by Grey, Blair
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “I know those allergy meds are probably going to make you feel pretty woozy. You’d better get yourself home before you pass out.”
Actually, I should probably take him home. Make sure that he got in safe. But suggesting that was just as bad as suggesting he come home with me. And he had made it clear that he didn’t want to do that. Because this wasn’t a relationship.
I swallowed hard, accepting one last, tight hug from him. I heard the bells over the door sound with his departure. Then, I started pulling out the cleaning supplies, hoping this might at least take my mind off Landon and my loneliness. At least a little bit.
But instead, thoughts of him continued to fill my mind.
21
Landon
To say that I hated the way that Anne and I had left things was the understatement of the century. I kept trying to give her her space. Trying not to push her too much. I could tell that she was nervous. That she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted out of this. Out of us. But at the same time, I just couldn’t seem to keep my hands off of her. And she seemed to feel the same way about me.
I didn’t understand her. And I think that only made me want her more.
“You were out pretty late again last night, weren’t you?” Braxton asked on Saturday over lunch. He smirked at me like he knew exactly what I had been doing. “The pharmacist again?”
I shrugged and didn’t bother answering. The truth was, I wasn’t sure how to talk about something like this with Braxton. Not only was I sure that he wouldn’t be able to relate, given his lack of relationship experience or the desire to have a relationship, but there was also that warning that he had given me before.
As soon as this job with the Mambas was done, he and I would be leaving Sarasota, returning back home to Las Cruces. What was the point of starting something with some girl here, knowing that I was just going to be leaving again?
The trouble was, I hadn’t gone into this thinking that I was starting something. I hadn’t really been thinking at all.
Maybe Anne was having the same problem. Maybe she hadn’t been thinking when we started this either, and now the reality of it all was catching up to her, just like it was starting to catch up to me. Or maybe we were both just overthinking things. Maybe we should just give in to the incredible chemistry between us, lose ourselves in each other, and quit worrying about the consequences. I could only imagine what it could be like if she would just quit running away from me after we’d had sex together. If she’d let me hold her, if she’d let me take her again, over and over, for the rest of the night.
Or maybe I should just stop thinking about all of this, for now, and concentrate on lunch with Braxton. Otherwise, I wasn’t going to have to tell him anything about my feelings for Anne. He was my twin, and he was sure to sense my inner turmoil. A lifetime of learning each other’s body language.
Sure enough, Braxton was frowning at me. “Sounds like you’re getting pretty close to that girl,” he said, and I could tell that he was trying his best to keep his anger in check. He shook his head. “Landon, we don’t live here.”
“I know that,” I said gruffly, wishing he would just drop it.
“Well, what the hell do you think she’s going to do, pick up and move to New Mexico after knowing you for just a few weeks?” Braxton said. Then, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. “You’re not purposefully drawing out this thing with the Mambas just so we have more time here, are you?”
“Of course not!” I snapped. “Ray gave us a job. I’m doing my best.”
“Okay,” Braxton said, but I could tell that he wasn’t totally convinced. What, did he think I had let those three guys go just so I could spend more time with Anne? He was insane. I just didn’t want to get us killed by blowing through that red light, or did he not remember that stupid car chase?
The worst part was, now I was starting to get angry with Braxton. But I was getting angry with him because he was right. Where did I see things going with Anne anyway? Practically, even if we both admitted we had feelings for each other, there was no way to make a future out of this. I sure as hell couldn’t stay here in Sarasota. My whole life and my MC were back in Las Cruces. And her whole life and her pharmacy were here in Sarasota.
The relationship was doomed from the start. And I needed to get over her.
“So if you’re not deliberately dragging things out, do we have any more plans for what we’re going to do about the Mambas?” Braxton asked.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you have any plans?” I asked him.
Braxton rolled his eyes. “I’m not the planner here,” he reminded me.
I sighed, “I was afraid of that. All I can think of is that we’ll have to put a watch on another one of the businesses and try to track down another set of three.” I held up a hand because I could see that he was going to protest. “I know. I hate the idea of it as much as you do. But unless we can come up with another plan, the fact remains that we still don’t have enough information about them. Until we can even identify one of them, our hands are tied.”
Braxton groaned. “God, this has got to be the most boring mission in the world,” he griped.
I grinned at him. “What, are you getting sick of the babes and beaches?”
“Nah, I love the location still,” Braxton said. “Although it’ll be good to get back home.” He picked at his burrito. “They just don’t know how to do spice here. But mainly I just want some action.”
“I know,” I said. I shrugged again. “The good thing is, the Mambas know that someone’s after them now. Maybe they’ll decide to move first. Give themselves away.”
Braxton frowned as he thought that over. “But they don’t know that we’re here. That we’re Red Eyes. Or that we’re trying to track them down. If they do anything, it’ll be to Neil and his guys. And if they wanted to do anything to those guys, other than just take over their business here in Sarasota, they probably would have acted already, wouldn’t they?”
