Plain Jane and the Bad Boy (Plain Jane Series)

by Tmonique Stephens

  “I’ll give you two—”

  She whipped around and snarled, “Don’t you dare.” Cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. “I will never, never take one dime from you.” She didn’t have much, what she did have was pride. He gave her food, gave her a ride, and now wanted to give her money? No. Enough was enough, and he’d done enough. Yeah, she was a charity case, but she refused to be his charity case.

  Part of her whispered—the rational part—that it shouldn’t matter. The rest of her said it did matter. Why? Don’t know. It just did.

  Mist gathered. A fresh round of rain approached. Vivi looked up, her little face wet from the droplets. She didn’t mind. Liam’s phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket.

  “Yeah?” he said into the phone and had to angle away as Vivi got grabby. “Don’t worry about it.”

  God, please let her never hear that sentence again.

  “Another house will come on the market. You’re right. I didn’t want to bid that high. Okay. I’ll see you back at the office.”

  Great. She’d cost him the property he wanted. What else would go wrong today?

  He ended the phone call and faced Sabrina. “Get in the truck,” he bit out and walked away before she could apologize. He didn’t even wait for her, a good thing since the mist turned into rain. By the time she got to the truck, he already had Vivi in her seat and was striding around to the driver side.

  The car door slammed after him. She waited for him to start the engine…and continued to wait. “What are you waiting for?” she snapped.

  “Don’t you ever do some shit like that again.” He turned to her, his gaze burrowing into her, not hiding he was ticked off. “You put yourself in danger. You could’ve been hurt. Worse! You put your daughter in danger.” He started the engine while she sat dumbfounded, not because he was wrong, but because he was right.

  No! He’s not!

  “Why would I expect you to understand? You’re not worried about your next check. Where your next meal is coming from? Or how you’re going to take care of you and your kid. Well I am.”

  Liam cut the engine and torqued his body around to face her. Sabrina pressed into the door. Brow lowered over, a muscle flexing in the hollow of his right cheek, not an ounce of warmth on his handsome face. She’d never seen him angry. Automatically, she shrunk into the leather seat. Fear sliced through her. Was he a hitter? Would she leave the truck with a busted lip for her disrespectful mouth? Or maybe he liked the sound of bones breaking? How bad would he hurt her? She braced for the first strike while reaching behind her for the door handle.

  “Yeah, I don’t worry about one check. I worry about the payroll I have to meet every two weeks. I worry about where they’re getting their next meals and how they’re taking care of their families. How to expand the business and hire more people, or will that overextend my resources. I worry about all of them because they trust me with their livelihoods and because they are my family. Every decision I make affects each one of them. Got it?”

  He started the truck, gripped the steering wheel hard enough to cause it to creak, and drove out of the parking lot.

  That’s it? Refusing to let her guard down, she remained curled in a knot as close to the door as possible, eyes locked on him. She’d have a hand print on her face or around her throat from Vincent by now. When he got angry, she got hit.

  Liam growled, a muscle ticked, and his neck turned red, but he didn’t hit her. And, he seemed calm. His hands had unclenched from the wheel and his broad shoulders relaxed.

  “Sorry for yelling at you.”

  “You growled,” she mumbled, still in a knot.

  “Sorry. I saw you on the floor, almost trampled…” His voice dipped into a low growl. “You didn’t think about Vivi, what she’d do without you.”

  She had to make him understand. “I was there because of Vivi.”

  “What if someone had a gun and you got killed over two hundred dollars? What happens to Vivi? Who gets her? The father you’re running from.” He answered his own question. “Did you think of that when you were on the floor?”

  Vincent was the least of her concerns. Can’t tell him that. Especially when he wasn’t wrong. What would happen to Vivi if she weren’t there? Her daughter had no one except her.

  Sabrina flopped into the passenger seat utterly exhausted. She didn’t ask where he was going because she really didn’t care, though was surprised when he turned into his driveway.

