by Joss Wood
Kai sighed and looked down into his beer glass, resisting the urge to look at Flick again. She was everything the blonde wasn’t; subtlety sexy, stylish. Men didn’t toy with her, they didn’t bang her and disappear, didn’t take what they needed and then piss off. As he’d intended to do as of twelve hours ago. If he’d thought for one second that his plans might change, he would never have slept with her.
Flick was the type of woman who men stuck to, held on to, worked for. All the things he never did and wasn’t prepared to do. But he was here and so was she and they’d have to deal with each other, just for tonight. Somehow he’d find an opportunity to explain that he’d be in Mercy a bit longer than he expected; he’d keep it short and simple.
Sawyer nudged his side with his elbow. “Hey, Jack’s behind the bar and he’s talking to Flick and Pippa. And he’s sending you his death glare.”
“I haven’t been in here for over four months. How can I have pissed him off?” Kai demanded before slapping the heel of his hand against his forehead. For a moment he’d forgotten that he was temporarily living in a town where gossiping was considered a community event. “Flick and Jack are siblings.”
“There you go,” Sawyer replied. “This is a small town, Kai, and its residents have active imaginations. Two plus two is never four.”
“For all they know, we could’ve spent that time on the porch, just talking.”
“Did you?”
Well, no.
“It figures that Flick would have a big brother looking out for her,” Kai muttered and then wondered whether there were more Sturgiss men that he might run into. “How many brothers does she have again?”
“Four—five if you include me.”
“All in Mercy?”
“Nah. Two half-brothers, and she barely knows them. Her youngest brother died a long time ago.”
Kai wasn’t going to ask—it had nothing to do with him. He definitely wasn’t going to ask . . .
“How did he die?”
“Leukemia. He was ten, she was twelve.”
Shit. Well, he’d asked. “Are her parents in Mercy too?”
Sawyer sent him a cynical smile. “Her father is but he checked out of all their lives when her mother died. Come on, let’s go.”
Kai was about to ask more, but then he realized that he was being far too curious about her life. He didn’t need to know about her family setup, and he shouldn’t care. Emotional distance, Manning. Heard about the concept, bud?
Jack followed their progress as they moved down the bar, and before they reached Flick and Pippa he lifted his hand to grab their attention. They stopped and Kai immediately noticed that Jack’s hands were now flat on the bar. He did an internal eye roll when Jack jerked his head, silently ordering him to step forward.
God, he was too old for this shit. He narrowed his eyes at Jack in warning. He’d allow him a certain amount of leeway—he understood the concept of big brothers being protective of little sisters—but if he swung he’d take him down.
Jack leaned across the bar to get up close and personal. “You’d better tread lightly, dude, because I’m watching you. You cause her to break so much as a nail and you’re history.”
Kai understood a threat when he heard one and he generally didn’t respond well to them. He thought about telling Jack that he could try but quickly realized that he’d be adding gas to an already hot fire.
Mercy was his place of business, he was already being gossiped about, and, yeah, he was too old for this shit. Besides, while he might not have any siblings, he had Sawyer and Axl, and he’d hurt anyone who hurt them. And Reagan was the closest he had to a sister and he’d obliterate anyone who hurt her, so, on that basis, he decided to cut Jake a little slack.
He gave Jack a brief nod. “Understood.”
“Good. Want a beer?” Jack asked. And the matter was over—unless, of course, he did something to cause Flick to break a nail. Which he wouldn’t, because he was going to avoid the damn woman as much as possible.
When they reached the corner of the bar, Sawyer introduced Kai to Pippa. Kai opened his mouth to greet Flick as well but she leaned across Pippa and grabbed the tail of his shirt to yank him to her side.
“Hello to you too,” he drawled.
“You’re supposed to be gone!” she hissed. “You said you were leaving.”
“I was, but my plans changed at the last minute.”
“What happened?” Flick demanded in a frustrated whisper. “The only reason we—I—you know—did what we did, was because you were leaving!”
