by Sybil Bartel
“Ooh, uh oh.” I looked up at him and hoped my face went serious. “Are you mad at me?”
Talon stopped walking and stared down at me, his expression the closest to surprised I’d ever seen it.
I waited a heartbeat then leaned a little closer and whispered. Loudly. “You gonna spank me?”
For one priceless moment, Talon was stunned. Then his free hand covered his eyes and his lips twitched until he couldn’t hold it and a closed-mouth smile broke through. He shook with silent laughter for a beat then ran his hand over his face.
“You are one hot fuckin’ mess, Mizz Layna Blair.”
“Thanks for breakfast,” I cooed.
“You’re welcome. Been a long time since someone got the better of me like that.” He grinned.
“Not someone, some-thing. Cham-pog-naay.” I pointed and gave him an exaggerated wink.
“Oh-kay, let’s get you home.” Talon tucked me against his side and maybe even helped keep me upright a little.
“You gonna dump me at home and go back and get some?” I giggled, having no idea what’d come over me. “Wait!” I stopped walking and swayed. “You forgot Naughty Napkin’s number.”
“Believe it or not, sometimes a man likes to work for it a little.”
“Huh! Couldn’t tell that by Buck,” I sputtered, suddenly in a bad mood.
“Aw shit, Sugar...” Talon drew the words out slow. “Now you let the cat out of the bag. Blaze not workin’ for it?” Talon rubbed his hand over my shoulder.
And because I was drunk, I broke a cardinal rule and opened my mouth. “Work for it? He’s not working for shit. He doesn’t even try. Call here, call there, but never anything else. Just nothing, like he can’t wait to be rid of me.” I waved my hand dismissively through the air.
Talon eyed me. “And that bothers you?”
“‘’Course it bothers me! Have you seen him naked?”
Talon chuckled. “As a matter of fact—”
I slapped my hand over his mouth. “Don’t answer that!”
Talon’s tongue swept across my palm and I jerked my hand back.
“Keep it up, Sugar, next time I’ll bite.”
“Huh,” I grunted. Was that the second time today he said something about biting? Should I be concerned? Was it bad I was thinking about Talon and biting?
“Your pretty little face all scrunched up, I know you’re either mad or thinkin’. Knowin’ you, it’s probably both. And don’t think I didn’t notice the way you avoided my question. Why you mad at Blaze? Last time I asked, you swore up ‘n down nothin’ was goin’ on between you two. You have a change of heart?”
“Shit.” I didn’t realize I’d sworn out loud till I heard my own voice. I had a sudden twinge of conscience. “I shouldn’t be talking about this with you.” And why was his arm around me all the time? It’s like I was Buck’s by night and Talon’s by day. That was wrong, so, so wrong. And Talon smelled really good.
“You discussin’ it with Blaze?”
Oh yeah. Buck. “I’m not discussin’ shit.” I lurched forward to start walking again and Talon tightened his grip around my shoulders.
“That’s what I thought. Nothin’ good ever comes of keepin’ that sort of thing inside, Sugar. You got feelin’s for Blaze, I suggest you tell him.”
“Oh, now you’re an expert on relationships?” I may have been drunk but I wasn’t so drunk I forgot who I was talking to.
Talon was quiet a moment. “I had one, once.”
I was fuzzy as hell but I knew this was a bomb dropper of information for Talon to unleash. “Once?” I asked, wondering if he’d tell me more.
“Yeah.” Talon sighed like he was the most tired he’d ever been in his life. “Got the divorce papers to prove it.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and looked up at Talon. “You were married?!” Holy crap! I couldn’t begin to imagine the type of woman who’d tamed Talon. “What’s she look like? Is she naïve? Did she know about you? Were you faithful?”
“That’s a lot of questions and I take offense at that last one.”
Okay, so Talon was capable of being faithful. “Knock me over with a feather.” Damn, I’d spoken out loud again.
“You are one pessimistic woman.” Talon half laughed, half sighed.
