Nine: A pINK Novel (A pINK Series Book 1)

by K. S. Thomas

  He grins. I officially hate him. “Nope. Only sniffing twenty year olds now, just like you told to me to.”

  “Good.” I nod to remind myself that it’s the right thing for him to be doing.

  “But just out of curiosity, how old do I have to get before I’m allowed to start sniffing you again?”

  Holy shit.

  Lucas

  Her eyes have a brazen look about them and for a moment I think she might slap me. Then, a rosy sweetness flushes her cheeks and I see a soft side of Olivia I didn’t think could possibly exist in that edgy exterior. Without thinking, my hand rises up to meet her face, and my thumb traces the skin below her cheekbone down to her jaw. It clenches under my touch and when I glance back up, her brown eyes are almost pitch black. Forget slapping me, this girl is about to throw a punch.

  “Sorry.” My hand drops to my side and I take a step back. And another. The chill coming off of her now may actually cause frostbite on various parts of my body and I feel an undeniable urge to cover my junk. I don’t, because that would be weird and inappropriate and I’m already on a roll there, but I’d like to.

  “Look, Lucas.” She sighs, but it’s strained. “I get that young guys going out with the slightly older, more experienced woman is all the rage right now, but whatever sex lessons you think you need to catch up on after spending your early twenties stranded in the dessert, you’re not going to get them from me.” Her fists come up to rest on her tiny waist and as pissed as she looks right now, she’s also about the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. Freeze rays and all.

  “Not that it’s relevant, but I’m not nearly as out of practice as you seem to think, and no, I’m not trying to make some sleazy move here. I get that you think it’s inappropriate, but I can’t help it. I like you.” I grin like an idiot. She makes me act like an idiot.

  “Well, stop it!” she snaps and brushes past me in a huff.

  If only it were that easy. “Why?”

  She freezes and hurries back in an instant, anxiously glancing around as if she’s scared someone might have heard me. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I’m nearly a decade older than you? Or, maybe because your mother and I are finally friends? Or, hey, how about the fact that I am raising a child who’s nearly your age? And let’s not forget the difference in social standing. You’ve seen where I live. My entire place could fit into your mother’s kitchen!”

  I nod, taking a step toward her. I can see her suck in a breath as I do. “Those are really stupid reasons.”

  Her cheeks flare red, but this time it’s not because she’s embarrassed. “You thinking that just proves my point. You’re still a kid, Lucas. Whatever it is you’re looking for here, I already found it ten years ago, and I can tell you, the shit wasn’t worth it.”

  She’s basically tied my hands now. Anything I say to contradict her will only make me sound like a petulant child, which is precisely what she wants. But I’m not going to give it to her. Not this time. I plan to give her what she wants plenty in the future, just as soon as she figures out that I’m able to. “You’re right.”

  She almost falls back, she’s so stunned. “What?”

  “I said, you’re right. I am younger than you, and all the other stuff you mentioned... also very solid reasons to drop this...whatever this is.”

  Her arms cross over her chest, tugging down her shirt just enough for me to notice a flash of color inked into her skin, and I instantly want to see more, want to know what she deemed beautiful enough to wear permanently on her already perfect body.

  “Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ looming, Lucas?”

  I smirk. “I was getting to that.”

  I lean in close until my mouth is lingering right beside her ear. I wait to see if she backs away again, but she doesn’t. “Your reasons are your reasons, and they obviously mean a lot to you, but if you really wanted me to back off, all you would have had to say is you’re not interested.” I straighten out just enough to look her in the eyes. They’re staring up at me with a slew of emotions dancing in them, and right at the forefront of them all is fear. Undeniable fear. It makes my breath catch in my throat.

  I watch her swallow hard before she whispers, “I’m not interested, Lucas.”

  Chapter Four

  Heartbreaker

  Hiding in the garage with half of my body hanging in the freezer, desperate for some relief, I call the only person I know capable of talking me out of this crisis.

