by Jayne Blue
“Awe, I think he’s gonna cry!” E.J. said, busting my balls. I don’t know about cry, but the offer choked me up. Colt was president. Kellan was V.P. I wanted no part of what they did, but this? This could be something that was all mine. And I could do it right. Make the club proud.
“Yeah,” I said. “Hell, yeah.”
“Good,” Colt said. “I’ll put you in touch with Chick Jarvis. He’s running Great Wolves Security for Emerald Coast. They even branched into Miami. The numbers they’re pulling in will shock the shit out of you. And I think you could make it even bigger here.”
I nodded, still feeling a lump in my throat. It meant the world to me that he trusted me with something as important as this.
“Now what the hell’s on your mind?” Kellan said. “You’ve been sitting there glum as shit since we walked in.”
I twisted a ring on my finger. “There is something. It could be isolated. It could be something worse. But some shit has happened that I think we need to talk about with the whole table.”
I laid out the gist of what was going on with Nicole. I knew there was a fairly good chance it sounded like I was thinking with my dick again. Though I hadn’t been open about it, everyone knew I was seeing her. No one had asked me questions about it yet. They listened. Colt leaned far back in his seat, running his fingers along the dark stubble on his chin. His eyes stayed hard, unreadable. I knew he might not like the request I intended to make. I wanted to get club approval to deal with the threat to Doug Ridley. To get the Red Brigands off his back, it would have to go to a club vote. And as long as the Brigands were after Doug Ridley, Nicole herself might not be safe.
“So other than this Hodges character, nobody’s seen movement from the Red Brigands. I mean, nothing other than shit directed at this Ridley kid,” Colt asked. It was a legitimate question but cut to the heart of the problem with my request.
I shrugged. “Not really. No. But Ricky definitely said Hodges has been hanging around The Shires regularly.”
“Since you had your little run-in with him?”
“No.” I immediately didn’t like the way this conversation was going. But I couldn’t deny Colt was asking the same questions I would.
“You’re sure. You’ve been in touch with Ricky?” This from Joker.
I nodded. Then I told them about the incident with Doug at the ice cream parlor and my suspicions that someone had come into the place with him. Suspicions I couldn’t back up with anything more than a gut feeling.
“He’s dealing,” I said. “Maybe not huge numbers yet. But if he’s got a Brigands lackey trying to shake him down in The Shires, we need to do something about it.”
The room went silent and my blood ran a little cold. Looks passed between the guys that I didn’t like one fucking bit. I clenched a fist in my lap and let a breath out hard.
When Colt raised his head and met my stare, I saw the pain in his eyes. I also saw the resolve. He was my friend and he was my president. Right now though, those roles were gonna split.
“I don’t like it,” he said. “But we have to be careful. Club wars have started over lesser shit than this. We lean on anybody on behalf of this Doug, that’s what could happen.”
I lost my cool. “Yeah. And he’s a douche. I’m fully aware. A fucking junkie. But if the Brigands are using him to push product through our town, how can we not react?”
Colt put a hand up in surrender. “I hear you. And you’re right. We can’t let that happen. And we won’t. But right now, we’re not there yet. Right now we’ve just got a two-bit junkie who got in over his head. If we got involved every time that happened, we wouldn’t have time to run the club or any other business. We’d be right back to where we started before I took over.”
“And they’re watching us even closer now,” Colt went on. “You know that.”
He wasn’t wrong. That was the shitty part. If it were anyone else at the table asking for what I was, I’d probably have brought up the same points. But it wasn’t anyone else. It was me. And this was a girl I was starting to care about more than I thought I could. And I’d made her a promise.
“Hey.” Kellan reached across the table and put a hand over mine. “We get it, man. All of us. And you want extra eyes on the parlor or just her in general, you know we’re with you. In fact, those two new probies out there, have them set up.”
“Let’s put it to a vote,” Colt said; the emotion had left his voice. “Do we put pressure on the Red Brigands?”
But he didn’t have to say it. No one at that table was willing to get involved to take the pressure off Doug Ridley. Not even for me.
