I turned to look and felt my eyes widen. Sure enough, it was Joel's car. Or at least it looked like Joel's car, as much as I could tell in the blinding light. But soon, I didn't have to wonder, because the car squealed to a sudden stop a few feet away, and Joel practically jumped out, leaving the driver's side door open and the car running as the headlights blazed on.
The hoodie he'd been wearing earlier was gone, revealing a dark gray T-shirt that did little to hide his powerful physique. He strode forward, calling out as he moved, "What the fuck are you doing?"
In front of me, the guy took a casual step back, finally giving me some space. Looking oddly unconcerned, he said, "Who? Me?" He flicked his head in my direction. "Or the hottie?"
Joel's gaze zoomed in on me. "You okay?"
At this, the stranger gave a low chuckle. In a tone laced with sin, he said, "She's more than okay. You get a look at those legs?"
I stared at him. My coat was long. As far as my legs, I was barely showing ankle, much less thigh or calf. I could have chicken-legs for all he knew.
It suddenly hit me that I was still leaning back against my car. Forget my legs. My hands were freezing on the cold, metal hood. I pushed away and turned to face Joel. I said, "What are you doing here?"
His gaze narrowed. "I should ask you the same thing." He looked back to the guy and said, "So tell me." He took a step forward. "What the fuck were you doing?"
The guy grinned. "Me? I was making a new friend." Sounding annoyingly cheerful, he asked, "What the fuck were you doing?"
Joel's gaze was dark, and his body was rigid. As he stared at the stranger, his biceps bulged, and his forearms looked ready to mangle something – or more accurately, someone right here in this parking lot.
I wanted to say something to diffuse the tension, but I still wasn't quite sure if the stranger was messing with Joel because they were friends, or because they weren't.
Their reactions were so completely different that I couldn’t be certain either way.
Joel took another step forward. "You were all over her."
I spoke up. "No, he wasn't."
Both guys turned to look. In the stranger's eyes, I saw a flash of humor, like he was loving every minute of this.
As for me, I wasn't. And obviously, neither was Joel. If anything, he looked angrier than ever. So much for reassuring him.
Joel gave me a hard look. "I'll talk to you later."
My jaw dropped. "Oh, really? Well, that's rich."
In a tight voice, he said, "What?"
"I tried to talk to you. Remember?"
His mouth thinned, but he said nothing.
Into his silence, I continued, "And now, you're acting all mad? Like you caught me making out in the back seat or something?" Recalling those girls, I gave him a hard look of my own. "What were you doing in your back seat?"
Maybe it was a stupid thing to say. Obviously, Joel hadn't had been gone long enough to engage in any serious backseat action. And yet, my stomach clenched at the memory of him ditching me for those two groupies, or whoever they were.
When he still made no response, I said, "And where are your friends, anyway?"
Looking more irritated than ever, he said, "What friends?"
"Oh, you know," I said. "Bustier and whoever."
He frowned. "Bustier?"
The stranger laughed. "I think she means Rhonda."
Joel turned to glare at the guy. "I wasn't asking you."
The stranger looked undaunted. "Hey, where'd you leave them, by the way?"
"Does it matter?"
"Hell yeah," the guy said. "They're probably hot and bothered. They might need cheering up."
Joel's gaze flicked briefly in my direction. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Like you were cheering her up?"
The guy held up his hands, palm-out. "Hey, you're the one who left. Finders keepers, right?"
"Just try it," Joel said. "You find her again, you keep on walking."
Listening to this, I gave a snort of disbelief. "Oh, that's nice."
In that same tight voice, Joel said, "What?"
"Keep walking?" I repeated. "You know what? I was lucky he didn't keep walking, so stop giving him grief, okay?" I lifted my chin. "He was a perfect gentleman."
At this, the stranger burst out laughing. "Oh shit. There goes my reputation."
I didn't see the humor, and from the looks of it, neither did Joel. He gave the guy an annoyed look. "Don't you have someplace to be?"
