Fuck. I shook his hand and he stepped back. “I told you that next time we met would be different,” I reminded them both.
Matt nodded. “We know, but we aren’t doing any harm are we? We just want to train.”
“Why here? You have nothing in that mansion of yours?” I was being aggressive, I knew I was, but I didn’t want them here.
“Not like this,” Theo commented. “Plus, the house is kinda busy these days.” Matt snorted out a laugh. Theo grinned at him.
“Why is this my problem?”
“Jesus Aaron, lighten up. We just want to train, we won’t even talk to you. We’re happy to pay the membership fee. Shadow signed me up yesterday.” Matt rose to his full height and watched me.
“The night fights?” I had to know if they were looking for extra.
Theo held his hands up. “No way. Been there, done that, got my ass kicked more than I would like.” Matt was nodding in agreement.
“Just straight up train?” I repeated.
“Yes. No hassle. You won’t even know we are here,” Matt assured me.
I sighed. I was getting soft. “Does Colton know you are here?” I asked. Two guilty looks between the two of them. I sighed again. “Tell him before he comes looking to me for an explanation. He got one punch for free, given the circumstances. That won’t happen again.”
“So... we can stay?” Theo asked excitedly.
“Stay away from my fighters and don’t listen to my trainer – he’s gonna try and recruit you.” Turning to walk away I added, “And keep your distance from me.”
I heard the muttered ‘no problem’ and clenched my jaw. This was bound to be a disaster.
I headed back to my office. Frank was on the floor with Jordan. Frank seemed to be laying down the law and Jordan looked to be eating it up. I hid my grin. I picked up my phone.
Me: Your boy’s here, brought a sidekick, are you trying to wind me up or is it just a happy coincidence?
Shadow: Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that...you didn’t hurt him did you?
I glared at the phone. Was he serious? I was going to kick his ass.
Me: No, I didn’t hurt him, idiot.
I got a smiley face back and I tossed my phone down in disgust. It started ringing and I picked it up without looking.
“Start grovelling,” I greeted.
“Mr Jonson?” I rolled my eyes. It was Dan the Dick, back again.
“Oh Christ, what did I do to deserve this?” I muttered.
“I like your humour.” Fuck off.
“What do you want? I made myself clear yesterday,” I growled at him.
“I was wondering if you had taken the opportunity to consider my offer?” he continued as if nothing happened.
“I didn’t have to consider. I am not interested.” Snapping at him made me feel slightly better.
“You’re not interested in money?” I could hear the sneer in his well-mannered voice. I gripped the phone tighter. “I was under the impression you were very interested in money.”
“Look Dan, I don’t give a flying fuck what your impressions are. Don’t call me again.” Again, I hung up on him. Who the fuck did he think he was? I glared at the phone. It rang again. This time I checked my caller ID. Shadow.
“What?” I snapped out.
“Wow, what crawled up your ass?” Shadow replied curtly.
I exhaled loudly. “I have Lela’s father phoning me, trying to give me money to look after her.”
“Take the money,” was the immediate reply.
“No.” My answer was quick and sharp.
“I don’t know what is going on with you man. Why wouldn’t you take the money?” Shadow sounded irritated – I didn’t care.
“I’m not talking about it, what do you want?”
“I’m coming in. I was going to ask if I should bring you anything but now I don’t care, since you’re being a bitch.”
I fought back my grin. “Bring me chicken. Stop sulking.” I hung up.
I was on the laptop looking at cheap gym equipment when Shadow came up the stairs. He headed straight to me and tossed a food bag to me. I caught it with a grin. He closed the door and straddled a chair.
“Right, talk to me,” he demanded.
I opened my bag and took out my filets and fries. I hungrily dug in. “Jesus, when did you last eat?” Shadow commented.
“Sandwich when I got home last night. Lela made it.” I groaned inwardly at the thought that I had just given him ammunition.
“She’s making you food?”
“A sandwich isn’t food. Well...you know...” I avoided his shaking head.
“Spill, tell me everything.”
