile.

  Zach leaned close and whispered so that only she could hear. “When I make love to you, I want you to know it.”

  A feeling of warmth suffused her as she met his green-eyed gaze. “I haven’t had a drink since the night of the accident,” she whispered.

  “I’m in control tonight and you can have anything you like. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I’ll just have a soda, Zach, but thanks for making this easier for me.”

  He pressed a kiss against her temple.

  The twins commandeered a pool table and were competing with each other to show off for Cassie. Sky laughed to see her so happy.

  Sky and Zach took on the other three. The twins coached Cassie and Zach acted as Sky’s pool guru, his hands casually touching her, urging her into the correct pose to achieve a shot. He rested his hand at her waist while Cassie took her turn.

  This felt easy. Life had been so hard lately and now everything had settled into a seemingly comfortable routine. She had a man who knew her shameful secrets and didn’t despise her for them.

  She felt lighter inside than she had in months.

  ~*~

  CHAPTER NINE

  Combustion

  Javier couldn’t believe his eyes. After refusing to go out with him, Cassie, wearing shorts and a halter top, turned up at the game room with two of the Baileys. And they were killing themselves to amuse her.

  He watched her bend over the pool table, her perfect little ass on display for the entire room. He stared at her thighs, smooth as alabaster.

  “Javi?” Lita called his name. “Do you know that girl?”

  He nodded, mutely.

  His cousin, Jorge, gave him a slap on the shoulder. “She’s not your type, man.”

  Slowly, Javi shook his head and let out a disgusted groan. “If one more person tells me that she’s not my type, I’m going to have to hit someone.” A dark cloud of jealousy was gathering in his chest.

  Javi took another look at Cassie. She was laughing now, with her head thrown back and her shining mane of hair trailing down her back.

  Jorge quirked his brow at Javi and shook his head. “I don’t think you can handle it.”

  Javi laughed. Trust Jorge to make light of a bad situation. “I think I’d like to try.”

  “She’s just a kid,” Lita said. “You need a woman, Javi.” She pressed herself against his side, running her fingers over his chest.

  Javi stood at the bar, staring at Cassie, trying to ignore the woman at his side.

  Lita and her friend Maricela moved a short distance away, whispering between themselves and glaring at the tall, slender girl engrossed in the game she was playing with the Bailey brothers.

  She bent over to make another shot and Javi swallowed hard as a wave of lust came roiling up from his groin.

  Lita’s voice sounded like a cat purring in his ear. “If you want some of that, why don’t you go get it?”

  Javi turned to her with a frown. “I just might.” He shook her hand off his arm and took a sip of his drink, his gaze returning to Cassie.

  At the end of the game Cassie and the other blonde woman, who seemed to be with the older Bailey, made their way toward the restroom at the back of the cinderblock building.

  Javi slammed his drink and ordered another, then went to intercept Cassie.

  She looked surprised, but not displeased to see him. “Javier, this is my sister, Skyler.”

  The other woman looked a lot like Cassie, but without the fresh, lusciousness he’d become so rapidly addicted to. He held out his hand to her. “Javier Rios.”

  “I’ve heard about you.” Skyler shook his hand.

  Cassie nudged her. “You’re not supposed to tell him that. He’s got an enormous ego as it is.”

  Javier experienced a rush of unreasonable joy. She told her sister about me. A grin spread across his face. “I didn’t think you wanted to go out tonight.”

  Cassie held his gaze. Then she licked her lips, her little pink tongue flicking out to moisten them. “I changed my mind.”

  Skyler cleared her throat. “It was a spur of the moment thing.” She waggled her fingers in a goodbye gesture and slipped into the rest room.

  “No problem,” he said. “I
just wanted to spend some time with you.”

  She quirked a little smile at him. “I wasn’t lying to you, Javi. This is the first time my sister has been out in months. The guy she’s with has been so good for her.”

  “I could be good for you, Cassie.”

  She bit her lower lip, her white, even teeth holding it uncertainly.

  Javi reached out and stroked his fingers over her hair, just grazing her silken strands, but it started a flood of emotion that he couldn’t stop. He cupped her cheek in his palm and lowered his lips to hers. Soft and full, he kissed them each and then pressed a deeper kiss onto them, tasting the sweetness of her mouth as he invaded. He stroked her tongue with his and felt her sway toward him, before she stepped away. She gazed up at him with a slightly dazed expression.

  She took a deep breath and whispered, “I have to go.” She glanced back at him before following her sister into the restroom.

  Javi felt a dull ache where his heart should have been.

  Okay, she didn’t lie to me and she told her sister about me. He expelled a breath and walked back to the bar to rejoin Jorge, relieved that Lita and Maricella were nowhere in evidence. They had all gone to high school together, but Lita had become a local barfly, always showing up whenever she spotted his truck in the parking lot.

  “Having fun, Javi?” Jorge raised his drink and saluted him before downing it.

  “Yeah, I just have to spend the evening watching her flirt with other men.”

  “You fall on your head, bro? There are two beautiful women right here who would both take you home and make you forget your pale, little girl-child.”

  A half smile lifted Javi’s countenance. “I’m not into Lita, man. Not for a long time.”

  “Yeah, but she’s into you. Take what she’s offering. It’s a gift.”

  Javi shook his head. “Think I’m just going to sit here and stare at my pale, little girl-child while she plays with the boys.”

  A sudden uproar erupted from the back of the game room. The door of the ladies rest room flew open and Lita was hurled out onto a pool table.

  Cassie flew out after her, her teeth gritted together and her hands fisted.

