by Cathryn Fox
“Yeah, it’s really easy to tell you’re over it,” Jack said.
Chapter Nine
“So it worked then,” Kat said, a smug grin on her face. “I told you it would. Every guy wants what another guy has.”
“You were right,” Sky said. “Matt and I,” she paused to do air quotes around the words, “‘faked a breakup’ at the compound this morning and then Caleb asked me out to dinner. He said he hasn’t seen enough of me lately and just wanted a quiet meal with the two of us.”
“But it’s a date, right?”
“I think.” Actually, she wasn’t even sure. “We’re going out this Friday night.”
“Then why do you look so…to quote Gran…mopey? This is what you want, right? What you’ve wanted all along.”
Sky’s gaze went to Matt, and she leaned against the countertop as sweet memories rushed through her thoughts. Honest to God, she didn’t know what she wanted anymore. A noise caught in her throat as she studied him. They really had gone from zero to one hundred in record time. Or had they? They’d always been close, always touched, laughed and carried on like two people who had feelings for one another. It wasn’t until he kissed her that she realized just how deeply hers ran. Maybe they were already registering on the needle before she’d fallen into bed with him. Warmth spread through her, and she exhaled a fluttery breath as her mind once again went back to his bed.
“What’s gotten into you?” Kat asked as she sipped on her drink and spun back and forth on her stool like an antsy five-year-old. “Hello. Earth to Sky,” Kat said, waving her hand in front of Sky’s face.
“Ah…what?” Sky said, dragging her focus from Matt—his ass specifically—as he bent over the pool table, cue stick aimed. She met her friend’s glance and took in her raised eyebrows as her gaze moved over Sky’s face. “What?” Sky asked again, struggling to keep her mind on her conversation with Kat and off Matt’s backside—and what they’d done the night before. “So Thor’s pretty hot,” she said, striving to shift Kat’s focus off the dreamy look she knew was on her face, and onto Kat’s sex life. “I can see why you like him. I guess you don’t find guys like him in Mississippi. I don’t blame you for wanting to move here. Closer to Tallulah, and you’re right, the men are a lot hotter.”
Dear God, she needed to stop rambling or she was going to give herself away.
Kat’s eyes went saucer-wide and she stopped spinning to plant both palms flat on the counter top.
Too late.
She lifted herself up a bit, and leaned toward Sky. “Oh. My. God,” she said, drawing each word out slowly.
“What?” Sky asked again, grabbing the dishcloth to wipe down the already spotless oak bar top. Even though it was sterile, she needed to busy her hands before they got her into more trouble. Because as she looked at Matt, all she could think about was going over there and reacquainting herself with his hard body. Her hands tingled as she thought about it. So did another body part.
Get it together, Sky.
Easier said then done, because how could she possibly think of anything else but what went on his bed late last night. He was so wild, intense…possessive. Everything Kat had said about him was true. He was a take-charge guy in the bedroom, one who liked to hold his girl down and take her hard. And those spankings.
Oh, my God, those spankings.
She could feel heat rush to her face as she thought about the way he’d flipped her over, only to give her backside a good hard slap. How could she possibly go back to vanilla sex after experiencing Matt’s brand of lovemaking?
“What’s going on?” Tallulah asked when she came back from the bathroom. “Sky, are you okay? You look…flushed.”
“That’s because she had sex,” Kat stated matter-of-factly.
“What?” Tallulah said, her voice rising. “You and Caleb had sex? When did this happen? He only just asked you out this morning, didn’t he?” She paused and tapped the bar. “You’ve been here working since you left the compound this morning. When did you have time?”
“We didn’t have sex,” Sky explained.
“So then…” Kat frowned and looked down and Sky could almost hear the wheels spinning. A few beats later her eyes lifted and her head jerked back with a start. “You had sex with Matt,” she blurted out so loudly a few customers at the table behind them all turned her way. “I should have guessed. I saw the way you two were acting with each other today when I ran into you at the hospital. And you were flushed. I thought it was because the hospital was so damn hot, but now I know what was really going on.”
