by Morgan Fox
* * * *
Layton held the keys to her apartment in her hand, clasping them tightly. Several loud, masculine voices were shouting, swearing at one another without a care who could hear. Then the loud rattling of something hitting the back of the door made her jump and take a step back. Glass shattered and she covered her mouth. Her body trembled, fear crawled along her nerves.
Panic gripped her stomach, wrenching a sharp breath from her chest. She had nowhere else to go and she couldn’t go in. Not knowing that several unfamiliar men lingered inside. They could be drunk, high, or just violent assholes looking to hurt someone.
Twisting her attention, she headed for the bench outside the playground area near her apartment. She’d grown familiar with this spot. Sadly, she’d spent one too many nights waiting out unwanted visitors. Most nights, they left before two in the morning.
I hope sooner.
She’d closed up at Iron Horse and was dead on her feet. All she wanted was something to drink and her warm, cozy bed. What she had was a hard bench and a mountain of anxiety.
I just need a little more money and all of this will be over. Tears welled in her eyes. She could hang on for a bit longer. There was no other choice.
If not for the millions of mosquitos buzzing by her head and swooping in for a bite, the warm night air would’ve been pleasant. Nights like this tested her. More so they crushed her spirit. Nothing would ever feel as wonderful as having her own place. So while it sucked, sitting on a bench just before two in the morning instead of in her room, she would think of happier thoughts. Of a safe place she could call her own. Where her parents could visit and she would no longer have to fear what she’d find when she put her key inside the keyhole and stepped inside.
Just then, two large men exited her apartment. She clenched her jaw tight as she watched one of the men whip out his dick and piss all over the side of her apartment building.
A real class act.
She hesitated for a few more minutes before heading to the door. She listened, but didn’t hear anything. Sucking in a deep breath, she opened the door and crept inside.
“You worked late tonight,” Ruby, her roommate said.
Layton looked toward Ruby’s bedroom door just in time to see her closing her robe.
“Anyone else here I should know about?”
Ruby rolled her eyes at her. “I got a friend staying the night, Mom.” She moved into the kitchen and poured herself a shot. By the way she walked, she’d already had a few too many.
“And the two guys who just left. Who were they?”
“Rent money,” Ruby slurred, tossing Layton a few hundred dollar bills.
Bile rose up in her throat. The image of those three men using Ruby twisted like acid in her belly. Worse still, Ruby let them. Layton wanted to run and hide. “Ruby, one of these days I’m going to come home and find you beat or worse. These men, they know where we live. They don’t care about you. About me.”
“They pay my fucking bills, Ms. Perfect. That’s all you need to know. That’s all you should care about.”
Layton wished she could turn a blind eye and not care about Ruby, but she couldn’t. It pained her to see Ruby self-destructing, whoring herself out, getting drunk and stoned to make it through the days. There was no joy in life for Ruby if she continued down this path.
“You don’t have to live like this. You can get a job.”
Ruby snorted. “Like you? I earn in one anal fuck and a few blow jobs what you do all week.” She tossed back another shot and glared at Layton. “You mind your own business and leave me to mine.”
A frigid chill rushed into Layton as Ruby slammed her door and locked it. Gritting her teeth, she headed into the kitchen, grabbed a water from the refrigerator and went to her own bedroom, locking her door behind her. She added a chair beneath the doorknob for added protection.
“This is not the way I want to live,” she mumbled, closing her eyes, and fighting back the tears the burned hot. “Anything is better than living in this shithole.”
She grabbed her night clothes and headed into her bathroom, and leaned against the closed door. Locking it, she was alone at last. Bare for no one else to see, she let the pain and turmoil of her situation crush down on her. Her fucked up living arraignments had been awful, but now she had Jaxson to contend with, too. Everything in her life was spiraling into a shit storm and it was pulling her in with a vengeance.
Chapter Four
Jaxson pressed his back against the chair and looked over at Layton as she walked into Iron Horse for her shift. She looked tired. Scratch that. She looked exhausted. Even so, she was beautiful, but the lines around her eyes were more prominent, and she now had dark circles around her eyes. If he had to guess, he’d guess she’d been crying.
He wanted to ask her if she was okay, but it was best he didn’t. She was still treating him like he had the plague and he couldn’t blame her for that. She felt betrayed. Had the roles been flipped, he might feel the same way.
As she looked over at him, he smiled. She didn’t. She simply hung her head and kept walking toward the breakroom.
“Still haven’t talked to her, huh?”
Jaxson craned his head to look back to see Daniel standing beside him. “Does everyone know now?”
“You told my brother and my wife. Did you think they wouldn’t loop me in, too?”
He shook his head, frowning. “Silly me.”
“So are you going to talk with her?”
“She’s made it clear she’s not interested.”
Daniel shrugged. “You’ve spent too much time in the military.” He sat beside him. “She wants to know you’re not going to be a dick to her.”
Jaxson gaped at him. “I’m not a dick. I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“She doesn’t know that,” he reminded him. “You have to show and tell her to get that point across.”
