Collide

by Juliana Stone

  The clipboard was gone, taken out of her stiff fingers by Shane as he led her deeper into the shadows that blanketed the room. The stage was off to her left, the band rocking out as their singer led them to the climax. The beat thrummed in her chest. Her body was on fire and if Bobbi didn’t know better, she’d think she had been transported into another time and place.

  One where the man next to her had been her world.

  “Okay,” Ike shouted into the microphone. “We’re going to slow things down a bit so grab your lady and get your asses out on the dance floor for the first slow one of the night.” Loud cheers greeted his words as the band quieted, a soft, slow melody falling from the guitarist.

  Bobbi’s knees went weak when she heard the opening chords. She glanced up quickly, into eyes so intense she felt as if she’d been scorched. No. Fucking. Way.

  Had he planned this? Would Shane be that vindictive? Didn’t he know what this song did to her? What it had meant to her?

  Her chest rose and fell. Her heart beat a rhythm all its own, and yet it was one that kept time with the pulse at the base of Shane’s neck.

  “In keeping with our Stone’s theme, how about some Wild Horses?”

  His arms slid around her and she let him pull her in close to his body as Ike began to sing, his voice hauntingly like Mick Jagger’s.

  Bobbi closed her eyes and even though it was painful for her to be here with him, dancing with him to this song, she was helpless to do anything about it. Her arms slipped beneath his leather jacket until she was wrapped around him, her hips moving against him, her check tucked into the corner of his neck.

  They were deep in the shadows with only the song and a host of memories to accompany them. Bobbi felt everything as if it were yesterday.

  The excitement of a new love so intense it had colored her entire world in nothing but Shane. The way her heart used to beat out of her chest at just the thought of him and the way he used to….

  She gasped when his hot mouth found its way to her neck, and there among the shadows, Shane held her so that there was no mistaking the state of things between his legs, and he nuzzled her in that spot that was his.

  The spot that had always been his.

  She groaned. Or sighed. Or she did a little of both, but when her hands crept up into this hair, she tugged on him until he tore his mouth from her skin and stared down at her.

  “What are we doing?” she whispered, hating that the little sliver of hope—the one that had never completely gone away—was poking into her heart. It was that hope, that need for Shane, that should have had her running into the opposite direction. Instead, here she was in a dark corner of the dance floor, practically making out with the man who’d broken her heart.

  It was sadly ironic that it was a heart that had deserved to be broken, after what she’d done to him.

  His forefinger crept into the corner of her mouth and he leaned down to kiss her there, a soft whisper of a touch that had her aching for more.

  Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.

  Tears stung the corner of her eyes as she accepted his mouth and opened herself up to him fully. He kissed her slowly, thoroughly, as they continued to move together in a sensual dance meant only for them.

  “Why did you leave last Friday?” he asked, his mouth hovering over hers, his dark eyes glistening in the darkness. “I didn’t like that.”

  For a moment Bobbi tore her gaze from Shane and glanced around, afraid they were making a spectacle out of themselves. But they were too heavy in the shadows and the crowded dance floor was full of couples moving in time to the music. Hands groped, mouths reached, lips touched, words murmured.

  “It was just for one night, Shane,” she said finally, chancing a look at him again. “That’s what we agreed on and I didn’t see the need…” she blew out a breath. “I just wanted to go home.”

  Liar. I was afraid.

  He stopped moving. “Why?”

  “Because,” she licked her lips, tasting him and her breath hitched at the back of her throat. “Because we’re not good for each other.”

  He lowered his head once more and a shiver rolled over her entire body, starting from the top of her head to the bottom of her toes as he whispered into her ear.

  “I don’t know where the hell you were last Friday night, but from what I remember, we were damn good together.”

  A groan escaped her mouth as his tongue shot out and he licked his spot again.

  “In fact, I would say that last Friday night was the best we ever had.”

  Pain sliced through Bobbi and she started to shake her head, but stopped herself in time. There was no way she was going to make a complete idiot out of herself. He didn’t have to know how she really felt. Friday night had been good. Hell, that was an understatement because it had been more than good. Last Friday had been amazing.

  But it wasn’t the best. It wasn’t like that night. That first night when she’d realized how much she loved him. When she’d given him everything including her heart.

  “But what are we doing, Shane?” she stopped moving and pulled out of his embrace. “What is this?”

  Shane’s eyes remained steady as his hand tucked that stupid strand of her hair that just didn’t want to stay put behind her ear.

  “What do you want it to be?” he said softly. Dangerously.

  “We’re no good together,” she repeated, shaking her head. “At least not as a couple.”

  “Agreed.”

  Her chin rose up at his quick response. Okay, he didn’t have to be so agreeable on the subject.

  “But we’re good in bed and the connection we had,” he leaned closer and damned if those shivers didn’t roll over her skin again. “The connection that we still have is a hell of a lot more than most couples ever find.” His finger traced the tattoo behind her ear. “You’ve been starving for it princess and I’m not ashamed to say after last Friday night, you’re all I can think about.”

  Ike’s band finished their song and as the crowd erupted once more into cheers, Bobbi took a moment to collect her thoughts.

