I knew he would ask and had already considered my answer. “Just a friend from work.”
He nodded. “Okay. Wanna text me on your way home, and I’ll meet you there?”
“That’s perfect, thank you,” I answered, not feeling even a little bit guilty for lying to him. I only planned to follow Dominic tonight, find out what he was doing, and then head home.
I wouldn’t even be late enough to make Bull suspicious.
But at least I’d know what Dominic was up to so I could figure out a way to help him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
BEAR
I owed her a fucking apology.
And I hated apologizing.
After I’d watched Josie walk to her car beside Bull in that damn skirt that had me hard since the moment she stepped out of the car, Gunner came out to the garage where I was pounding out my frustration through my work and told me why Josie had stopped by. After he told me the plan, we decided that it would be safe as long as it happened in our clubhouse. He also told me they wanted to do it next Saturday, which only gave them a week to plan and get everyone here for it.
As I listened, I cursed under my breath when I realized Maggie was inviting all the women attached to the Dimarco men and then some. I had a lot more reason to be anxious about this party with those women in my clubhouse because if any of them left with even a hair out of place, there’d be a lot of angry fucking Dimarcos beating down my door.
Grabbing a water from the refrigerator in my kitchen, I unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. I’d only gotten home about an hour ago and taken a shower, but now I was waiting for Becs to get home, and then I planned to find Josie. I’d been a dick to her, but I needed to be so I could walk away. It wasn’t right, but it was how it had to be for now. I heard the door click open and glanced at the clock on the microwave. Almost nine. Becs was later than usual.
I waited until she walked through the living room and could see me to speak. “Hey.”
Her head snapped up, and she smiled, but she looked exhausted. She’d insisted on going back to work even though the doctors and I thought it was too soon. As a hairdresser, she spent a lot of time on her feet, but she needed to have something to occupy her mind since she couldn’t be with Wyatt all day, and sitting home worrying about him wasn’t good for her.
She threw her bag on the counter and sat on the stool. “Hey, Bear.”
“How’s Wyatt?” I asked, knowing she went to see him right after work.
“He’s good, actually. They’ve been able to reduce his oxygen some, and the doctor told me that’s encouraging.” She sighed. “He’s still not gaining much weight, though.”
“He will,” I said. “His doctors and nurses are the best around.”
“I know.” She frowned. “I just want him home, ya know.”
“He’ll be here before you know it and keeping us both up all night.”
She took a deep breath and let out a long exhale. “I’ve been thinking about that, Bear. I think maybe I should find my own place.”
“No.” I shook my head and held up my hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “It’s not safe, Becs. When it is, I won’t care, but for now, I need to keep you safe, and that can only happen if I keep you close.” When she didn’t answer, I leaned across the counter and grabbed her hand. “Are you sure you should be working already? You only had Wyatt a week ago.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “It’s only part-time right now. Besides, you know me, Bear, and I can’t just sit here.” She shrugged. “I think I’m tired from not sleeping much.”
“You need to get your sleep while you can.”
She took another deep breath. “I think I might go shopping tomorrow after work and start getting things for Wyatt. I don’t want to be rushing around when they say I can bring him home.”
It was fairly ironic that Josie had thought of the shower today, and Becs was already planning to get the shit she needed herself, but I didn’t want to ruin what Maggie and Josie were planning, so I quickly thought of a way to convince her to wait.
“Why don’t you wait until next Saturday? Maggie has plans with Gunner this weekend, but I bet she’d like to go with you.” I squeezed her hand and grinned. “She doesn’t get much time away from that jackass.”
Becs laughed, and my shoulders dropped in relief. It was nice to hear her laughter. I hadn’t heard that in too long. “You’re probably right.” She nodded. “Okay, I’d like that too. It probably wouldn’t be much fun by myself anyway.” She brightened and sat up straight. “Maybe I’ll invite Josie too. Make it a girls’ day.”