“Shh,” Sky said, whacking Kat with the cloth. “Everyone can hear you.”
“Don’t shush me,” Kat said.
“And Matt and I weren’t acting any differently.” That much was true. They’d always touched a lot. “And I was flushed because it was hot at the hospital. They keep Gran’s room warm for her. They do that with the elderly.”
Ignoring her explanation, Kat held her palm toward the ceiling and waved her fingers toward herself. “I want all the details. So spill.”
Sky turned to Tallulah, whose jaw was practically hitting the bar top. Grabbing a glass, Sky poured a soda, dropped a straw into it, and pushed it toward her. “Here. Drink this.”
Tallulah took a long pull from the straw and then said, “Okay, what the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know,” Sky said, burying her face in her hands. “It just…happened.”
“Sex doesn’t just happen, my friend,” Kat said. “Not without two people wanting it to happen.”
“We’d come from the hospital, he was upset, and he reached out to me, that’s all.”
“I told you he liked you,” Kat said.
She thought about the regret on his face come morning. “He doesn’t like me, Kat. Not like that.”
“Did he get hard?” Kat bobbed her head in an “I told you so” sort of way.
“Yeah, but he’s a guy in his twenties,” Tallulah piped in. “A good stiff wind could make him hard.”
“That’s true,” Kat said. “And he’s been holed up at the bar studying forever and hasn’t been with anyone lately.”
“But still, he must like her, right?” Tallulah toyed with her straw. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have slept with her.”
Kat nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”
As her friends discussed her and Matt’s sex life, Sky poured herself a soda and took a big drink. When she was done, she put her glass back down on the counter harder than was necessary. But it did the trick because both girls stopped talking and turned to stare at Sky.
“Are you two done discussing my sex life?”
“Not at all. We want to hear everything,” Kat said. “Did he…was he…you know. Crazy kinky?”
Sky tried not to show a reaction, but her mind instantly rewound to last night. Her toes curled as fire licked over her thighs. Her hand went to her backside, and she rubbed gently. Something told her he’d barely scratched the surface with her, and had a lot more kink up his sleeve. Damned if she didn’t want to find out.
“He was that good, huh?” Tallulah asked.
Kat let loose a long slow whistle. “I am so damn jealous. Next time—”
“There’s not going to be a next time. It was an accident. A one-time thing. Matt even apologized when we woke up. He told me he wasn’t in his right mind.”
“Yeah, probably because he knows you’re crazy about Caleb,” Tallulah said.
“Which you still are, right?” Kat asked. “Or did a night with Matt rock your world so hard it shook some sense into you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, Caleb is hot and everything. But Matt…well, Matt is the whole package.”
“So you said.”
“You disagree?”
Her head lifted and from across the room she watched Matt work the pool cue. He chalked the end and slid it along those big hands of his. Her mind instantly revisited the way he took his cock into his hand
s and stroked it before sheathing himself. Her breath came out a little fluttery, her heart pounding just a little faster.
“Yes… No… I don’t know.”
“Then tell me what you do know. Did he hold you down hard and give it to you good?”
A sound squeaked in her throat. “Yes,” she managed to get out, even though she wasn’t one to kiss and tell.
Kat raised her hands in the air like she was celebrating her favorite team’s touchdown. “I knew it!” she yelled.
“It might have been great, Kat, but it’s not going to happen again.”
“Why the hell not?”
“It was…it was,” she began, struggling to explain it. “Like a reaction. You know, when two people experience something traumatic, or find themselves in a stressful situation, they form an attachment and things…happen.”
“Okay, so Matt was under stress because of Gran. That doesn’t explain why you let it happen.”
Wasn’t that the question of the hour?
“I was under stress too,” she said.
Kat pointed a finger at her. “What you were under, my dear friend, was Matt.”
