by Leah Brooke
Or the gut-wrenching hurt.
I need Dillon.
He’d been only a step or two behind Dillon when he’d heard her pain-filled plea. Seeing that she didn’t need him right them, he kept walking, avoiding the pity in Erin’s eyes, and concentrated on the furious and obviously disheveled man Linc led toward his car.
Curses poured out of the other man.
“I’m not going to jail for that bitch!”
Linc nodded once. “Oh, yeah, buddy. You are.”
“She attacked me! It was self-defense!”
Ryder knew, without a doubt, the identity of this man. He also knew, with as much conviction, that this was all his fault.
He knew damned well how he found her. Ryder had let his temper get the better of him and told him exactly where she was.
Clenching his fists at his sides, he strode to stand toe-to-toe with Danny Peller.
Shaking off Jared’s attempts to restrain him, Ryder got right in Danny’s face. “You were supposed to come after me, you son of a bitch. Not her. Take the cuffs off of him, Linc.”
Linc shook his head and moved to put his body between them.
“No, Ryder. If you hit him, I swear to God I’m going to lock you up. I don’t want him beating this wrap because of your fucking temper.”
Danny puffed his chest out. “You think you could take me, grease monkey? Not a chance.”
Ryder could see Dillon tending to Alison, holding her against his chest as he rubbed the tight knots from her back. No, he wouldn’t let his temper get the best of him and let this guy go free. But it cost him, dearly, not to swing.
Shaking off Jared’s hand again, he didn’t bother to hide his anger.
“You telling me that she attacked you?”
“Damned right she did!”
Ryder didn’t like the way Danny kept glancing in Alison’s direction and moved to block his view of her.
“So a little thing like that can scare you enough that you had to hit her to get away? Hell, no wonder you didn’t come after me if little Ally could take you. Why did you come here then?”
Danny fought against Linc’s hold. “You piece of shit. I could take you anytime I wanted to. I came here because she’s got to tell the truth. She lied and is going to testify against me for hitting her. It was self-defense and she’s going to admit it!”
Ryder started laughing, a cold laugh, calculated to infuriate the other man. “Oh, hell. This is priceless. So she beat the hell out of you before? I’m surprised you didn’t come with a posse. So, you’re scared of Ally, huh? No wonder you had to confront her in broad daylight. You chickenshit. You’re not worth her time. Or mine.”
Ryder started to turn away, counting on Danny’s anger to get the best of him.
Like his had.
Danny kicked out at him, almost falling from the force of it. “You fucking bastard. You don’t know anything about it. She came at me with a knife! Now they’re going to try to send me to jail. She’s gonna tell the truth. I’ve got witnesses.”
Ryder didn’t believe for one minute that Alison went after this guy with a knife, and without jeopardizing Linc’s case against him, he couldn’t beat the truth out of him. Having had a bad temper his entire life, he knew how the other man thought and was determined to use the other man’s temper against him.
He met Jared’s eyes briefly. Having been in more than his fair share of bar fights around his friend, he knew Jared had braced himself to stop him if he threw a punch. A look of understanding, one born of long friendship, passed between them, and Jared nodded once, the look on his face never changing.
Turning back to Danny, Ryder folded his arms over his chest. “Yeah, well, you’re going to lose. Ally’s temper isn’t to be trifled with. She’s tough, isn’t she?”
Danny lifted his chin. “She ain’t so tough. Maybe you think she is because you can’t handle her. Yeah, that’s right. I saw that both you and your friend over there have the hots for her. Can’t handle her on your own, can you?”
Aware that Jared tensed beside him and Reese came up to stand at his other side, Ryder shrugged. “Like I said, she’s a hell of a woman.”
“She ain’t nothin’. She used to be a hell of a woman until she started gettin’ all needy and clingy. Tryin’ to tell me not to fuck other women. Who the fuck does she think she is? I fuck who I want to fuck.”
Ryder forced himself to laugh when all he wanted to do was plow a fist into this guy’s face and rush to Ally.
