“Hey, Jesse, need anything else?” Ledger asked him, standing behind the bar.
Jesse looked at Ledger and shook his head. “I’m good. Thanks.”
He stood up and pulled out his wallet to pay the check.
“Don’t take it personal that she won’t open up with you. Carina is like that with everyone but Antonia and maybe Amber sort of. They’ve been hanging out lately,” Ledger said to him.
He placed the money down and the tip.
“I don’t know what to do to get her to trust me,” Jesse said as Amber came by the bar and he noticed how Ledger immediately looked at her and then gave a small smile and wink. Amber quickly looked away.
Jesse leaned closer to the bar and smirked.
“Having the same problems with Amber?” he asked Ledger.
Ledger squinted his eyes at him.
“What do you mean?”
Jesse chuckled.
“Just an observation. Amber is really sweet.”
“She is,” Ledger said and looked back over toward the area Amber was working. Amber then headed down the hallway.
“Well, good luck. Talk to you soon,” Jesse said and then walked out of the Filling Station.
* * * *
“What happened?” Amber asked Carina as she prepared to leave for the day.
“What do you mean?” Carina asked, fixing her lip gloss and then placing it back into her purse before she placed the strap onto her shoulder.
“I mean with Jesse. He was here earlier. I saw him talking to you. Did you ask him about helping with that leaky faucet and the damaged cabinet in your kitchen?”
“Hell no. Why would I do that?” Carina asked her.
“Because we talked about it. You can’t go on living in that place just letting that kind of handyman work go undone. You’re asking for trouble. The wood under the sink will dry rot, it can go down to the floors, and then what? Your floors will start sinking.”
Carina rubbed her temples.
“I’ll go by the hardware store and ask if they can recommend someone. The thing is, the window over the sink may be leaking, too. I really need to contact the landlord.”
“Which is Milton, I believe. You can’t avoid them, you know. No matter how hard you try. I don’t get it either. You like them, but after what happened to Antonia, you got all freaked out and are making it obvious you’re pushing Jesse and his brothers away. What gives, honey?”
“That’s not true. They’re not my type, I’m not interested in dating anyone, and I’m staying away from the whole dating thing for a while anyway.”
“Sure you aren’t interested. You’re blowing them off. I know we talked a little bit about your fears. Don’t you think they deserve the chance to maybe help you?”
Carina didn’t respond.
“So you’re going to let your cottage fall apart and not call Milton, your landlord, for assistance? That’s ridiculous.”
“I’m going to see if I can get a recommendation at the hardware store. Or maybe ask Davie. He’s a contractor.”
“He stares at your breasts while you’re working.”
She couldn’t argue there.
“Why look for someone else when Milton and Jesse are more than capable of helping you and are your landlords?”
“I told you why, Amber. Please understand. I know you think that I should accept their guardianship, but it’s not possible. I don’t even know how long I’ll be living in Repose.”
“You like them. I see you staring at Jesse when he comes in here, which is like every day.”
“I need to go.”
“Hey, I know they’re intimidating, with all those muscles, and their sizes, but I hear they’re great men. Let Milton help you with the house.”
“I’ll see. I really need to get going. I want to try and make it back to the dojo.”
“Really? Are you sure the bruises are all healed?”
“I’ve waited long enough. See you in a couple of days. I’m off tomorrow.”
“Lucky you. Enjoy.”
* * * *
Antonia was gathering some things she needed for work tomorrow when Cesar came into the room. Fox was with him.
“Hey, what’s going on?” she asked.
“We need to talk,” Cesar said, standing there in uniform. She knew it was serious and she had a feeling that he found out about her helping Carina with the car insurance.
“Sure thing, what’s going on?”
Cesar looked at Fox, who had his arms crossed in front of his chest and held Antonia’s gaze. She knew that look. He meant business. Oh, brother.
“It’s about Carina.” She swallowed hard.
“There are some things that have me concerned. I also get the feeling that you and her are close and she maybe confided in you about her life, and perhaps something she’s going through.”
She looked away from them. “She’s fine. Everything is going to work out fine.”
“Honey, she was driving a car not registered in her name, or insured in her name, and not even the same last name she has. Jack looked it up and it belongs to an older woman in Missouri.”
“I thought when we talked earlier today that you said Jack hadn’t looked up the information. Why would you let him do that? What if someone finds out you looked and they come here looking for her?”
“Who is looking for her, Antonia?” Fox asked her.
She shook her head.
“I can’t. I made a promise to her.”
“If she’s in trouble then you need to let us and her guardians handle it.”
“It’s okay. It was her grandmother’s car and insurance information. Can’t he retract that investigation? Make it disappear?”
“No, that’s not legal. She could get into a lot of trouble for that.”
Her eyes widened.
“She isn’t doing anything wrong. Besides, it will be fixed now.”
“How so, by you taking ownership of the vehicle and putting her under your name?” Fox asked.
“Yes.”
