She rolled her eyes and tried to step around him, but he blocked her. “Leave me alone, Kelly. I’m on a date.”
“I know, and Princess Charming’s on her third daiquiri. Better watch with the calories in those things. From lips to hips.”
That was enough. “You have a comment about everything, don’t you?”
“Oh, come on, Ashlynn. Don’t act like you’re remotely into this guy.”
“Davis happens to be a very nice person.”
“I noticed you didn’t say man.”
“Man,” she amended.
He cornered her and gave her one of those sexy smirks. “Come on, Ash, where’d you find this guy?”
She shoved him. “It’s none of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my date.”
When she stepped away he caught her wrist and spun her back into the shadows. He covered her exit, his arms boxing her in, and his mouth way too close. “Don’t do this, love. Don’t lower your standards. Not for that dweeb.”
Her lips thinned with indignity. Suddenly she felt like crying. “Stop it, Kelly. You keep doing this. You have no right. I can dance with or date whomever I want. So long as you continue to play the town gigolo and aren’t offering me what I need, it doesn’t matter what you think. This is my life and I can go out with whoever I please.”
All humor left his expression. Her words appeared to cut deep. He stepped back. “You’re right.” He laughed without humor. “Well, you and David Lee Roth. I’m just a gigolo. Life goes on without me.” He bowed theatrically, attempting to be his lighthearted self, but fell short.
“Kelly—”
He held up a hand. “Enjoy your date, Ashlynn. I’ll see you around.”
“Kelly.”
He disappeared into a door at the back of the bar that said Employees Only. She debated for a moment, wondering if she should go after him, but what was the point? Besides, Davis was waiting.
When she returned to her date the crowd was crushed from one end of the bar to the other. Sue was franticly trying to fill orders. Ashlynn felt responsible for Kelly’s sudden disappearance. The only good turn of events was that the bar was so loud it drowned out whatever Davis was saying.
Finally, he suggested they call it a night. Kelly still hadn’t returned and she wanted to make sure he was okay. Davis paid their tab and she waited until they were just at the door to make an excuse.
“Hey, you know, I think I see my friend over there. You go ahead without me.”
He paused at the door, briefly looking for the friend that didn’t exist. “I was going to walk you to your car.”
“Oh, that’s all right. I’ll be fine. You go ahead. I just want to say hi to my friend.”
He hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Thanks for a nice evening.”
He squeezed her hand and guilt tasted as bitter as the lie on her tongue. She was certain they’d never go out again, but he looked hopeful for another date. “I’ll email you tomorrow.”
That was another thing. It was weird they never talked on the phone. She wondered if he had robot parts under his clothes. “Okay.” Before he could hold her up any longer she’d disappeared into the crowd.
It was almost midnight and the patrons had livened to a rowdy mob. Kelly still wasn’t at the bar. She went into the back, determined to find him.
Working her way past the line at the ladies room she knocked on the door that said Employees Only. “Kelly?”
It was difficult to hear over so many voices and the drowned out bass of the stereo. She knocked again and heard his muffled reply, but couldn’t make out his words. “Kelly, it’s Ashlynn. I’m coming in.”
Her hand closed over the knob and she pushed. The office was dim, but not dim enough to miss the two bodies entwined on top of the desk. Ashlynn gasped and spun away.
“Fuck,” Kelly snapped.
“Um, we’re a little busy here. Do you mind?” a female voice said.
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God! “Not at all.” Ashlynn pivoted and bumped into some piece of furniture then quickly fled the office, getting caught up in a web of women by the bathroom. “Get out of my way!” Her eyes blurred and stung.
“Ashlynn! Wait!”
She needed to get out of there. She needed to get to her truck before she puked or worse, burst into tears. “Excuse me. Pardon me.” She fought her way through the crowd. When she finally shoved through the front door of the pub her feet hit the pavement running.