  Well, a walk across the street to her temporary home wasn’t taxing. She’d feed Vivi and… Liam was at the rear passenger door. He had Vivi and the carrier free and clear before she managed to climb out of the truck and hop to the ground.

  She expected to follow him across the street. Instead, she trailed him up his front stairs to his front door. She could’ve stopped him, taken her daughter and hoofed it to the other side of the street. Curiosity got the better of her.

  Liam opened the door and moved aside for her to enter. She stepped into a wide two-story foyer that stretched back to a clear view of the open dining and living room. Hardwood floors, floor to ceiling picture windows, he had a huge leather sectional, enough for twelve to sit comfortably in front of a seventy-inch TV. A stone fireplace in the corner complimented the gray and white colors of the room. A large Berber rug covered half of the room. While definitely masculine, the room had enough soft touches to make it female friendly.

  He placed Vivi on the breakfast counter—marble she noted, with saddle stools under the edge. “I’ll be right back.”

  She watched him disappear down a hallway and took the time to study his gourmet kitchen. Everything was stainless steel and she doubted the man had used anything but the refrigerator and the Keurig, judging by the lone coffee mug in the double sink.

  Vivi whined wanting out of carrier jail. Sabrina removed her blanket and spread it out on the rug. Vivi was all too happy to stretch her legs and crawl. Just as Sabrina plopped onto an ottoman, Liam returned carrying a First Aid kit.

  “What’s that for?” she asked as he kneeled in front of her.

  He opened the kit and withdrew a tube of bacitracin and alcohol swabs. “You have a cut on your lip and a bruise on your chin. Didn’t you know?”

  She licked the corner of her mouth and winced. No, she didn’t know. Her lip had been busted so many times, she was numb to the pain. The bruise on her chin blended in with all the other aches and pains she ignored.

  He ripped open an alcohol swab. “This’ll hurt.”

  “Pain is relative,” said with a smirk and flinched at the sadness entering his dark eyes. “Um. If I can survive labor, a bruise and cut are nothing.” Deflection always worked before. No reason for it to not work now.

  He dabbed the alcohol to her chin. It hurt but not enough for a hiss. He did the same to her lip which hurt a bit more. He was careful, his touch gentle. She couldn’t meet his gaze. Instead, she focused on Vivi who watched them.

  A dime size of ointment on his finger and he rubbed it on the corner of her mouth. Then took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and angled her head. Her lips parted at the unexpected sensation of his callused fingers on her skin. Slowly, he rubbed it in. Her breath caught as his finger trailed away from the cut to trace over her lips.

  He was close. Too close. She should move away, or he should. One of them should move away. He leaned in.

  Move away, Sabrina.

  She hadn’t kissed another man other than Vincent in five years. What would it feel like? His lips on hers. His tongue in her mouth. She ignored the voice screaming in her head and edged a tiny bit closer.

  “Da-da.”

  They jerked apart. She gasped while Liam chuckled. “She’s standing.”

  “For the first time.” Holding onto the sectional, Vivi managed to pull herself up and seemed very pleased with herself. She wobbled and landed on her butt, and crawled over to the glass coffee table. “Oh no you don’t.” Sabrina leaped to her feet.

  L
iam beat her to Vivi. He swooped her off her feet and passed her to Sabrina. He glanced at his watch and looked at her. “It’s too late for the auction. I’m not complaining or chasing an apology.” He cut her off, then studied her. “If I take you somewhere, do you have enough stuff for Vivi to get through the day?”

  “Um…” She thought about everything in Vivi’s baby bag she’d left in Liam’s truck and nodded. “Why?”

  “I’ll tell you when we get there.

  Chapter Eleven

  Liam should’ve been focused on the road, not glancing at his passenger every few seconds.

  I should’ve done this first. After seeing the bruise on her chin and the blood at the corner of her mouth, all he could think was to get her home—his home—and patch her up. Standing on the peripheral with Vivi, seeing Sabrina in the middle of a brawl, then vanishing between the bodies… Liam scrubbed a hand down his face. Holding Vivi as it happened, all he could think about was her losing her mother over two hundred fucking dollars. Less than the amount of money he currently had in his wallet.

