Vonnie: Book Two of Broken Girls Series

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  “You mean Krav Maga?” Damn it to hell, Rio was the one who supplied the right name for the hand-to-hand stuff even Cruz had heard was lethal and serious as fuck.

  Snapping his fingers over his war-buddy’s words, Max leaned forward. “That’s the one. Heard that shit is amazing and have always wanted to try it.”

  Even though Cruz hadn’t thought everything through before he’d spoken, his mind bubbled with all they’d need to do in order to make his idea a reality. “We’ll need a trainer, though.”

  “So, let’s hire one along with the rest.” Max seemed to take it as a done-deal even though he hadn’t specified exactly which one of the managers would be responsible for finding someone to teach them and the others BI would eventually employ.

  Admittedly Max had big dreams, but didn’t always scope out the minutiae in making those dreams a reality.

  As all three of the brothers stood, Cruz took note Rio as the last to rise.

  And he couldn’t help his chuckle as he cleared the door.

  Yeah, ass-hat. Better come up with a lot more suggestions before calling yourself one of us!

  *.*.*.*.*

  Will B done in an hr. Wanna share dinner?

  The text question from Rio plagued me, abraded my insides as I looked back at my monitor, clicking in order to get into the miniscule parts of pixels of the photo I was editing.

  Did I?

  The fact was the man was getting too close, too fast. Making me think of him when I should’ve been working. Remembering the way he looked spread out on my couch as he’d slept (before everything went to hell in a hand-basket with his nightmare).

  At the ease of talking with him over lunch.

  And the way he’d paid for Beta’s remaining tickets and then just handed them away as if he was Mr. Moneybags or something.

  Yes, I replied which was both succinct and real in that moment. Red Dragon?

  U call it in, I’ll do the pickup?

  My mind considered his question before deciding it was doable. What do U want then?

  Almost as soon as I hit ‘send’, I received a reply.

  Kung Pao chick, Egg-Foo Yung and pork noodles.

  My eyes sought out the Pook-meister snuggled in her blanket on the floor by my desk, with the ever-present Monkey tucked underneath her chin. The fact her owner and I shared the same taste in Chinese food couldn’t be fathomed.

  But he’d forgotten one thing: the soup.

  Add hot-sour soup & war wonton, then you’ve got a deal, I typed on shaking fingers.

  You really shouldn’t be doing this, I warned myself. Since I was conversing with a man who threatened the insular world of all that was, you know, me.

  There was a couple of seconds as I considered whether or not he’d received my text.

  That was until I heard a two-toned signal of his response. Done. But R U calling the order in or am I?

  Shit.

  Busted.

  And could’ve been explained away by my serious lack of dating and girly-flirting skills. Ones I didn’t, in my heart of hearts, want to learn or practice.

  Not even on someone like him.

  I’ll call, was all I could type, shaking my head at how I’d played my hand in the whole of a text message exchange…that’d gone on way too long in my opinion.

  “Your daddy will be here in about an hour,” I told his little girl, gaining me only a flicker of the one eye that deigned to open.

  Turning back to my monitor, I tried to immerse myself back into my work. I’d already printed out the Newton’s pics and opened the Grantham ones to begin edits. As I clicked and expanded the first of the seventy-or-so shots I’d taken, I wondered if I needed to include some snaps of the other areas of our fair town; make it more of a comprehensive series in order to capture all the different components which defined its history.

  Leaning back in my chair, I tried to envision what I was hoping to submit to Grantham’s city council to replace the pictures they currently had hanging at City Hall. I spent more than a few minutes considering placement, sketching my thoughts out on paper before I glanced at the clock.

  The fact I’d taken a half-hour to think through my shit kinda made me mad. I wasn’t a habitual wobbler especially when it came to making decisions of any kind. And that I’d done that when I should’ve been calling in Chinese food?

  Please.

  I looked to Pookie again. She was asleep except her little triangle ears were pointed toward the ceiling and at the ready. “Your gonna have to rally, Miss Lazy McCrazy.”