"Sure," the guy said. "Just tell me where you dropped them."
I felt my brow wrinkle. Them? Meaning those two girls?
Joel gave me a sideways glance before muttering, "Denny's."
"Which one?" the guy asked. "The one on the Parkway?"
"Uh, yeah." Joel slid another glance in my direction. "I gave them a fifty. You know, for pancakes or whatever."
"Dude," the stranger said, "it wasn't pancakes they wanted. Sausage maybe. But pancakes? Nah, I don't think so." He was grinning again. "Lucky for them, I've got just the thing they need." He turned to me and said, "You gonna be alright?"
Joel's voice cut through the short distance. "If you wanna worry, worry about yourself."
"Yeah, yeah," the guy said. He turned and walked to the driver's side of Joel's car. He reached in past the open door, cut the engine, and turned off the headlights. When he finished, he turned back, tossed the car keys to Joel, and kept on walking, heading toward the other parking area.
Over his shoulder, he called back, "I wasn't kidding about the legs."
Chapter 7
The guy's words echoed across the darkened parking lot. I looked down toward my feet. Unless the guy was an ankle person, he had to be kidding. Even my shoes weren't terribly sexy – just basic black heels.
I turned and gave Joel a perplexed look. "Where's he going?"
"Why?" Joel said. "You wanna go with him?"
God, did he have to be so awful? "No. I'm just wondering. Like, does he have a ride?"
"Forget him. He can take care of himself."
Well, obviously.
But driving here, I'd passed the Denny's along the way. It was at least five miles down the road. I glanced at the guy's receding back. "But is he walking?"
"Yeah," Joel said, sounding irritated by the question. "To his truck."
I recalled the pickup that I'd seen near Joel's car in the other lot. Suddenly, everything made a lot more sense. The guy hadn't been following me. He'd been heading out to his own vehicle. And yet, he'd made a special effort to turn around and walk me back.
I heard myself say, "He's nice."
Joel made a scoffing sound. "Nice, huh?"
I recalled what an ass Joel had been earlier. "Nicer than you." I glanced away and murmured, "Tonight, anyway."
He stalked forward, closing the short distance between us. "Why are you here?"
I glared up at him. "I already told you, not that you wanted to listen. I came to tell you about Derek." I gave a small shrug. "And other things."
"Like what?"
Oh, so now he wanted to know? Funny, there were things that I wanted to know, too. I said, "So why'd you come back, anyway?"
"You don't know?"
"No," I snapped. "I don’t know."
He moved a fraction closer. "I came back because I shouldn't've left you here." He shoved a hand through his hair. "Fuck. If something had happened…"
"But it didn't." No thanks to you.
But I didn't say it, because I wasn't blind to the fact that I'd come out here on my own. If anything bad had happened, I had mostly myself to blame.
Joel's gaze hardened. "Yeah. And you've Cal to thank for that, huh?"
Yes. I did. That was, of course, assuming that he meant the guy who just left. But Cal wasn't the guy I loved. Joel was, even if he was being a total jerk at the moment.
Looking to move past this, I said, "So what is he? A friend of yours or something?"
"Why? You interested?"
"You kno
w what?" I said. "Never mind. Forget I asked."
Joel made a scoffing sound. "What? You want his number?"
"You mean his phone number?" I stared up at him. "Is that a serious question?"
He looked away, staring off at who-knows-what. After a long, tense moment, he gave a tight shrug that told me exactly nothing.
I studied his face in profile. He wasn't seriously offering me another guy's phone number, was he? Even now, I just couldn’t see that happening. But what if I was wrong?
What if he truly didn't care? If that was the case, I had to know. In a quiet voice, I asked, "If I did want his number, would you give it to me?"
He turned and gave me a long, cold look. "Hell, if that's what you want, I'll call him now." His lips formed a nasty smirk. "Maybe there's room for you at Denny's."
I rocked backward, almost like I'd been slapped. "You don't mean that."
