Troublemaker: Rascals: Book Five

by McCoy, Katie

  Just then, Dante abruptly got up from his bar stool and began gathering the paperwork and stacking it in the folder. He walked over and handed it to Emerson.

  “Signed,” he said.

  Emerson took it and tucked it under the bar.

  “Thanks, man,” he said. “Want a drink?”

  Dante shook his head. “I’ve gotta go,” he said, not looking at me.

  At this point, it was feeling purposeful. I even caught Alex glancing between the two of us as if she could sense the tension. How could she not? I felt like my entire body was vibrating from pent up energy, and those vibrations had only gotten stronger the closer Dante was to me.

  I kept my eyes on the bar as he left. But this wasn’t over. I counted to five and then got up as well, praying for subtlety.

  “I should go too,” I said, aiming for casual.

  “Mmhmm,” Alex said.

  I shot her a look, and she gave me her most innocent expression. I didn’t push it. Instead, I grabbed my bag and headed out into the cold January air.

  6

  Hayley

  Luckily, Dante hadn’t gotten very far. When I emerged from the bar and glanced around, I could see him at the end of the next block, his broad shoulders making him easy to spot. I was a lot shorter than he was, so I had to walk extra fast just to catch up. Still, I tried to keep half a block between us just in case he turned around. Which he never did.

  I followed him for several blocks, feeling kind of like a stalker. But my curiosity was overwhelming. I wanted to know what he was hiding, since he remained a man of mystery, even after years. It was cold out, but a milder winter than Chicago had seen in years, and he walked fast ahead of me. I could still feel most of my face by the time Dante stopped in front of a building. The sign above the door was old and worn down, but I could still see that it was a gym.

  In a sketchy part of town.

  Somehow, that made sense. Dante never talked about his past or his childhood, but I had gleaned enough from Emerson and other bits of conversation that Dante hadn’t had the most stable upbringing. I knew he had been in and out of foster care for most of his life, but most of the details were unknown to me. And I would bet they were unknown to my brother and his friends as well. Dante was not the kind of guy to confess—anything.

  I stood outside the gym, not sure what I was doing. Had I really followed Dante through Chicago like a legitimate stalker? What had I been hoping to accomplish?

  “You’re going to freeze your pretty little nose off if you don’t come inside,” a droll voice beckoned me from inside the gym.

  Dante stepped outside, arms crossed.

  Busted.

  “Your surveillance skills need work,” he said, smirking.

  “When did you figure out I was following you?” I asked, unable to help myself.

  “Almost immediately,” he said. “I don’t usually walk that slowly.”

  “That was slow?” I blurted out.

  “What are you doing here, Hayley?” he asked.

  “You’ve been ignoring me for weeks,” I told him, trying to stay calm. “I wanted to talk.”

  “You could have talked back at the bar.”

  “In front of my brother?” I challenged him. “I don’t think you want him knowing about the kiss.”

  Dante sighed. “Oh. That.”

  His dismissive tone made me lose it.

  “You can’t just kiss people and ignore them!” I exploded. “You can’t act like it didn’t happen. Because it did. And now I can’t forget it.”

  “I can’t forget it either,” he said.

  The air seemed to change in that moment. His eyes locked on mine, dark and intense, and he took a step towards me. His heat surrounded me, making me forget that I was standing outside in January.

  My breath caught. “What are you doing?” I asked as he took another step towards me.

  “It was just a kiss, Hayley,” he said, his voice low.

  God, he was so sexy. With his dark hair and dark eyes and that whole dangerous vibe, he was almost too masculine, too intense. I should have stepped away. Should have pushed him back. But I didn’t. I held my ground. I wanted to see what he would do next. My entire body seemed to hum with anticipation.

  “Just a kiss?” I asked, trying to sound tougher than I was. “I don’t think so.”

  “Oh no?” he asked. “Well, let me tell you something, princess.” He leaned forward, his breath hot against my ear. “Not all guys are going to fall at your feet just because you look at them. Or kiss them.”