  Jesus!

  His stomach bottomed out at the thought. No kid should grow up without their mother. Something he knew from experience.

  He couldn’t stop the memory and didn’t really try. Six years old, dressed in a black suit and tie, sitting in a room full of people in front of his mother’s open casket. His first funeral, but not his last.

  Car accident, they told him. Years later he found out the truth. A lonely stretch of road late at night, a bullet entered one side of her neck and exited out the other. The car hitting a tree was incidental. She was dead before impact.

  There he was, a motherless kindergartener left with Finlay Callahan, at the time the enforcer for the Mayhem MC. Not father of the year material.

  If something happened to Sabrina, who would get Vivi? The father Sabrina was running from? He had the irrational urge to track the man down and bury him. Was there any other family out there to help her? The answer to that question had to be no since she was here—with him—and not with them.

  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Hands folded in her lap, face forward, she seemed serene. He’d believe that if he hadn’t caught the tension in her shoulders and the way she sat, ramrod straight and stiff as a board. She didn’t want to come with him, yet she did probably because she felt obligated.

  He didn’t want her obligation. What do I want?

  Liam glanced at her again and risked a glance at Vivi in the rear seat.

  “Where are we going?” Her soft voice broke the silence engulfing the cab.

  “To my office.”

  “Just there?” Her voice cracked.

  “Yeah.” Traffic slowed. There was an accident ahead in his lane. A quick left into the next lane got him around the blockage.

  Sniffling. What the—His gaze cut to Sabrina. Head ducked, chin buried in her chest, her shoulders shook.

  “Why are you crying?” said more to himself than to her.

  “You know what,” she snarled, unbuckled her seatbelt and made a half turn in the seat. “Just take me back home so I can get my stuff.”

  He’d take pissed off Sabrina over weepy Sabrina any day of the week. “Why do you want to go back home?” He caught the light and made another left into the office park where Callahan Construction rented space.

  “So I can leave before you kick me out, a-hole,” she growled and leaned forward, ready to take him on, and he liked it. Skin flushed, her soft brown eyes shooting daggers, he’d never seen her more alive. Then he caught what she said.

  “What? Who the hell said anything about kicking you out?” he snapped and parked in his reserved spot. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got in her face. A quick glance in the rear confirmed Vivi was wide awake and chewing on her fingers. Time for a PG conversation. Shit, he didn’t think he’d ever had a PG conversation.

  “Why else would you bring me to your blasted office, huh?”

  “I darn well didn’t bring you here for that.”

  “Oh…” She sank into the chair, now wary instead of pissed. “Why am I here, then?” She looked around the parking lot as if someone waited to jump her. The woman had a paranoid streak a mile wide.

  “I brought you here to offer you a job.” He exited the truck while she sputtered, hoping she’d be logical by the time he reached the passenger seat. She wasn’t.

  “I’m not taking a job from you.”

  “Not from me, with me.” He left her to hop down on her own as he retrieved Vivi.

  “I’m not taking a job with you.”

  “You are because you have no choice.” He lifted Vivi into his arms and inhaled that unique baby scent that somehow made him want to smile.

  “I have a choice because there is always a choice.”

  Arms folded, she blocked his path. Once again he noted her sallow skin, and threadbare clothes hanging on her thin frame. One meal away from malnutrition was how she appeared. While Vivi was a happy, chubby little cherub because her mother put everything she had into her care as a mother should, even if she starved from the effort.

  “I’ll pay you fifteen an hour.” She gasped. It was more than the minimum wage she had to be making at the 99 Cents and More store. Places like that pay the minimum and nothing more. “It’s what Sasha makes. She’s due in a few weeks and when she leaves Anna will need help.” His phone rang. He ignored it.

  “Um, your girlfriend is due?”

  He noted the surprise in her voice and something else he couldn’t quite place, and shook his head. “Sasha and Billy are expecting their first. I don’t have a kid and ain’t planning on having any.” He saw the question in her eyes and said, “I’m not father material.” How could he be with Finlay as a role model?