“We don’t know that,” I said. “We just don’t know anything about how they normally do things. Maybe they come in, start taking over businesses, get the cash flow going, and then use force to drive out the local MC. We just don’t know.”
Braxton grimaced. “Wish Ray was able to tell us more,” he said.
“Me too.” I sighed.
We finished our lunch and paid the bill. Then, we headed out of the restaurant. I was already thinking about that map of Neil’s, trying to figure out which business would be best to put our eyes on next. I was worried that if we stayed too close to the previous place, we were going to start to look suspicious. And not just to the Mambas. We knew that the local sheriff wasn’t a fan of the MC, and we didn’t need him sniffing around asking questions and wondering what we were doing here.
We didn’t need him thinking that we were the ones causing trouble with the local businesses, so we’d need to move somewhere else. There were a few other places that had been loyal to Red Eyes for just as long, but they were all located in pretty much the same area of the city. The MC had started small and expanded its territory as they gained power, money, and members; that made sense. But it left us with a bit of a dilemma now.
Maybe it didn’t matter, but I had to think that the Mambas would keep a closer watch on the guys who had long been loyal to Red Eyes. They would want to make sure that those guys weren’t so loyal that they were spilling information about the invading MC.
I wished we could just talk to the various shopkeepers. One of them had to know something about who these guys were. Even if they were from out of town, it wasn’t like they went in there wearing masks. Someone should be able to pick them out of a lineup. And the Mambas had to be doing things around town. Going out for beers, buying food. We should be able to find them.
I was so caught up in my thoughts that when the guy bumped into me, I actually wasn’t sure if I might have just walked into him.
I stumbled back, surpr
ised at how solid the guy was. He was nearly as big as Braxton or me, and he wasn’t alone. His two buddies were just as large, and they were all looking at me with narrowed eyes.
“What the hell, man?” Braxton said, and I could tell that he was about to go off. He had been looking for a fight practically since we had gotten to Sarasota. He was ready for a little action.
Fuck, this wasn’t the kind of action we were looking for.
“Hey, cool it,” I said, giving Braxton a look. I turned back to the other guy. “Sorry about that,” I told him, as though it were all my fault. But from the menacing way the three of them were looking at us, I almost had the feeling that they were looking for a fight too.
I must be imagining it, though. They had just come into the café. They were probably just three friends here for lunch. That’s all.
The guy I had run into shrugged. “An honest mistake,” he said coolly, turning away with his friends.
I nodded at him and grabbed Braxton, leading him out of there. Thankfully, Braxton waited until we were back in the car before he exploded. “What the hell,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “We can’t just start brawling in the middle of a restaurant,” I said, as though I needed to remind him. “What’s your problem anyway? I mean, it was just a bump. It’s not like he came at me with fists swinging.”
Braxton was looking incredulously over at me. “There were three of them,” he reminded me. “And we know that the Mambas travel in threes.”
I snorted. “And so do friends who are going to get lunch,” I said. “We don’t know that those guys were Mambas, and we can’t just go around fighting people because they travel in threes. That restaurant wasn’t on Neil’s map. It’s not Red Eyes territory or former territory. That’s why we picked the place.” I paused. “Remember, we can’t draw attention to ourselves here. The sheriff would be on us in no time.”
“Just because it wasn’t Red Eyes territory, it doesn’t mean that it’s not Mambas territory,” Braxton said. “Or they could have just been going there for lunch.”
“What are the chances on that?” I asked, beginning to lose patience with him. “And why risk blowing their cover by showing up there in a group of three. Again, they must know that someone is looking for them now.”
We reached the house, and I parked the car, automatically reaching for my wallet, which I usually threw in the center console while I was driving so that I wouldn’t be sitting on it. But my wallet wasn’t there. I frowned, realizing that in my haste to get Braxton away from the possibility of a fight, I must not have put it there. No big deal.
But when I got out and felt my pocket, my wallet wasn’t there either. And I knew I had had it with me. I had paid for lunch after all. I wouldn’t have been so stupid as to leave it at the restaurant.
I remembered that guy bumping into me. How I had been totally lost in thought. And there had been three of them. A distraction and someone to do the dirty work.
“Son of a bitch,” I said, shaking my head.
“What?” Braxton asked, getting out of the car. “Landon, what’s wrong?”
“Those fuckers pickpocketed me,” I told him.
“I knew they were Mambas!” Braxton said.
I was already trying to work out how they had recognized us. “That guy that we talked to. When we first got here. The one who told us about the Mambas,” I said slowly.
“What about him?” Braxton asked, looking furious.
I shook my head. “He must have given them our information. What we looked like. Maybe he thought it would help keep them from going after his wife. You know, if they thought that he was loyal to them. That he was willing to snitch for them.”
“We have to go after them,” Braxton said, already moving to get back into the car. He frowned as I continued to stand there. “What the hell are you waiting for?”
“They’re not going to still be at the restaurant,” I said. “They’re not that stupid. They weren’t there for lunch. They were there for us. They would have left once they had what they wanted.”
“Then what the hell do we do?” Braxton snarled.