I couldn’t disagree so I didn’t. Talon led us home and upstairs without speaking again. I barely made it to the couch before my legs gave out with exhaustion and waaaay too much alcohol.
Sometime later, voices woke me but I didn’t open my eyes. I tried to focus on the sounds and that’s when I heard Buck’s deep rumble speak in a whisper.
“She okay?”
“Okay?” Talon asked in a quiet chuckle. “She could start an argument in an empty house. But, yeah, she’s okay. She’s sleepin’ it off.”
“I know what you’re doing.” Even in a whisper, I could hear the threat in Buck’s voice.
“Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” Talon sounded casual.
“Yes you do and I’m going to give you one last warning because you’re my friend. Back the fuck off. And do not get her drunk again.”
Talon’s voice turned serious. “Nothin’ doin’ my friend, nothin’ doin’, but I hear ya, loud and clear. Word of advice though? You better lock that shit down if you’re serious about her.”
“I didn’t ask for your advice,” Buck snapped.
“Well, I’m givin’ it. She turns heads wherever she goes. I’ve already fought off some surf assholes for you but now I’m wonderin’ why I bothered. She thinks you’re not interested. So, fair warning—stake a claim if you want her.” Then Talon’s voice turned menacing. “But if you’re just out for a piece of ass, move the fuck on. She is not casual.”
“Fuck off.”
“You first.”
I felt a breeze then I smelled Buck’s amazing scent before I had a chance to process his conversation with Talon. His soft lips touched my forehead and his large arms slid under me. I flinched at the suddenness of it.
“Just taking you to bed, Layna,” he whispered, lifting me effortlessly.
The change in his voice, soothing, free of anger, and I forgot all about his conversation with Talon. Without opening my eyes, I curled into his strength and let the exquisite feeling of being close to Buck wash over me.
A minute later he laid me carefully in bed then followed, curving himself around me.
“Mmm.” I drifted back to sleep, oblivious to the shit storm brewing.
Chapter Seventeen
I felt the heat of the morning sun before I opened my eyes. It settled around me, closing in the room with a pleasant warmth. I stretched and marveled that I didn’t have a headache from yesterday’s champagne. Rolling on my side, I breathed in the heavenly smell of musk and man and opened my eyes.
Merciless blue eyes held me with an expressionless stare.
I started to smile.
“What are you doing?” Buck didn’t ask, he accused.
My smile dropped.
“I asked you a question.”
My sleep-hazy brain scrambled but all it kept going back to was his mother. “Is your mom okay?” Why was he still here? It was way past dawn.
“Don’t make this about her,” Buck managed to snap, even in a whisper.
“I—I don’t understand.” I was suddenly cold.
“Do you want him?”
I blinked. Talon? This was about Talon? “Are you actually implying I want to be a notch on someone’s bedpost?” Then I got pissed, royally, how dare he, it was his fault he left me alone every day with him and yes Talon was hot, pissed. “You lay next to me, night after night, learning my secrets, knowing more about me than any other human being alive, and you ask me that?” Now I was awake. Awake and indignant, if I was being honest with myself, I might’ve admitted that maybe, one small part of what he was accusing me of, might have been true. But I wasn’t being honest—I was fuming. I shoved away from him but his hand shot out and gripped my wrist. “Let go,” I hissed.
Buck rolled to his back and ran his free hand over his face, never easing his grip on me.
“It’s a legitimate question,” he said on a sigh.
I yanked my arm from his grasp. “If you knew me at all, you wouldn’t dare ask me that.”
Buck rolled back to face me, steely resolve in his eyes. “Wouldn’t I? I may not be here during the day but I see what’s going on.”
That was my breaking point. “Okay, first of all—” I jabbed my finger in his chest, “—you are the one who backed off of me. You give me your pretty little words, wrapped up in a perfect little package for my heart to fall all over, then you back off? You don’t even want me, so what are you complaining about? And now you’re going to accuse me of wanting Talon? At least he’s the same every day! He doesn’t say one thing then act another!”
Buck’s face contorted with anger but I didn’t care. When he started to speak, his voice was so low and threatening that if I wasn’t pissed, I would’ve been scared. “Do you think for one second—”
The bedroom door flew open.
