I stared back at the clothes, the two sides of the closet, neither of them appealed to me today. I decided I needed to make peace with who I was now and stop hiding from it. I could lay my past to rest and embrace the journey of this new version of myself. A journey that Jack put me on the path to.
Maybe I could like the new me. They say what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, maybe the girl I hid from was a stronger person than the girl I missed. Maybe she was only weak when it came to resisting the big bad biker. The Bulldog. It was uncanny, the connection I felt towards him, and the more I fought it the stronger the connection became. I was torn between letting myself go, and giving into the temptation that was Jack and running scared. One should be afraid of him of the feelings he evokes with just a glance or a crass word but not me. I wanted more. I was curious about him and even more curious to test my own limits.
I grabbed a pair of jeans from one side of the closet and a baggy sweatshirt from the other side. I quickly dressed, even put on some makeup but didn’t bother doing my hair. I piled my hair on top of my head in a messy bun and bent down to pull on my Ugg boots.
I peered at myself in the mirror; a mixture of both Reina’s reflected at me and I knew it was time to find a happy medium. I’d start by finding clothes that fit me. I would not be a label whore anymore, that was a shallow part of the old me I didn’t miss, didn’t even like. But I wasn’t going to wear men’s sweats anymore either.
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the stash of money I kept in an old coffee can above the sink and shoved the cash into my purse. I slipped on my leather jacket and started the first day of my life by riding the subway and hitting the mall.
I forgot how fun shopping could be, or how good it felt to try on a pair of jeans that fit perfectly. In an hours span I had an extensive collection of jeans and two pairs of faux leather tights that I simply loved. I grabbed onto one of racks, stretching my leg as I tried to rub the numbness away. I always felt the tingling sensation up my leg, but some days were worse than others. I was learning to live with it, and not let it drag me down. I filtered through the racks of tops, looking for my size when I felt someone staring at me.
I lifted my head and saw dark eyes piercing me, staring right through me. Dark eyes that belonged to Jack. I knew I should’ve looked away but I couldn’t, the way he stared at me, so primal, so lethal, it was mesmerizing—I became a prisoner under his gaze.
He looked out of place, dressed all in black, from his jeans to the Henley that stretched over his muscular chest. His leather jacket was missing making him look a little less intimidating. It gave me the first glimpse of how magnificent his upper body was. He had broad shoulders and a trim waist. His shirt sculpted his pecs, giving me the slightest indication of what I had missed out on seeing last night. His biceps were huge, straining against the fabric of his fitted shirt.
The curtain of the dressing room behind him pushed aside and a woman emerged, running around Jack and throwing herself into his arms. He stumbled back surprised, and smiled. Jack’s smile was amazing. It was like nothing I had ever been on the receiving end of. The few times his lips quirked for me was to provoke me, I had never seen him genuinely smile. He wrapped his arms around her, shopping bags and all, returning the embrace.
She pressed a smacking kiss to his cheek and pulled back, taking some of the bags from his hands. His eyes found mine again and his smile faltered, making it clear I wasn’t deserving of that piece of him. I should have turned around and walked away, sparing myself the beauty that possessively laced her arm through Jack’s. She was stunning, petite, with wavy brown hair mixed with subtle blonde highlights. Her eyes were dark, almost black, and her eyelashes might have been the longest ones I’d ever seen. It was hard not to stare at her. She was beautiful.
Her eyes stared at me curiously before looking back to Jack’s. I quickly diverted my gaze back to the rack.
“Who is that Daddy?”
Daddy?
Oh my God. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, when I thought I’d seen enough of Jack’s shady life, I learned his girlfriend called him Daddy. Disgusting. Weird. Downright wrong.
“Reina,” he growled my name. I lifted my eyes to see the couple had moved closer. Shit.
I placed the hangers I was holding back on the rack and turned around to leave. Big Daddy and his girlfriend stared at me—well, he glared and she stared but her dark eyes were surprisingly warm and inviting.