"Hey, you do what you want. I'm not the boss of you."
No. He wasn't. But he'd never been such an asshole before. I almost didn't know what to say. A sound – a half-sob, half-scoff – escaped my lips. "Yeah. I guess you're not."
Under his hard gaze, I took a deep breath and stiffened my resolve. I did love him. Or at least, I loved the guy I thought he was. But the person in front of me was a stranger – a cold, hard stranger who obviously cared nothing for me or my feelings.
I looked to my car. I was still standing in front of it. But with just a few short strides, I could yank open the driver's side door – well as much as it could be yanked, with the van parked so close – and then, I could climb into the driver's seat and drive off, leaving all of this behind me.
My stomach clenched.
Leaving Joel behind me.
Forever?
It sure felt that way.
I was still looking toward my car door when Joel said, "You wanna go? I'm not stopping you."
His words sliced through me. If that wasn't a hint, I didn't know what was.
The way it looked, he'd only returned to make sure I wasn't dead in the parking lot. Maybe I should've been grateful, but I wasn't. Probably, all he wanted now was to get back to Rhonda and what's-her-name.
Screw this. Screw everything. I looked back to Joel and said, "You know what? Maybe there's room for you at Denny's."
His jaw tightened. "What?"
"Yeah. Because I'm not stopping you either."
"Yeah?" he said. "Well, good."
"Yeah, good. I hope you do go. And I hope you screw them silly." I was practically choking on my own words, but I kept on going. "And, I hope…" Damn it. What? "…I hope your privates fall off from whatever social disease they wanna give you." I wanted to cry. Maybe I was crying. I mumbled, "Assuming they haven't already."
And with that, I turned and stumbled into the narrow gap that separated my car from the van. He wanted me to go, huh? Well, I'd go, alright. And this time, I wouldn’t be looking back.
But just as I reached my car door, I felt a hand on my elbow. I whirled to see Joel staring down at me.
He said, "Is that what you really want?"
"Why?" I was shaking now. "Do you care?"
He looked at me for a long, awful moment before whispering a single word that changed everything. "Yes."
Chapter 8
Suddenly, I could hardly breathe. "What?"
We were standing so close, I swear I could feel the heat of his anger – or whatever it was – radiating off him like a physical force.
He moved his head closer to mine until our lips were almost touching. In a low, ragged voice, he said, "I care." His gaze grew intense. "Too fucking much."
The mental whiplash was almost impossible to bear. Against all logic, I had a sudden, stupid urge to throw myself into his arms and bury my face against his chest.
But why would I do that? He was the reason I was upset. Somehow, I managed to say, "But you were so awful."
"I know."
"But why?"
He gave me a look of pure anguish. "Because you shouldn’t be here."
"Why not?"
"You know why."
I shook my head. "No. I don't." I took a deep, shuddering breath. "I mean, I know that everything ended so terribly, but I never had the chance to explain."
In the back of my mind, I realized that technically, Joel was right. I shouldn’t be here. Derek, my ass-hat of a lawyer, had issued the ultimate threat. If I didn't get rid of Joel, he was going to make sure that Joel ended up in trouble one way or another.
But then, the day after Joel had left in such a horrible rush, I'd discovered something new, something that had propelled me on this desperate search.
Derek was determined to destroy Joel regardless. I knew this, because Derek had been dumb enough to brag about it all over town.
So now, here I was, hoping to explain and somehow, make it right. I'd also been hoping that together, Joel and I could come up with some sort of solution, and if there was any justice in this world, make a fresh start.
Or, at least, that had been my original plan, right up until Joel had ditched me for a couple of random hoochies. Even now, just thinking about it sent a fresh wave of pain straight through my heart. I had to be honest. "You hurt me."
"I know." His voice was almost too low to hear. "I was an asshole."
I waited for him to say he was sorry. And when he didn’t, I asked, "Was that supposed to be an apology?"
"No."
"So you're not sorry?"