  “So you want us to have a sexual relationship.”

  Shane’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she answered without thinking. “But...” No! No fucking way would she survive a relationship with Shane Gallagher. Any kind of relationship. If the man wanted to walk his dog with her every other night—even that sort of relationship wouldn’t end well for her.

  He shook his head and stepped away, a grin on his face and yet, his eyes were much too intense. “There are no buts, Bobbi. I’m laying it on the line. I have no problem letting you use me for sex.”

  “What? I’m not,” she sputtered, suddenly angry. “I don’t want to use you for sex.”

  Shane’s grin devastated her and his gaze lingered so long on her breasts that her fingers crept upward, covering the hardened peaks as she blew out a long breath.

  “Don’t you? Because I sure as hell want you.” His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. “I want you every way that I can have you.” He shrugged. “But we keep it physical. We’re good together that way, so why not take advantage of it? You know, while we’re both available?”

  God, she wished he would move away from her. She couldn’t think with him this close. “Let me get this straight. You want us to have sex,”

  “Yep.”

  “Whenever we feel the need to have sex.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Because we’re good at it.”

  He nodded. “Damn good at it.”

  “Sex with no strings.”

  “No strings, sounds good.” He grinned again and she had to look away. “Stringless sex.”

  “And you think we can do this. That our past won’t…that we won’t…end up hurting each other or…”

  “I can do it, princess,” Shane said softly, so softly she barely heard him. “If you can, you know where I am.”

  Shane dropped one more scorch
ing hot kiss onto her mouth and left her alone in the shadows, staring at the back of his head as he disappeared into the crowded dance floor.

  For the longest time Bobbi stared at the remnant of his shadow until he was lost to her. With shaking fingers she ran her hand through her hair and shuddered.

  What the hell had just happened?

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I heard you decked Gerald Dooley on your way out of the Hockey Shirt dance.”

  Shane glared at Logan Forest as the two men worked to place the large harvest table he’d finished for his buddy in the right spot. It was Sunday afternoon, his mood wasn’t exactly sunny, and he didn’t need to deal with shit from Forest.

  He gritted his teeth and gave a quick nod, but didn’t answer as they moved the table another inch.

  “Not so smart, Gallagher,” Logan said carefully as they stood back to look at their handy work. “Hope it doesn’t mess with your parole.”

  “The asshole deserved it.”

  Shane couldn’t help the grin that stole over his face when he thought of how good it had felt when his fist had connected with Dooley’s face. There had been a crack. There had been crumbling of bone and cartilage. There had been blood and cursing.

  His grin widened.

  A broken nose looked damn good on Dooley and like he had just told Logan, the asshole deserved it.

  Shane shrugged. “He said the wrong thing at the wrong time and met the wrong end of my fist.”

  “Let me guess. It had something to do with you and Bobbi sucking face near the side of the stage.”

  “Could have.”

  In fact it had been a lot more than a comment. The guy had outright called Bobbi a whore in front of Sabrina Fairfax and a few others. Shane supposed the guy was entitled to his own opinion, hell, he’d been left at the altar, but there were some things you didn’t say out loud. At least not to the guy who could kick your ass all over New Waterford and back. Dooley was damn lucky that Shane’s parole prevented him from doing just that because he was itching to do it.

  Asshole. In what world did Gerald Dooley think he belonged with Bobbi Jo?

  “Huh,” Logan said, though the look in his eyes said a whole lot more.

  “What?” Shane snapped, not in the mood for a heart to heart with Forest.

  “What are you guys doing exactly?”

  A glint entered Shane’s eyes as a smile spread over his face. He cocked his head to the side. “Do you want a play by play or just the short, condensed version?”

  Logan scowled. “I want to know why the hell you think it’s a good idea to get involved with Bobbi Jo again. On any level.” Logan shook his head and stepped back, his lips tight, his expression fierce. “I get that you’re adults and not the kids you once were, but man, are you sure about this? Sometimes you have to let it go. No matter how good it feels. The two of you together…after what happened, Christ you fell away from all of us Shane.”

  Something clicked inside Shane, like a piece of the puzzle finally fit. He took a step back and glanced out the kitchen window, into the thigh high snow that blanketed everything.

  “I’m done blaming everyone else for the stupid shit I did, Logan.” His voice was low. “I can’t do that anymore. If I did, I wouldn’t be half the man that I want to be. The kind of man I need to be. I fucked up my life and I did it on my own.”

  Logan crossed his arms over his chest, but didn’t say a word.

  “Bobbi might have sent me over the edge but I was standing there already. I wanted to fall. I wanted to fail.” He turned back to his oldest friend. “Sure the girl tore out my heart but what did I do? I turned around and fucked one of her best friends.”

  “Technically you and Bobbi were split up.” Logan offered.

  “That doesn’t excuse what I did, because I did it to get back at her. I did it because I wanted to hurt her and you know what? That was something I didn’t fail at.” Pain rifled through Shane and he glanced away, ashamed. The look in Bobbi’s eyes when she had burst into his room…when she had found him on the bed they used to make love in, bent over a naked, writhing, Jane Lawson was one he would never forget.