“Sawyer needs to leave town, so I need to stay,” Kai said, his voice low and directed so that she was the only one who could hear it.
Flick sent Sawyer a quick look and frowned. “Why? Where’s he going?”
Kai took a sip from his beer bottle. “If he wants you to know, then I’m sure he’ll tell you.”
“That’s annoying.” Flick placed her glass on the bar and rolled her head on her shoulders. She lifted her head, looked at Sawyer, and raised her voice. “Why are you leaving town, bud?”
Pain-filtered annoyance flicked into his friend’s eyes, although his face remained inscrutable. “Doug.”
It was just one word but the groans from Jack and the two women told Kai that they were familiar with Sawyer’s family problems. They were probably more connected to him than he was. Why did that make him feel envious, even just a little bit? They lived here, shared his time, ate with him, socialized with him. He didn’t. His choice.
“Possession again?” Flick asked the question quietly, compassion in her voice.
Over her head Sawyer’s eyes met his and Kai expected him to explain. Instead Sawyer just smiled tightly and nodded. “Yeah.” Kai understood Sawyer’s reticence—he wouldn’t have explained about the rape charges until he knew all the facts either. In truth, he wouldn’t have even explained why he was leaving town. Sawyer’s communication skills were far superior to his.
“The kid needs his ass kicked,” Jack grumbled from behind the bar.
“Probably. Can we talk about something else?” Sawyer asked, his shoulders so tight that they were halfway up to his ears.
Flick smiled sympathetically and nodded. Unfortunately her idea of changing the subject was to turn her attention onto Kai. “You broke my dog!”
Kai lowered his bottle. “What?”
In the dim light of the bar, her siren eyes were more an aqua green than blue, he noticed.
“When I took him home yesterday he just collapsed on his bed and went straight to sleep. He didn’t even react when the kittens arrived today. He’s too tired to move.”
“He needs more exercise,” Kai replied, not even remotely fazed.
Pippa looked horrified. “We have kittens now?” she wailed. “Dammit, Fee, that’s the second bomb you’ve dropped on me tonight!”
Flick wrinkled her nose at her friend. “They’re just babies, Pips. They’re thin and scared—”
“They always are,” Pippa sighed. “Don’t we have enough to deal with without two kittens, Flick?”
Flick pointed to a guy standing behind them. “It’s Kevin’s fault. He found them and dropped them off.”
“But you were the sucker who didn’t say no,” Kai said quietly. He realized that he’d made an error when her eyes refocused on him. Dammit, she wasn’t done with him yet.
“Getting back to what I was saying, my dog is a train wreck! How far did you run him?”
Kai just shrugged. The less he said, the less trouble he’d be in.
“Isn’t Rufus being tired a good thing?” Jack asked from his side of the bar. “No digging up flowerbeds, humping anything that moves, eating the bumper of your car.”
Kai winced and Flick hastened to defend her baby. “He only did that once—”
“Four times,” Sawyer corrected.
“Three, technically. The fourth time he chomped her side mirror,” Jack interjected.
“Oh, shut up!” Flick said. She pointed a finger at Kai. “You are not off the hook, mister!”
Maybe not, but he would be soon. Distract and evade—SEALs were particularly good at that. Kai hid his smile and looked at Sawyer, then Jack. “Do you know that she’s thinking about having him de-balled?” he said.
Sawyer winced. “Aw, the poor guy.”
Jack turned to Flick and frowned. “Is that necessary? I mean, he was abandoned on a highway, hit by a car, left there to die, and now you want to punish him further by taking his manhood?”
“He’s a dog!” Flick pointed out. “A dog! He won’t know the difference.”
“Don’t bet on it,” Kai said.
Jack sighed. “Only a woman could make such a heartless statement.”
Flick pointed an irritated finger at him. “I am tired of seeing him hump anything that moves, from dogs to furniture to my leg! I’m terrified because I think he’s impregnated a few of the neighborhood dogs, including a highly bred poodle. Anyway, as I was saying, Kai broke my dog.”