  “I need help, but if you start talking about avocados and guacamole cravings again, I swear to God, I will leave this barbecue, pull you out of whatever family gathering your mother dragged you to this year, and punch you.”

  I can hear Sketch laugh on the other end, then several muffled words as she excuses herself from said family gathering to deal with me.

  “I take it you couldn’t get out of going to Pru’s for the fourth?”

  I whimper. “I really tried but Madi didn’t like the idea of frying up veggie burgers in the kitchen and having a picnic in the living room while we watch a Back to the Future marathon. I don’t know why. She used to love that.”

  “Yeah. When she was twelve. Doesn’t really sound to me like you tried all that hard to avoid going. Maybe you wanted to go spend the day with Pru’s hunky son after all.” Sketch chuckles. Her voice is so dark and deep, she sounds like a dude sometimes. When we were younger I used to make her pretend to be my jealous boyfriend when guys called that I no longer had any use for. I was horrible. I know.

  “Sketch, I spent five minutes talking to him in the hall, and I am literally standing in the freezer right now trying to solidify all the parts of me he turned into molten lava just by breathing near me. This shit just isn’t normal.”

  The panic in my voice is undeniable.

  “You need to calm the fuck down. And probably get laid.” Then she adds hastily, “But not today!” As if I need that clarified.

  “I wasn’t planning on it. Why do you think I’m calling you?” I pull a packet of frozen peas out and hold it to my chest. There. That definitely helps.

  “You’re totally serious right now. This kid is really getting to you.” It’s almost like she can’t wrap her brain around the concept. To be fair, I’m struggling with it too, and not just because he’s a toddler but because men don’t have this effect on me. Ever. Because I choose not to let them. And usually, this works for me. Why in the hell Lucas has powers that can override my strong-willed desire not to succumb to lust and sexual cravings, I don’t know, and I sure as hell don’t like it.

  “Can we not call him a kid? For like five minutes while I find a way to keep my body from actively seeking contact with his dick?”

  Her laughter fills my ear again. It’s really starting to piss me off. “I would think reminding you of his tender age would help.”

  “Well it doesn’t,” I grumble, eyeing the bag of peas on my boobs which I’m pretty sure are melted now. “It only makes me feel like a creepy pervert, and I’d really rather not.”

  “You’re not a creepy pervert. He’s twenty-fucking-five years old. He’s been a grown ass man for seven years already. If he were anyone else, you’d be busy undressing him with your eyes and saying some really dirty shit about him right about now, not freaking out about the way he soaks your panties and melts your insides with his swoon worthy breathing skills. Can we talk about that while we’re at it? How did his basic need for oxygen cause you to come this undone?”

  I cringe, remembering how close he was standing, and how good he smelled. Maybe it was my basic need for oxygen that really fucked me up. Next time, I’m not inhaling.

  “He was just standing way too damn close. There were muscles all up in my face. He smelled like the best possible thing you could ever wish to breathe in and his goddamned mouth got so close to my face, his scruff tickled my cheek. And...he said some stuff too. Stuff that I’m going to end up replaying in my head a million times over because I’m lonely and sex deprived
and the only men who ever hit on me are usually twenty years older, with full beards and guts the size of three watermelons.”

  “Until now.”

  “Fuck me.”

  “Did Lucas just walk in?” Her smugness is practically ear shattering.

  “Fuck you, too.”

  “Are you going to survive this barbecue or what?”

  I sigh. “Well, I’m not going to die if that’s what you’re asking.” The sound of an engine coming to life startles me. “Are you in the car?”

  “Obviously. Stay in the freezer. I’ll be there to pull you out in ten.” Then she hangs up. I follow her advice and stay put, only flipping myself over from time to time in order to cool the burning parts of me evenly.

  Thankfully, no one comes looking for me before Sketch slinks her way into the garage through the side door.

  “Good God, what are you wearing?” Clad in black from head to toe, wearing a turtleneck and skinny jeans paired with her usual combat boots, she looks even more ridiculous for Fourth of July than I do.