  “You kissed me!” I reminded him, knowing that my face was bright red. It also didn’t help that my voice cracked when I said “kissed.”

  That corner of his lip hitched up again. Definitely Dante’s version of a smile.

  “You’re an asshole,” I told him, infuriated. “And don’t you dare try to kiss me again.”

  “Oh no?” he asked, stepping even closer.

  I could feel the heat from his chest, burning through my coat.

  “I wouldn’t kiss you if you were the last man on earth,” I told him, lifting my chin defiantly, my eyes meeting his.

  It was the wrong move. Because I could see the heat in his gaze. And it made me a liar. Because I would do anything—anything—in that moment to make him kiss me again. I could still remember the hot slide of his lips against mine, the thrust of his tongue in my mouth, the press of his hard body as he held me. And I wanted that again. I wanted it bad.

  He leaned in, and I closed my eyes.

  Then . . . nothing.

  I opened my eyes and he was staring at me with a look I didn’t understand. It was still intense, still hot, but there was something else there too. Doubt? Fear?

  I faltered, and he laughed.

  He laughed. In my face.

  I could feel the blood escape my cheeks.

  “Fuck you, Dante,” I said angrily, giving him a hard shove in the chest.

  Then I turned on my heel and hurried away, before he could see how humiliated I really was.

  It didn’t matter if he kissed like a depraved angel. As far as I was concerned, Dante was the devil himself.

  Days later, I still wished the earth would swallow me up. I couldn’t believe I let him make a fool of me like that! What could he have possibly thought of me? That I was just some stupid kid, I’m sure. Or another one of the girls falling at his feet. Ugh!

  The worst part was, I couldn’t confide in anyone about it. The girls from Rascals were all too connected to my brother and Dante, and my other friends were all busy with their own dramas. Plus, we weren’t that kind of friends—we got together for brunch, or met at social events, but I didn’t really have a BFF I could talk to about real, important things.

  Which meant there was nobody to stop me from obsessing over it. At least until girls’ night at Alex and Emerson’s place. Emerson was working at the bar for the night, so us ladies had the luxury apartment all to ourselves.

  I loved my brother, but I was so glad that he had Alex in his life. She had made him a better person, there was no doubt about that, but she definitely helped cozy up his apartment. There was a giant TV and a great, big comfy couch for all of us to fit onto, and they had the best pizza place in town on speed dial.

  “What movie are we watching first?” Kelsey held up a stack of options. “Love Actually, Roman Holiday, or the new Jax Hawthorne film?”

  “Uh, I’m pretty sure it’s against the law to watch Love Actually after Christmas has already passed,” Alex said with a raised hand.

  “Not true!” Kelsey argued. “It’s a year-round film.”

  “No way,” Gabi interjected. “It’s Christmas-only.”

  “I agree with Kelsey,” Juliet said. “I think it’s great whenever the mood strikes.”

  Alex turned to me. “Hayley? You’re the tie-breaker here. What do you think?”

  Everyone focused their attention on me as if I was deciding the fate of the nation, rather than whether or not a
movie was strictly seasonal.

  “I’m going to have to side with Alex and Gabi here,” I said, plucking the DVD from the top of the pile and sending it flying across the room. “Christmas only.”

  Alex crowed in victory while Juliet and Kelsey pouted briefly.

  “Speaking of . . .” Alex pointed at me. “Hayley has a secret boyfriend.”

  Everyone let out an excited gasp.

  My mouth dropped open. “Speaking of? What does Love Actually have to do with my secret boyfriend?”

  “Aha! So you admit you have one,” Alex grinned.

  Dammit.

  “I didn’t say that,” I quickly argued.

  “The lady doth protest.” Alex flopped down on the sofa next to me. “Tell us everything.”

  “A secret boyfriend?” Kelsey joined us. “That sounds so romantic.”