“We’ve got a hit. I’m on the phone, you’re gonna want to hear this.” Then Talon went back upstairs, leaving the door open.
Buck was up in a heartbeat, grabbing his clothes off a chair and his boots from the floor. Without bothering to get dressed, he went after Talon.
“Wait!” I scrambled out of bed.
Buck looked over his shoulder but didn’t make eye contact. “Stay,” he barked, then he was gone.
I sat back for a moment, stunned. “Screw this.” I flew upstairs in a tank top and underwear.
The kitchen and living room were empty and Talon’s bedroom door was closed. Riding adrenaline, I went for the door but when I tried to open it, it was locked. I pounded my fist against the door hard enough to send sharp pains up my arm but still they didn’t answer me. I tried listening through the door but the voices were too muffled to make anything out.
Crazy pissed, clutching my fist, I kicked the damn door. “Open up!” Fragile toes met solid wood and I yelped out in pain. “Motherfucker.” I slid down the wall and grabbed my toes.
I was sitting like that a minute later when Buck came out. He paused as his eyes scanned my hand holding my foot. Without a word, he went downstairs.
I growled then yelled after him, “Are you kidding me?”
The front door slammed shut.
“Never had a woman growl on the floor outside my bedroom before.”
My eyes flew to Talon’s open bedroom door. He stood leaning on the frame, a weary smile on his face that didn’t begin to touch his eyes.
“What happened?” I demanded, not bothering to get up.
Talon inclined his head toward the stairs. “Maybe I should be askin’ you that very question.”
“Screw you. What happened?”
Talon stared at me a moment. “What’d you do to your foot?”
As if he didn’t know. I glared up at him. “You first.”
Talon’s face slipped into an expressionless mask. “Nothin’ Sugar, we need more information. Thought we had a lead but it didn’t pan out. You need help up? Ice pack?” He reached down for my arm but I scrambled away from him.
With my back against the wall, I pushed myself upright. Once I was standing, I leaned forward just enough. “You’re a terrible liar,” I hissed, putting all my venom at Buck into anger toward Talon. When I pivoted and walked away, it took a herculean effort not to favor my right foot.
Too pissed to go back to bed, I showered and got ready like any other day of my new life, except I took longer, hoping to piss Talon off. He and Buck knew something but they were holding back. Which meant it was bad with a capital B and if I was being honest with myself, I’d admit I didn’t want to know what it was. If I could’ve avoided going into the store, I would have, but Talon had let me know I was under no circumstances going to be left alone on his watch. So when it got past the time Talon likes to open his shop, I wandered upstairs like I hadn’t a care in the world.
Talon was standing with his back against the kitchen counter, his eyes trained on the stairs. The second I hit the top step, he pushed off the counter. Shoving a coffee thermos and a power bar in my hand, he slid past me to the stairs. “Let’s go.”
His tone wasn’t cold, it was steel. Fuck him. Wordlessly, I followed, flipping him off behind his back. We drove to the shop in silence and Talon holed up in his workshop. I went behind the counter and waited on customers with a supreme bitch attitude. The cheerful blonde who usually brought muffins in the morning showed up at noon with a huge sandwich.
“Talon said this was for you?” She held it out to me.
“I didn’t order anything,” I said petulantly.
As if on cue, Talon’s head popped around the door to the backroom. “Eat!” he bellowed.
I took the food. “Guess I ordered a sandwich.” Not gonna lie, I was hungry.
Blondie smiled wide. “It’s turkey and avocado. I made it myself. Call me if you want anything else.”
I muttered thanks and she bounced out the door. Cussing under my breath about women who suck helium, I went to the kitchenette and pulled out two paper plates. I cut the sandwich in half, grabbed two waters and stormed into Talon’s work room. I unceremoniously dumped his food right on top of the board he was making and sauntered back out front. He watched me but said nothing.
Five minutes later, Talon came up front. I got the distinct feeling he was checking to make sure I was eating. He shuffled some papers on the counters, looked at a few receipts then turned to where I was sitting on a stool.
