With Imogen living in an apartment, all we can really see is when a light is turned on in her bedroom or bathroom, so I can sleep easy knowing were not truly spying on her. It’s not like we have binoculars and are peeping through her window. We’re just checking if any guys are making their way inside, which, deep down I know there’s not, but I’m still a bit curious if I’m the only one she’s getting with.
Cole and I get carried away discussing Xander’s next fight that we forget what the hell we’re even doing here. When Imogen’s bedroom light is flicked on, my eyes glance up and I find myself watching with interest. Her shadow passes by the window a few times before she comes to a standstill right before the window.
I smirk as she pulls her top over her head and laugh to myself as Cole groans and instantly looks away. He punches me in the arm when it’s clear I’m not averting my eyes, but when my mouth drops open in surprise, his eyes are instantly looking back up at her.
Another shadow crosses the room and comes to a standstill right before her. Arms are thrown around each other and a brutal jealousy is slammed right through me, nearly paralyzing me. What the fuck? I know we’re not exclusive, but never in my wildest dreams would I expect to feel this way.
“Fuck,” Cole grunts as the figures in the window get a lot closer and their faces get smooshed together. “We’re on. I’m going to nail this bastard. The fucker isn’t going to know what hit him.”
With that, we jump out of Cole’s truck and 007 our way up to Imogen’s apartment. One thing I know for sure is that I’m right with Cole at the moment. I want to nail this guy just as much as he does, though, I don’t know if it’s because I see Imogen as mine or if it’s coming from a place of being protective of my best friend’s little sister.
Fuck. I need to sort my shit out. All I can think about right now is getting in the room and tearing that mother fucker off my girl. Shit. She’s not my girl, just a girl.
Cole pulls out the spare key to Imogen’s door and lets us in. We creep in and it’s then that I come aware of just how wrong this is. I mean, this is a nasty invasion of Imogen’s privacy and it’s suddenly gone from a brother playing a stupid prank on his little sister to two guys breaking into a woman’s home like fucking creepers. Shit, I hope she sees this in a good way or I could be ruining my chances of ever getting between those legs again.
Cole and I have done a lot stupider shit than this, hell, half the time we had Imogen right by our side egging us on, so she should be able to forgive us, but right now, my priorities are all fucked up. Shit, even if I wasn’t sleeping with her I’d probably still be right here.
I creep down the hallway trying to be as quiet as possible, but Cole doesn’t seem to give a shit about the amount of noise he’s making as he tears his way down the timber floorboards in his desperation to save his sister from being defiled by some jackass.
Cole grabs the door handle and with a quick twist, he throws the door open. I hardly have a chance to duck for cover before both Imogen and Izzy are squirting us with water pistols and practically pissing themselves with laughter.
“Got ya, fuckers,” Imogen laughs as she soaks us with water, though I still find myself looking around the room for another man even though it’s perfectly clear that Imogen was actually the one messing with us.
“Fuck,” Cole grunts with absolute relief in his voice before he storms forward to save himself from being drenched. Imogen squeals and ducks out of his way.
Izzy can hardly contain her laughter and falls onto the bed, leaving Imogen without her back-up against her brother who storms into her room and steals the water pistol out of her hands.
Always being on the same wavelength as Cole, I race forward and wrap Imogen in my arms while keeping her own arms pinned to her sides. Her back is squished to my chest and she kicks out her legs while Cole removes the water from the pistol.
“No,” Imogen screams out, knowing exactly what he’s about to do.
She squeals for Izzy to help, but she’s still hunched over the bed trying to control her laughter. With one quick movement, Cole raises his arm and dumps the water over the top of Imogen’s head, instantly drenching her. Though, just my luck, I end up soaked as well.
“Oh, my god,” she squeals as the cold water assaults her. “You jackass.”
Cole bursts out laughing, extremely proud of himself as I finally release my grip around her. I make sure she finds her footing before stepping away and joining Cole as he makes his way out to Imogen’s living room.
A moment later, Imogen comes out with a towel in her hand, trying to squeeze the water out of her hair while Izzy comes out behind her, wiping the tears of laughter out of her eyes.
Imogen flops down in the couch beside me while looking over at her brother. “Next time you go on a stakeout, use someone else’s truck. Oh, and don’t park right outside my apartment with your windows down. I saw you the second you pulled up.”
“Shit,” Cole grunts.
“What were you trying to achieve anyway?” she questions.
“I’m trying to work out who the hell this guy is that you’ve been fucking,” Cole says. “If you just introduced me, none of this would have happened.”
“Bullshit,” she grunts to herself.
“What’s your problem then? Are you afraid I won’t like him?”
“No,” she laughs. “You’ll love this one. My problem is what you’ll do to him.”
Fuck me. That’s been the only thing I’ve been able to think about over the past year. He’s not going to like it when he finds out. He’s going to demand an explanation and I’m not going to have one for him, though, I can safely assume he’s not going to appreciate me saying ‘she fucking hot, why wouldn’t I tap it?’
He’s going to knock me the fuck out and there’s no doubt about it in my mind. I’ll deserve it and I’ll take it like a fucking man.