“Honey, if she’s in trouble or running from something, I need to know.”
She shook her head.
“No, you don’t need to know.”
“Excuse me?” Cesar said to her in that strong tone of his.
“I can’t, Cesar. It’s her life and her decisions.”
“Baby, we can protect her. She has guardians.”
Antonia shook her head. “She won’t accept the Cortland men as her guardians, as anything. She’s just trying to move on and start a new life in Repose. I’m helping her with the insurance thing.”
“She didn’t go back to see Nevin either and when he talked to her yesterday he felt like she was lying and scared of him,” Fox added.
“She’s all healed up and fine.”
“He wants to make certain. He feels maybe he should have made us take her to the hospital that day,” Cesar said.
“She wouldn’t have gone, no matter what her injuries were, unless she was forced to.”
“Why?” Fox asked.
She stared at him, not wanting to lie but wanting to remain loyal to her best friend.
“Think about it, Fox, and you tell me what you think. If she was trying to get away from someplace or some people, what would be the smart thing to do?” She looked at Cesar.
“Avoid anything that would place her name into a public computer system. Shit,” Fox said.
“Damn it, Antonia. I don’t like this.” Cesar raised his voice.
“I asked her to talk to you. It’s all I can do right now.”
“Is she in danger?” Cesar asked very seriously and she knew she couldn’t lie to him or minimize her fears for her friend.
“Possibly.”
Cesar bit the inside of his cheek and looked at Fox.
“Do what you can to get her to come to me and share what’s going on. Look what happened to you. If someone from her past is after her, then it could end worse. I won’t let that happen. In Repose w
e protect our own. Carina is one of us now. You tell her that, and that I expect her to come see me in the next two days. That’s an order, not a request.”
* * * *
The rain was coming down hard and Milton was looking out the window, wondering if anyone would show up for the class he was teaching. Damon finished up in the class beforehand and the other men were heading out of the last one on hand-to-hand combat with weapons instruction. A bunch of jarheads out of the military base not far from town.
As they slowly started exiting the class, he caught sight of a woman pedaling hard on a bike. Long, tan legs, platinum blonde hair.
“Holy shit,” Milton said aloud, realizing it was Carina.
He hurried to the door as she parked the bike under the awning of the storefront and squeezed out her hair.
“What in God’s name are you doing on a bike?” he scolded.
She gasped, turned around to face him, and holy shit, did she look fucking incredible. Lightning struck and she jumped, causing her breasts to bounce and, damn it to hell, her top was so wet and tight he could see how hard her nipples were, how huge her breasts were.
He snapped out of his shock and opened the door wider.
“Get inside, it’s picking up,” he stated and she ran inside, the wind blowing and rain getting onto the floor in the entryway.
“It started out of nowhere. I thought for sure I would have made it here,” she told him, leaning over and squeezing out her hair.
The sound of male voices filled the entryway and then came the low whistles and, of course, guys looking her over and flirting.
“Carina, how did you get here? I thought the car was still in the shop?” Damon asked, pushing by the men gawking at her.
“I rode my bike.”
“Your bike? That’s over ten miles from Repose,” Damon stated angrily.
Milton was pretty angry, too, especially at the jarheads staring at her the way they were.
“Well, you’ll need a ride back home, honey. We’ll give ya one,” Tony, one of the soldiers who took the class with Damon, offered.
“I’ll be fine, Tony. Thank you,” she said and moved a little closer to Milton. It shocked him. Especially because right now he probably looked like he could bite someone’s head off and spit it right out.
“Are Mateo and Leif still doing the class?” she asked him.
“No. I am,” Milton said.
“I can stick around if she needs a ride,” one of the others added.
“Shit, I have to get into work,” Damon said and looked at her and then Milton.
“I’ll get her home. Don’t worry about it, Damon,” Milton said and then stared at that guy Tony and his buddies.
Tony stepped closer to her, reached out, and touched her collarbone. “The bruises healing from the accident?” he asked, sounding like he cared. She looked a bit taken aback by Tony touching her, but she seemed to know him, probably from the Filling Station. Hell, guys went in there all the time to check her and some of the other single waitresses. It pissed him off.
“Yes, thanks for asking, Tony. By the way, that turkey special you like that Dominick makes is on the menu for Friday night.”
“Great. We’re all heading there Friday. I heard that Brooklyn was bringing in a small band to play Friday and Saturday night?”
“Yes, and I think during the day for a lunch crowd. Some people have been asking for months and she thought it may be a nice added touch to the place.”
“There’s nothing like live music. Maybe some dancing. You’ll save a dance for me, right, doll?” one of the others asked and they all chuckled.
“If she was going to dance with anyone it would be me,” Tony said and winked.
“I’ll be working, but I’m certain there’ll be plenty of single women looking to dance with any of you.”
“The class starts in a few minutes,” Milton barked, getting annoyed with the flirting despite how Carina was blowing the men off. Thank God, or he might say something he could regret. It was becoming difficult to hold back around Carina.