“We need to get help from the other guys. Neil’s guys,” I said. “If the Mambas always travel in threes, we’re not going to keep running around with just the two of us. That’s the first step.”
“Okay,” Braxton said. “Then let’s go.”
22
Anne
On Sunday, I threw myself into cleaning projects around the house. I needed something to distract me from my thoughts about Landon. I was hoping that I could just put on some good music and really scrub at the place, do a deep clean.
But unfortunately, cleaning up around here only reminded me of the cleaning that I had done the other night at the pharmacy. After Landon and I had had sex in the back room.
What the hell had I been thinking anyway? I wasn’t the kind of girl to do something like that. Work was meant to be strictly professional. I wasn’t supposed to pick up clients, and I definitely wasn’t supposed to fuck them in the back room. Now, every single time I went back there, I was going to think of Landon, of his hands on my body and his cock inside of me. It was as embarrassing as it was hot.
I had to stop thinking about him. But the cleaning wasn’t enough to distract me.
The phone rang, and I gratefully answered when I saw that it was Lina calling me. “Hey,” I said. “What’s up?”
“You sound like you’re out of breath,” Lina said. “Are you at the gym without me?”
I laughed. “Of course not,” I said. She had to know that I was only going to the gym because she wanted to. “I’m doing some cleaning around the house.” It wasn’t a lie, but I knew I was more breathless from thoughts of Landon fucking me than anything else. I couldn’t tell her that, though.
Fortunately, Lina accepted it. “Ugh, cleaning,” she said. “Can I drag you away? I wanted to go out today. Get my nails done. Go shopping for some new clothes. It’s been forever since we had a girls’ day. And I’ve lost some weight…finally. Those gym sessions must be paying off!”
“Aww, girl, that’s awesome,” I said, and I was already heading for the bedroom, so I could change into some proper clothes rather than my sweats and an old T-shirt. It hadn’t actually been all that long since our last shopping foray, but this could be just what I needed to turn my thoughts to something other than the conclusion of Friday night. “I’m definitely game. Meet you at the mall in half an hour?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Lina said, hanging up.
Privately, I vowed that today we were going to find her the best clothes ever. Maybe if we could find some particularly cute pieces, she would give up on this stupid gym thing. I was proud of her for losing a little weight, and I hoped she felt good about herself. But at the same time, I didn’t think there had ever been a problem with how pretty and curvaceous she was. She just wasn’t looking for love in the right places.
“So how have you been?” Lina asked as we were getting our nails done.
I laughed. “We talk nearly every day,” I reminded her. “I don’t have much to say.”
“I don’t know, you’ve been pretty distracted lately,” Lina said. “Is it that guy, the one you went on a date with?”
“Landon,” I said automatically.
Lina grinned. “Yeah, Landon.” She shook her head. “You know, just from the way that you say his name, I can tell that there’s something up.”
I rolled my eyes. “You cannot,” I said. But I was worried that she could see right through that lie, if nothing else. God, I probably sounded guilty, given that as soon as I said his name, I flashed right back to Friday night.
“Come on, spill,” Lina said. “Are you still seeing him?”
I sighed. “I don’t know,” I said, then frowned. “I mean, I’m not seeing him seeing him either way. I’m just sleeping with him. Or not sleeping with him, we’re just having sex.” In various places. Like in the back room at my pharmacy. “And even th
at’s not a regular thing.” It had just happened two Friday nights in a row.
Lina raised an eyebrow at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this flustered before,” she said.
“We went on another date on Friday night. To this seafood restaurant. And it was just nice.” She didn’t need to know about the allergic reaction or the fact that we had ended up back at the pharmacy or the things that happened at the pharmacy.
The truth was, as much as my mind kept circling around to the sex that we’d had and the way that we had left things at the end of the night, I knew that there was much more to it than that. Something that my mind continued to shy away from. Landon was quickly becoming more than just someone to have sex with. And that frightened me.
Lina had no qualms about calling it like she saw it, though. She shook her head. “You like him, don’t you?”
“Of course I like him,” I said peevishly. “I wouldn’t have gone on another date with him if I didn’t.”
Lina rolled her eyes. “No, I mean you like him. You’re starting to have feelings for him, aren’t you? Even though you’re trying to tell me that it’s just sex.”
I stared at her, biting my lower lip as I tried to figure out how much to tell her. But she had been there for me all through my previous debacle of a relationship. She would be there for me when this one came crashing down as well. Because I knew this wasn’t going to last forever, even as I also knew that I was already in this too far to escape unscathed.
I had feelings for Landon. And when this eventually ended, because it was only about sex to begin with, it was going to hurt. I nodded at Lina. “Yeah,” I said quietly. “I just can’t help it. He’s sexy, but he’s also just a good guy.”
“Then you should tell him that,” Lina said firmly. She held up a hand as I started to protest. “Come on, you know just as well as I do that what you’re doing isn’t fair. He deserves to know that you want something more than sex from him. And you deserve the chance to be happy too. To have what you want from this relationship.”