  Jorge cast a glance at Javi before they both ran toward the commotion.

  Lita brushed a trickle of blood from her mouth and rolled off the pool table to a standing position.

  Cassie’s sister stood behind her, wide-eyed as Cassie assumed a defensive stance, protecting her core, but ready to punch or kick as her opponent struck.

  Javi stepped forward, but Jorge restrained him with a hand on his shoulder. “Not yet. Let’s see how this plays out.”

  Lita circled, then rushed at Cassie, her fingers hooked into scarlet-tipped talons.

  Cassie calmly watched her approach and, when she was within striking distance, delivered a kick to her midsection that lifted Lita in an arc and sent her sliding across the floor.

  “Do not get up,” Cassie enunciated. “If you know what’s good for you, you will stay down.”

  Zach and the other Baileys had gathered around Cassie and her sister.

  Cassie met Javi’s gaze, her eyes narrowed. “Call off your dog.”

  Outside, a siren whined down and two uniformed officers rushed into the game room. Fingers were pointed, directing them to the chaos at the back of the building.

  Cassie relaxed her fists and drew a breath.

  Her sister stepped forward to confront the deputies, pointing a finger at Lita’s crumpled form.

  “That woman attacked us. She was saying terrible things and calling my sister names, but when the woman shoved me, my sister, Cassie pulled her off and fought back.”

  Germaine, the tall, African-American deputy grinned at her. “It looks like your sister can take care of herself.” He eyed Cassie appreciatively. “Do you want to press charges?”

  Cassie nodded. “Maybe she’ll learn something.”

  The other deputy hauled a glaring Lita to her feet. She cursed and hurled accusations and epithets at Cassie. “Javi, help me,” she called as she was removed from the game room.

  Cassie gazed at Javier, her look telling him that she regretted the kiss and that his stock had plummeted. She turned her back on him and stepped into her sister’s arms. She wasn't crying, but she looked very upset.

  Anger stirred within Javi. Cassie had already accused and pronounced judgment over him. He’d been found guilty of consorting with the enemy.

  He watched as the Bailey twins surrounded her. Zach, the older brother gestured toward a table and they all trooped toward it.

  Jorge eyed Javier, a look of concern on his face. “Don’t get involved. That girl is definitely not your type.”

  ~*~

  Cassie was seething with fury.

  She allowed herself to be led to a table and seated between Woodrow and Warren.

  Sky sat across from her, next to the ever-attentive Zach. She seemed to be wallowing in the luxury of Zach’s care.

  Cassie flexed her shoulders, willing them to relax. Adrenaline pumped through her body. She felt Javi’s dark eyes fixed on her from across the room.

  “You were awesome, Cassie!” Warren crowed. “I’ve never seen a real girl fight before.”

  “That woman must have outweighed you by twenty pounds.” Woodrow’s admiring gaze irritated her.

  Cassie shook her head. “Not that much. She’s just shorter.”

  Zach stroked his fingers across the top of Sky’s hand and then their fingers interlaced.

  Cassie had to feel good about that. She tried to release the anger festering within her.

  “How did you learn to fight like that,” Zach asked.

  Cassie shook her head, still not ready for light conversation.

  Skyler leaned her shoulder against Zach’s. “When we were children, we were enrolled in ballet as soon as we could walk. Cassie hated it and when she was eight, Dad let her take karate at the community center. She’s always been a natural athlete.”

  “You kicked ass, Cassie!” Warren squeezed her shoulder.

  Zach pressed his lips against Sky’s hair. “It seems the Danforth sisters have many hidden talents.”

  If you only knew! Cassie struggled to control the urge to run over and pull Javier Rios off his bar stool and stomp on his throat. How could he kiss her into oblivion and then sic his trashy girlfriend on her?

  Woodrow brought a fresh round of drinks from the bar. Cassie was glad that Zach and Sky were drinking soda. In spite of the recent uproar, they remained focused on each other.

  Cassie had never been much of a drinker, but she glared at the rum and fruit drink in front of her and tossed the umbrella on the table. She picked up the straw and sucked the sweet slushy liquid until a shaft of pain stabbed into her brain. Damn you, Javier Rios!

  ~*~

  Early Sunday morning, Javier waited for Cassie to show up for her run on the beach, but she didn’t make an appearance.

  Feeling hollow inside, he returned home to take a shower and get ready for church with his family.

  When he came downstairs, his mother handed him a glass of juice and eyed him suspiciously. “What’s wrong?”

  “What makes you think something’s wrong?” He sipped the juice and took a seat next to his youngest sister, Alicia.

  Selena made a scoffing noise. “Puh-leese!”

  Javi shrugged. “Nothing’s wrong.”

  “Lying to your mother is a mortal sin, Javi.”

  He sighed. “Not talking about it, Mama.”

  Alicia's eyes grew round and she sucked in a breath. "Ummm," she intoned.

  He tweaked her hair and ran his palm over her small face. "It's nothing, hermanita. Don't worry. Sometimes a man just doesn't feel like talking."

  Later, Javier filed into the pew usually occupied by the Rios family.

  He was stunned when he looked back and spotted Cassie and her sister entering the church in the midst of the huge Bailey clan. The eight siblings and their various families cluster
ed together around the parents. Zach seemed to be hovering close to both of the blondes, but his hand was on the older sister.

  They took their seats and the service began. Javier stretched his arm along the back of the wooden pew so he could turn in her direction.

  Not Catholic. Both women appeared to be following the mass politely, but without comprehension.