Kai didn’t bother to respond, knowing that his look suggested that she was whining. Flick’s responding look threatened to blister his skin. “Stay away from my dog,” she told him.
Kai was old enough and smart enough to hear her warning and knew that it had nothing to do with her dog. She’d realized, as he did, that if they found themselves alone again they’d be back to square one; naked and screwing their brains out.
Sawyer drained his glass and waved it in the air, looking at Jack. “Any chance of getting served here?”
Jack peeled his folded arms off the bar and glanced over their glasses. Without asking who wanted what, he proceeded to refill their drinks, listening to their conversation while simultaneously flirting with a group of woman sitting next to them. He looked calm and lazy but his eyes, Kai noticed, missed nothing. Like Jack, he was also currently monitoring an argument between a man and a woman in the far corner of the bar and keeping an eye on a very competitive pool match. Jack shared Flick’s eye shape and color but his were darker, more cynical.
Subdued strength, Kai thought. Both physical and mental. Smart and sneaky. The kind of guy you wanted at your back in a fight. Like Sawyer, he was also extremely protective of Flick and Pippa. He hadn’t missed the glares they’d both sent the guys who’d tried to approach the girls to chat them up; one look from either of them was enough to shrivel the balls of most men.
Kai doubted he could restrain himself to a look if he had to watch some random dude hit on Flick. Actually, he could practically guarantee that the guy’s chances of making sperm would be severely compromised.
Not your girl, not your fight . . . not your anything, he reminded himself sternly. Would he ever get that through his thick skull?
Trying to ignore Flick, who was still glowering at him, he looked past her to Pippa and smiled at the ethereal-looking redhead. “So, Pippa, why haven’t we met before?”
“Maybe because you’re never in town,” Pippa pointed out with a flirty smile. Kai caught Flick narrowing her eyes. Sawyer also suddenly looked like he had a stick shoved up his ass.
Kai shoved his hands into his jeans and rocked on his heels. He deliberately sent Pippa a sexy half-smile, wanting to see Sawyer’s reaction. “And you work at the bakery with Flick?”
Sawyer’s jaw tightened and Kai thought that he might be grinding the enamel off his teeth. Was Sawyer jealous? He thought he’d never see the day. So much for his I’ve-known-those-two-brats-all-my-life comment from the other day. Brat wasn’t the word Sawyer thought of when he looked at Pippa, Kai realized.
Well, shit. This was interesting.
“We inherited the business from our grandmother,” Pippa replied. “Flick was coming out of a relationship and I was bored with my job, so we thought we’d give running the bakery a shot.”
Flick bared her teeth at her friend. “I’m sure Kai isn’t interested in our history, Pips.”
Sure he was; in Flick’s history in particular. He didn’t want to be but he was. Flick pushed her hair back, cracked a smile, and abruptly changed the subject. “Moses will be back at the bakery on Monday.”
Sawyer’s face split into a big grin. “Awesome. Moses makes the best bread,” he told Kai, “and his specialty was a rosemary and garlic ciabatta. So good.” He lifted his arm and ruffled Flick’s hair. “Flick is a good baker but Mo is better.”
“Gee, thanks,” Flick muttered. “It’s the truth, but you don’t need to broadcast it.”
“So what will you do if Mo is doing the baking?” Sawyer asked. “If I recall, he hates having people in his kitchen, so you’ll be kicked out. You just going to waft around and look pretty?”
“You’re the third person who’s asked me that! As I was telling Pips when she asked me the same question not fifteen minutes ago, I’m going to start a catering business providing food for anyone who wants it. Weddings, funerals, parties. And I’m going to cook meals that people can freeze—busy singles, busy moms—preservative-free and healthy. People can buy them from me and just heat them up when they needed it.”
“Are you a good cook?” Kai asked.
Both Sawyer and Pippa started to answer him but Flick’s frown stopped them in their tracks. What did that mean? That she was a great cook or a really crap one? “Good enough,” she answered.
