He smiled and turned. Lindsay must have come in through the front. “Did she bring a cake?” Of course Lindsay would do something as sweet as bringing a birthday cake.
“We have cake?” Ivan tilted his head.
His smile melted. “Lindsay didn’t bring a cake?”
“I was joking. Lindsay’s AWOL.” He frowned. “This is your fault.”
He turned from Ivan. “You created the original sin by interrupting us.”
“I didn’t feel up another girl and yell at her.” Ivan circled to face him.
“I asked her out.” He stomped his foot. “I wanted to make an honest woman out of her and …” In unison they said, “She said she would have to think about it.”
Shane crossed his arms.
“You’re not exactly her usual type.” Ivan walked away.
“She’s not my usual type either.” He followed Ivan inside. He was supposed to have his arm around Lindsay and be showing her off at the party while they waited in anticipation for their date. “This sucks.”
“Look, there are some newbies here tonight.” Ivan pointed to a few girls. “They’re checking us out.”
“We’re hard to miss.” Not in the mood for a newbie, he went over to the bar for fortification. “Just easy to ignore.”
Ivan grabbed his arm. “Come on man, let’s have some fun. It’s my birthday.”
“Isn’t that like your national holiday?” Dillon lifted a cup and studied the inside.
Shane exhaled. “Get out of my shop.”
“Aww, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I’m just missing something.” Shane took a sip of the beer and scowled.
“He’s pissed ‘cause Lindsay’s not here.” Carson offered.
“She has a real job.” Dillon smiled and leaned over to Carson. “She told me all about it at breakfast.”
“What?” Shane scratched his nails down the side of his Mohawk. Dillon and Lindsay went to breakfast? Didn’t he specifically say to call him?
“Maybe she’s finally making friends of her own species and forgot about your little get together.”
Before Shane could react with calculated violence, Emily slapped Dillon’s shoulder. “Then why are you here?”
“Brat.” Dillon went to hit her back but Shane grabbed his sister, pulling her back.
“Touch her and you’ll regret it.”
Dillon raised his hands and backed up. “The walk on the wild side isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. At least Lindsay learned quickly.” He walked away.
If anyone could kill him with words, Dillon could. Lindsay didn’t text after she said she would, and if he looked clearly and not through baby blue colored glasses, he could read the writing on the wall.
Emily shook Shane’s arm. “Did you try calling her?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Behind his sister, the party goers were having fun. He needed to stay in his world. What was he thinking?
“Yes it does.” Emily tightened a grip on his arm.
“I’ve called, texted, emailed and sent her mental telepathy.” He shrugged. “I really thought the mental telepathy would work.” It seemed he’d tried contacting her one too many times, so she probably figured he was insane.
Emily bit her lip and thought a moment. “Don’t you find it odd that she didn’t respond at all?”
“What do you mean?”
“Has she ever not called you back?”
He thought so hard he could hardly blink or move.
“Hello.” Emily waved her hand in front of his face. “If she was blowing you off wouldn’t she have said she had a meeting or something?”
“That would make sense.” Not wanting an explanation he leaned down to his sister. “She went out to breakfast with Dillon!”
“So, he probably forced her, you know him.” She playfully kicked his leg. “Did she say she’d be here?”
“Yes.” He rubbed his shin.
“What did you say to her last time you talked?”
“I told her we had to talk.”
“Shane!” Emily’s face turned stark white and she brought out her phone.
“What?”
Emily dialed. “If you said you had to talk, nothing would keep her from coming. Girls can’t take it. We need to know.”
“I don’t understand.” Worry crept up into his gut.
“Of course not.” She put the phone to her ear and pointed to his crotch. “That thing keeps you stupid. When a guy tells a girl he needs to talk, only lying in a pool of her own blood would keep her from showing. We can’t stand it when you guys do that to us. I hate you all.”
The tight feeling in his stomach turned into a writhing twist.
“It went right to voicemail.” She frowned.
“Do you think she’s all right?” The picture of Lindsay living it up with her work friends at some high class Beverly Hills bar faded, quickly replaced with the image of car issues that included a pool of Lindsay’s blood. “Or do you think she blew me off?”
“After what you said, she would have been here, called, texted, or contacted you with mental telepathy.” She took a breath. “Or at least she’d have called Ivan, ‘cause it’s his birthday.”
“Oh man! Shit.” He grabbed his car keys. He had to find her. “I’ll call you later. Thanks.” He darted out of the shop’s back door.
Shane made a beeline for his car and stopped. Cars filled the lot, blocking him in. “Damn it.” It would take forever to extract his car and he rushed back in, slipped behind the bar and found the key box.
“What are you doing?” Emily bent down with him.
He dumped the key box out on the floor. “My car is trapped.” He found what he was after and ran back out. “Tell Ivan I have his bike.”
“You don’t know how to ride a motorcycle.” Emily called after him. “Stay off the main streets!”
He got on Ivan’s bike, wincing when his Mohawk crinkled beneath the helmet. It took a second, but he successfully found the place for the key and after three tries got the bike started. Carefully, he pulled out of the parking lot.