Son of a bitch.
Not even for me.
As the “nays” went around the table I tasted bile in my throat. I’d promised to help Nicole. The only way to get her brother out of his jackpot with the Brigands was with the backing of my entire club. And it wasn’t going to happen.
There wasn’t a man at this table who didn’t know the consequences of this vote. Doug Ridley was a dead man without our help. So the first promise I’d ever made Nicole I wouldn’t be able to keep.
Chapter Seventeen
Nicole
“I’m fine. Don’t hover!”
Doug winced as I arranged the pillows under his left leg and handed him the remote control. He’d been out of the hospital for two days and seemed more clear headed than I’d seen him in a long time. Of course, he still looked like shit. The bruises on his face had dulled to a purplish yellow and the stitches in his upper lip poked out like caterpillar feet. But for now, at least, he was safe, he was whole, and I’d gone a whole week without having to worry where he was or have my heart stop every time the phone rang.
“Hey, it’s my job to hover. Behave yourself.” I set a bowl of ice cream on the TV tray next to him and jabbed a spoon straight into the middle of it. Pirate’s Plunder. Doug had invented the flavor when he was about ten years old and on a pirate kick. We made it with peanut butter ice cream swirled with vanilla, and topped it with those little chocolate coins.
“Mmm, I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
“Yeah?” I reached over and messed up his hair. He tried to dodge but I was too quick. “There better be a long list of reasons why you like me. Brat.”
He grabbed the spoon and held it like a dagger, pretending to stab me with it. “Thanks. And I mean that. You didn’t have to put up with my sorry ass this time.”
“Don’t I know it. You sure you’ll be okay by yourself up here for a while? Mel’s got everything closed up downstairs and I’ve got to do inventory tonight.” I put Doug’s new cell phone next to the bowl of ice cream. Brax thought it would be a good idea if he changed his number. “Just text me if you need anything. I’ll be right downstairs. Tomorrow we’ll see about getting you moved back into your place. I think you’ve healed enough to wipe your own ass for a while.”
Doug flipped me off. Thankfully, his injuries weren’t that bad, but he had trouble putting a shirt on over his head and cooking for himself had been out of the question. He’d been sweet and almost like his old self while he’d been here. He’d even come down to the restaurant yesterday to chat up some of the old timers. But even that little bit had taken its toll on Doug. In addition to healing from his wounds, he was detoxing. Thank God it hadn’t been as bad this time since he’d gone through the worst of it in the hospital.
“Go. Be gone with you,” he said through a mouthful of peanut butter ice cream. “I’m okay.”
I kissed him on the head and he let me. I ran my hand over the thick blond locks at the nape of his neck and backed away quickly, not wanting to press my luck. Then I headed back downstairs to deal with the inventory. Melinda had offered to stay and help me, but I figured it was better to get her out of here while Doug was staying with me. They’d come to an uneasy truce for now, but until Doug had a solid amount of sober days under his belt, it was too soon.
I twisted my hair into a top knot, grabbed my laptop and a clipboar
d and started in the walk-in cooler. I needed to get my monthly orders into our suppliers by morning. Not twenty minutes into my count, I heard a solid knock on the front door, hard enough to jingle the bell.
“We’re closed!” I called out, then went back to my work. Two and a half cartons of chocolate. I logged it on my spreadsheet and moved to the next flavor.
The bell rang again. I stabbed my pencil through my hair and went out to investigate. The smile staring at me through the glass was hot enough to melt half the ice cream in the cooler. Brax cupped his hand over his eyes and peered inside. My heart tripped a little as I reached up to unlatch the deadbolt at the top of the door.
“Hey, you,” I said. I hadn’t seen him much since Doug was discharged. I knew he had a lot of club business to take care of now that his president and V.P. were back in town. Plus, he gave me space to deal with Doug and respected it as kind of a family matter for now. But when I opened the door and Brax pulled me against the solid wall of his chest, my knees went weak.