  Pushing myself away from the desk, I realized tonight was the night I could finally break out all the little dishes my foster sister, Tonya, had given me for Christmas. One for soy sauce, one for the hot mustard…I chanted as I shushed my way down the hall on stockinged feet. The tiny clicks of the small dog’s nails on tile echoing behind me as she followed.

  Just as I was putting the big plates onto my placemats, I heard a knock at my door. But remembering Rio’s gruffly given instructions, I stretched up to…

  What?

  There was nothing but some kind of shirt in the viewfinder. How in the hell did he expect me to cull out the unwanted versus the wanted of who darkened my door if he stood so close to the spy-thingy I couldn’t see anything?

  “That you, Rio?” I called, the muscles around my eye starting to ache as I remained glued to the tiny, sneaky porthole.

  “Goddamn right, princess,” he responded. “Now open the door.”

  And I did as he commanded. With all quickness, if I was being all honest and shit.

  He entered, greeted Pookie and as his eyes came to mine (swear to God) I felt his look in every cell of my body before it moved out and away, taking in all the different dishes and silverware I’d laid out on the countertop I ambitiously called my ‘dining room’.

  “You always put on your fancy-pants for Chinese take away?” Shit, shit, shit.

  He was onto me—and ascribing my actions a slant I hadn’t considered.

  I’d even reapplied lip gloss, for heaven’s sake. And a question along the lines of ‘what the hell’ hit my head.

  Rather than answer, I reached for the spoons in order to dig into all the food he brought as my eyes flicked to him again and again. Beta had spoken true; the man was a total hunk of gorgeousness.

  But was he for me?

  That had yet to be determined.

  And maybe it was time for me to put my foot down, define the fences regarding what was or wasn’t gonna happen between him and me.

  Taking a forkful of food, I considered the best way to begin as my eyes raked over him. Damn, he looked just as good in a dress shirt and slacks, with his unruly hair gelled into place, as he did in jeans and a tee.

  “About tomorrow…” I started and felt his attention shift my way, making my fingers tremble on my fork. “You invited yourself to Beta’s concert. I didn’t ask you to come, okay?”

  He nodded, but his eyes remained on me as he chewed.

  “Therefore it’s not a date.” There. I’d gotten to the meat of the matter, said it straight up and in plain words anyone could understand. But when he didn’t respond, I felt the need to explain further. “It’ll just be a dog-sitter and her client attending the same event. Understand?”

  His chopsticks (yeah, the dude was wielding chopsticks while I had no choice but to use regular utensils since my fingers weren’t that coordinated) stopped mid-way between his plate and mouth. “Why?”

  The food I’d been about to swallow stuck for a moment and I blinked at him, my mind racing at his question. “Why what?”

  “Why isn’t it a date?”

  “Because.” As come-backs went, mine was weak as hell, but it was all I could think of in that instance.

  “Because why, Vons?”

  Ooh, the man was starting to piss me off with the way he pressed. Why couldn’t he just acknowledge what I’d decreed and move on?

  “I don’t date, Rio.”

  That got
a reaction from him, but not one of acquiescence. No. The way his eyebrows shot towards his hairline as he considered me spoke more of shock and confusion than anything. “Why not? Aren’t you good at dating? Or did some guy break your heart enough so you’ve vowed never to get back in the saddle again?”

  I whipped my eyes back to my plate while doing a mental scream of frustration. Why was he questioning me? I was the one in charge, the one who made the rules and if he couldn’t follow them, then he could just…he could just…go to hell!

  “Yeah, I know what that feels like,” he drawled, picking through his noodles. “Had my heart torn out once and swore I’d never let it happen again. But see? I don’t aim to spend the rest of my life alone. That can’t happen unless I put myself out there, get to know somebody and figure out if we’ve got what it takes to last over the long haul.”

  Jay-sus. I’d never heard a man talk that way, casually admitting he’d gotten hurt and talk about wanting a long term commitment. Weren’t all of the male persuasion just players—looking to find the next pair of legs to slip between? “Long haul?”

