by Diana Fisher
Keri and those damn jeans. She wore them to the game, and I almost tripped when she bent over to tie her shoelace while waiting for Jordan to get out of the showers. Of course, she didn’t squat like a woman would have, but she lifted her foot to the bench, bending over, molding that denim to that nice round ass of hers … that looked a little smaller than the first night I saw her in those pants. Even her cheeks were a little different, almost as if she lost a little weight.
Pulling back, the tingles ran down my spine and the awaking arousal in my jeans sent an electrifying pulse through me. I hadn’t been aroused all night with the chick rubbing up on me, but thinking of Keri had my motors running and in gear, ready to go for a wild ride.
Keri, the woman who had taken on two teenagers that would end up digging her into a bigger hole. She needed to just give the kids up and get on with her life. She was too young to ruin her life like that.
Looking over to my left, I had a vision of those jeans pushing through the crowd. No. It couldn’t be her. I just needed to get her off my mind. This was getting to be a little too much. I’d never had a woman on my mind like this before … especially one with two kids she shouldn’t have.
“Get the hell off me!” a woman growled sharply over the music. A growl that was all too familiar, and one that haunted my dreams.
It was her. Another damn weekend that my aching body wouldn’t get any release. Pulling away from my willing and definite score, I shoved my way through the crowd, following her to the exit. I caught her just as she got to the door wearing that same short, tighter sweatshirt that rode higher on her waist, baring the weight loss with the gap of the jeans and the smooth skin that hid underneath of the denim fabric. Her silvery-gray eyes were shaded, showing off the exhaustion and the rage that was deep inside of her.
“What are you doing here?” I snorted out the words, not meaning to, but if she wanted to have kids, some things would have to be given up, such as partying on Saturday nights. And what was she even doing there when she only had a dime to her name? The sight was clear that all she wanted was to land someone with money. And this afternoon, seeing her with Ben proved it.
His eyes were glued on her, too, when she tied her shoelace. His eyes were focused right there, right on that tight ass of hers. And it surprised me. Ben was just as shy as his son was, and still, he was looking at her. The guy was forty-five and went through a nasty divorce just last year. There should be no way that he should even be looking at a twenty-one-year-old.
“You are the biggest bastard I have ever met!” Snapping her arm away from me, she turned and shoved the heavy door open and stormed out, leaving a whirlwind behind her in her path. Even the stocky, weightlifting bouncer I hired jumped clear of her path.
Biting on the interest that trailed her everywhere, I followed, catching her arm this time and stopping her in the parking lot. Just as she reached for the car door, I pressed my hand to it and held it shut before she could get it and drive off. “You are the one who is ruining those kids’ chance at a good life. If you think that you can land a man with money to support you—”
Her hand came back and cracked me across the cheek, hard enough to sting the flesh. Shaking her hand and rubbing the biting after affect, her eyes were opened wide, not believing what she just did. Trying to pull back her composure and straightening her shoulders, her eyes swelled with tears, glistening under the soft glow of the parking lot lamp. “Stay out of our lives, Kane.”
“Speaking of the kids, where are they? Did you leave them home so that you could sleaze your way into having some guy buying you drinks?” My chest tightened as the rage deepened in her. Her fists were balled, whitening her knuckles, and the tears were running down her face with the disgust stealing even more color from her.
“You leave my kids out of it. You leave my kids the hell alone. If you get them taken away from me, I swear, I will bring you down and you will wish to God you never met me.” She drew out her finger and shoved it into my chest. “You don’t know what is going on, so stay the hell out of it and stay the hell out of my account. You had no right to do that!”
“Your damn check was no good, Keri,” I hissed trying to keep my voice low. Removing my hand from the door, I took a step back, glancing over the full parking lot and making sure there wasn’t anyone watching or listening. The last thing I wanted was to have those kids taken away unannounced. “He would have been pulled from the roster. I had to do what I did so he could play. But you need to get your shit straight, Keri.”
“You had no right to go behind my back, Kane.” Her voice cracked as she shoved me away from the car, and the tears rolled even faster. “You don’t know anything about us, so stay the hell out of it.”
“You need to listen to me.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and picked her up before she could run off. Knowing the hurricane was brewing inside of her, driving was the last thing she should be doing. And if she was that determined to keep those kids, maybe I was wrong.
“Put me down!” She kicked and wiggled, trying to free herself, but I held her tight to me, though the action in my jeans was beginning to get even more noticeable. She felt so good being so close. Her breasts were pressed tight against my chest, and I could feel her heart banging as hard as it could. The tears were bringing out the soft beauty she already carried by enhancing the curvatures of her face a little more. One large droplet rested on her tightened upper lip, and the hunger to lick it off slammed into me like a train.
“Stop. Just stop!” Pressing her tight to the car, pinning under my body, I leaned in closer to hers and sucked in a deep breath to put the blazing inferno out in my lower stomach. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to devour her, but this wasn’t the time to do so. There wasn’t a time to do so. She was someone who was completely off limits, and I wasn’t about to get involved in her mess. Nor anyone else’s for that matter. I had enough on my plate with my businesses and the hockey arena. “Yes, I did it behind your back, but it was to keep Jordan on the team. They needed the payment and your check wasn’t going to clear.”