  It would have been romantic. If I actually had a secret boyfriend.

  “Do the guys know?” Gabi asked.

  “I’m pretty sure the guys are one of the reasons he’s a secret boyfriend,” Alex pointed out. “I love Emerson, obviously, but he does have a tendency to get a little . . .”

  “Annoying?” I offered. “Infuriating? Bossy?”

  Alex laughed. “I was going to say overprotective, but yeah, annoying fits too.”

  “They all are,” I reminded the girls. “They all think I’m their little sister.”

  “What about Dante?” Juliet asked.

  The room went silent.

  “Dante?” I tried to play innocent. “What about him?”

  Either Juliet was extremely observant or she was only mentioning Dante because they were the only single people in their immediate friend circle.

  “Just wondering if he’s heard about the secret boyfriend,” Juliet asked, her gaze focused on me.

  I flushed and looked away. Did she know something?

  “I don’t care what Dante thinks,” I said loudly. Maybe a little too loudly. “He’s a pig.”

  Juliet pressed her lips together as if she wanted to say something but had decided otherwise.

  “Dante doesn’t care about anyone’s love life,” Alex sighed. “The man is a rock.”

  “Except his own,” Gabi pointed out.

  “Does he even have a love life?” Kelsey asked. “I mean, I know he’s cute, but has he ever brought a girl to Rascals? Or any gathering?”

  “Never,” Alex said. “And I have to disagree. Dante is not cute. He’s smoking hot.”

  “Don’t let my brother hear you say that,” I said dryly.

  “He does have that mysterious and dangerous quality to him,” Kelsey agreed.

  “And you know that he spends most of his free time working out, so his body is probably amazing,” Gabi added.

  “Athletes are always good in bed,” Juliet, the only former athlete in the group, said coyly.

  “Don’t brag.” Alex threw a pillow at her, which she easily caught.

  “I was talking about Dante. You know he’s got some moves,” she winked.

  I had no doubts about Dante’s moves. Or about his sexual appeal. I also knew that he had been acting like a major asshole since showing me those moves, and I was tired of it.

  It had been a few weeks since Mike and I had broken it off—maybe I needed to get back into dating. Something, anything, to get Dante off my mind.

  “He’s the kind of guy who would throw you up against the wall and have his wicked way with you,” Juliet commented with a grin.

  The others laughed, and moved on to talk about Alex’s new big case at work, but I was still stuck thinking about Dante.

  And a wall. And that mouth . . .

  Even though he was acting like a real dick, I couldn’t help imagining how fucking hot it would be to have one night with him.

  A phone buzzed, and everyone immediately grabbed their cellphones.

  “It’s mine,” I said, checking the screen.

  “The secret boyfriend?” Alex asked, a twinkle in her eye.

  It was actually from Dylan, telling me about our practice that Friday.

  “Nope.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Alex told me, grinning. “But I know you’ll tell us when you’re ready.”

  I nodded, wishing for a moment that I did have a secret boyfriend. I needed to start dating again. I needed to get Dante—and that kiss—out of my head. For good.

  7

  Dante

  The bar was always the most crowded on Fridays during happy hour, which meant I usually avoided Rascals at that time. But the guys were understaffed, so they asked the rest of us to hang out and help.

  I had been tempted to say no, but I had been avoiding them all lately, and if I kept doing it, they’d start to ask questions. They’d start to pry. And I would rather walk naked through the Loop in January than admit that the reason I had been AWOL was because I was trying to stay away from Hayley.

  Plus, Emerson had made some off-handed comment about Hayley doing something else that night.

  “She’s all secretive all of a sudden,” he’d said.

  I hadn’t responded. Didn’t want to give any indication that I cared about Hayley and her secrets. Except I did care. I cared a whole hell of a lot. And I hated it.

  Hayley had always been off limits. Always.