I defiantly bit into some chicken which reminded me of Lela yesterday and I fought back the grin.
“No man.” Shadow groaned. “Come on! You can’t be falling for Skinner’s brat.” He leaned forward in earnest.
I swallowed and scowled at him. “She isn’t Skinner’s brat, she’s his step-brat,” I argued.
“Are you hearing yourself?” Shadow was looking at me incredulously. I took another bite of chicken. “I can’t believe this, you’re getting sweet on the brat.” He shook his head and assessed me shrewdly. “Speak. If you don’t tell me, I swear to God I’ll drag you to Maria.”
“Your biggest threat is taking me to Maria? You’re a pussy.” I snorted as I munched on some fries.
“Yeah, I’m not the one lusting after the druggie.”
I flinched internally. I put my food down and rolled my head from side to side. “Fuck,” I muttered. I relayed the last few days with Lela and this morning to him. He sat there in silence, but he couldn’t hide his shit eating grin.
“I knew it! I knew you were gonna bone her.” Shadow chuckled at me.
“I’m not!” I glared at him as I scrunched up my half-eaten lunch and tossed it in the trash. “You asked what was going on. That’s what’s going on.”
“Why won’t you take the dad’s cash? You need that cash right now,” Shadow reminded me.
“It doesn’t feel right.” I groaned as I sat forward with my head in my hands. “I need to find a woman tonight and just get laid,” I muttered.
“Will your girl be ok with you staying out all night?” Shadow asked me laughingly.
I groaned again.
“What?”
“I told her she could come tonight.”
He threw his head back and let out a bellowing laugh. “Oh my God. I cannot believe this. The great, cold hearted bastard Aaron Jonson is all love-struck. Oh, I have to tell Maria!”
“Shut the fuck up,” I snapped at him. “You’re like a goddamn woman, sitting here cackling like a flipping hen.” His answering grin made me want to punch him. I glanced out to the gym and saw Matt and Theo. My eyes narrowed on them and I shifted my glare to Shadow. “You’re not innocent either. What the fuck is going on with that?” I jerked my head in their direction.
“He’s a nice guy; I like him. He’s genuine.” Shadow shrugged.
“You’re insane. He may be genuine, we,” I pointed at us both, “are not. This is a disaster waiting to happen.”
“He said they have stuff at the house but not like this, and that the house was getting uncomfortable. Something about his two friends hooking up and nowhere being safe.” Shadow grinned. “Ah young love, you’ll be able to relate of course.” He winked at me and I was close to throat punching him again. “Stop sweating it, it’ll wear off.”
“What?” I was still watching Matt and Theo. “Them?”
“Course it will, trust me.”
I turned back and looked at him. “They’re your responsibility. I already dealt with these two – I have Kyle Marshall looking for Colton. I don’t need this shit man.”
Shadow frowned. “I forgot about Kyle,” he admitted. “Shit.”
“Yeah, shit. This is going to hit the fan, real fast,” I warned as I watched them at the punching bag.
I had a very bad feeling about this.
Shadow and I stayed in the office looking at gym equipment and shooting the shit between us. “What time are we on tonight?”
“Ten. You want me to pick you up?” I offered.
Shaking his head, he stood. “No, need my own wheels in case Maria needs me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Baby may come soon.”
“Two months early?” I asked him quietly.
“Clara’s been reading the Bible to her.” He made a face. “Maria may push the baby out just to get away from her.”
“Can you blame her? What were you thinking?” my tone was light-hearted but he shrugged guiltily.
“She’s my mama. Don’t worry, I’m going to pay for a looooong time, my man. A long time.” He put his jacket on and said goodbye.
I glanced at my watch. I needed to go get Lela. I told Frank I was leaving and called out a few goodnights to the remaining guys. Matt and Theo were long gone, Shadow had gone out to speak to them both earlier. I had stayed in the office.