Doing his best to keep the bike steady, he rode to the apartment. He doubted she’d be there, but it was on the way to her office. He rode mostly on residential streets and back roads, wondering why Ivan or anyone liked riding a bike? There was no sense of freedom. He felt exposed and likely to get run over.
The ride seemed to take a day longer than forever. When he spied her car parked in her spot he practically fell off the bike. Was he relieved or not?
He ran up the stairs and put his ear to the door. He heard the television and knocked. “Lindsay!”
No one answered.
He ran his hand through his hair and tried again. “Lindsay!” With still no answer, he pounded on the door. “Lindsay, open up, it’s me.” He had to either confront her or save her, so he backed up and prepared to kick in her door for the second time since they’d met.
“I should have her key.” He took a breath and charged, closing his eyes just before contact.
“Shane.” Lindsay opened the door.
He ran past her into the apartment, skidded to a stop and turned on his heel, primed to start yelling when he got a look at her. “What happened to you?” Pale skin, messy hair, a crumpled suit and sunken teary eyes greeted him.
Before she could answer, she covered her mouth and dashed away.
He followed her through her bedroom to her bathroom, grimacing when she dropped to her knees and vomited into the toilet. “Oh man.” The tang in the air told him it wasn’t the first time. “Linds?”
She tried to wave him away.
He knelt beside her. “What happened?”
She heaved again, took a breath and managed to get out a word. “Sushi.”
“You got sick on sushi?”
“No I had the sandwich, not the sushi.” She got that out before another round hit her.
“You didn’t have sushi?” He gathered her hair and held it out of harm
’s way.
She shook her head.
“That’s my girl.” At least she hadn’t cheated and had sushi without him.
“Everyone else had it, I had the sandwich.”
“Well, I’m glad you don’t live your life doing what everyone else wants you to do.”
She glanced at him.
He pulled a handful of toilet paper and wiped her mouth. “When you want sushi, we’ll get it at the right place. It’s not meant to be eaten in a board room.”
She tried nodding, but lurched and gagged again.
Shane tenderly rubbed her back. “Try to take a breath.”
She held onto the toilet. “You really don’t have to do this.”
“I’m a pro. You wouldn’t believe how many guys blow chunks when you’re tattooing them.” He laughed. “That’s why we have those big buckets at everyone’s station.”
“Oh God.”
As a couple of tears roll down her cheeks, he hated to admit he was relieved by the reason she was a no show. While she threw up again, he wet a towel and put his arm around her. “It’s okay, I’m here now.” Swooping in and rescuing her was quickly becoming his favorite pastime.
She rinsed her mouth with mouthwash, leaned back against him and sighed his name. “Shane.”
He fought a smile and rested against the wall with her in his arms. Everything he wanted was right here. He took the cool towel and wiped her brow, enjoying the way she sighed again. “Is that better?”
She closed her eyes and nodded. “Sorry I missed the party. I tried to get there.”
“It wasn’t that great.” He left out the part about why the shindig sucked.
“You don’t have to stay with me.”
“There’s so much excitement here, how could I leave?” He waited and hoped she’d address the issue at hand.
“Shane?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t feel good.”
“I know. Why didn’t you call me?”
“My phone disappeared.”
He exhaled and looked down at the top of her head. “Did you want to call me?”
“Yes.” She curled up against him, resting her head on his chest. “So bad.”
“Really?” He needed to ask one more time.
“You don’t even know.” She wrapped her arm around him.
He smiled, ran his fingertips across her cool, damp arm then pulled her in tighter. “I’m glad we had our talk.”
“Me too.”
It was the answer to his ultimate question. She relaxed and her body melded into his. Her fingers lightly touched his shirt while her breath tickled his neck. He squirmed to keep himself in control. He was here for a rescue, not for anything else … yet.
“Shane?” She curled her knees up.
“Lindsay.” His body clearly decided to take on a life of its own.
She moaned.
“Just relax, baby.” He combed his fingers through her hair and glanced around. “Your bathroom is really clean.” When she didn’t answer he leaned over, smiling as she drifted off in his arms. He took a moment to study her face. Pretty? Beautiful? Those words didn’t accurately describe her, but her paled skin made her appear more fragile than usual.
Not wanting the light glaring in her face, he reached up and flipped it off. “Well, I’ve spent the night in worse places.” In his mind they’d had their talk and she’d agreed to their date, so the night rocked.
*~*~*
Aside from the fact Lindsay was pretty sure that she spent the night chewing on chalk, she woke up warm and comfortable. Her mattress never felt so nice. Even better, her blankets held on to her, encompassing and protecting her.
She smiled and hugged her pillow then realized it was not a pillow, but a man’s chest. Her hands roamed across the soft t-shirt fabric and her heart sped up when she reached up to find a chin covered with the perfect amount of stubble. “Shane?”
He yawned and laid his palm on her face. “How are you feeling?”
“You stayed with me when I got sick.” The night flooded back. “You found me.”
“Yeah, you were not good. I’m glad I went with my instinct and came looking for you.”