“How do you make a woman talk to you, who has no intention of ever wanting to do so?”
Daniel chuckled. “Have you learned nothing in your thirty odd years? You corner her and make her listen.”
Jaxson laughed. “And Sam married you?”
Daniel glared at him. “Funny, but I had to do my own fair share of groveling to get Sam to give me another shot. Lord knows I nearly blew it. But I didn’t back down.”
“Well, I’m not asking to marry Layton. I just want her to know that I didn’t mean to hurt her. That I’m sorry I did.”
“That’s a good place to start.”
It sounded easy enough. March up to Layton and beg forgiveness for something he didn’t really do. His mother had raised him to be a gentleman. Time to put matters to the test.
He stood up from the table and headed for the breakroom where he’d find Layton. When he rounded the corner, he saw her with her head on the table. He’d been right to assume she was exhausted.
“Layton?”
Startled, she raised her head, blinking a dozen times. “What?”
“Are you all right?”
She didn’t look fine. She looked worried, distraught. She rubbed her swollen eyes as if brushing away fallen tears. “Yes. I’m fine,” she told him, stiffening her posture.
He stepped closer, wanting to pull her against him. Even standing apart, he could feel the tension oozing from her body. “I’m sorry,” he said directly, hoping he wasn’t still the cause of her grief. “I never meant to upset you. To hurt you.”
With her elbows on the table, she massaged her temples. “Sure. Whatever.”
He frowned, pursing his lips tight. The woman was stubborn. “Will you ever be able to move forward from this, or will it always be this way between us.” He pulled out a chair across from her when she didn’t answer and sat down. “If I had my choice, I’d get to become friends with the Layton from the other night—the one who could’ve easily whipped my ass at pool. Will you ever let me meet her again?”
“I don’t like the fact that you’re my boss,” she admitted, her
voice raspy with emotion. “This was the one place I could come and not…” her words drifted off.
“I would never use our night against you, Layton. I hate that you don’t already know that.”
She lifted her red-eyed gaze to him. “How could I? We had a night together. I don’t know you. You don’t know me.”
“I’ve already told you that I want to know you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t screw up this job over a screwed up situation. You and I never would’ve happened had I known you were about to become the restaurant manager here.”
“And I’m sorry I didn’t think to tell you. I was only thinking about how good it felt to be with you. After so long being alone…it felt good to not think about anything else but you for the night. I’m sorry that meant hurting you.”
She sighed hard, her shoulders slumping forward. “As much as I hate not blaming you, it’s my own fault. I should’ve just gone back to my crappy apartment and ignored you.” She folded her hands in front of her. “It’s my fault as much as yours.”
“Does that mean you’ll work with me? No more looking at me like I’m diseased?” He held his breath, waiting for her to answer. He wasn’t sure why it was important that she did. It just was.
She nodded, but then aimed a determined finger at him. “But so help me, if you ever treat me differently than you do others, I’ll hurt you.”
He grinned, extending his hand for her to shake. “Deal.”
He stood as she shook his hand. She smiled, but it faded just as quickly as it had showed up. He sat back down.
“Is something else wrong?” he couldn’t help but ask. She didn’t look as though their conversation had done anything to change her dismay.
“It’s my problem.”
“Can I help?”
“Not unless you’ve got about a hundred hours of overtime you can grant me.”
He furrowed his brow. “Is this about your apartment?”
She scowled. “Why would you think that?”
“You mentioned having a horrible roommate. If it wasn’t me making you miserable, I figured it could easily be the roomie.”
“Very observant. I think I’d rather sleep under a bridge than go back there tonight.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Probably worse.”
“Do you have a friend’s house you can crash at?”
She shook her head. “My friends are married or about to be. I couldn’t possibly impose on them.”
“Parents?”
“I can’t move back in with them. Not after I’ve been on my own for so long.”
He understood that. It was hell when he’d returned from the military, unable to land on his feet the way he had hoped. A thought popped into his head, one he thought she’d object to immediately, but he still had to ask. “Want to hang with me at my hotel until you feel like going back to your place?”
In an instant, she looked as though she was suffocating. Her face turned red. Her mouth was agape and her eyes swelled. He raised his hand in a nonthreatening manner. “It was just an offer of sanctuary. Nothing more.”
“Thank you, but that’s probably not a good idea.”
“Right. Well, the offer is there if you change your mind.”
He stood. “I’m sure it will all work out soon enough. Keep your chin up, Layton. You’ve got this.” She offered him an awkward smile and he took it. “Take your time getting on the floor. It’s been pretty slow today.”
She stood, sucking in a deep breath and releasing it just as fast. “No need. I’m good.”
She wrapped the black apron around her waist, dug out her pen and order pad, and headed for the door. She inclined her head to glance back at him. “Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime.”
* * * *
Later that night, Layton arrived at her apartment, dead on her feet. She’d made good tips and couldn’t wait to add it to her ‘moving out’ deposits. A handful more nights like this and she’d be rid of Ruby and the creepy visitors that traipsed through the apartment at all hours.