Nobody at Cas could cook worth a damn, and it would be hard to be worse than them, so Kai shrugged. “When you’re ready, send us the menus and we’ll pass them along to the guys at the academy. They like to eat healthy but hate cooking.”
“Thanks,” Flick replied, looking surprised at his offer. Yeah, I can be a good guy now and then. “It’s just an idea at the moment—”
“That’s where all great businesses start,” Kai said, moving closer to Flick as someone pushed in between their two groups to get to the bar. Her shoulder brushed his chest and he could smell her light, sexy perfume. He just needed to move an inch and his junk would be pressing into her thigh . . . God, he still wanted her. One afternoon had not come anywhere close to taking the edge off.
In what universe was that fair? Oh, yeah. Life wasn’t fair. It was a lesson that life had started drumming into his head as a child, and was still harping on.
“Pool table is open. Want to play?”
For a moment Kai thought that Sawyer was talking to him, but when he looked up, he saw his friend had directed the comment to Pippa. He had a strange look—exasperation, resignation?—on his face. Pippa lifted her chin and slid off her chair. “Sure. When are you going to give up, Sawyer?”
“When I beat you,” Sawyer replied, placing a hand on her back and leading her across the bar.
“In your dreams, cream puff.”
***
As Pippa and Sawyer made their way across the room to the pool tables, Kai took Pippa’s empty chair and placed his knees on the outside of Flick’s.
“What’s that about?” he asked, lifting his head at their departing friends.
“Sawyer taught Pips to play pool when we were kids. One night, soon after he came back to Mercy for good, he challenged her to a game of pool and she whipped him. He was seriously shocked and he hasn’t managed to beat her since. They play every week and every week Pip beats him, though not by much.” Flick sipped her wine. “He’s like a dog with a bone—he won’t give up until he’s regained the upper hand, and she’s equally determined that he won’t.”
“If you think Sawyer’s incredibly competitive, Axl is worse.”
“And are you competitive?”
“As competitive as you are sexy. And I think that you are extremely sexy.”
Her eyes deepened and darkened and the moisture in his mouth dried up at the lust that jumped into her eyes. God, when she went
there she upped her sexy factor by a hundred percent.
“Behave, Manning,” Flick whispered.
Not a bad idea. Kai had to make a conscious effort to remember what they were talking about. Pool, Sawyer, Pippa . . . back on track. Marginally.
Flick rolled her shoulders, clearly trying to loosen the tension in those taut muscles. “Anyway, they’re fun to watch.”
Flick took a sip of wine and waited for Kai to pick up the conversational ball and run with it. She’d have to wait awhile, because he was fully at ease, happy to drink his beer and just look at her. He was obviously far more comfortable with silence than her though, and after a minute of his hot-eyed gaze, she looked like she was about to jump out of her skin. Or about to jump him . . . which he knew Jack wouldn’t appreciate. Jack, as Sawyer told him earlier, had been known to toss a bucket of ice over couples who got too touchy-feely. And if that someone was his sister?
It wouldn’t be pretty.
After a minute of silence, Flick shifted in her seat and broke the tension. “So, did you enjoy the pastries what’s-her-name bought?”
He heard the tart note in her voice and hid his smile. Was that jealously? And why did he like hearing it on her lips when he hated it from other women?
“I’m not jealous, I’m just curious as to who Reagan is and how she fits into the Caswallawn picture,” Flick said, lifting her nose in the air. What a little liar, Kai thought, reading her easily.
Are you sleeping with her? Kai heard the silent question as loudly as if she’d spoken it.
“Her name is Reagan and no, I didn’t get a chance to eat the pastries. The bastards ate them before I got back to the office. There will be retribution,” Kai added. “Maybe I’ll wake them both up extra early tomorrow morning for a very long run.”
“Where is she tonight?” Flick asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“That’s one of your tells,” Kai said, keeping his tone conversational.
“My what?”
“You try to sound casual but you tuck your hair behind your ear every time you feel uneasy.” He touched her earlobe with the tip of his finger and he felt her quick shudder. “You did it when we met, when you asked me to take you to bed.”