With her mind clearing, she focused on him. She could clearly see his outline in the darkened room and all she wanted was to touch him. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“That’s what you think.”
“But what happened to the party?”
“It started the minute I held your hair back.” He brushed her bangs away from her forehead.
“Why do you do these things?” She whispered.
“I think you know why.” He traced his fingers down her hair to her shoulder. “I told you, I take care of you.”
Her breath caught. “Why?” She willed him to put something in her ledger that would tell her what to do.
His voice lowered. “Because it’s you.”
On the floor of her bathroom in Shane’s lap, she felt like a piece of fine artwork, priceless, precious, and one of a kind. In search for the answers she desperately needed, she moved her face closer to his. However, with their lips less than an inch from his and her pulse pounding in her ears, her mental ledger, her questions, and everything else disappeared. There was only her and Shane, and she leaned into him.
He took hold of her chin. “Don’t stop.”
Without question she followed his command and joined their lips together. A rush of warmth, need and fear flooded her. Not sure what to do next, she held on to him, loving how he tightened his arms around her and took over.
He stroked his long artist’s fingers down her neck and brushed his lips against hers then continued his artwork by slowly opening his mouth. With her eyes tightly shut, she actually saw a swirl of vivid colors when he finally caressed his tongue along hers. She balled his shirt in her fist.
His taste was incredible and unexpectedly delicious. Whenever his tongue left hers, she searched him out, trying to satiate her hunger.
Shane moaned and lifted his knees drawing her to him, deepening his kiss and adding more details and depth to his masterpiece.
Every place he touched became sensitized and she trembled, unsure if she was boiling over or freezing cold. She wanted to be Shane’s artistic muse. She never expected kissing to be so grand, and though she didn’t want to stop, her chest tightened and she pushed back. “Shane.”
His lips touched hers when she spoke.
He closed the small distance between them and kissed her again, this time with his hand on her breast.
His thumb traveled across the mound and when he came in contact with her hard peak, she jumped. “Oh.”
“Yes, baby.” He moved his mouth down to her neck and pushed her down harder into his lap.
She arched her back and bit her lip as he expertly kneaded her breast, and the obvious evidence of his arousal rose beneath her. “Oh God.”
“Linds.” He continued to create a need in her that only he could satiate. “It’s okay, baby.” Then out of nowhere, he ended the magic with a light kiss on the lips. He hugged her and pressed her head underneath his chin. “It’s okay.”
She listened to his heart beat under her ear and held on tight. If he kept going, she’d have never stopped him. She would have done anything, and when he realized he didn’t want her, he would fade like the colors he created on people’s skin. She wanted him, but she couldn’t allow it. One day he would find out who she really was and leave. It was the pattern she couldn’t allow herself to repeat. The only entry she could add to her ledger was she’d made a huge mistake.
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m going to puke.” Ivan leaned over Shane and heaved.
“I had enough of that last night.” Shane chuckled and resumed his drawing.
“Oh yeah, my party. Did you have a good time?” Ivan strummed his fingers on the table.
“I had a great time.” He dropped his marker and slammed his hand down on top of Ivan’s.
“Do you k
now that’s the first birthday of mine you’ve missed in fifteen years?”
“Trust me when I tell you it was for a good cause.” He resumed his drawing and smiled at the memory of Lindsay in his lap while they kissed. He loved that she made the first move. He loved her innocence, like it was all new to her. That morning when he drove her to work and kissed her goodbye, she blushed. He shifted in his seat. Every time he thought about it, his lower half seemed to take on a life of its own.
Ivan snatched the pen from his hand and grabbed the paper. “What the hell is this?”
“A tattoo.” Shane took it back.
“That is a heart.” Ivan pointed at it like it was poison. “The last time you voluntarily drew a heart, it was because Hugh said if you did, he’d tattoo it on his ass.”
He grinned. “It looks great there. I love the doves and ribbons I added.”
“What’s this one for?” Ivan tapped him.
“Inspiration.”
Ivan grabbed Shane’s t-shirt and got in his face. “Did you do her last night?”
“What?” He put his hand to his chest. “What kind of man do you take me for?”
Ivan narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t think Lindsay’s that kind of girl, but we had some awesome lip locks.”
Ivan loosened his grip. “So you guys talked?”
Shane nodded. “We surely did.”
“And she accepted your invite.”
“Yep.”
“What did she say?”
Wanting to tell Ivan every detail, he looked up at his ceiling and tapped his fingertips against his chin trying to remember her exact words. “She wanted to call me.” He shut his eyes. “We talked.”
“She wanted to call you to say yes?”
“She didn’t exactly say anything about that.”
“You said you talked.”
“Shut up.” His heart sped up and he thrust up from his chair. “It was implied.”
Ivan crossed his arms. “Implied?”
The euphoria wore off like a pain pill and a dull ache began.
“After she told you she needed to think about it and made you wait three days, she implied she wanted to go out with you.”
He ground his teeth. She never said anything about the date. Upon further reflection, maybe her little blushes and shyness was actually her attempt to make a clean get away. He looked up to the ceiling and held his arms out.
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