“Baby girl, this is Reina,” he muttered.
I was going to vomit.
“Reina, this is my daughter Lacey,” he continued, gauging my reaction.
Lacey smiled widely at me and that’s when I realized she had her dad’s smile. I looked back and forth between them, noting all the similarities and kicked myself for thinking she was his girlfriend.
“Nice to meet you, Reina,” she said, before her curious eyes turned back to her father, studying him as he watched me.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I attempted to smile but my jaw felt stiff. “You look just like your dad.”
“Poor kid,” he said, winking at Lacey.
“Everyone says that,” she laughed, before smacking her dad’s arm playfully. “You should invite her tonight.”
The playfulness disappeared from his face, unbeknownst to his bubbly daughter, who looked back at me.
“It’s the big guy’s birthday,” she said, pointing her thumb at her dad. “And I’m cooking dinner.”
Jack cringed, and I wasn’t sure if it was Lacey’s invitation that was the cause or the fact it was his birthday.
“The big three-eight,” She exclaimed mischievously.
He grunted.
“Happy birthday,” I whispered, finding the nerve to meet his gaze.
“Dinner’s at seven, do you think you can make it?”
“I… I…have this thing,” I stuttered. I didn’t have shit to do. But watching paint dry sounded more tempting than sitting at a table with Jack. I could picture him glaring at me as he passed the salad, cursing under his breath when our fingers touched because he didn’t like the connection any more than I did. He didn’t like surrendering his pride to something that was bigger than him and this attraction, this unexplainable pull, it was gargantuan.
Jack raised an eyebrow, biting down on his lip before clearing his throat.
“You should come,” he said.
I diverted my eyes to his, noting the amusement reflected in them.
Filthy. He was so damn filthy.
I was starting to love it.
The new Reina was crazy.
“I want you to come,” he added, his words slow and full of innuendo.
“See,” Lacey declared. “You’re not going to let the birthday boy down are you?” she winked at me, her smile electrifying.
“Okay,” I whispered, surprising myself. I forced a smile at her then lifted my eyes to Jack’s. “I’ll come.”
His lips quirked, blossoming into a smile, a smile meant for me.
Shit.
That smile was everything.
It almost made me forget the purely selfish reason behind agreeing to go…hoping he’d talk dirty to me.
Chapter Eleven
I twisted the top off a beer, leaned against the counter and watched my daughter make a damn mess of my kitchen. Lacey couldn’t cook for shit, but when she asked if she could make me dinner for my birthday, well, I couldn’t bring myself to say no. Even though it’s likely I’ll be ordering pizza an hour after dinner is done.
Lacey lifted her eyes, smiling sheepishly at me as she scraped the burnt remnants off a pan. I smiled, brought my beer to my lips and took a sip, pretending like I didn’t know dinner was fucked.
“So, Reina?” she questioned nonchalantly.
“What about her?” I replied, staring at the pot on the stove that was boiling over. “Lace? You might wanna…”
Her eyes followed mine.
“Shit!” She dropped the spoon she wa
s using as a shovel and lowered the flame, pulling the cover off the pot. Once she had the boiling water under control and the charred, whatever you call it, off the pan she turned back toward me and narrowed her eyes.
“You’re making me nervous,” she accused. “Now, stop looking at me like I will mess this up and tell me about Reina. Is she one of the club girls?”
“No,” my answer was automatic.
“No, you won’t tell me about her or no she’s not one of the club girls?”
“Something tells me even if I said I wasn’t going to talk about Reina, you wouldn’t let that shit die,” I laughed, as my lips quirked knowingly and placed my beer down on the counter. “She’s the furthest thing from a club girl,” I added.
“She’s beautiful,” Lacey stated.
“She is,” I agreed, crossing my arms against my chest and leveling her with a look, hoping she caught my drift and left this shit alone.
“Are you dating her?”
“Your old man doesn’t date, Lace,” I said, my voice growing agitated.