I wasn’t going to let my earlier conversation with Shadow influence me. I wasn’t going to sleep with her. That was a whole can of worms that neither of us needed to open. Yeah, we may have been attracted to each other – she was hot. I wasn’t dead. It was obvious she liked what she saw too, but that wasn’t my problem either.
We were adults, we weren’t horny teenagers. Ok, so I was horny, but not necessarily for her.
My pep talk worked until I saw her in the office. She practically leapt to her feet to get her stuff. Her smile was blinding. I fought hard to keep from smiling back at her.
I waited in the garage and spoke to Jim, anything to stop myself from going in there.
“Hi.” Lela was beside me. I nodded and finished today’s round up with Jim, telling him I would see him in the morning. I turned to her.
“Ready?”
“Yes, see you later guys!” Lela called as she headed out. A chorus of ‘goodnights’ and ‘see you later’ followed her. Bunch of lovesick morons.
I opened the truck for her and we set off as she babbled on about the weather and how the snow was supposed to get worse. It was Boulder in November, there was a hell of a lotta more snow to come.
I parked in the drive and reminded myself I needed to clear it again tomorrow. As we took our outdoor clothes off at the door, Lela smiled at me.
“Did you get lunch?”
“Yes mom,” I snarked.
“You sure? You sound hangry.” Her tone was teasing.
“What the hell is hangry?”
“Oh, it’s when you get angry because you are hungry,” Lela explained, she was looking at me as if that was the most normal sounding thing in the world.
“I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous,” I muttered as I walked to the kitchen.
“You’d more likely get cangry.” She was trailing behind me as she covered a laugh. I turned and raised my brow in question. “Angry without coffee,” she supplied.
“You don’t want to see me without coffee. Trust me,” I commented drily.
“Should I be scared?”
“Terrified.” I was serious. It wasn’t pretty.
“Can I take a bath?”
Random. “Do whatever you want, just don’t do it in my bed.” A soft reminder, she frowned but it was gone instantly.
“Cool. What are you going to do?”
“Sleep.” I headed to my room. “Stay out,” I warned as I closed the door behind me firmly.
I stripped and climbed into my shower, I was lathering up when ice water cascaded down on me. “Fuck!” I jumped back from the spray. “Lela!” I roared. I grabbed a towel just as she opened the door to the bathroom. “What the fuck did I tell you about my room!” I growled.
“You shouted on me!” she protested as she ran her eyes over me.
“Because you ran the hot water! Couldn’t you hear me in the shower?” I was glaring at her, she didn’t hide her smile and then she was laughing. “It isn’t funny, go turn the hot water tap off for your bath and wait. Good God, you’re so impatient Lela!” Lela left still snickering. I waited until I was sure she had done it and then I turned the spray back on. Gingerly I climbed back in and hurriedly rinsed off. I seriously was not getting paid enough for this, I grumbled to myself. After my very non-relaxing shower, I had a shave and was towel drying my hair as I opened my bedroom door.
“Now you can have a bath, I’m going to sleep,” I called up the hall and I firmly shut the door again. I tossed the towel into the hamper and went to get boxer briefs.
“Aaron, did you say something…oh my…” Lela froze. Her eyes fixated on my full nakedness.
I shook my head in disbelief. I went over to my dresser and glanced at her as I pulled on boxer briefs. “You had the fucking cheek to check the bedroom door – the night you came here – for a lock. Looks like there’s only one perv in this house and that’s you.” I had absolutely no problem with nudity, especially mine. I had no body issues – I knew I looked good. I had worked for years to make my body a weapon and I was proud of it. Lela was still staring at my abs. I cleared my throat.
“Huh?” She looked at me, flushing.
“You,” I leaned forward, “are a complete perv.” Her face turned scarlet. “Get out, you’ve got enough content for your spank bank.” I walked towards her as I spoke.
“You’re so crass,” Lela muttered as she backed away. I tracked her until she bumped into the wall. I reached out, took her arms and turned her and with a slight nudge before pushing her out of the room.
“Enjoy your bath.”
She had to go. I was three seconds from peeling her clothes off and taking her – hard. If she continued to look at me with so much lust and desire, who could blame me for caving?