He kicked the door closed behind him and wasted no time finding my lips with his. He lifted me off the ground and carried me to the nearest counter.
“I missed you,” he growled into my mouth as his hands went to the rubber band holding my hair in place. He gently yanked it, letting my hair spill around his shoulders.
“Mmmm. I missed you too. More than I realized, apparently.” Brax tasted like spice and salt. His own long hair swept back from the wind. I ran my hands over the hard outlines of his shoulders under his soft leather jacket. A blast of cold air from the open freezer hit my back and made me shudder. Brax felt it and slipped his jacket around me, pulling the ends together, caging me in it. His warmth enveloped me and kept me safe.
“I have to work tonight,” I pouted. “I’ve got to get my supply orders in by morning. I should have done it last week, but it’s been a little crazy around here.”
Brax’s face fell and he looked over my shoulder toward the stairs to my apartment. “He still here? How’s that going?”
I threaded my arms through the sleeves of his jacket. “It’s going. As far as I know, he’s been clean since they discharged him. I mean, I’ve been here every day and no one has come or gone up there but me.”
Brax nodded, digging a hand through his hair. “Good. That’s real good.”
“What about you? How’s it going with the club?”
Brax’s face went through a series of quick changes. He shot me a furtive, worried glance, but then his eyes went soft and the lines around his eyes deepened as he cracked a thousand-watt smile. He came to me, dragging me across the counter. I brought my legs up and wrapped them around his waist as I threaded my hands through his hair and leaned up to kiss him again.
“What is it?” I asked. “What’s got you smiling like that?”
“You. Mostly. But something else too. I can’t tell you everything yet, but it could be big. We’re looking at branching out into a new business. And this one could be all mine.”
A tiny pulse flickered in his throat and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “Mmm. Sounds intriguing. You wouldn’t be planning on giving me any competition, would you? Because if that’s the case, I’ve gotta warn you, bigger men have tried.”
“Oh, yeah?” Brax pressed himself against me. With my legs wrapped around him, I could feel his . . . uh . . . formidable size lengthen and grow hard against me. It sent a shockwave of heat straight through me.
“Yeah. Remember the Tastee Boy that used to be at the corner of Secor and Jessup?”
“Um. No.”
“Exactly. I kicked his tasty ass.”
Brax’s rich laughter vibrated along my spine. He leaned down and kissed me again.
“Seriously,” I said when I pulled back to catch my breath. My heart raced and a thundering pulse roared through my ears and between my legs. My brother might be the addict, but when Brax was near me, I couldn’t seem to control myself. My body craved his. “I’m happy for you.”
He lifted me off the counter and spun me. He held me so far off the ground it made me dizzy and giddy. I threw my head back and laughed. Then he set me down and I put my hands on the counter to steady myself. The man quite literally took my breath away.
“I want to tell you all the details. And I will. But I’ve got a few things to line up and straighten out first. But it’s big. And it’s, I don’t know how to say it. But it’s me. Something I think I’m suited for.”
He paced the floor of the parlor, gesturing with his hands. The muscles of his biceps flexed as he talked and his face lit up with the promise of whatever opportunity had him so jazzed. I rested my chin in my hands and watched him. Brax Anderson was a magnificent being. Tall and strong, nimble and fierce. Right now, he looked every inch of his Norse ancestry from his flowing blond hair, brutal beauty, and solid strength.
I was falling in love with this man.
It hit me like a heart attack. I actually pressed my fist against my chest and took a deep breath. I loved this man.
What had started out as nostalgic lust had quickly turned to something else. When he was with me, I felt pulled into his orbit. I liked to hear him talk. Feel his strength beneath my fingertips. And when he wasn’t with me, the world seemed dimmer, cast in shadows. At that moment, I thought about telling him. It would have been so easy. Three simple words. But they carried the weight of my heart and I’d lost so much before. Every single person I’d ever said “I love you” to had torn me apart. My parents. My brother. Even the guys I’d been with. Liars. Cheaters. Some dark part of me wondered if saying it made it a curse for me. Maybe if I never said it, my world wouldn’t come crashing down again.