“Gotta send someone with you,” I reminded her, even knowing it wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t need her to be suspicious about my behavior.
“I know.” She propped her elbow on the counter and laid her head in her open palm. “Can you look at my car this weekend?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “What’s it doing?”
“Making a ticking sound.”
“Ticking?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s what it sounds like to me.”
Lifting my water, I finished what was in the bottle and threw it in the recycling bin under the sink. When the doorbell rang, I frowned. “Who the fuck is that?”
“No clue.” She shrugged. “I’m gonna shower.”
“Okay,” I replied over my shoulder after I cleared the end of the counter, and she headed toward the stairs off the kitchen. I moved quickly toward the door, unlocked it, and threw it open only to come face-to-face with Race.
I stepped back, and he walked through. “Hey, man.”
He looked around the apartment before facing me again. “She here?”
“In the shower,” I replied. “You sticking around?”
His eyebrows lifted slightly at my abrupt question. “I can.”
“I’d appreciate it.” I gestured toward the door. “Gotta go out, but don’t like leaving her alone.”
He nodded. “I’ll stick around until you’re back.”
“Might be late.”
He grinned, and it was obvious he thought I was meeting a woman. I was, but I wasn’t admitting to who or why. “Got nowhere to be.”
“She’s fucking beat, just so you know.”
“Figured she might be with starting work.”
It was my turn to be surprised. “She told you that?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “She asked me what I thought. I told her it was too fucking soon, but your sister doesn’t hear the word no.”
I chuckled. “No, she doesn’t.”
He slapped his hand against my shoulder. “Take your time. I’ll be here.”
“Thanks, brother.” I walked quickly back to the counter and pulled her keys from her purse. Walking back toward Race, I continued talking. “She’s having some trouble with her car. Tell her I took it for a ride to check it out.”
“You got it.”
I flung open the door and closed it behind me before heading down the stairs to our parking spaces. Wasting no time, I jumped in Becs’s car and started it up. I immediately heard the small sound she was talking about and frowned, knowing I would have to take it to the garage tomorrow to have a look. I started across town and headed for Josie’s apartment, figuring she’d be home by this time of night, knowing Bull would be there as well. Sitting at the intersection, waiting for the light to turn, I sat up straight when I saw Josie drive through and head in the opposite direction of her home. I quickly flipped on my turn signal and turned right when the light changed in order to follow her. I stayed back, keeping some distance between us, and fell back even farther when she slowed down and pulled alongside the curb on a suburban street well lit by streetlights.
Then we just sat, obviously waiting for something. She never even got out of the car, but she did turn off the engine. I checked my phone and saw it was almost nine thirty, and I was nearing the end of my patience when I watched someone ride a bike across the street and down the opposite sidewalk. After h
e cleared the corner, she started up her car and began following him. Why the hell was she following him?
I waited until she turned the corner and started the car, quickly making my way to the end of the street. I continued to follow her through town until we came to a neighborhood I was all too familiar with. She drove her car into a secluded pull-off on the side of the road, hiding it from the old warehouse where she’d taken her one and only shooting lesson and shut off the car. Swearing, I found a pull-off far enough behind her to stay unnoticed and did the same, hoping like hell she was going to wait and see what he did next.
But she didn’t.
Anger washed over me when she threw open her car door and stepped out. But it wasn’t until she started down the street, heading for the warehouse, that I flung open my door and jumped out. I moved quickly and almost soundlessly down the street, came up behind her, and at the same time, I wrapped my arm around her waist and covered her mouth with my other hand.
She squealed and struggled against me until she heard my voice whisper in her ear. “What are you doing here?”
She stopped struggling, and without thinking, I pulled her back until she was pressed tight against my body. I barely held back my groan when I felt how perfectly she fit against me. With my hand spanning her stomach, I took a deep breath and leaned down again to whisper in her ear. “If I move my hand, you have to stay quiet.”