Visions of Kelly wrapped in the arms of that woman wouldn’t get out of her head. When she reached her truck she fumbled with her keys. “Open!” she snapped at her truck, batting away the tears in her eyes. She wrenched the door open and threw her bag against the passenger door, her belongings scattering over the mats.
“Ashlynn?”
She stilled at the vaguely familiar voice, then quickly turned, slipping a finger beneath her glasses, surreptitiously rubbing the moisture away, and gasped. “Evan?”
“Hey, sugar. You all right?”
No. “Yes. I couldn’t get my door unlocked.”
He tilted his head and stepped closer into the light showing from the open door of her truck. “You sure? You look upset.”
She nodded then sighed. Here was the perfect example of the nice kind of man Kelly had stopped her from getting to know while he was doing God knew what, to God knew who on his desk. “No, I’m not all right. I…I’m really sorry I never properly thanked you for dancing with me the other night.”
His smile was gentle. “Yeah. I sort of assumed your friend wasn’t really just a friend.”
“He’s not even that.”
Evan blinked in confusion. “Why don’t you come back inside and let me buy you a drink?”
Her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose under her glasses. She wasn’t going back in there. “I’d rather just stay here.”
She removed her glasses and frowned at the smudge on the lens. Evan carefully pried them from her hands and proceeded to buff them with the hem of his shirt. “Here.”
He slipped them back on her face. “Thanks.”
His fingers gently brushed her chin. “Wanna talk about it? I’m a good listener.”
“There isn’t anything to talk about. Just another pathetic day in the life of Ashlynn Fisher.”
“Don’t say that.”
She laughed, the sound dry and self-deprecating. “You’d say the same thing if you knew who you were talking to.”
“So tell me. I want to know you.”
She smiled up at his shadowed face, looking for sincerity. Evan was nice. “Do you ever just wish you could start over, erase everything you know?”
“Sure. That’s why I travel. I’m never anywhere long enough to hold regrets.”
“That must be nice.”
“It is and it isn’t. It gets lonely.”
“Oh, I know all about being lonely.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
She chuckled. “You’d be surprised.” He smirked and she sensed he wanted to say more. “What?”
He shrugged a large shoulder. “Seems to me, two lonely people…maybe we could help each other escape for a while.”
“How?”
He raised a brow and understanding dawned. Oh. “I’m not really that sort of girl.”
He had a nice voice, the kind that was aged and manly. “What sort of girl are you, Ashlynn Fisher?”
“The inexperienced type.”
“Nothin’ wrong with that.” He stepped closer. His fingers slowly trailed over her jaw and she tried to remember how long this man would be around. Was it two weeks? Months? Either way it wasn’t permanent. Figured.
“I’ve thought about you, Ashlynn.”
Oddly, his confession was flattering and made her smile. “You have?”
“Mm—hmm. A lot.”
She swallowed as he stepped closer. Her mind flashed to Kelly and that wretched woman wrapped around him like an octop
us. Her eyes shut in a brief attempt to block out the image. That was when Evan’s lips found hers.
She drew back and stared at him. “I just want to kiss you, Ashlynn. Maybe make up for a few of those fireworks we missed the other night.”
She didn’t know what to say. Gazing up at him, she realized he was quite an attractive man. His mouth lowered again and she was surprised at how soft his lips were. When he slid his hand around her back and slowly corralled her into the alcove of her open door a bit more, she let him.
Evan was a good kisser. Everything about him seemed agreeable. Their heads tilted and he deepened the kiss. Wow. The guy really knew how to use his tongue. Her hands went to his shoulders and his large palms slowly roamed her back. She didn’t normally go around kissing strangers, but at the moment the distraction was needed.
Things heated up quickly. Her head was fuzzy from crying, but Evan was quickly helping her forget what had upset her in the first place. When his palms cupped her bottom through her skirt she decided things had gone far enough. She gently caught his wide wrists and turned her face, but he chuckled and kissed her throat sending chills down her spine.
“Evan,” she giggled as he nipped at her shoulder, tickling her.