  Vivi babbled something and petted his face with a wet hand.

  “You’ll cover Sasha while she’s on maternity leave. She says she’ll be back in six weeks, but I’m thinking it will be longer, if she comes back at all.” Her brow rose and hope replaced her scowl.

  “What makes you say that?”

  He shrugged. “She’s gone through a lot, a few miscarriages. They really want this baby. I don’t see her leaving her son anytime soon to rush back to work, especially if I have enough work for everyone.”

  Eyes downcast, she bit her bottom lip. The last thing he wanted was her feeling guilty again over the missed auction. “Let’s go in and get you to fill out an application.” He took the lead, but her hand on his bicep pulled him short.

  “I’m not sure about this,” she muttered.

  He’d just about run out of patience. “I am sure. You need a job. I need an employee. End of story.” Anger glinted in the depths of her eyes. Time to sweeten the pot. “And you can bring Vivi to work and keep her with you.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Are you serious? I can bring her?”

  “I run a low-key operation and the office is big enough for a playpen. Plus, I made the same offer to Sasha.” That meant no daycare and more money in her pocket. If she still refused, he’d have to sweeten the pot again but had no idea with what.

  In the smallest voice possible, Sabrina mumbled, “Anna and Sasha won’t be mad you hired me, someone who doesn’t really deserve the job?”

  His chest tightened. Is that what she thought, that she didn’t deserve it? “Why don’t you deserve the job, Sabrina?

  She looked down, then to the building, then down again. Liam waited until, finally, her gaze rose and met his. “I… I’m just… I’m just a nob—”

  “Don’t.” He stopped her because he’d be damned if he stood here and watched her pride crumble. “Do not finish that sentence if it ends with nobody. You understand me?” He didn’t mean to growl but couldn’t help it.

  Her eyes widened, though not in fright, and she nodded once. He took her hand and led her into the office. Remembering something important, he halted short of the door. “There’s one condition and it’s not up for discussion.”

  She stiffe
ned and gave him the “Oh shit, the other shoe is about to drop” look. “What?”

  “You have to take a two-hundred-dollar advance on your paycheck.” Her nostrils flared and her gaze narrowed. “You get the job and the advance…or we go back to the truck and I take you home.”

  Their gazes locked and the war inside her raged in the depths of her eyes. He didn’t back down and neither did she. And he couldn’t have been happier. The woman who practically ran in the other direction the first time they met had vanished. The real Sabrina, full of fire and life faced him, and damn him if it wasn’t fucking sexy.

  Vivi let out a squawk, adding her opinion. Sabrina’s gaze cut to her daughter and softened. She sighed, defeated. “I’ll take the advance.”

  Liam opened the frosted glass door to the office and stepped aside for her to enter. Anna came from the back office, spying from the windows no doubt. “Everything all right?” she asked, failing to keep the concern out of her voice. Glasses low on her nose, a pen sticking out from behind her ear, she rushed forward and stopped in front of Sabrina. Her gaze skipped over Liam to Vivi and darted back to Sabrina. She waited for an answer, though Liam knew it killed her to do so.

  “Sabrina is here to apply for a job. She’s gonna take Sasha’s spot while she’s on maternity leave.”

  A relieved smile broke across Anna’s face. “Really, well that’s wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.”

  “It is?” Sabrina asked, and he didn’t miss the fraction of hope laced into the question.

  “Of course, it is, dear. This is wonderful news. Now we get to see Vivi all the time and spoil her.” Anna reached for Vivi, but little miss picky wasn’t haven’t it. She clung to Liam and eyed Anna suspiciously.

  Anna laughed. “I’m sorry, little one, but your new boyfriend has to go.” She looked at Liam. “Mack called. You’re needed on site.” Her voice turned serious. “He said they found a leak under the backyard slab.”

  “Shit. Shoot. Sorry, Vivi.” He kissed the top of her head and passed her to her mother. “I’ll try to make it back to drive you home. If I can’t, Anna will take you, okay?” The last word was directed at both women.