“I guess we’ll head out. Nice seeing you again, Carina. Hopefully we’ll see you real soon,” Tony said and eyed her body.
She turned from his gaze and stepped further behind Milton.
Milton immediately got his defenses up and stepped in front of her so he was completely blocking her from their views.
“We’ll see her again at the Filling Station. She can count on it,” one of the others added.
“She’s not available,” Milton said, straight-faced, and he heard the mumbled words as they exited the building.
Damon gave him a serious expression and Milton raised his eyebrows up in response.
“Thanks for taking care of her. I’ll see you Thursday. Later, Carina.”
She waved bye and then Damon headed outside and ran to his truck.
Milton walked over to the door and locked it, and then he turned to look at her.
“You didn’t need to lie. They wouldn’t have bothered me again.”
He looked at her from head to toe. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You don’t think so?”
She uncrossed her arms and stared up at him, her hair still dripping, her nipples very hard and poking against the tight, light blue T-shirt she wore.
She looked away from him.
“Where is everyone for the next class?” she asked, changing the subject.
“It looks like everyone else was smart enough not to venture into a major rain storm but you.”
“Well, if you don’t want to do the class then maybe I can stop Tony to ask for a ride back, then.” She went to walk toward the door and he grabbed her hand. She froze in place.
“Not happening, Carina,” he said firmly and she looked scared, but also aroused as her nipples hardened and she placed her other arm over her chest in an attempt to hide the reaction.
She stared up at him and pulled her hand free. He wasn’t holding it tight. She was petite and delicate. He liked that about her despite feeling like he could break her if he squeezed her too tight.
“If this is about the whole guardianship thing, I told your brothers it isn’t necessary. I decline.”
“Good luck with that,” he said and started heading toward the main room where he usually conducted the self-defense training.
She followed.
* * * *
Carina stared at Milton as he started talking to her about positioning and starting off with basic counter moves. It was a first class that would progress into further instruction. She absorbed the sight of him. He was about six-foot-three, over two hundred pounds of thick, hard muscles. He wore a black T-shirt that not only showed off mega huge biceps but also tattoos.
She learned pretty quickly that he was fierce and serious when he was instructing. She was glad for his professionalism, and after a few awkward moments of him touching her, she got over it. What stood out most about him touching her was once again his size and how he didn’t even grab her wrist with his hand. He grabbed it with thumb and pointer and was able to grip it tight enough that she couldn’t move. It reminded her that, despite any training she did like this, she more than likely wouldn’t be able to defend herself. She lost focus and Milton had her on the ground once again.
“You’re not focusing. You were doing well but then lost it. What’s wrong?” he asked, in that tone that was not nice or gentle like Nevin’s or Jesse’s. She shook the comparison away. It wasn’t worth the thought.
She exhaled and sat up. He moved to the side and stared at her.
“Is this stupid for me to even bother with?”
His eyes widened.
“What I mean, is that could I use any of this if I had to? Would I make a difference? I’m petite and I mean, look how big you are. You’re using your pointer and thumb to grab my wrist, not even your full hand, and I can’t escape.”
He stared at her, licked his lower lip and then reached out and took her wrist. He held it with finger
and thumb wrapped around it. She did have small wrists. She was petite, and he was extra large. Why was she feeling so defeated?
“I didn’t want to accidentally bruise your wrist while practicing. This is definitely worth it. Not because you may or may not be able to defeat your attacker, but because you can buy yourself time to call out for help, to run, to grab for a weapon, to catch them off guard and give yourself a fighting chance.”
She stared at him. He was something else. A total, full-package hottie. She pulled her hand gently and he released it and stood up. He reached down, offering her his hand, and she took it. When he pulled her up, she lost her balance and wound up against him. He immediately pulled her close even when she tried to step back.
“Listen, baby, it’s a lot to take in. That’s why these classes go on and on. You have to master each thing, find your comfort zone, and go after what you want.”
She felt his hand at her lower back, nearly to her ass. She wished she could feel just one finger stroke over the cheek and then she damned the thought. She promised herself not to get involved with them. She was making these changes and needed to stick to her plan.
The damn man gave her palpitations. The thick muscles, that dark, firm expression and look in his eyes, and even the scruff along his chin was badass. A man like him could protect her. She tightened up. A man like him could do her major harm, too.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll keep trying and maybe a few key moves will stick.”
She pressed away and he released her. “The kickboxing class you were taking is still a good idea. That in itself can assist if someone ever tried to attack you.”
“I liked those classes. I was still a bit sore on my chest and shoulder, though.”
“How are they healing?” he asked her.
She pushed her shirt down slightly to show him the nasty discoloration, which he seemed not to fully react to. She was certain the man probably saw worse as a soldier. She swallowed hard. She wondered how resourceful Milton was.
The Battlefield Series 3: Trusting Love (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 4