His mouth skated over her jaw and found hers again and they were back to kissing. His fingers curved around her waist and lifted her to the seat of her truck. She gently pressed into his chest, signaling him to slow it down.
“You have such a sweet mouth, Ashlynn.”
Her face heated and she again broke the kiss. His hands massaged her hips. She should get his number. Maybe let him take her to dinner before they got too far into the kissing stuff. “Wow. We need to take a breather.”
He leaned into her shoulder and kissed inside the collar of her shirt. She shivered and tried to focus on less tempting things. She didn’t even know his last name. His mouth kissed up her throat and once again found hers. It was drugging.
His lips slanted over hers and she moaned softly. Cool air touched her belly followed by the unprecedented presence of a hand on her breast. “Whoa. Settle down, big guy.”
“Oh, come on, sugar.” His hand sifted farther up her shirt and his fingers pulled at the lace cups of her bra.
She grunted and twisted in order to catch his wrist. “Evan, I don’t do that.”
“Sure you do. I saw you with your ‘friend’ at the lake, saw you two going at it against his truck.”
He pinched the tip of her breast just as his words set in. “Ouch. Stop it.” All warmth fled as she recalled how she’d let Kelly kiss her that night. The thought of someone watching them was not a welcome image.
Evan didn’t seem to get the message. He pressed her more into the truck and again put his mouth over hers. She turned away. “Evan—”
“Don’t be a tease, Ashlynn. You need to make new memories to erase the old.”
His other hand slid under her skirt and she panicked. “I said stop!”
He drew back and eyed her as though he were testing her. Unbelievable, as his hard glare held her stunned gaze, he pressed his hand upward and cupped the material of her panties. Shocked, she gasped and slapped him. Hard.
His face whipped to the side and he growled. When he turned back to her she was truly terrified. There was an enormous stranger holding her down, one hand up her skirt, the other under her shirt, and she’d just slapped him.
His hand on her breast tightened. “I can do rough too, sugar.”
* * * *
Kelly came barreling out of his office with one thought on his mind. He desperately needed to find Ashlynn. He was such a fucking idiot. He didn’t even know the girl’s name he’d been groping. It was a bad reaction to Ashlynn calling him exactly what he was—a whore.
“Yo! Kelly!”
He turned and found a frantic Sue scowling at him as she quickly slung drinks for a long line of thirsty patrons. Shit.
He scanned the bar, but knew he was too late. She was gone. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was only two hours until closing. He’d go to her then, even come back in the wee hours of the night to do the cleanup if he had to.
Sighing, he slipped behind the bar and jumped into action. They were slammed and he was a complete dick for letting Sue handle it on her own for the past hour.
Teamwork was key, when working a bar. It just made everything run smoother. The patrons were less prickly when they saw two faces there to serve them, rather than one. Once the crowd was satisfied and they had some breathing room, he went to apologize to Sue.
“I’m sorry I took off—”
She turned and held up a hand. “Save it. I’ve been cursed at, barked at, and blamed for the crappy service. My back hurts, because I had to lug up two tanks while you were off doing your Kelly thing. The garbage is overflowing and I really need to pee.”
He swallowed. “Go to the bathroom and I’ll handle the trash. Once that’s done you can take a break.”
She only scowled at him as she turned and headed toward the ladies room. Kelly tied up the bags of trash and took them to the door. He filled a few more orders while waiting for Sue to return from the bathroom. What did lassies do in there? Without fail, that hall was always backed up with broads.
“I’m back.”
“All right. I’ll handle this trash then you can take thirty.”
He hefted the three bags in one hand and shoved the back door open. After he swung them into the dumpster a soft whimper caught his attention. He turned and his blood ran cold at the vision before him.
Ashlynn’s truck, door open, interior light on, and two large booted feet leaning into the driver side. On the ground were two dainty flip flops, scattered like fallen rose petals. He saw red.
“Motherfucker!” He bolted into the lot and over the ringing in his head he heard her whimper again followed by the sound of fabric tearing and a masculine grunt.