“Maybe you should,” she replied, turning around to face me. “I think it would be good for you. You know I don’t remember you ever having a girlfriend. Since you and Mom split you’ve always been by yourself.”
“You worried about your pops?” I asked, winking at her.
“Would that be such a horrible thing?” she wiped her hands on a dish towel before placing them on her hips. “It’d be nice to see you happy, Daddy.”
“I’m happy,” I sighed, scratching at the scruff that lined my jaw.
She threw a dishtowel at my head.
“Liar,” she accused. “You know what I think?”
“Not sure I want to hear this,” I grumbled.
“I think you like her,” she continued, cocking her head to the side—the expression on her face daring me to deny it. “You said it yourself, you wanted her to come here tonight.”
“Reina is just some girl I met at a diner that serves a mean cup of coffee,” I said, fighting off the memories of the night before when I was buried deep inside of her. I’ve been battling those fucking images all damn day and seeing her this afternoon didn’t help—just as I was sure sharing a meal with her tonight wouldn’t either. “She’s a little lost and a whole lot of lonely, so yeah, I wanted her to come for dinner because I’m not that much of a cold-hearted bastard.”
“You’re not a cold-hearted bastard at all,” she whispered.
Lacey and I had a normal father-daughter relationship. She was my little girl, and I was the number one man in her life. We were like two peas in a pod and shared an unbreakable bond. She owned the biggest piece of my heart and she was right, around her I wasn’t myself, around my Lacey I wasn’t the cold, vicious, dark man the rest of the world knew. However, she was the only one who got that from me and as far as I was concerned she’d always be the only one. She deserved that and so much more, more than I’d ever be able to give her. I was the reason behind her pain, the loss that lived in her heart and the memories that tainted her youth.
Lacey shoved at my arm.
“Earth to Dad, hello?” she said, waving her hand in front of my face.
“What?” I asked.
“The bell. Go get the door,” she ordered, pushing me out of the kitchen. “And be nice. You know, try to refrain from grunting and mumbling.”
I grunted then I mumbled as I walked into the living room making my way to the front door. Until the doorbell rang I didn’t believe Reina would even show up, despite the text message she sent me an hour ago, asking for my address. After last night I was sure she would’ve burnt the napkin I left her with my number. I pulled open the door and stopped short. The cab she arrived in pulled away from the curb as she turned around and stared at me awkwardly.
I missed something, somewhere, because Reina was morphing from the shy outcast waitress in a diner to this vibrant beauty who had shed her old persona. Or maybe the girl I spent five weeks staring at wasn’t timid at all and just a disguise she hid behind. She lost her baggy clothes and my imagination didn’t have to work so hard to see what she was hiding under all the layers. I glanced up at the heavens, silently thanking whoever sent this girl in tight leather pants to my doorstep. The transformation didn’t stop at her legs though, she was wearing a long sweater that stretched across her chest and I instantly regretted that I hadn’t ripped her shirt off last night when I had the chance. She completed the outfit with a cropped leather jacket and leather riding boots, looking like she was born to be on the back of my bike.
She was a goddamn dream.
My fucking dream.
I finally snapped out of my daze as she turned her face and looked away from me, nervously. I reached out, placing my finger beneath her chin and turned her head back toward me. I stared at her, noticing the subtle make-up she wore. She had pulled her hair away from her face, exposing all of her perfect features and her big brown eyes that stared back at me. Beneath the wary gaze, was the girl I unraveled last night, the girl I branded mine. The same girl who dismissed me like I wasn’t good enough.
Let’s break bread, sunshine.
I’ll play nice with you for now.
Because, looking at her now I realized the taste I got of her last night was not enough. It barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to do to her. I dropped my hand from her chin and stepped aside so she could enter.
“I hope you’re not too hungry,” I mumbled.
Her eyebrows drew together as she stepped inside and I closed the door behind her.
“You mean to say you hope I’m hungry,” she corrected. “Right?”