So I watched and listened and Brax strode in front of me, his face alight with hope and wonder as he talked about building something that belonged to him. I knew exactly what he meant. I’d kept the business afloat for my brother in the beginning. Or more specifically, because my father asked me to. But now, it was mine. Sure, I had the family name established by my great-grandfather, but I was the force behind the business now.
Finally, Brax turned and shot me a sheepish smile that melted me. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m rambling.”
“No. I kind of like it.”
He cocked his head and gave me a quizzical look. “What were you thinking just then?”
The air went out of my lungs as I opened my mouth. I could tell him. I should tell him. I was thinking I love you. But I didn’t. Not then. I wasn’t ready yet and maybe some childish part of me wanted him to be brave enough to say it first. So I was a coward instead.
“Come on,” I said instead. “I’m thinking about how I’m going to be up all night doing inventory if I don’t get back to it.”
I tossed a pen and a clipboard to him.
“Oh, baby, I love it when you talk small-business owner.”
“Yeah?” I turned around and walked backward toward the cooler. “How about this? 401k. 1099s. Schedule C.” I made my voice as breathy as possible.
Brax smiled and advanced on me. He slid his hand around my waist and pulled me close to him with a strong jerk that set my nerve endings ablaze. But I wasn’t kidding about the inventory. I squirmed out of his grasp and headed into the walk-in.
Growling, he followed behind with the clipboard. As soon as I got him properly focused, he ended up being extremely helpful. At his height, he could easily see the canisters on the top shelf and read them off to me. We made quick work of the first shelf and got started on the second. After an hour, we were both freezing and needed a break.
“I know it seems counterproductive, but how about a sundae? My treat,” I said as he slid onto a stool at the counter.
“Whip me up something special.”
I laughed. “Oh, inventory night is when we make the magic happen. You’re about to get a mixture of whatever we’re low on.”
I took the clipboard from his hands and scanned the figures.
“What is it?” he asked, seeing the expression on my f
ace.
I ran my finger down the columns, double checking. “Oh, it’s nothing. We had a busy week is all. I expected to be lower on some of the staples like vanilla and chocolate. No big.” I turned my back to him and reached into the small cooler.
Brax came around to the other side of the counter and pressed himself against me as I bent over and reached down to scoop out some peach ice cream. Goosebumps skittered across my flesh as he gathered my hair and pulled it away from the back of my neck. His lips were hot and soft as he kissed me there.
“You’re going to melt all my product,” I said, giggling.
“Mmm. That’s the idea.”
He put his hands on my waist then turned and lifted me in one, agile movement. He had me up on the counter, spreading my thighs with his hands. He took the ice cream scoop from my hands and reached down into the cooler.
“I think I want to make my own recipe,” he said, his eyes sparking with lust. He looked toward the stairs. “Are we alone?”
I bit my lip, feeling a slow, heated blush creeping up my neck. “Doug can’t handle the stairs yet.”
Brax nodded. “Don’t move. Stay right there.” He went to the front door and double checked the lock. Then he lowered all of the blinds at the front of the store so no one could see in. Hummingbird wings fluttered behind my rib cage as he turned and came back to me, stalking with the grace of a tiger.
“Take your clothes off,” he ordered, sending a wave of heat through me. My fingers shaking, I complied. I slipped out of my t-shirt and wriggled out of my jeans. Self-conscious, I looked behind me, but the blinds were shut tight. Even if he could handle the stairs, Doug wouldn’t be able to open the door to the apartment without me hearing it.
Brax held a scoop of vanilla ice cream in his hand and approached me. He licked the spots where it started to melt, his tongue leaving a sinful track. I shuddered, remembering what his tongue felt like when he gave me the same treatment. He held the scoop out to me and fire lit his eyes as I slowly ran my tongue up the base of the scoop and swirled it over the last of the ice cream. He reached into the cooler and pulled out the canister of whipped cream I kept there along with a jar of red cherries.