“Apparently not. She scared you, didn’t she? I read the police report. It said you weren’t there when the ambulance got there. What did you do, run and hide afterward?”
As expected, Danny fought Linc’s hold again. “You fucking asshole. If I wasn’t in cuffs, I’d kick your ass. I don’t run and hide from nobody.”
Linc cursed a blue streak. “Ryder, you’re paying for this later.”
Ryder grinned and leaned back against the police car. “You’re so full of shit. You’re scared of her. What did you do, follow her around town and hide around the side of the building, waiting for her to come out?”
“Fucking bastard! I don’t need to hide from anybody. I hurt her before, and I’ll do it again. I wish she’d died when I threw her down those stairs!”
Ryder hadn’t thought it possible to get any madder, but his anger grew to outrageous proportions and turned ice cold.
“You really are scared of her. Tell me, chickenshit, how scared were you when you threw her down the stairs? Tell the truth. You were more scared of her than you were of going to jail. Scared of a woman. He turned to Jared. Can you believe that? Do you know any man in Desire scared of his woman?”
Jared shot a glance at Erin, who dealt with the crowd gathered around with the brass and efficiency of a general. Amusement flashed in his eyes when he met Ryder’s gaze, but it disappeared before he faced Danny.
“Nope. Can’t say that I do.”
Danny struggled furiously against Linc’s hold. “I ain’t scared of her. I ain’t scared of no woman. I wasn’t scared when I threw her down the fucking stairs. I was mad. Fucking bitch tryin’ to tell me who I can fuck in my own bed.” Danny sneered, looking in Ally’s direction. “I’m not like you. I can handle a woman by myself. I don’t need no help. Get these fucking cuffs off me right now!”
Linc had obviously had enough of playing with this guy. Firming his hold, he lifted Danny until he practically had to stand on his toes. When Jared opened the car door, Linc muscled a still-cursing Danny inside and shut the door.
“I take it you got what you wanted?”
Ryder nodded. “Yeah. Thanks. I owe you one.”
Linc shook his head and smiled. “I don’t think he realizes that police cars have cameras that record video and audio. Ace just got them installed, too, not six months ago. After this, he’ll consider it money well spent.”
Jared scrubbed a hand over his face and eyed Ryder. “I would have bet big money that you would have hit him.”
Taking a deep breath, Ryder let it out slowly. “My temper’s what got her into this. If he hadn’t been in cuffs, I would have hit him and probably wouldn’t have stopped.” He nodded in Ally’s direction. “She got hurt because I told him where she was. I wanted him to come after me.”
Linc opened the front door of the car and took out a clipboard. “I need Alison’s statement.”
Holding his hands out in front of him, Ryder fisted and straightened his hands, working the kinks out of them from being tightened into fists for so long.
“Talk to Dillon.”
“Don’t.”
Reese moved to stand in front of him. “I heard her. She wanted Dillon. Don’t let that cause distance between you. I’ve learned that Erin depends on each of us in different ways. It’s all part of sharing, Ryder. As much as we’re surrounded by it, and as much as we think we know about it, you learn when you start sharing a woman that you didn’t understand half of it. Go to her. She needs you, too, and if you avoid her
now because you’re hurt, it’s going to hurt her, too, and it’s going to be a tough bridge to cross later.”
Jared touched his arm, nodding encouragingly.
Ryder nodded back, not convinced, but separated himself from the others and headed toward where Ally sat on the steps of the market with Dillon’s arms around her. With each slow step, he worked to brace himself for her rejection.
Of course she would want Dillon when she was hurt. Dillon had been the one to massage her back for over an hour getting the kinks worked out. Dillon had shown her tenderness. Dillon had proven himself to be levelheaded and someone she could rely on.
Besides sex, what the hell did Ryder have to offer?
He smiled faintly at Erin when she stood, making room for him to sit beside Ally. Meeting the rage in Dillon’s eyes, he touched Ally’s arm. “How bad is she hurt?”
To his surprise, Ally lifted her head, lowering the cloth she’d been holding there.