  Raising a hand, he waved it around. “You know, the whole ‘I do’ stuff with the idea of a couple of rug-rats to complete the picture.”

  Stunned, I felt my fork drop to my plate with a clatter. He couldn’t be serious, but a quick peek at him from underneath my lashes confirmed his sincerity.

  “I’m not saying you’re a part of that photo,” he began, loading up another bite. “But I think it’d be a goddamn shame to take you and me dating off the table so soon.”

  Gripping my hands tightly together and shoving them to my lap, I tried again to get the upper-hand in our weird as shit conversation. “But I don’t date.”

  He didn’t say anything for a couple of bites, giving me the impression I’d made my point. But just as I picked up my fork, he spoke again.

  “Yeah, spitfire. You just keep telling yourself that, if it makes you feel better.”

  Chapter Ten

  “So you’ve already met Beta and Phoebe, right?” I knew I was doing a Chatty Cathy impression but it couldn’t be helped. I needed to give Rio the lay of the land before we met up with the others of my group and our drive to the University provided the perfect opportunity. “But all the rest of them are gonna be there too.”

  “Rest of them?”

  “Yeah like Maizie, Tonya and Coco along with my foster mother Diane.” I did a mental roll-call to see if there was anybody I forgot. “Oh and Abe. He’ll probably be there too since he makes a point to attend all our stuff.”

  “Okay.” I wasn’t even sure if he was listening to me seeing how he was driving with studious care. Or maybe that was just how Rio drove—like a senior citizen with failing eyesight and a care for speed limits. If that was the case, I figured we’d arrive sometime around next Tuesday.

  “Although my girls might bring whoever it is they’re seeing.” Especially Maizie. Something she frequently did as if to rub our noses in the fact she was with yet another new hot guy while the rest of us frequently showed up solo.

  Twisting on my seat and readjusting Pookie in my lap, I turned to look at him as another thought jumped into my head. “Just to let you know, they might make a big deal of this. If they do, don’t react and don’t explain. Leave all that shit to me, okay?”

  “What do you mean by ‘this’?”

  “This…” I used my hand to indicate the two of us. “You and me. They might even try to tease us or give you advice on how to ‘handle’ me. But you don’t have to say anything or even answer, all right? Just let me work that portion of the conversation, okay?”

  He shook his head in little measures which I took to mean he thought I was off my rocker but I knew I was giving him fair warning. “Did you remember the opener?”

  Dick! If he wanted to cut through my experienced advice, he’d found the one question to do it. Shifting back towards the front, I tried to keep the pissy out of my voice as I ground out my ‘yes’.

  Pulling into an open parking space, all he said was, “You take PK and I’ll get the rest of the stuff.” Meaning he’d tote the large rolling (and it must be said, heavy) cooler, the bag of blankets and my camera gear. “Her leash is in the console.” All said without his usual twinkling eyes or half-canted, shit-eating grin making me wonder if I’d gone too far with my warnings.

  But at least he wasn’t treating me as his latest bit of arm candy or something.

  Approaching the entrance, he veered off to the right and called, “DB!” A tall lady turned and waved a hand over her head as Rio picked up his pace. I didn’t know if I was supposed to wait where I was or to follow him.

  Casting a glance over his shoulder my way, he smiled (which did funny things to my insides) and beckoned to me. “C’mon Vonnie. I want you to meet someone.”

  After introductions were made (where I learned DB was short for Daisy Belle and she was his ‘right-hand, number one girl’ at his new job), she proudly did the same with the much shorter man next to her. “And this is my wonderful husband, Herb.”

  I tried to keep the surprise off my face as I shook both of their hands. She was an Amazon, almost as tall as Rio himself with a come-hither voice that clashed with both her age and her outfit of black jeans, black turtleneck paired with a pink pashmina woven in a camouflage print. Then there was her husband, who was valiantly trying to keep his comb-over in place while pushing up a pair of thick black-rimmed glasses. The fact he was only a couple of inches taller than me and was wearing a suit (to an outdoor concert?) was mind-boggling. But who was I to judge?

  The heart chooses who it needs, not the brain, as Maizie would say.

