by Karen Renee
I looked up at him with eyebrows arched. “No. I went out of my way to do lunch with Andrea at her studio precisely because I could bring her a sandwich and get my pastrami fix sitting at her office.”
“Fuck,” he muttered staring at the wall beyond me. His eyes came down to me. “Well, thank God, you’re gettin’ away from that, and you wanna add to your curves I’ll be the last to fuckin’ complain.”
I smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Thoughts of being pregnant entered my mind, and I felt my smile fall.
“What are you thinkin’ about, Country Club?”
My lips pressed together, and deep breathed through my nose. “It’s nothing.”
“Anything that makes that smile die on your face, has to be something. Let’s have it, baby.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “You mentioned adding to my curves and pregnancy thoughts entered my head. I want a baby and a full-fledged family so bad I can taste it.” I hadn’t meant to share that last. “I’m sorry, it’s been months now since the–”
Beast landed his weight on me doing double duty of shutting me up and garnering all of my attention. I saw his eyes were steely with resolve.
“Listen well, Jane. Don’t hide that shit from me. I want kids, plural. But I don’t want ‘em right now. After essentially losin’ Katherine, I need some time. Know you’re divorcing his ass because he refuses to have a child with you; why he’d be so insane, I do not know; but I do not care, because it brought you to me.”
“You want more than one?” I whispered.
Concern washed over his face. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
My mind was racing. For some strange reason, I had it stuck in my mind that I would be lucky to find a man who would love me. The vision of me with a man who loved me and wanted two or more little people flooded my heart with joy.
I shook my head on the pillow. “I don’t know. I’m just surprised you’re so firm on that.”
A sly grin twisted his lips. “I’m firm on lots of things, honey. We stay like this much longer, I’ll be firm in another way.”
My fingers trailed down his back. “That’s not exactly a bad thing, now is it?”
“Nope. But, I’m gettin’ hungry, so I’ll eat you, but I’m gonna need food when we’re done.”
I arched my brows. “Well, I’m not stopping you.”
He settled heavily on me, his face a breath away from mine. “No, you’re not.”
CHAPTER 23
Janie
AFTER HE TOOK ME A second time, he cleaned up, pulled on his jeans—still going commando— and tossed his tee at me. I pulled it on and followed him out to my living room. We ordered delivery pizza, and ate it while watching mindless television.
As he settled with his plate and beer, Beast asked me. “How’s it goin’, Country Club?”
He was looking right at me those beautiful baby-blues dancing at me, and my question might take that away, but I had to know.
“Why do you call me ‘Country Club?’”
He grinned. “Because, babe, everything about you screams Queen of the Country Club.”
I kept my expression neutral even though I wanted to be offended. From the get-go he had been calling me names, and at least now I knew why. Still, though, I didn’t think I screamed country club.
Something flickered across his face as my silence stretched. “See you don’t like that.”
I shrugged. “I’m not the queen of anything, that’s for darn sure.”
A mischievous grin split his lips. “You can be my Queen of nothing or everything any time, babe.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled rolling my eyes.
He grasped my chin. “Not whatever, Janie. You should be a queen.”
He dropped his hand and I shook my head. “You sound like my father, strangely enough.”
“Your daddy help your man get that house behind the gates?’
I tilted my head. “Not the way you mean.”
“You grow up at the country club?”
“Not until my teens, so I’m not–”
“Don’t matter. You’re up-class and your daddy probably likes you bein’ in a house behind exclusive gates.”
I couldn’t argue that, seeing as I was in a condo behind a different set of gates.
“Your ex moving out of the house, too?”
I was surprised he’d ask such a thing because I couldn’t imagine he really cared about the answer. “I imagine he’s going to stay in the house.”
Beast was mid-pull of his beer and I feared he might spew it, such was the outrage in his eyes. “You’re fuckin’ shittin’ me!” he nearly roared once he’d swallowed his drink.