I frowned. I remembered my words to her earlier. I wasn’t being paid to sleep with her, though God knows the more she was in my space the more I wanted to. I shook my head. Forcing myself to lay on the bed, I closed my eyes. Sleep. I just needed to sleep…and get laid. But not Lela. No, definitely not Lela.
I was dressed in black jeans and a black button-down shirt. Sam liked all his security to be in black. In a dark nightclub it made no sense to me if we couldn’t see each other, but we all had earpieces to communicate. I slicked my hair back and put some aftershave on. Checking myself one last time, I left my room.
I went through the routine of making my coffee as I glanced at the clock. I had thirty minutes to get there and set up. I’d done this before for Sam and worked well with his usual team.
I looked up as Lela walked into the kitchen, carrying her shoes. I almost groaned. Her skirt was black, short and showed a lot of leg. Her top was sheer and loose but seemed to mould to her tits at the same time. Her hair was loose and free and her make-up minimal, but, Jesus Christ, she was smoking hot.
“You look nice,” Lela murmured. I nodded. I was struggling to talk.
“Thanks.” I shrugged. “Looking pretty good yourself.” It would have been mentioned had I not said anything. A soft blush rose and I had to look away from that perfect mouth. “Ready?” She nodded enthusiastically and headed to the door, where she bent over to put on her shoes. The skirt hugged her perfect ass and I shook my head in denial. Scrawny ass brat, I reminded myself. You’re such a loser, I scolded myself.
“Lela, those shoes are going to kill you in the snow and if you don’t fall, you are going to lose toes. Put your boots on, you can change in the truck.”
“Oh.” She beamed at me. “I didn’t think of that.”
“How they ever let you come here alone is beyond me,” I muttered as I put my own boots on. She swiped playfully at me. “Jacket?”
“Do I need one?”
“Are you stupid? Did you bang your head in the tub?”
“Nah, I’m just messing with you, it’s easy. I’m taking my normal jacket, going to leave it in the truck?” I snorted at how pleased she looked with herself for messing with me.
“Brat. C’mon, let’s go. Wait.” I dug ou
t my wallet and handed her a hundred dollars. “Drink responsibly, stay away from all things poppers and speed.” She frowned and lost some of her excitement, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the reminder or for bringing it up at all.
“I will. Thank you.” Her eyes were downcast as she tucked the money away.
“If you hook up, they don’t come back here, you can do the walk of shame in the morning.” I watched her. Testing her. Her eyes cut to me quickly and her jaw clenched.
“I wasn’t thinking of ‘hooking up’ with anyone.”
“Air quotes and everything,” I mocked. “Ok, why are you glaring at me?”
“Do you plan to ‘hook up’ with anyone?” Her gaze was steady and I assessed her. I used the opportunity as I intended.
I shrugged as I put my jacket on. “If it happens, it happens. I’ll make sure you get back here.”
Lela’s head jerked down as she fussed with her top. “Cool, we’re all set and know exactly what’s going on.” She raised her head and looked me straight on. “Ready?”
I followed her out. As I turned to lock the house, I gritted my teeth. The first guy to touch her was likely to get punched. I should never have agreed to let her come.
The club was popular most nights and tonight it was going to be crammed. The line outside was bordering on insanity considering the snow that was falling. It looked like a mixed crowd of young rockers with the normal clientele dance scene mixed in. There were tight miniskirts, ripped jeans, far too much flannel and leather. I shook my head in amusement as I parked – they all had one thing in common and that was that they were freezing.
Sam had dashed past me when we arrived, his usual head of security had told me that the live band this evening were an up and coming rock group. I already knew this but let him give me the run down. Shadow and the others had been there when Lela and I arrived. I had avoided Shadow’s knowing smirk when we walked in and left our jackets in the staff room. I hadn’t introduced them even though this was the second time she had seen him. She wasn’t here to make friends. I had deposited her in a booth near the bar and left her to chat to the bar girls.
Dark Heart Page 19