Kat and Tallulah laughed and high-fived each other.
“Oh my God, you two. Cut it out.” She glanced up to see Matt staring at her, and felt a little breathless under his intense gaze. “Great. Now Matt probably knows what we’re talking about.”
“On that note,” Tallulah said, glancing at her watch. “It’s time for Garrett and me to head home.”
“Give Lexi a kiss for me,” Sky said.
“I better take off too. Thor has an early therapy appointment tomorrow, and we have a lot of kinks to work out.”
Sky rolled her eyes. “You are bad.”
“Because it’s way more fun than being good. And if you want my advice, Sky…”
Sky held her hands up. “I don’t.”
Kat laughed. “Fine but I will say this. Don’t blow a good thing.” She winked and added, “Or rather, go ahead and blow it.”
Sky’s eyes went wide, not because of Kat’s horrible advice, but because Matt was standing behind her.
He gave Kat an odd look as she and Tallulah headed toward the door, then he turned his attention to Sky. “I’m going to run and check on Gran, then I’ll be by to help you lock up. Wait for me, okay?”
There were only a few customers left, and while Sky could close up early and head home before he got back, she nodded, knowing better than to voice an argument. And truthfully, she liked him walking her home, especially after the incident with Simon.
She watched him leave. Once he was gone, she swept behind the bar, then went over the books while she waited for the last of the patrons to leave. She thought about her conversation with Marco earlier that day. He wanted to buy into the business, and had presented her with a new business plan. She sat on her stool and considered it for a time as she nursed a soda. Her mind went back to what Matt had said about freeing up her time for other things in her life, and how her father would have wanted that. Her heart pinched as she thought of her dad.
She grabbed Marco’s proposal from beneath the counter and studied the numbers. His investment and new marketing plan would really breathe new life into the place, and if he was more involved, she could go back to school and take the classes she always wanted to.
Her head waitress Amber came up to her and pulled her thoughts back. She put her tray on the counter and said, “Quitting time.”
Sky smiled at her, then glanced around the empty lounge. “I’ll walk you out.” She followed Amber to the door and stood there until she was in her car. Once she was gone, Sky locked up and walked to her office, where she booted up her laptop. She opened the book she was working on and began reading through the last few pages she’d written.
Soon enough she found herself daydreaming, staring at the pages as the book played out in her mind’s eye. Only problem was she was suddenly visualizing Matt as the hero, and not Caleb.
Oh boy.
She closed the laptop and stole a glance at her watch. Visiting hours were over long ago, and Matt should have been back by now. A loud noise sounded outside in the back parking lot, and unease swept through her. She grabbed her bat from beneath the counter and hurried to the back door.
Unlocking it and inching it open slowly, she peered into the night, and what she saw had her heart leaping into her throat, and her blood draining to her toes.
* * * * *
Matt turned to see the shock on Sky’s face. “Get back inside and lock the door,” he yelled.
Sky stood there staring, her face going white as her glance left his to go to Simon’s, whose face was still bruised from his last beating. He held Matt’s arms from behind as the mouth breather used Matt’s stomach as a punching bag.
Simon laughed. “Don’t worry, sweet thing. When we’re finished with lover boy here, it will be your turn. And if you’re real nice, I’ll be real nice too.”
“Sky. Go. Now,” Matt said before another hard fist hit his gut. Air left his lungs in a whoosh, and he bent forward, only for Simon to pull him to a standing position again. He spit blood, but before he could break free, the Neanderthal turned his attention to Sky and started toward the open door.
Sky was in danger.
That thought filled Matt with rage. Adrenaline pumped through him and he threw his head back, catching Simon in the face. The sound of bones crunching punctured the quiet night and the curses that followed were a good indication that he’d broken the asshole’s nose. But he didn’t have time to check, not with Simon’s goon about to reach Sky.