I shook my head. “I don’t see what difference it makes to you, but it’s better this way.”
His bottle was half way to his lips, and he shook his head. “Better? How the fuck is it ‘better this way?’”
I chuckled. “My lawyer told me a judge will probably force Trent to pay me half of the home’s value as part of splitting marital assets. Believe me though, letting Trent keep up his appearances tends to minimize my headaches.”
Those beautiful eyes glittered at me. “Woman, if even a sliver of the shit I’ve heard about this ass is true, you need to maximize his damned headaches.”
I bit back a chuckle. “In some ways we’re still getting to know each other, but it seems you’re pretty vengeful.”
“Understatement,” he muttered into his beer bottle.
“Well, divorce in Florida is supposed to be fairly quick and that’s my goal. Get this done, be out from under his thumb, and moving forward.”
“A man who wants you under his fuckin’ thumb doesn’t deserve to have you under him in any way.”
That bordered on crass, but held an odd amount of truth, too.
Out of the blue, Beast spoke. “Appearances, that mean the Beemer was his idea?”
“Sort of. He wanted me in a wagon, which made no damn sense, especially since he so adamantly did not want kids, but I insisted on a sportier sedan. I mean, what good’s driving if you’re not gonna drive fast?”
He gifted me with the mischievous grin. “You’re talkin’ my language, Clumsy.”
“You and the nicknames,” I muttered.
A long silence ensued, but it was oddly comfortable.
When the sit-com repeat went to commercial, he said, “Gotta get a better screen, baby.”
I shook my head at him. “I don’t plan to live here that long.”
His chin lifted a scant amount and I thought he had agreed with me. “Why?”
His question took me by surprise. “Seriously? I don’t, well, this is my father’s condo.”
He put his paper plate down and picked up his beer bottle. “Know that. Why wouldn’t you want to stay here?”
I gave him a look. “Dude. The rent is a little out of my tax bracket so to speak.”
He leaned back with his beer bottle in hand. “Let me rephrase. Do you want to keep living here?”
I shrugged. “Can’t say I’ve given it that much thought. Lately, my life’s been led by the saying ‘any port in a storm,’ you know what I mean? If Dad hadn’t offered this up for the low rent he’s charging me, I’d probably be staying in my friend Justine’s guest room.”
He looked at me askance. “Not Andi?”
I smiled at him. “She’s just moved in with Liar. That house has a sweet set-up, but I do not want to cramp their style, if you know what I mean.”
He chuckled. “Trust me, Li wouldn’t let you.”
After I set my plate down and took a sip of wine, a question hit me. “Why are you asking all of this?”
His lips pressed into a flat line for a moment. “Just tryin’ to get a sense of where you’re at, but honestly, this place suits you. If it’s a money thing, you need to take that motherfucker to the damned cleaners with a vengeance. That should get you the cake to afford livin’ here, with your father’s discount or not.”
I laughed loudly. “You were
n’t kidding about that understatement now were you?”
“Nope,” he said with a wink. His face shifted to extreme seriousness. “Heard you got some kinda rooftop deck-like thing out there. You wanna christen it?”
I nearly choked at his question because his tone and his facial expression were so damn serious.
“You’re joking?” I breathed.
“Not even a little. You and me under the stars.” He stood up, extending a hand to me. “Let’s go, Clumsy. I’ll even let you be on bottom if you’re feelin’ shy.”
LITTLE DID I KNOW, outdoor sex and the risk of being caught would turn me on far more than I expected. However, being intimate outside meant we both needed a shower afterward and Beast was insatiable. He fucked me bare, standing up in the shower, but pulled out before he came. I was on the pill, but I didn’t get the chance to tell him as much because he was in total control of things under the shower spray.
Crazy woman that I was, I thought we would go to bed after the shower sex.
Beast had other plans, since we stayed up until well after midnight, lazing in my bed, snacking on cookies and other junk food, and then having more vigorous sex. While I hadn’t checked the time before I conked out, it was well into the wee hours of the morning by the time we turned the lights out.