  Except I hadn’t known that the very first time we met. I’d been on campus for the poker game and she had been there to visit her brother. But all I saw was a gorgeous, petite angel crossing the quad towards me. It had been winter, cold but not snowy, exactly the kind of weather we were having in Chicago right now. She had been wearing a red hat and scarf, her nose and cheeks matching the bright color. I could still remember the way she had smiled at me and asked the way to the cafeteria.

  I’d had no idea where the cafeteria was, but I had pointed in some general direction, still momentarily stunned by her delicate beauty. She looked like a figurine that belonged on someone’s mantle. And she’d thought that I was a student there. That I was the kind of guy who attended a fancy school like that—that I was the kind of person that was either rich enough or smart enough to go there.

  No one in my life had ever made that kind of assumption about me. They looked at me and saw trouble. And that was a part I knew how to play well.

  Hayley had looked at me and seen . . . well, I wasn’t sure what, but she hadn’t seen trouble. She’d seen me. Dante. At that moment, I’d just been a guy on campus who might be able to give her directions.

  And at that moment, she’d just been a girl. A beautiful girl. The kind of girl I wouldn’t even dare to want in my wildest dreams.

  The intensity of my feelings had shocked me. Nearly knocked me off my feet.

  And by that point, she was already walking across the quad, in the direction of what I hoped was the cafeteria. Walking away from me.

  “Hey,” I’d said, jogging over to catch up with her. “I’m heading that way too,” I’d lied. “Can I walk you?”

  She’d smiled up at me and I thought I was on top of the world.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Hayley,” she’d told me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Hair that looked like it would be silky smooth to the touch.

  “I’m Dante,” I said, reaching out a hand.

  She’d taken it, and I could still remember how small and delicate it had felt against my well-worn palm.

  “Dante?” she’d asked. “Like the Inferno?”

  I hadn’t gotten the reference then, but had made a note to find out what it was.

  “Do you go here?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “My brother does, though.”

  I nodded, grateful when I saw the cafeteria appear around the corner. Fate seemed to be on my side. Until I saw her brother jogging towards us.

  And I realized who she was.

  Because I knew who Emerson Hayes was. Not only did I know him because of his family and all their money and their big fancy reputation, but I also knew him f
rom the illegal poker game I ran every month. He had always been decent and polite to me, but it was clear to both of us that we were from different worlds. That had never bothered me before. I was used to being an outsider.

  This was the first time it mattered. Because Hayley wasn’t just Hayley. She was Hayley Hayes, which meant that she was just as rich and just as well-connected as her brother. It also meant that she was completely off limits. Girls like her didn’t date guys like me. They might occasionally fool around with me, or casually date me as a way to get back at their daddies, but that was it. I wasn’t the guy for her, and she wasn’t the girl for me.

  And even if that hadn’t been true, when my casual friendship with Emerson morphed into a business partnership, Hayley became the one person in the world that I had to stay away from.

  At all costs.

  It didn’t matter that I still thought about her in that red hat and scarf. That I still imagined what it would be like to hold her. It didn’t matter that I still wanted her with every single fiber of my being.

  She was off limits. She would always be off limits.

  And while kissing her had been a mistake of epic proportions, it was never, ever going to happen again. The whole thing had been a stupid, idiotic blip in my usually stellar self-control, but I knew better now. I knew that I needed to limit my time with her and I could never be alone with her.

  Which was why I had been avoiding the bar.

  Tonight, however, I had shown up. Manned the bar for an hour or so while Chase took his break. In the office. With Kelsey.

  “Remind me never to sit on the couch in there,” I commented to him when he returned, looking rumpled and satiated.

  “As if we would be so boring and use the couch,” he shot back, looking obnoxiously happy.

  Immediately my mind filled of images of what I would do to Hayley in that office if given the chance. And yeah, the couch wasn’t the first place my sex-starved brain went. I imagined us up against the wall, her bent over the desk. The images flashed through my imagination like the best fantasy I’d ever dared to dream of.