She nodded, and I slowly dropped my hand from her mouth. She took a few deep breaths but remained quiet, so I loosened my arm around her waist. She turned quickly and took me off guard when she lifted her hand and shoved my shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with you, Bear? You scared me.”
I tightened my arm again and leaned down until our faces were close together. “What are you doing here?”
“Are you following me?”
“I’m only asking you one more time what you’re doing here. You don’t answer, I’ll handcuff you to the fucking car and drive you back to my place.” I lowered my voice to a growl. “Then you’ll find out exactly what happens when you push me too far.”
She swallowed hard, but she didn’t look scared. My cock swelled in my jeans when she licked her lips and glanced at mine. Christ, this pull was strong for both of us.
When her eyes flicked back to mine, she finally gave me the information I needed. “Dominic is in there.”
“Who the fuck is Dominic?”
“He was the kid you met at Joe’s.”
I furrowed my brow thinking back to that night and remembered the kid who had looked me in the eye. The kid with a big attitude but who used it when he thought I was disrespecting Josie. “Why are you following him?”
“I’m worried he’s getting himself into something he can’t get out of,” she whispered loudly.
“And what the hell do you think you’re going to do by coming here?”
She shrugged. “I thought I’d figure it out when I got here.”
I closed my eyes and breathed out heavily. “This place is dangerous, Josie. Haven’t you wondered why I dragged your ass out of here the first time?”
She glanced at the warehouse and frowned. “If I could just talk to him…”
“You can’t.” I turned us and started back toward where we’d parked. “And we’re not spending more time just standing here to discuss why.”
She begrudgingly walked beside me. “I need to find a way to help Dominic.”
“Being here could put him in danger.” I grabbed the door handle of her car and yanked it open, but she looked back at the warehouse. “Is that what you want?”
“No,” she conceded.
I gestured toward the inside of her car. “Get in. I’ll follow you home, and we’ll come up with a way to help him get out of whatever shit he’s gotten himself into.”
A loud bang sounded in the night air, and I shoved her against the car, covering her body with my own and pushing the door closed softly. Arching my neck, I looked over at the building and saw a truck backing out of one of the large bay doors. “Son of a bitch.”
Yanking her back, I dragged her into the heavily wooded area beside the street and shoved her down to the ground, positioning my body on top of hers.
“Bear,” she whispered.
Looking down, I could see only the white of her eyes in the blackness of night that surrounded us now that the streetlights were blocked by the dense trees and underbrush.
“Don’t say a word,” I whispered harshly.
Listening to the sounds filling the air, I tried to differentiate between vehicles. When I heard metal slamming against metal, I recognized those were the sounds of heavy truck doors being closed.
Josie shifted, and when her legs parted, my hips settled, putting my dick right where it belonged. Dropping my head, I pressed my forehead to her shoulder and heard her swallow hard when she pulled her left leg up until her thigh rested against my side.
“Fuck.” I groaned when the sweet scent of coconut rolled over me.
“My leg was falling asleep,” she whispered, but I kept my head down while I tried to get control of myself.
She shifted again and raised her hips slightly, but it was enough to ensure we were as close as we could be with our clothes still on. Turning my head, I skimmed my lips along her neck, and her soft whimpers in the quiet of the night egged me on. The danger around us only heightened my need to get closer to her and to feel her body shake below mine while I pressed my cock against her.
I laid my hand along her side and slid it under her shirt so I could feel her soft skin under my fingers. She wrapped her hand around the back of my neck and slid it into my hair just as my lips touched her ear. She whimpered and pressed her thigh harder against my side when I slowly thrust against her heat. Winding both of her hands around my back, she dug in her nails and lifted her hips, encouraging me to continue, but she had no idea that I had no plans to stop. She felt too fucking good under me. With her soft panting in my ear, I momentarily forgot where we were, my mind only focused on the woman beneath me.