  “I was over at the country club when you called. Consider yourself lucky. This was going to be the year I was willing to subject even uptight Aunt Marie-Beth to all your work. Can you imagine the look on Ol’ Robbie’s face if I had shown up in something as revealing as a tank top?” She snickers. The image brings a smile to my face as well. As much as I have come to terms with Pru, I’ll never quite understand her attraction to him.

  “Country Club, huh? I thought after your parents’ anniversary party there you were banned for good.”

  She shrugs. “My mother went in there crying about how I was the only child she had left. When that didn’t work, she made a hefty donation to renovate some part of that stodgy place and the ban was lifted.”

  “Magic.”

  She smirks. “Yep.” She reaches out, pressing the back of her hand to my forehead. “I think it’s safe for you to step out of the freezer.”

  “Are you sure.” I lean my ass toward the chill one last time.

  “Your lips are turning blue, so yeah, pretty damn sure.” She tugs me by the arm and slams the freezer door shut behind me.

  “Wait!” I reach back, “I was supposed to be in here getting ice. I can’t go back out there without it now. How would that look?”

  Sketch snorts. “About as sane as showing up with it half an hour after you left will.”

  She’s got a point.

  Each of us carrying a bag of the frozen cubes, we find our way back through the house and out to the party. There’s considerably more people here now than there were when I left, and several of them are in the pool, Lucas included. Bastard.

  I watch Sketch scanning the area in search of the one among many attendees who’s the cause of my crisis. As soon as she spots him in the water, a wicked grin flashes over her face.

  “Well, your taste has improved since the last dude, I can tell you that much,” she mumbles out of the corner of her mouth.

  “Shut. Up.”

  Pru is already coming toward us, her usual welcoming smile directed at Sketch. She’s always had a ‘the more the merrier’ way about looking at things.

  “So that’s where you disappeared to! Stella, so good to see you.” Stella. I haven’t heard anyone call her that since...well, I guess since the last time we met Pru for coffee at The Percolator.

  “Hey, Pru. Hope you don’t mind me crashing your party.”

  “Never! Come on, come on. Let’s get that ice where it belongs before it melts.” She leads the way toward the bar. Her nephew Jordan is busy taking a personal interest in tending to everyone’s drinks, much to the frustration of the actual bartender. I’ve yet to decide whether Jordan is motivated by the prospect of meeting every woman on her way to getting liquored up, or is simply making a preemptive move to stay close to the booze himself. Hard to say really. Either way, I have to note that he’s older than Lucas and yet I’d still find the idea of him and me laughable. Of course, he could be any age and I’d still never find him attractive. He’s just not my type. At all. Probably because he looks just like Rob, which I guess begs the question, who the hell does Lucas take after?

  As soon as Jordan sets us up with two margaritas, Sketch and I are on our way again, Pru already having ditched us to go play hostess with another set of guests who walked in just as we were handing over the ice bags.

  “Well, I’m suddenly having a much clearer understanding of your predicament.” Sketch is staring right at him, and unlike me, she’s not making any efforts to hide it.

  I purposely stand with my back toward the pool. “Can we talk about something that isn’t going to make me want to run straight for the freezer again?”

  She smirks. “We can talk about whatever the hell you like. I don’t think the conversation’s going to be a problem as much as the view.”

  “Turn around. It’ll solve the problem.”

  She does but she’s grinning from ear to ear. “Not for long.”

  I’m about to ask her why when I can smell it. His damn cologne. Only now it’s mixed with the distinct scent of chlorine.

  “Glad to see you’re still here. I was starting to think maybe I scared you off.” The way his breath sweeps over the back of my neck sends a shower of shivers down my spine.

  I force myself to spin around, only it’s with so much gusto, I nearly land with my face on his perfectly bare chest.

  “I haven’t been scared of boys since I was in kindergarten and kicked Brandon Heller in the balls after he pulled my hair.”

  Sketch barely even tries to keep a straight face. “She still does that by the way.”

  Lucas grins. “I’ll keep that in mind. No hair pulling.”