“Come on,” Cole begs. “I’ll behave.”
Imogen shakes her head. “I’ll tell you when the time is right,” she promises before getting up and grabbing a few beers out of her fridge. She hands them around and before we know it, Jace is here with Cami and Rylee while Xander is barging through the door with Charli over his shoulder.
Chapter 5
Imogen
My eyes flick to my clock for the twentieth time this morning. I’m going to be so late. There’s nothing I hate more than being late and making myself look unprofessional. Especially as I’m so young. I already have the eyes of all my colleagues on me, thinking that I haven’t got enough experience to do the job. The last thing I need is to give them another reason to doubt me.
I grab my handbag off the counter and practically fly out the door. I unlock my car from the door of my building and run towards it before opening it up and turning on the engine. There’s a strange smell in the car, but I don’t have time to search out the source.
I hit the gas and am halfway there when my little convertible starts acting up. Smoke starts billowing out from under the hood and I immediately start freaking out. I mean, what the fuck is happening? I was not created to deal with this kind of shit. I’m so out of my element right now.
I stop the car on the side of the road and pray the bastard doesn’t blow up like in the movies. “Shit,” I grunt to myself as I get out of the car. Maybe it’s just overheated and needs to cool down, though, it’s only six months old, it shouldn’t be having any issues at all. Whatever it is, I don’t have time for it.
I pop the hood and walk around the front of the car. I lift the hood hoping I look a little something like Megan Fox in that one scene from Transformers, though, I honestly doubt it as the heat coming off the car has me flinching back and turning my head in distaste. Anyone passing by right now would instantly be able to tell that I have no clue what I’m doing, especially as I have a hard time working out how to prop the hood up.
I look around the engine, but let’s be serious, it looks like a twisted pile of metal to me.
I try to pu
t a plan into action of what the hell I’m going to do when it occurs to me that I’m just around the corner from Rebels Advocate. I cringe hoping Cole isn’t driving past anytime soon as when I first bought this car, I made a big deal about being able to make my own decisions and my brother was the main person to object. After all, I already had a perfectly good car that he had personally chosen out for me, you know, due to its safety rating. Me buying my little red convertible was done on a whim and if he knew about this particular disaster, I’d never live it down.
Shit, I don’t even understand why it’s broken. It was just in the shop for its regular check just a few weeks ago. If anything, it should be running perfectly, not breaking down on the side of the road and making me late for work. Though, I guess this has something to do with the weird smell when I first got in.
I double check the time again and take note of the fact that my first session is starting in twenty minutes. Crap, this is not good. I start making a mental list of all the things I should be doing. Is a tow truck the first thing? Maybe then a Taxi to get to work? Shit. I don’t know.
A familiar black truck drives straight by me before it darts to the side of the road in front of my car. I groan as a grinning Caden hops out and looks at me with complete and utter amusement. I’m instantly reminded of how he and my brother were parked outside my apartment the other night and all I want to do is smack him, even though Izzy and I completely beat them at their own game. I’m still furious with the idiots for thinking they had the right to do it in the first place.
“What the hell is going on here?” Caden questions with the world biggest smirk plastered across his face as he indicates to my car with its hood sticking up in the air. Out of all the people that could have been driving by right now, I get stuck with the one guy who’s going to take the most enjoyment out of my embarrassment.
I cringe and let out a sigh. “I don’t know,” I tell him while trying not to sulk.
He rolls his eyes and comes to stand by me at the front of the car. He leans against the front while he studies the mess of metal before us. I look across to him and take in the black Rebels Advocate muscle tank that gives me a perfect look at his arms and his sculptured chest as he leans forward. He must have just been working at the gym and either left for a bit or noticed me stranded by the side of the road.
A frown mars his handsome face as he fiddles around. He goes and sits in the driver’s seat and flicks the ignition. “How long has this light been on?” he asks.
I walk around to have a look at what he’s talking about and he points out the light he’s referring to. “Um, I don’t know,” I tell him. “Maybe a few weeks. It came on after its last service.”
He shakes his head. “That’s the check oil light,” he explains with a heavy sarcasm as he rolls his eyes before getting out and walking back around the front the car. He twists a little cap before pulling some long ass stick thingy out. “You have no fucking oil,” he tells me. “Do you have any idea how bad that is for your engine?”
“Um….,” I say with a clueless shake of my head. I mean, obviously oil is somewhat important for my car, but it’s not exactly something I care to know about, after all, I send my car to a mechanic who I pay to know that kind of shit.
“Fucking hell,” he grunts to himself in disbelief. “You’ve probably been driving around with barely any oil and completely fucking up your engine.”
“Shit,” I curse. That sounds bad. “I’m assuming that’s not going to be cheap.”
“Nope,” he grunts.
I look over at the steam that continues radiating off the engine. “Can’t I just wait until it cools down and put more oil in it?” I question, hoping for the best.
“No,” he chuckles. “It’s not that simple. It’s going to have to be towed and checked out. Depending on how badly you’ve fucked it up, you might be up for a new engine.”