He broke from Simon’s hold and dove for the other guy, catching him around the waist. He dragged him to the ground, and felt a fist to his side as he struggled to gain purchase. They rolled on the asphalt, until Matt was on top. He pinned the man’s arms with his knees and started pummeling the guy’s face, driving his head into the unforgiving pavement.
Some small part of him registered that Sky was still standing there, bat poised and ready for battle. But his thoughts blurred when something shattered over his skull. Sky screamed with the sound of breaking glass and moved toward him. He turned to see Simon holding a broken bottle out like a weapon, but then the bat swatted across his hand and it smashed to the ground.
Simon yelled and held his busted arm. He dropped to his knees, curses filling the back parking lot. Matt jumped off the guy groaning beneath him and grabbed Sky. Breathless as his mind raced to catch up, he dragged her inside and locked the door behind them.
He pushed her up against the wall and looked her over. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her eyes wide, full of fear. “He was going to kill you. I thought…I was so…so scared.”
“Wouldn’t have happened. I would have taken it from him.” A broken bottle was nothing compared to what he’d been up against overseas.
Her finger went to the blood on his lip, and her voice wavered when she said, “They hurt you.”
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” he said. But as he looked at her pallor, he knew she wasn’t. “Let’s call Garrett and get you home.”
He led her to her office and she fell into the chair. Matt reached for her phone and by the time Garrett arrived, Simon and his muscle were long gone. They gave their statement and Garrett left to go hunt them down. He put his arm around Sky and stepped outside. She looked around nervously, and he cursed under his breath. He’d promised to keep her safe from that asshole Simon, only for this to happen.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m sure Garrett has them in custody by now, and we’ll get a restraining order first thing tomorrow. I don’t plan to let you out of my sight until this matter is dealt with.”
He wanted to get her home quickly, but since she wasn’t a fan of riding on the back of his bike, he left it in the parking lot. He grabbed his helmet in one hand and pulled her against him with the other. A quake moved through her, and he pulled her in tighter to offer his comfort.
They hurrie
d along the dark sidewalks and he pointed to the sky, trying to lighten her mood. “There’s Venus,” he said.
She gave him a shove, a small smile on her face when she countered with his juvenile response, “Where’s Uranus?”
Matt laughed, and when they reached their building, he opened the security door and led her up the stairs to her apartment. He ushered her inside and locked the door behind them.
He put his helmet down. “Why don’t you go get changed and I’ll make some tea.”
He swiped his tongue over the cut on his lips and all the humor was gone from her eyes as she looked over his face. “I think we should get you cleaned up first.” Grabbing his hand, she gave a little tug to lead him down the hall. He moved with her, his stomach muscles taking that moment to ache from the pounding.
He grunted, and she darted a quick glance behind her, worry washing over her face. They reached the bathroom and he took a look at himself in the mirror. Blood crusted beneath his right eye, and he could already see purple bruising.
“I’ll clean this up, then you can take a shower.” Sky gestured for him to sit on the edge of the tub, and when he lowered himself, she leaned over him to turn the water on. Her stomach pressed against this shoulder, and he fought the urge to pull her onto his lap, wrap his hands around her and keep her with him forever.
She adjusted the nozzle then walked to the sink as he tugged his bloody shirt over his shoulders. Pulling open the medicine cabinet mirror, she rooted around inside and came back to him with cotton balls and antiseptic. She knelt down in front of him, and his heart began to pound harder against his chest.
Her hand went to his face as she ran the cotton over his cut. Everything from her nearness to the scent of her skin, to the way her hair brushed against his shoulders, made him breathless. Fighting for a measure of control, he clenched down hard on his jaw, but she mistook the reaction for pain, and for that he was grateful. They’d already crossed a line once, and he had no intention of doing it again.
“Sorry. I know this stings a bit. I’m almost done.” She dabbed his cheek a few more times, then dropped the cotton ball into the trash. When she turned back to him, a warm palm touched his cheek, her gaze moving over his cuts. “All cleaned,” she said.