  As if he’s not standing close enough as it is, he reaches right between us to grab a towel from the shelf behind us. Had I been more aware of my surroundings, I might have noticed I was blocking his path to being dry, and moved. Meanwhile, I was too busy assuming he was over here for me. Again. Talk about ego.

  I fight the urge to bury my face in my hands and instead keep them locked on Sketch. Or I try anyway. I fail because her eyes are glued to Lucas’s backside. I know this since mine automatically followed her gaze, and then dropped of their own accord when hers stayed up.

  “You ever think about getting that fixed?”

  I forcefully pry my eyes from the view they’re so enjoying to look up in time to be at more appropriate levels when Lucas turns to face us again.

  “Fix what?”

  Sketch points toward his shoulder. “That tat on your back; the way it’s distorted and missing in parts from the scarring. She could totally fix that for you.” She thumbs in my direction as she says it.

  Lucas nods thoughtfully. “I’ve thought about it.”

  “It’s part of a set,” I say, realizing I’ve seen it before. I covered one that looked just like it a while back.

  He stares back at me blankly, as if I’ve just announced I walk on the moon when I’m not standing around his mother’s house.

  “It is. My buddy and I got them at the same time. Night before I enlisted.”

  “Memphis. I know. I fixed his for him a couple of years ago.” I force the memory to the back of my mind. It means something different all of a sudden. Knowing Lucas had the other one, that he was the reason Memphis came to see me that night.

  A slow smile spreads over his face. My guess is some things are clicking for him right about now as well. It’s weird, how much we don’t know about each other’s lives when they’re so closely intertwined, but then Lucas made it a point to remain distant while he was gone. Pru complained about it all the time. If he wasn’t calling home to ask about any of them, he definitely wasn’t inquiring about my life.

  Sketch opens her mouth. She’s not done discussing Lucas and his destroyed tattoo yet, although I notice she’s not going anywhere near how Memphis ties us all together.

  “Seriously though. You should come by the shop. One of us is there all the time.”
<
br />   We exchange a glance, acknowledging the obvious. “Well, except for today.”

  With both of us having family obligations, I had no choice but to leave Princess in charge. This morning I thought that would be at the top of possible regrets by the end of the day. Now I’m thinking calling Sketch for help may wind up topping that.

  Lucas

  I reach out my hand to the woman clad in black who has just given me the golden ticket to one on one time with Olivia. “Good to see you again, by the way.”

  She shakes it and smirks. “Yeah. I bet.”

  Olivia shoots daggers at her, and I feel compelled to duck just to make sure I’m not in the line of fire. Sketch seems unfazed though. In fact, she doesn’t react to much of anything until Madi comes flying up behind her and wraps both arms around her neck.

  “Sketch! I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Surprise.” She waves her hands around in mock celebration.

  “Aunt Liv make you come?” Madi sends a pitiful glance in her aunt’s general direction. Olivia responds by remaining completely aloof as if this conversation isn’t even taking place.

  “Nah, she just saved me from Country Club hell.” Sketch turns her attention back on me. “Seriously, though. Come by the shop. We fix pieces like that a lot for veterans. And not that I imagine money’s much of an issue for you, but we do it for free.” She shrugs. “Our small way of saying thanks.”

  I nod. “I’ll definitely take you up on that.” I’m about to ask Liv when the best time would be to come by when I hear my dad call my name and turn to see what he wants. He’s waving me over to meet some seriously uptight looking couple in their fifties. I assume he deems them highly influential and just the sort of people who could pave the way for me in politics. He’s been shoving everything from old money to new business to congressmen and former Mayors down my throat all day, prepping me for that glorious moment when I show up to work at his office, ready to be the next elected prince in a long line of politicians. I’m on the fence still as to whether or not that moment will ever come. I’m not opposed to the idea of working for my country, supporting my community. I wouldn’t have joined the army if those ideals weren’t appealing to me, but this is different. This is business. Family business. And my father’s not so secret wish that I’ll someday welcome him in for family Thanksgiving dinner at the White House is nowhere near my list of aspirations.