“Great,” I moan. Just my fucking luck. “Promise me you won’t mention any of this to Cole, would you?”
“Fuck no,” he laughs. “You’ve just provided me with my whole afternoon’s entertainment. You know he’s never going to let this go, right?”
“Don’t remind me,” I grunt. “I don’t understand how this happened. It was in the shop like three weeks ago.”
“Shit, babe. You need a new fucking mechanic,” he grumbles. “It would take a real fucking genius to forget to check the oil.”
I let out a heavy sigh and drop down into the gutter. I check my watch and it doesn’t go unnoticed that my first session of the day is starting in ten minutes with a little girl who suffers from major abandonment issues. The last thing she needs is me not showing up or being late.
“What am I going to do?” I groan. “I don’t have time for this shit.”
“Here,” he says as he digs in his pocket and pulls out his keys. He tosses them to me and I pluck them out of the sky. “Take my truck, but if you scratch her, I’m coming after you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I tell him before standing up and placing his keys back in his hands. “This isn’t your problem. I can handle it.”
He lets out a heavy breath, letting me know just how frustrated he is with my attitude. “Imogen,” he scolds. “You wouldn’t know the first thing about handling this. Now, get your fine ass to work. I’ll deal with your car and you can bring me my truck tonight. I don’t have another client until ten. I can catch a ride home with someone later on.”
“Fuck, are you sure?” I question as my eyes start lighting up in pure relief.
“Yeah,” he grunts before nodding his head in the direction of his truck. “Now go.”
“Thank you,” I practically squeal as I throw myself at him. He catches me around the waist and I hold him close for just a moment. I pull back slightly and give him a quick kiss. “I owe you, big time.”
“That you do,” he tells me. “But don’t worry, I already have a list of ways you can repay me and they all include that tongue of yours.”
“Your wish is my command,” I grin as heat floods me. Shit, how does this man do that to me?
I step out of his arms before I get carried away in the moment and dash over to his truck. As I reach for his door handle, I can’t help but look back at the man who has just saved my ass. He’s already busied himself with my car as he hangs his head over the engine once again with his phone pressed to his ear, probably calling a tow truck or some mechanic that’s going to cost me an arm and a leg, though, I don’t really care. All that matters right now is getting to my first session.
I jump in the truck and pull the seat right forward, feeling like a fucking child in this beast of a truck. I’m actually a little in shock that he’s just offered his truck up for me to use for the day. He’s usually very protective of his truck, but Cole taught me how to drive in his truck so Caden knows I’m not about to ruin it.
I adjust the mirrors and pull on my seatbelt before glancing back at him one last time, only this time, those smoldering eyes are already burning into mine with a desire that nearly has me spontaneously combusting. How the hell did I get so lucky to be the woman climbing into bed with him?
Shit, I need to drive away before I end up skipping the whole day.
Just as Caden had demanded, I get my fine ass to work and make it through my office door right as my first appointment is taking her seat in my waiting area. I get on with my day and I find myself constantly coming back to the thought of how protective and caring Caden has become lately. I mean, he’s always been protective, but this is different. It’s not the usual looking out for a little sister bullshit I’m so used to, this is something that almost feels animalistic.
I’m not sure I can even describe it, but if I had to, I’d say it feels like a man taking care of what’s his. Like he’s seeing me as more than the woman who’s been showing up in the middle of the night and leaving before morning. But it doesn’t make sense though.
We have a strict no feelings policy which we both happily agreed to. W
hen this first started, I promised him I wasn’t going to fall for him and he promised the very same. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never once broken a promise, so I know I can trust him, otherwise, I’d need to rethink this whole situation. Feelings between us could cause irreparable damage that I’m not nearly ready for.
But then… why is it I like it so much when he plays the hero? Why do I enjoy it when he stormed into my apartment acting like a jealous boyfriend when he thought I had a man in my room? Hell, why do I get a rush when I know I’m going to see him? And why does the thought of not feeling his touch drive me sick with need?
Shit. I’m a fucking therapist so I know exactly what it all means. I’m just not prepared to admit it to myself, let alone the world.
Brandon walks into my office later in the morning and pulls me right out of my torturous thoughts. “I thought you weren’t here,” he mumbles as he walks into the room and takes a seat on my couch.
“And why’s that?” I question as I reach down for the football that sits at my feet.
“Because your car isn’t here,” he explains.
With that, I toss him the ball and launch into my explanation of my morning, skipping every detail of the man who came crashing in like my knight in shining armor.
“You know,” he says before tossing the ball back. “It’s really bad for your car not to have any oil. It could ruin it.”
That’d be right. The eleven-year-old kid knows more about looking after a car than I do.
Five minutes later, the ball has him relaxed enough to tell me a little more about himself. I find myself becoming more and more attached to this child. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a further confirmation of the fact that I would do everything in my power to get him the help he needs and it’s become startling obvious that he needs something more than just a chat in a therapist’s office a few times a week. He needs something to help him find his confidence and self-worth to repair the scars his parents have left on his soul.
Caden: Rebels Advocate (Book 2) Page 4