Like she normally did, she listened at the door for any sounds coming from inside her apartment. When she heard nothing, she opened the door. It was pitch black inside. No one was home. Sighing with relief, she moved to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. Too nervous to eat anything, she closed the door—the light that had illuminated the kitchen now gone. Something firm shoved against her chest, slamming her back against the refrigerator. Startled by the force, she screamed, but a damp and meaty hand covered her mouth and muffled the cry.
“Don’t scream, honey,” the gruff voice warned. “You’ll only make me mad.”
Layton’s eyes swelled with fear as the man’s big round body crushed against hers. His hot, beer-drenched breath was on her face, and she twisted away from him, swallowing the bile that choked her.
“What do you want?” she snapped, straining within his grasp.
“I want to know if you give it up like Ruby.”
Did he honestly believe she was a whore, or did he simply plan to violate her against her will? “Get off me,” she barked as she struggled harder.
He chuckled, sounding aroused by her resistance. “I’d rather get off in you.”
She gritted her teeth. “Fuck yourself, asshole.”
He clamped a hand near her mouth and squeezed her cheeks, drawing her lips outward. “Careful, viper. I might have to do something about that sassy mouth of yours. Maybe you’d like to ask Ruby what I did to hers last night.”
Alarm bells rang in her head. “Where’s Ruby?”
“What the hell do I care?” he grumbled. “I’m not here for Ruby. I’m here for you.”
His hands began to fall down her arms, as he pressed in against her. When he dragged his lips over her jaw, she brought her knee up hard between his legs. He groaned, clasping his hands over his groin and tumbled to the floor. Without hesitation, she hurtled herself overtop of his large body and sprinted for the door. Jumping on her bike, she charged out of there, revving the engine. When she finally stopped running, she found herself in the parking lot of Jaxson’s hotel.
Her instincts had brought her to him. It might’ve been that they’d spent the night together, or that he’d offered her sanctuary. Regardless of what it was, she wanted to feel the security he offered.
A cold chill raced along the hairs at her nape and she whipped her gaze around, scanning the area, ensuring that no one followed her. Tears burned hot as she grabbed her helmet and raced up the stairs to his room. Her knuckles hurt as she rapped hard on the door, panic still burning like acid in her stomach and chest.
When the door opened and she saw Jaxson, she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. She rushed to him, shoving her face against his bare chest, her trembling arms like a vice around him. He circled her in an embrace.
“Layton, what’s wrong?” He helped her inside and closed the door behind them. “Are you hurt?”
The smell of his cologne soothed her and the warmth of his touch assured her that she was no longer in any danger. His voice once again pulled her into a tranquility she couldn’t explain. She relished the strength of his body, thankful he’d been home when she needed him.
“Is your offer still open?” she stammered.
“To stay with me?”
She nodded.
“Yes,” he whispered, cupping her face to meet her gaze. “Always.”
“Thank you,” she whimpered, brushing a hand over her face to clear away the tears. “I could use a place to stay.”
“What happened?” he asked, leading her to the small corner table.
She closed her eyes, the image of that man touching her made her rub her skin like she had bugs crawling on her. She’d always feared something like this would happen to her. That was why she always double and triple locked her bedroom door. She never felt safe. Ever.
Her heartbeat pounded against her ribs. “When I went into my apartment tonight, I thoug
ht I was alone.”
“But you weren’t.” His words were calm, but the tone was different. Almost angry.
“A strange man was there waiting for me.” She kept her gaze on Jaxson to remind herself that she wasn’t in danger any longer—that the vile man couldn’t hurt her.
“Why?”
She laughed, but it wasn’t a joy-filled sound. “He wanted to sleep with me.”
He flashed a furious look, the muscle in his jaw ticking wildly, so she added, “My roommate sells her body. He assumed I did, too.”
Jaxson’s lips parted, finally seeing a bigger picture. She never talked about Ruby to anyone. Just told everyone who asked that she was a horrible roommate and that was why she wanted to move out.
His face strained as he asked, “Did he hurt you?”
“No, he just scared me.”
Jaxson paced the room, raking his hand over his scalp. “You can’t go back there,” he rasped. “If you need something, we’ll go to the store and get it. Tomorrow we can go to your place and get your things.”
She rubbed her hands over her face—the weight of the world closing in on her. “I have nowhere to put my things, Jaxson. It’s why I’m stuck living where I live.”
“That changes today. You’ll keep your clothes here until you get a new place set up. In the meantime, I have a storage unit you can use to store your bigger items.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she argued.
“Yes I do.”
The softness of his words made her regret being so angry with him about the restaurant debacle. I guess it’s easy to misjudge someone when you hardly know them.
“Why?”
He moved closer, kneeling in front of her. “You need my help, don’t you?”
Her eyes watered and he seemed suddenly uncomfortable in his own skin. Some men didn’t like to see a woman cry. Maybe he was one of them.
He cleared his throat and stood. “Would you like a shower? I’ve got shorts and T-shirt you can change into. We can wash your clothes, so you have something clean to wear in the morning.”