“Ryder! Did you beat the hell out of him?”
Hiding a grimace that he’d disappointed her, he shook his head, determined that she know the whole truth. “No. Ally, I’m sorry. He came here because when I answered the phone in the doctor’s office, I told him where to find me—and therefore, where to find you. I wanted him to come after me so I could beat the hell out of him. I’m sorry, babe. My temper got the best of me. This was all my fault.”
Taking his hand, Alison smiled. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean for him to find me. Will he go to jail?”
Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed her fingers. “Oh, yeah. As a matter of fact, Linc’s waiting to ask you some questions.”
He looked over to see Erin talking animatedly with the deputy, pointing her finger repeatedly at Danny, who still yelled obscenities from the back of the police car. Jared and Reese stood protectively on either side of Erin, rubbing her shoulders when she got worked up.
“Looks like Erin’s giving her statement now. Got a good head of steam on her, too.”
Turning back to Ally, he frowned. “How’s your back?”
Alison touched Dillon’s cheek, smiling up at him. “It’s feeling better. Dillon’s been rubbing it for me.”
Ryder bit back jealousy when Dillon smiled back and nuzzled her jaw.
Still rubbing her back, he removed the cloth so Ryder could see her reddened cheek. “As soon as we get home, I’ll give you a real good rubdown.”
Ryder had never felt so out of place before and had started to wonder if he had what it took to have a relationship with someone like Ally. He cared about her, wanted her like he’d never wanted another woman, but what could he really offer?
Gently tilting her face so he could get a good look at where Danny had obviously hit her, he grimaced. “Got you good, didn’t he? By the way, we’re going to have a talk while you’re getting that rubdown. Apparently you didn’t want to tell us that the reason you have to leave town is because you have to testify against this asshole. Did you know he was going to use self-defense as his reason for throwing you down the stairs?”
Dillon straightened, leaning back to see Ally’s face. “Self-defense? You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. Seems he was going to say Ally came after him with a knife.”
Ally grabbed Ryder’s arm. “I didn’t! I swear. But his distant cousin is the judge.”
“You knew about this? And you didn’t say anything?” Ryder felt his temper rise again and forcefully clamped it down.
Alison shrugged, her wince telling him that her back still hurt, despite her claim to the contrary. “He’s been calling me, threatening me so I wouldn’t testify against him. But if he tells the judge, his cousin, that I came after him with a knife, they might put me in jail instead.”
Ryder sighed. “And you kept all of this from us?”
Ally looked away, frustrating him. “It’s not your problem. Do you realize we just met? I didn’t want you involved in my problems. I just wanted to have some fun. I wanted to forget for a little while. I wanted to feel like a woman again.”
She looked up at him through her lashes. “Isn’t that what you wanted? Some fun?”
Dillon stiffened beside him.
“Fun?” He scrubbed a hand over his face, his expression bland. “I guess we can’t really fault you for thinking that way. I thought we were building something here, Alison, but you already had one foot out the door the entire time. You told us, but I guess I didn’t listen.”
The defeat in Dillon’s eyes shook Ryder. Carefully gathering Ally in his arms, he smiled.
“I don’t think you have to worry about going to jail anymore. I got Danny to admit that he threw you down the stairs because he was pissed because he felt that he could fuck anyone he wanted to and you had no right to tell him differently.”
Alison jerked upright, wincing again. “You did? He admitted that?”
She slumped again. “It’ll be his word against yours and the judge—”
Ryder tightened his arms around her, loving the feel of her leaning against him. “—is his distant cousin. I know. But he said it in front of Linc, Jared, and Reese, too, and the entire conversation was recorded by the recorder in Linc’s car. He admitted it, plain as day. Bragged about it, even. Linc’s coming over. You can ask him about it. As soon as you give your statement, we can go over to Doc’s—”
Sitting up, she was already shaking her head. “No. No more doctors. I’d just like to go back to your place.”