Everything inside of him became unrecognizable, replaced by black rage. His knees pumped as he ran toward her truck. His mind couldn’t accept what was happening. This was Ashlynn. His sweet Ashlynn. No one was allowed to steal her innocence. Fuck, no!
When he reached the truck he nearly ripped the door off the hinges. An unholy roar tore from his chest as he grabbed the motherfucker by the back of the throat and threw him off.
All he caught was a glimpse of her tear battered face, glasses askew, and her skirt wrenched up to her ribs. Fuck. Pink flesh showed between her lily-white thighs. He couldn’t swallow all that and what it meant at the moment. He turned and lunged at the cocksucker, nothing short of murder on his mind.
Ashlynn’s scream vaguely pierced the white noise blaring in his head as he laid one fist after another into the man’s face. Flesh smacked against flesh and his knuckles split wide as they slammed into bone.
He was a seething maniac. “How fucking dare you!” he roared as he continued to beat the bag of bloodied bones into the pavement, the sound of snapping under the force of his repetitive punches. Voices tickled the edge of the violent haze that swallowed him. And then he heard the sirens.
Suddenly he stopped and panted. The man on the ground, whoever he was, was unrecognizable and unconscious. He saw a crowd of drinkers gaping at him, but wisely keeping their distance. None of that mattered.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his forearm, he puffed out ragged breaths and turned. Ashlynn was trembling from her bruised lips down to her bare feet. Kelly turned and spit. He slowly stepped closer, his gate hard but controlled, and with as gentle a touch as he could manage his swollen hands shook as he righted her skirt.
The sirens drew closer. He bent and retrieved her flip-flops from the pavement and handed them to her. Fuck!
“I’m sorry,” he rasped. Her chest lifted with each rapid breath. He nearly broke. This was his fault. “I’m so fucking sorry, Ash.”
“The cops are coming,” she said, as if stating the weather.
He saw it then, the irrational shame, the breaching of her private little wor
ld. It was all his fault. God damn it! “Can you drive?”
She nodded jaggedly.
“Go. I’ll handle this.”
“But the cops.”
She needed to get out of there if she didn’t want her personal business exposed. Give her an hour or two to let the shock wear off, then she could decide what she wanted to do. But right now she needed to leave. “Go, Ashlynn. Get out of here.”
He reached over her and she didn’t flinch. His busted fingers turned the key and the truck roared to life. He wondered if she’d be able to drive. She was practically catatonic. But once he shut the door and gave her a stern nod, she managed. The taillights disappeared only a moment before the cops arrived.
An hour later he was in jail.
* * * *
Kelly scowled at the metal table as Barney Fife had his ten-second Miami Vice moment. “Did Mr. Evan say anything to you in provocation?”
Kelly gritted his teeth. The guy had been the man from the dance. Evan wasn’t even his first name. Ashlynn was likely friendly to him when she saw him in the parking lot, before things got carried away. The idea that he’d preyed on her innocence, took advantage of the sweet and friendly person she was, made him want to destroy him all over again.
He gave the same answer he’d given since arriving at the police station. “No.”
“Do you have a history with Mr. Evan?”
“No.”
“What’s it going to take to get you to explain why the owner of a local pub would suddenly attack one of his customers in the parking lot of his establishment?”
“I want to make a phone call.”
“You aren’t leaving until I get some answers, son.”
He didn’t care about leaving. He only cared about Ashlynn. Did she get home safe? Was she okay? God. Of course she’s not fucking okay. “I want to call my lawyer.”
The officer sighed and left the room. A few minutes later he returned with a phone, but didn’t hand it over. Kelly glared at the older, uniformed man as he scowled back. “The man you attacked is in intensive care.”
“Good.”
The officer shook his head and handed over the cordless phone. Kelly’s hands were swollen. Dried blood crusted his knuckles. His fingers trembled as he dialed.
Chaste Page 17