"I am. But I'm not gonna say it."
"I don't get it," I said. "Why?"
"Because I don't want you to forgive me."
"Why not?"
"I already told you." His eyes were filled with regret. "Because you shouldn’t be here."
I gave a confused shake of my head. "So, you were trying to drive me away?"
He was quiet for a long moment before saying, "It's better than what I wanted to do."
"Which was…?"
His gaze dipped to my lips. "You don't wanna know."
Something about that look sent a bolt of heat straight to my core. He was so near, and yet so far off in the ways that counted. I wanted to be closer, but just in time, I recalled those girls.
I had to ask, "If I hadn't shown up tonight…" I paused and looked away. I almost couldn't say it.
His voice was softer now. "What?"
"Would've you left with them. I mean, really left with them?"
Slowly, he shook his head. "No. And you wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because they weren't you."
The words were exactly what I wanted to hear. And yet, I couldn't help but wonder how far that claim went. "But like in the past two weeks," I persisted, "what have you been doing?"
"Nothing."
I bit my lip. "Do I need to ask the other question?"
Again, he moved a fraction closer. "Who have I being doing? Is that what you wanna know?"
Suddenly, my lips felt very dry. "Maybe."
"You think you're that easy to forget?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "People have different ways of forgetting."
"Not me. Not since you. Now, you want an answer to that question?"
Silently, I nodded.
"Alright." His gaze locked onto mine. "No one."
Relief coursed through me, and I let out a long, unsteady breath.
Joel moved a fraction closer, and his voice became nearly a caress. "I wanna kiss you."
And just like that, my knees went almost too wobbly to stand. "What?"
His eyes searched mine. "But if you want me to leave, just say the word."
I blinked. "And you would?"
"The truth?" He hesitated. "I dunno."
It was funny. I felt the same way. Already, tonight had been roller coaster ride of emotions. Even now, not a single thing had been resolved. But he was so achingly close. And I did want that kiss.
Standing there, in that desolate parking lot, I realized something. A kiss wasn't the only thing
I wanted. Against any sense of self-preservation, I wanted to feel him inside me, right here, right now. I wanted proof that he still cared. And I wanted to believe that by some miracle, he was still mine and only mine.
In a breathless whisper, I confessed, "I don't want you to leave."
"Good." And with that, he lowered his head and gave me a kiss so intense, it sent my pulse jumping. As his mouth claimed my own, I sagged against him and gave a muffled moan of pure bliss as he wrapped me in his arms and pressed his body tight and hard against mine.
Through the haze of love and lust, I vaguely realized that my back was now pressed against my car door. I should've been cold. I should've been uncomfortable. I should've cared that we were outside, and that I was in a strange town with a guy who'd made me cry not too long ago.
But suddenly, none of that mattered. When his lips left mine, I couldn’t stop myself from whispering, "I missed you."
His hands were in my hair, and his lips were trailing tender kisses down my neck. "I missed you, too." His breathing was ragged, just like my own, even as he said, "I've been so fucking miserable. You have no idea."
Actually, I did. I'd been miserable, too. I'd been lost in sleepless nights and empty days. I'd been wandering the places we used to go, searching for some sign of him – or at the very least, a memory to keep me going for another day.
I was trembling, now. And maybe he was trembling, too. Into my hair, he whispered, "I love you." He clutched me tighter. "God, I love you so fucking much."
My breath caught. "You do? Still?"
"You've gotta ask?"
No. I didn't. I could hear it in his voice. I could feel it in his touch. And I swear, I could sense it crackling in the air around us, like a fire, refusing to be put out.
I almost wanted to cry, but this time, it wasn't with sadness. "I love you, too. I never stopped." I drew a nervous breath. "And Joel?"
"Yeah?"
"I want you." I swallowed. "And I mean right now."
Chapter 9
Suddenly, he became very still. He didn't breathe, and he didn't move. After a long, tense moment, he said, "No."
Something True (Joel Bishop Book 2) Page 3