Aware that she hadn’t used the word home, Ryder bit back his frustration and nodded. “Fine. We’ll go back to our place.”
Listening to her answer Linc’s questions, Ryder would swear he could feel his blood boil. While she explained the details to Linc, Ryder leaned closer to Dillon, keeping his voice at a whisper.
“If the trial’s next Friday, we’ve only got about a week and a half with her.”
Dillon nodded soberly. “We’ll just have to make the most of it. By then, the two of you should know what you want.”
“What about you?”
“I already know what I want. I want Alison to stay. Linc’s finishing up. Let’s get her home.”
Chapter Twelve
In his no-nonsense way, Dillon sent her into the bedroom as soon as they got back to their apartment, telling her to get out of her clothes and lie down on the bed while he cleaned up.
She watched him walk away with a sigh. He’d brooded all the way home, not speaking. Her comments earned her a grunt or a look, but not much more.
Moving carefully, she started undressing, grimacing at the grease stains on her clothing.
It struck her that she’d never seen either one of them with dirty hands before, or grease under their nails. Today, though, they’d obviously run out of the garage in a hurry.
“I guess when you hang out with grease monkeys, you’re going to get dirty.”
Turning at the sound of Ryder’s voice, Alison smiled. Now that she knew him a little better, she recognized the insecurity behind the anger. Thinking back to the incident in the parking lot when they’d first met, she took a step closer.
“You look a little dirty yourself.” Moving toward him, she met his beautiful eyes, caught up in the wariness she’d seen there ever since he’d reached for her on the market steps.
Ryder, whose confidence regarding sex blew her away, appeared to have self-doubts in other areas. He shrugged, his eyes narrowing at her approach. “I have to work for a living. Being with me, you’re bound to get dirty.”
His vulnerability pulled at her, and she wanted to see the self-confidence light up his eyes again.
Taking slow, careful steps, she approached him, not stopping until they stood toe-to-toe. Flattening her hands on his chest, she looked up at him through her lashes, attempting a coy smile she hadn’t used in years.
“How dirty are you going to make me?”
Elated at the flicker of surprised delight in his eyes, she nearly melted under his teasing smile.
Lifting her chin, he pursed his lips as though considering his answer, making her want to pull his head down to smash her lips against his erotically full ones.
“I would say, very dirty, especially since you mentioned submitting to me not too long ago. Something about you being on your knees and being forced to suck my cock, if I remember right.”
Scowling, he released her, dragging a rag out of his pocket to wipe her chin. “Hell, Ally. I can’t even touch you. I’m getting grease all over you.”
Kicking off her shoes, Alison reached for the hem of her sweater. “I guess you’ll have to clean me up, then.” She sucked in a sharp breath when the muscles in her back protested at her attempt to pull her sweater over her head, and she ended up with her sweater covering her face, unable to raise or lower it.
“Here, darlin’, let me help you.”
He gently worked the sweater over her head and tossed it aside, eyeing her in concern. “We need to get you rubbed down.”
Alison turned and moved away, her face burning. “So much for my attempt at seduction.”
“Honey, Christ, I can’t touch you until I get this grease washed off. Ally, look at me.”
She turned again to find him right in front of her, his eyes full of understanding.
Smiling faintly, he bent low and kissed her forehead, the promise in his eyes when he straightened urging her closer. “As soon as you feel better, you can seduce me all you want.”
“You aren’t undressed yet?”
Alison turned to see Dillon coming into the room, wearing a fresh pair of faded denims and clean T-shirt, his wet blond hair slicked back. Carrying a towel and the bottle of oil Jesse had sent, he got right to work, spreading the towel on the bed before reaching for her.
“Come on, Alison. Let’s get that back taken care of.”
Ryder reached out to touch her cheek, stopping at the last second and grimacing. “Damn it. I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll be right back. I want to get my hands on you.”
As he left, Dillon whipped off her bra and tossed it to land on top of her sweater before reaching for the fastening of her jeans. “I’ll have you feeling better in no time. Just stand still and hold on to my shoulders.”