  Technically he hadn’t screwed Jane. Hell, after Bobbi had slammed the door shut and left him, he would have needed a truckload of Viagra to get the job done. But still the intent had been there and he sure as fuck hadn’t done anything to let Bobbi know the truth. In fact, that last night, the night his life had truly gone to hell, he’d thrown it in her face.

  Truth be told, it was that moment that had sent him over the cliff and it had nothing to do with Bobbi hurting him. It had everything to do with the fact that he hated himself for causing her pain. For losing her.

  For not fighting for what he wanted. He was done with that. He was ready to grab what was his.

  “Okay,” Logan said finally. “Okay, but that still doesn’t tell me what exactly it is you’re up to.”

  “I want her back.”

  “Back as in…”

  “I don’t want a fuck buddy if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “What do you want?”

  For a moment Shane didn’t say anything. Maybe it was because it wasn’t until that exact moment that he really knew what the answer was. Or maybe it was because he savored the dramatic flavor of what he was going to say. Either way, he took his time. He rolled his shoulders, exhaled softly and then looked at Shane.

  “I want everything.”

  Logan stared at him long and hard and then he nodded, his body relaxing a little as he leaned against the countertop. “How exactly are you planning on doing that? Bobbi isn’t exactly the type to be manipulated or tricked and I’m still not convinced she will ever think you’re right for her.” He shrugged. “She’s changed a lot. Hell, she was engaged and about to marry Gerald fucking Dooley.”

  “But she didn’t.”

  “So what’s your plan?” Logan still sounded unsure and more than a little concerned.

  “Don’t sweat it Forest. There might not be a two of us together. The ball’s in Bobbi’s court and I have no idea if she’s going to take the bait.”

  “Bait?”

  Shane smiled and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Sex.”

  “You’re using sex as bait for Bobbi Jo Barker.”

  “Underhanded, I know but I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I’m going to reel her in with the promise of hot nights and more orgasms than she can handle and when she’s weak I’ll move in for the kill. I’ll make her see the truth.”

  “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

  “That no matter what she or half of New Waterford thinks, we belong together. I might not deserve a second chance with her but I’m going to take it.”

  A knock at the door sounded and Logan frowned.

  “Expecting anyone?”

  “Nope.” Logan headed for the front door. “Hold on.”

  “Nah, I gotta get going. I’m planning on a trip out to White Hall.”

  They were now at the front door and Logan paused, his hand on the doorknob. “That’s good.”

  “It’s time.”

  Logan opened his front door and a tall, slim, woman stood there. Draped from head to toe in fur, a few blond wisps of hair sticking out from her hat, she looked frozen. She removed her sunglasses and Shane stepped back shocked.

  Her eyes were shadowed. Her pallor grey. Lips no longer red, but pale pink pressed tight as she gazed up at the two men, and when she spoke her voice was raspy, nothing like the musical, easiness of years ago.

  “Logan, I’m sorry to bother you. I tried the carriage house but,” her voice trailed off as she took a moment and glanced at Shane. “You weren’t there so I thought I would take a chance…”

  “Hello Celia.” It had been years since Shane had laid eyes on his father’s wife. He had a hard time referring to her as step-mother, mainly because the woman was barely ten years older than him. Though, from the looks of her, time hadn’t been exactly kind. She
looked like hell.

  With his father’s money he thought for sure she’d be one of those women whose best friend was a plastic surgeon.

  “I need to talk to you, Shane.” She sounded almost desperate and for the first time a tingling of something uncomfortable hit him in the gut—a warning that things weren’t right.

  He was all about facing his past, but there were still some things that needed time and space. His father James was one of them. His wife Celia was another. And their daughter, the sister he hadn’t seen in over five years was definitely another.

  Shane could deal with the anger, the mistrust and pain. It was the guilt he wasn’t so sure about. And when he thought of little Eden, guilt was the one emotion he felt. No, that was wrong. There was also shame.

  “Shane?” she said hopefully.

  Damn, he wasn’t keen on having a chat with Celia Gallagher, but from the looks of her she wasn’t going anywhere until he did. Shane grabbed his jacket from the coat rack near the door and shrugged into it.

  “This way,” he said tersely, before nodding goodbye to Logan.

  Outside the sun was warm on his face. The temperature was hovering around the freezing mark and the white stuff at his feet was heavy, packing snow. It was a perfect day really, one that should find most local kids out playing in the snow.

  It’s what he used to do. How many hours had passed with him, Logan, and a few other boys building snow forts and planning wars that went well into the night? His father would end up outside with them, in the middle of fierce battle, giving as good as he got. And his mother…she always called them in for hot chocolate.

  Funny. He hadn’t thought of thought of that in years.

  Tense, Shane led Celia to the carriage house and inside his workroom. With the large harvest table gone, there was plenty of open space and the two of them stood there, facing each other warily.

  He decided to get to the point. “What do you want, Celia?”

  She shivered and ran her hands along her arms as she took another step inside, her pale lips still tight and the lines around her eyes much more pronounced than he’d first noticed.