“I had money in there, Kane. I had the money in there for that check and groceries.” Her eyes refilled with the water, sending the next round of tears down her face. “They took it out, and they insist that I withdrew it all as soon as it was in there. I am going to talk to them on Monday and get it straightened out.”
Loosening my hold, I still kept her there, pinned between me and the car, realizing just how good it actually felt to have a woman pressed against me like this. And the woman being her. My body was craving her the instant I laid eyes on her. And I was feeling the starvations, but seeing her with Ben really stung. I wanted to be the only one who she was looking at and sitting with and talking to. But, instead of working on getting her to trust me, I was pushing her away because of her situation. Maybe I just needed to back off and help her, instead of jumping on her about the kids. If she was fighting this hard to keep them, then maybe they were better off with her. “Keri, what’s going on?”
“I can’t have them taken away from me, Kane. I can’t let them go back to where they came from. I can’t let them go through anything like that again.” Her resistance lessened as she began to fall to me with the storm releasing its powers and raining down her face. Wrapping my arms around her, I let her cry on my chest while my mind weighed out the situation. I insulted her in the first place, assuming she couldn’t take on the teens. But, my mother did tell me that a woman was more capable of doing things a man really couldn’t. And Keri was doing everything she could to give those kids a good life, better than what my birth parents had given me. “It’s not fair, Kane. I am trying. I really am, but the bank…”
“Just tell me what the issue is and we can work on it instead of fighting.” So, I just backed down like a puppy. Getting involved in her monetary mess was not something I needed to do. There were too many women out there who just wanted to score someone to take care of everything for them, but Keri, more than likely, wasn’t
one of them. If she was having issues with her bank, I had a good friend at the head branch that I could make a call to, if needed.
“The bank took all my money. They said that it was withdrawn, but they won’t tell me by who. I don’t know why they are taking my money from my account. We would be fine if they could just figure it out for me. Then, there was a deposit and that was taken, too. When my paycheck went in, it was taken right out afterward.” She pulled back as she wiped the tears off her face. “Someone has access to my account, Kane, but the bank isn’t helping me at all to get my money back.”
“I put the money back that you spent on Jordan’s gear by using the account information on the bottom of your check, but I didn’t take anything out.” Why did this woman have to be my truth serum? I didn’t need to tell her that I put the money into her account. That could have been best left unsaid. The last thing I wanted to make her think while she was opening up to me was that I didn’t think she could do this on her own. She was right about one thing this whole time. I had no clue as to what her situation was.
“Why? I can do this.” Her lips pressed together, leaving a thin ridge for the tears to roll down to her chin easier.
“I filed the paperwork to have the rink sponsor him. Every year, the rink does that because some people just don’t have the extra money. He wants to play, and he has the drive to be great. I don’t want him to lose this opportunity.”
Her body lost all confidence, and her shoulders slumped and the desperation depleted her determination. For once, she wasn’t the strong and independent woman who barged into my office, nor the one who threw emotion crayons my way. This was a woman who was beginning to lose the battles and cowering to the end of defeat.
“I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know who it’s okay to talk to. I don’t know who it’s okay to let them be around. I don’t know anything anymore.” Leaning against the side of the car, she folded her arms across her chest and the end of the battle was spreading over her high cheekbones and entering into those tender and loving silvery-gray eyes of hers. “I’m not sure I can do this anymore.”
“Ben is a really good man. Andrew and Alicia are good kids, too. I wouldn’t worry about them at all.” Since she had slipped away from me, the void was sinking in, and fast. Putting my arm around her, I brought her back to my chest, the warmth and comfort instantly filling into that empty hole. “A friend of mine works at the bank and I will see what I can find out for you. In the meantime, I will bring some groceries and whatever else you need to until we get this straightened out. Don’t give up.”
“I appreciate the offer, but … If anyone finds out about this, they will take the kids away from me. I can’t let that happen, Kane.” Her body tensed a little, the muscles tightening, but I could still feel the determination deteriorating underneath her sweatshirt.
“Having no money and no food will get them taken away faster. Just … trust me. We will get this straightened out.” Guilt swooshed into me for the first time in my life. I was completely wrong, and the sting of flesh where her hand connected was a way to tell me just how horrible I was to say what I did to her. Jumping to conclusions was what my adoptive mother told me not to do, but I did it anyway, and now I was finding out how crow tasted.
“I get paid in two weeks, and I will pay you back.” Her words cracked and she trailed off, the pain thickening in her body, tightening her muscles even more. There was no way she was thinking she could do this now. Not after the truth came out about her missing money. And with her, I strongly believed that it was the truth. She needed to unleash the secret before it really destroyed what she was trying to give to those kids.
And a hundred dollars in groceries was not going to bankrupt me. My accountant was great at being able to write off some things, and helping her out wasn’t going to hurt, as long as this was not an on-going ordeal. But, seeing how determined that she was about taking care of those two, I knew that she wasn’t out for someone else’s money. She wasn’t that kind of girl, like the sure thing I walked away from in the club to run after Keri.