She held out her hands, offering the bakery box.
“No, Lacey can’t cook for shit but I don’t have the heart to tell her,” I said, diverting my eyes to the box in her hands. “What’s that?”
“I…I wasn’t planning on being invited anywhere and I didn’t have time to bake it myself. I went to Rosalie’s bakery and well…they had cherry pie,” she rambled, eyes roaming around the room before they found mine.
I took the box from her hands.
“Shame, your pie tasted pretty fucking delicious,” I said, as I stared at her lips, remembering how I painted the filling onto that pout and licked it off. “Want more of that Reina,” I growled. I knew I was making her uncomfortable but I couldn’t help myself. I loved watching her squirm.
She opened her mouth to say something but her eyes moved behind me as Lacey walked into the living room.
“Hi Reina, I hope you’re hungry,” she announced, placing a salad bowl in the center of the table. I cocked my head as I stared at the bowl of lettuce and…peas? Lucky for me, they won’t be banging down the door to marry her for her cooking skills.
“Thank you for having me. Can I help you with anything?”
“No, I’ve got everything under control,” Lacey replied. “Make yourself comfortable, take off your coat. Dad, take her coat,” she commanded, taking the cake box from my hands. “Does this have to be refrigerated?”
“No,” Reina said, taking off her jacket and folding it over her arm.
I took it from her hand and hung it up on the newel post.
“You want a beer?” I asked, running my fingers through my hair.
“Sure,” she answered. I glanced between the two women and shook my head slightly, pondering how the fuck this was happening as I walked into the kitchen to fetch Reina a beer.
The kitchen was a disaster. I ignored the mess and grabbed Reina and I both beers before walking out of the kitchen to find they had migrated into the dining room.
“Your home is lovely,” Reina said.
“Dad hates it. He only sleeps here when I’m around otherwise he’s always at the Dog Pound.”
I twisted the top off the beer and handed it to Reina, warning Lacey with my eyes to nip it in the bud.
“I’ll see about dinner,” Lacey said, turning on her heel.
I held out the neck of my beer to Reina and lift
ed an eyebrow.
“Happy birthday, Jack,” she whispered, tapping the neck of her bottle to mine.
“Thank you, Sunshine,” I said huskily, before taking a long gulp of my beer, watching as she sipped hers. She pulled the bottle away and giggled.
“You know what I realized on the way here?”
“What’s that?” I questioned, taking a seat at the head of the table and leaning back against the chair, watching her intently.
“I don’t even know your last name,” she stated, bringing the bottle back to her lips for another sip.
I stared at her for a moment before taking another gulp of my beer. I had avoided the truth for as long as I could but I always questioned this moment in the back of my mind, wondering about when I told her my last name if she would connect me with Danny. The last time I spoke to Danny was nearly four years ago. He had paid me a visit while I was doing a bid at Ryker’s. He dropped in, gracing me with his presence just to tell me he was changing his name because he didn’t want to be associated with me. He took our mother’s maiden name, Gregorio.
I brought the beer down mid-way and met her curious eyes.
“Parrish,” I revealed, gauging her reaction.
“Jack Parrish,” she said, letting my name roll off her tongue. Nothing changed in her eyes, leading me to believe that Danny had definitely changed his name and never looked back. I also realized he probably never told this woman he had a brother.
“Well, aren’t you going to ask me what mine is?” she asked, playfully.
“What’s your last name?” I asked, humoring her.
“DeCarlo,” she murmured. “Seems like it’s something we should’ve told one another by now,” she added, glancing down at the table.
I leaned forward, looking toward the kitchen door before looking back at Reina and placed my hand on her knee.
“You mean before you knew what if felt like to have me…”
“Don’t,” she interrupted.
“Why not?” I taunted, her face flushing. “Can’t pretend it didn’t happen. I won’t let you.”
She averted her eyes to my hand on her knee, watching as I drew circles with my thumb along her silky pants.
The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition Page 67