When I woke up, I felt deeply warm. My skin was warm, the sheets were cocooned around me. I knew I had slept deeper than I had in months. Of course, Beast had worn me out last night. Rolling over, I expected to find Beast next to me adding to the extreme warmth I was experiencing, but I was alone. I blinked my eyes and propped myself up on my elbow.
A sheet of rectangular paper was sitting on the other pillow. Snatching it up, I realized it was a piece of shopping list paper, but Beast had written on the back instead of the girlie-pink side. I chuckled and made a mental note to give him a hard time about that.
Walking to the Urban Bean for caffeine. Be back soon. —B
Beneath his initial, the time, quarter to eleven, was written in a messy scrawl as if it was an afterthought. The thoughtfulness of the note and his actions made me smile. An unbidden thought hit me, I just knew he would be certain I slept long and hard.
With a humongous smile on my face, I tossed the covers off and went to the bathroom. When I was done, I was standing naked in the middle of my bedroom because I had gone to bed skin-to-skin with David. His shirt from yesterday was missing, so I presumed he had worn that to Urban Bean. At my dresser, I pulled on a pair of black lace bikini panties and a dark pink camisole.
Padding out to the kitchen, I debated making Beast a breakfast or if we would just eat left-over pizza. I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept so long and so hard. A dark chuckle bubbled out of me as the dirtier side of my mind reminded me it had been a long time since I had come so long and so hard, which was likely responsible for my sleep. While I stood in front of the open refrigerator, the door unlocked and Beast sauntered into the foyer.
“Hey, Janie-babe,” he said, as he locked the door behind him.
I grinned at him with extra enthusiasm because I couldn’t remember anyone calling me ‘Janie-babe’ before and I loved him giving me that nickname.
“Hi there,” I said, while I closed the fridge door.
He came to me and set two cups down on the island counter. I looked to them and back to Beast, “You didn’t pick up breakfast?”
His lips twitched upward. “No. It’s not exactly breakfast-time, but more than that, I wasn’t sure what kind of woman you are in that regard. You want some eggs and bacon first thing, I can do that on my own. But if you’re all about adhering to meals based on the time of day...well, there’s always cold pizza if that’s your go-to. Whichever it is, I wanted you to lead the way.”
I arched a brow. “I should lead the way, huh? Why do I not believe you, motorcycle man of mine?”
He closed the distance between us so he could wrap an arm around me to pull me snug with his body. His hand went to my lace panties. “I’m your ‘motorcycle man,’ huh?”
It was becoming clear that allowing my body to be in close proximity to his was not always a good thing. I put both hands to his defined pecs to push away.
“Not necessarily. Just in the broadest of terms.”
The devilish smile aimed my way nearly made me want to eat my words. “Is that so, baby? ‘Broadest of terms?’ You need to learn a thing or two. First, I’m a long-time poker player. I know a bluff when I hear it. Second, ain’t a damn thing broad about me being a ‘motorcycle man,’ so–”
He didn’t finish his thought because a knock came at the door.
My eyebrows knit together. “Who in the world can that be?”
I moved past him, but Beast’s arm at my waist caught me up short. His head lowered and his lips grazed my ear when he murmured, “You ain’t answerin’ the door in your sexy undies and a cami.”
I turned my head up to smile at him. “I know that. The bedroom is over there, which is where my pants are.”
“You get your pants, I’m gonna answer the door.”
“What? You can’t–” I cut myself off because Beast was maneuvering us closer to the door.
“I’ll tell them you were in the bathroom or something. Just go, babe. Get decent.”
His hand at the small of my back gave me a gentle shove toward the bedroom. I turned and stared at him, uneasy at the idea of him opening the door and it was silly. I knew it was silly, which made me press my lips together in frustration. His lips twitched and his eyes sparkled while his arm shot out toward me, his hand doing a swatting motion to tell me to get into the bedroom.