  “Why don’t you sit with us?” Rio’s offering was not outside the realm of norm because I knew the others, Diane especially, always enjoyed bringing new people into our group. But it seemed kind of weird in light I’d invited him instead of the other way around.

  Or actually, he’d decided to crash the party without giving me a chance to say no.

  Whatever!

  “Cloud, DB,” another deep voice disrupted my thoughts and I saw Ryker’s brother and a slender girl, wearing too little clothes and way too much makeup join our little huddle.

  “Max.” Oh yeah, Ryker’s brother. The one I’d kinda, sorta, tried to forget I’d met in the Surly Snowman’s parking night—the one where I’d first seen Rio.

  More intros ensued before I finally pulled out my cellphone to check the time. “We should probably get inside and settled before this thing kicks off.”

  After finding my gang, doing the meet-and-greet then claiming our spot in the grass close to one of the outdoor space heaters, the stage lights went on highlighting the gazebo. I’d heard it was frequently used as a stage for these kinds of things although I’d never done the outside thing before. Most times, Beta’s chamber quartet performed inside in the auditorium.

  Dropping myself down to the blanket and twining my legs to sit tailor-fashion, I felt how close he was as Rio did the same. True, due to the additional people we’d added to the group there was even less space on our designated patch of lawn. But did he really need to press in so close our thighs and arms touched?

  Leaning his mouth down to my ear, I got a shimmer of goose-bumps as his hot breath hit my skin. “We have an extra blanket in the pack. What say we put Max’s date out of her misery?”

  Glancing to my right, I saw the party-girl gripping her upper arms and trying to tuck her legs to the side while attempting to maintain a semblance of modesty in her too short dress. To which Max was totally oblivious, not even deigning to hand his coat off to keep his date warm.

  “Good idea,” I agreed, just about the time Beta and the four other performers took the stage, finding me, like the others in my ‘family’ on our feet and clapping, whistling and basically expressing our enthusiasm for our girl. My gaze took in the other instruments each of them was carrying and I began to wonder what exactly the next hour and a half would bring.


  Two fiddles, a guitar as well as bagpipes? And what was that other thing? A vertical drum? It was for damn sure we wouldn’t be hearing the same ol’ classical stuff that always put Abe to sleep!

  As they started, I saw Tonya and her man-of-the-moment, Jeff, working to fill and hand-off plates as Abe and Diane took care of passing out everyone’s drink of choice—all of it done in whispers so as not to ruin Beta’s show.

  And what a show it was! Usually my girl was stuck in a seat, her cello between her knees as she worked her magic. But that night she stood, moving and almost dancing as her bow danced over the strings of her fiddle—her instrument almost singing in the sweet melodies the group had chosen to showcase.

  After about the third song, I saw the area in front of the gazebo began filling with couples who’d decided they couldn’t sit still and just had to move to the uplifting, lively music.

  Rio must’ve noticed it as well, because almost as soon as my eyes caught onto what was happening, his breath washed over me again. “Wanna dance, pretty girl?”

  I turned my head only to find his face inches from mine. Close. Way too close. “Sorry. I don’t dance.”

  His dark eyes took on a new light as one side of his full mouth lifted. “So you don’t date and don’t dance. Makes a man wonder what exactly you do, do, spitfire.”

  I blinked on a swallow as an image invaded. One of a naked him, arms straight as he and his muscled chest hovered over me as I writhed beneath him. A mental picture so clear and erotic it made my nipples sharpen and caused a spasm to resound in a very secret place.

  Luckily the paper-plates and plastic cups began to make it to our line of people, thankfully interrupting the eye-fuck we’d been engaged in.

  A few minutes later after practically licking the remains off the paper, Rio raised his head. “Damn, that was good.”

  “Told you,” I whispered back. “Tonya’s one of the top chefs at the Roses.”

  He blinked down at me. “And you fed her shift’s leftovers to my dog?”

  “Told you,” I repeated with a sniff, as I handed off my empty plate to Coco who was making the rounds, doing the clean up. “I can’t cook.”