“If I...”
I held my hand up, stopping him. “Unless you’re ready to tell me the truth, I don’t want to hear any more lies come out of your mouth.”
Talon crossed his arms. “You think I’m a liar?” he challenged.
“I know you’re a liar.” I may not be savvy or experienced with men, but my instincts were rock solid.
Talon considered me for a moment. “I might lie on occasion,” he admitted. “But only when the situation warrants it.”
“Apparently this is what you consider a situation.” I slid off the stool and dumped my empty plate and napkin. I was almost tired of being mad about this. I couldn’t make him tell me and I couldn’t change people. I’d learned that a long time ago.
“I never said that, Sugar.”
“Then tell me what you found out.”
“We didn’t find anythin’. We had a lead that didn’t pan out.”
“Bullshit,” I spat.
“Whatdaya want me to say, darlin’? That six million is chump change to Colombian drug runners? Or that dear ole dad had a penchant for Latino strippers? Or how ’bout he was facin’ jail time if he didn’t turn state’s witness? Or maybe he wasn’t quite the environmentalist you thought he was. Any of those work for you?”
Despite the surfer façade, Talon was a marine. He never let his guard down, not even when he was drinking. He had a carefully veiled cynicism that spoke of a troubled past and I’d venture to say he was capable of violence at the drop of a hat. I watched his eyes but they gave nothing away. I knew he was either withholding something or one of those scenarios was spot on.
Talon’s voice dropped to a quiet purr. “How long you gonna stare at me like that, Sugar?”
His come-on was insincere. He was purposely changing the game to get out of our other conversation but that didn’t make his voice any less appealing. “Keep it up. I’m immune to your charms.”
Talon’s eyes turned dark. He reached out and ran a finger down the side of my face. “Is that right,” he whispered.
For a split second, I froze. I had no idea if he was being serious and it scared the hell out of me. “What are you doing?” My voice shook and I suddenly felt too vulnerable to breathe.
“What do you think I’m doing?” No accent, he didn’t smile.
“Fucking with me.” The words came out harsh, as I intended them.
T
alon watched his finger trail along my jaw, under my chin then he brought his eyes, deadly serious, back to mine. “I told you. I’d never fuck you.” He walked back to his workshop.
I gripped the edge of the counter for support.
Chapter Eighteen
I went out to the beach after work to wait for the sun to go down. Talon and I hadn’t spoken the rest of the day and I needed time to myself. I only got twenty minutes.
“This seat taken?” Talon squatted next to me in board shorts and nothing else.
“Free country.”
“Now see, that’s what I like about you. You’re so open-minded.” He chuckled, pulling the hood of my sweatshirt up and over my hair.
I glanced up at him but I didn’t react to his playful teasing. I knew it was his way of telling me he was past our day of silence. After a week and a half with Talon, I’d seen a few glimpses into his real personality when he wasn’t shamelessly flirting. And now that I’d seen it, it was there every time I looked in his eyes.
“Why do you do it?” I asked.
“Do what, Sugar?” Talon casually picked up a handful of sand and let it slip through his fingers. He still hadn’t sat down.
“Pretend.”
Talon glanced at me but he didn’t seem surprised by my question. He also didn’t say anything for a full minute. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”
“What am I pretending?” Besides the obvious.
Talon held my eyes. “That you aren’t head over heels for Blaze.”
My stomach jumped but I didn’t move. “I don’t know Buck.” I looked out at the darkening water. The sun had slipped behind us. I never pretended I didn’t like Buck, I didn’t deserve to like him. There was a difference. Besides, it was irrelevant now.
“You know him better than you know anyone else,” Talon stated.
I didn’t take offense. Talon and Buck both knew I was alone in the world. But Talon was wrong. “That’s not true.”
Talon scoffed. “Name one person you know better, Sugar.”
I looked at Talon. He really did have beautiful eyes. They were pretty like a girl’s, surrounded by thick, dark lashes. “You,” I said simply.