When I heard the locks tumbling, I scurried into the bedroom. I had one leg in my yoga pants when I heard Beast’s voice ask in a friendly but disinterested tone, “Can I help you, sir?”
I nearly tripped putting my other leg in the pants when I heard my father ask, “Who, may I ask, are you?”
Yoga pants were great most of the time, but whenever I was in a hurry (like that moment) they never failed to get caught at my hips. I was jumping up and down trying to get the pants over my tush when I heard Beast’s words and his tone had gone from friendly disinterest to thinly veiled disdain.
“You knocked on this door, not me. If you’re–”
I leaned out of the doorway and hollered, “That’s my dad, let him in.”
IN THE BEDROOM, I MANAGED to get my pants arranged. I grabbed a t-shirt from my dresser and pulled it over my head while I trudged back to the living room. Beast was locking the door behind my father, who was standing not three feet from Beast, and his eyes were clearly assessing.
Pulling my hair out of the collar of my t-shirt, I asked, “Dad, what brings you by?”
My father turned to me and his eyes were still assessing. “Well, I was thinking of taking you to lunch. I had no idea you had,” Dad’s eyes slid toward Beast and back to me, “someone here.”
I smiled. “Yes, this is David,” I looked to Beast and said, “David, this is my father Joe Ramos.”
My father turned to him with a hand outstretched, Beast took it and said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Ramos. Friends call me Beast, though. It’s my club name.”
At that moment, I didn’t know if I had misstepped by introducing him by his given name instead of his road name. It was so normal to see Beast wearing his Riot MC cut that it was just part of who he was to me. My father, upon hearing about the club name, took in the cut and patches on the front, one of which was Beast’s name patch.
“Nice to meet you,” my father paused a moment, and said, “Beast.”
Beast released my father’s hand and strode to the counter where the coffees were sitting. “If I had known you were dropping by, I’d have bought three coffees, but if you like, there’s a cappuccino or a mocha latte, though that one’s for Janie.”
A look passed over my father’s face and I suspected the puzzle pieces of who Beast really was were falling into place in his mind. Dad shook his head.
“No thank you, I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ve intruded.”
My stomach lurched. “No, Dad. Not at all.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, Beast was fighting a smile and his voice nearly gave it away also. “Janie’s right. You really aren’t. I’m gonna give you two a minute–”
Dad shook his head again. “No, no...”
Beast shook his head. “Nope. I walked to the Urban Bean, and it’s so humid out there. I’m gonna take a shower, if that’s okay by you, Janie.”
Well, this just kept getting weirder. I opened my mouth, closed it, and finally said, “Sure. Whatever floats your boat.”
He grabbed his coffee, and when he came even with me his head dipped and he kissed my cheek before he whispered in my ear. “Wanted you in the shower with me, but that’s not to be today. You look freaked. Don’t be, chat with your Dad.”
I was only borderline freaked, but him mentioning me in the shower with him sent me right over that border. He kissed my cheek again, and he was gone.
My father’s eyes were slightly narrowed on the doorway to the bedroom and his face was frozen in contemplation.
“Dad,” I called.
He held up a hand. “No, honey. Don’t worry about me. You’re a grown woman. Hell, seeing as how Trent not only had my full approval and I liked the bastard, and he still blindsided me with his behavior, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna pass judgment on a man because of his name or the fact he’s clearly a biker.”
I was surprised one of my feet didn’t go back to keep me standing I was so taken aback by my father’s words. “Really?” I whispered.
His eyes held mine, and with a curt nod for emphasis, he said, “Really.”
I started to relax as I padded over to the counter, but I remembered Beast worked at Platinum’s for the next six months. Better for me to get that out there to my father, and I knew my mocha latte would be required at this juncture. When I turned back my father was leaning on the breakfast bar, and his expression was not relaxed.
“Dad, you should know, for the time being, Beast is managing Platinum’s Gentlemen’s Club.”