Until the piercing sound of metal scraping metal shot through the quiet of the night.
My head snapped up, and I heard a few voices with more low banging before a number of trucks exited the large lot on the side of the building. I pulled my hand from her shirt and wrapped both arms around her, pushing us both as low to the ground as possible. When headlights turned toward where we were hiding, I dropped my head to her shoulder and pressed my face against the side of her neck in an attempt to make us blend into the darkness surrounding us.
We stayed like that until the last of the trucks left. When I was sure it was safe to move, I pulled my head out of her neck and shifted my body to stand. Reaching down, I grabbed her hand and helped her up. She brushed the dirt off the back of her jeans, but she didn’t say a word. We quietly made our way back out to her car, and this time, I didn’t waste any time talking. I gestured for her to get inside and closed the door before jogging back to Becs’s car, getting in, and starting the engine.
Then I followed her home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JOSIE
That did not go as I’d planned. Although, to be fair, I didn’t have much of a plan. But the idea I had didn’t involve Bear showing up and throwing me to the ground to save us from being seen. Nor did it involve my body betraying me by constantly shifting to get closer to him or trying to get his hardness to press against me. My body remembered how good that felt the last time in his office, so as soon as he was close enough, it was as if my mind shut off and my body took over. I knew better, but I’d never felt as good as I had that night, and I wanted more of it. I wanted to know what he could do to me if our clothes were actually off. I’d never craved sex before, but with him, I was in a constant state of arousal.
I knew he was following me home. It was obvious he was pissed, and when I thought about it, I could understand why. His club was doing a lot to protect me from their rivals, and I was doing crap like I did tonight. But I hadn’t
given that much thought. I just wanted to help a kid who seemed so lost and opposite from the kid I’d gotten to know over the summer.
Pulling into the parking lot of my building, I parked in my spot, got out, and waited while Bear jogged across the lot from the spot he’d taken along the curb. Still not speaking, we walked inside the building and straight to the elevators. I almost said something in the elevator while we rode quietly up to my floor, anything to break the uncomfortable silence, but then decided not to when I noticed the tic in his jaw.
I unlocked my apartment door and moved through, deciding to just apologize, agree with whatever he said, and figure out a new plan tomorrow.
But I never got the chance.
Bear slammed the door behind him, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me tight against his body. With my back against his chest, he ran his tongue up the side of my neck and ground his hard cock against my ass. Sighing, I dropped my head back against his shoulder and moaned when he ran his hand over my stomach and up to cover my breast. I couldn’t stand the clothes between us and reached down to grab the hem of my T-shirt. He slapped my hands away and grabbed the hem himself before pulling it up quickly and tugging it over my head. I turned just as it cleared my face, and at the same time, we crushed our lips together.
It wasn’t a sweet kiss. It was the kiss of two people who had been starving for each other. We dueled for control, his tongue pushing mine out of his mouth so he could take over. His hands, calloused from working with them every day, scratched the soft skin along my ribs. He covered my breasts with both of his palms but then moved them to the back to quickly unhook my bra. I shook it free and moaned long and loud in his mouth when his finger and thumb of each hand wrapped around each of my nipples. It was like a shot straight to my throbbing clit.
Dropping my hand, I rubbed it along the hardness pressing against the front of his jeans before pulling at the button. When I heard the snap, I dropped my hand and yanked down the zipper, wanting my hands on him, skin to skin.
He growled when my hand slid into his underwear and wrapped around his hard length. Grabbing the back of his shirt, he tore his lips from mine to pull it over his head, and I groaned. He was built like he took out his excess energy on his body. Muscles rippled under tan skin, and tattoos peppered his biceps. Squeezing his length, I leaned into him just as he began pushing me backward. I pulled my hand from his pants just as we both landed on the couch with him coming over me heavy and hard. I laid my head back and closed my eyes, reveling in the weight of him crushing me into the couch.
End Game (Sinners MC Book 2) Page 17