“Get back home to them, and I will meet you in the morning to get groceries. We will get enough for the week. Just keep them at home and make sure they stay there with the doors locked.”
Her shoulders dropped with the weight of defeat and she nodded slightly. “I’m sorry about coming here and breaking up your night. I just needed to know why you went behind my back.”
“I did it to help you, and help Jordan. Not to hurt you both.” And I did do it behind her back. I was the horrible person for jumping to conclusions when I should have just talked to her in the first place. She wouldn’t be in this situation if I hadn’t assumed the worst of her.
“I need to get back home. I’ve left them alone too long already.” She motioned to the car and stepped away from me. “Thanks for your help, and I’m sorry to break up your fun.”
That was all I needed; to have her look at me like I was more of a creep than I already was. But, I was pissed about the check. Now understanding what was actually going on, she hadn’t knowingly written a bad check. Something else was going on that even she wasn’t fully aware of. Helping her out just might be what she needs to give those two a good life for a change. All it took was the right person, and she was the right person for those two.
“I’ll get you some night and I will show you some fun.” Smirking, I winked at her, hoping to ease the bad blood between us. Crow didn’t taste very good, and I would rather not eat it again, if I could help it.
“Pretty sure that I won’t be having your kind of fun. I’m not a skank.” Pulling the door open, she slipped into the driver’s seat and closed the door before I could catch her and challenge that snide remark. But it was the truth. Keri was far from the type of girls I picked up for a weekend stress reliever. And maybe I needed to back off the stress relievers and start keeping my book open for the girls like Keri—the ones who are determined to make someone else’s life better than what they had before.
Once again, my night was ruined because of that woman. Sucking in a deep breath as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto Main Street, I went back into the club and took a seat at the bar instead of finding my sure thing. Getting a drink, the frustration was pooling deep inside of me. Keri was really working me toward a cliff, and I would have to take matter into my own hands and stop myself from falling off. Tipping back the amber liquid and the biting after burn, I rested my arm on the countertop and glanced over the packed dancefloor. Having Keri in my second place of business now ruined any chance of seeking a bedmate for the night.
“Hey. You want to blow this place and begin a party of our own?” The sure thing found me and pressed her big chest against my arm as her lips nipped at my ear. “I’m not wearing any panties.”
“Not tonight.” Standing up, I tossed a few dollars on the bar for the bartender, downed the full and fresh drink, and looked at her pouting red lips. She was really a skank, an easy lay, but after seeing Keri, I couldn’t. There wasn’t anything happening in my jeans anymore, and I lost all hope for the night. Maybe for good until the one woman I shouldn’t want gets out of my mind.
Just like that, she was pressing herself on me with her arms wrapped tightly around my neck and drawing me to her lips. Nothing but a complete void and disgust was sinking in. Swallowing hard, I shook my head and carefully removed her hands from their strong hold.
“What? You get me all worked up and that … that … woman comes in here…” Her eyes glistened as she batted her eyes and her body was drawing near again. “She doesn’t have to know.”
“I’m going home.” Looking up at the smirk spread over the thirty-ish year old male bartender, I flipped him off with my eyes and mentally noted the incident.
“That sounds like fun.” Before I could do anything about it, she pulled herself up onto me, wrapping her legs around my waist. Her mouth covered mine, and the taste was worse than eating burnt three-day old pizza. The scum alone layer
ed onto my teeth, and the strong urge to brush them filled into my mouth.
Getting her off me, I made sure she was steady on her high heeled shoes, and then cursed as I walked through the crowd while washing my hands over my mouth. Slipping up to the black door in the black painted wall, I unlocked the door and slipped through as quickly as I could, making sure the damn thing locked behind me. Once in the kitchen, I grabbed the bottle of Jack off the kitchen counter and filled a double shot in the regular glass that was available on the island counter. Tipping it back, the bitter and burning liquid flowed down my throat and settled into my stomach, relieving the guilt of the bar fly’s actions. What the hell was I going to do about this Keri thing?
Tomorrow, I would take Keri grocery shopping and make sure that she had everything she and the kids needed. Instead of watching her get those kids taken away, I would have to help her. I needed to help her. I still didn’t have the whole story, but I had enough just from how she acting. Maybe the kids were better off with her than someone else.
I had gotten lucky with my new parents. Not all kids were adoptable, and most of them stayed in the system until they turned of age to be out on their own. If they were even able to stay together, no one would adopt them and they would be shifted from foster home to foster home. When Jordan turns eighteen, he would be sent on his way and Sky would be alone until she turned of age.
And seeing Keri with them, guilt and shame were coloring into me, filling into my veins for thinking the absolute worse about her. She was the best for those two, and those two were the best thing for her. They were working as a team, and Jordan hadn’t been so filled up on his hatred for everyone. Taking them apart would only destroy them.
I knew what I would be doing first thing Monday morning. I needed to find out where Keri’s money went for her and figure this out. She needed a break, and deserved one. She deserved a nice guy like Ben, too. Being pissed over that needed to end now.