Kings of Denver - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  The place is packed and the moment we walk in, I instantly lose the guys as they scatter off to find a drink or in Shorty’s case, probably the chick he will be screwing later tonight.

  One by one the rest of the team show up and it turns from a house party into a massive rager. Within half an hour, the place is absolutely filled to the brim that the majority of the party has now spilled out into the street and I don’t doubt the cops will be showing up sooner or later to shut this shit down.

  After an hour, I decide I’ve had enough. It’s been a massive week and I just want to unwind. I slip out the front, dig my keys out of my pocket and before I know what I’m doing, I’m parking my truck at Micky’s.

  It’s close to closing time and there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s working tonight. I slip in through the door, pleased to find the place is starting to clear out and I take a seat at the bar.

  Charli has her back to me, but I really don’t mind as I take in the view of that perfect round ass wrapped in those tight jeans. She turns around and gasps as she notices me sitting here. She acts as though my very presence hadn’t startled her as she reaches under the bar and gives me a good view down her tank top.

  She pulls out a glass and begins filling it with beer. She silently places it down in front of me before moving on to fill her next customer’s order. I watch her with an intrigued grin as she goes about her duties.

  I sit here for about half an hour and am shocked when a steak lands in front of me, but hell, I’m not going to say no, I’m fucking hungry. I watch as she smiles to herself as she walks away from the bar, clearly very proud of her doings.

  I get stuck into my steak which just happens to be cooked perfectly and before I know it, the bar is practically empty and Charli is busily wiping down the tables, preparing to close. She heads into the back and turns down the music, giving the remaining customers the signal for ‘get the hell out of here’.

  “You need a hand with anything?” I ask as she returns from the back.

  She gives me a grateful smile, but declines the offer. “No, it’s ok. I’m nearly done.”

  I roll my eyes at her stubbornness and get up off the stool. I make my way over to her and smirk as she freezes when she notices my approach. I silently take the spray and wipe out of her hands and make myself useful as I wipe down the tables.

  I feel those heavenly blue eyes on me as she goes about her duties, closing the bar.

  Once I’ve finished, I take my seat back at the bar and watch as she takes my plate off the bar and ducks into the back. The lights are turned out, except for the ones directly under the bar and the music is completely shut off. After such a long week, the dead silence of the bar sounds incredible.

  Charli comes back out and pours me another beer before pouring a chick drink for herself. She comes around to my side of the bar and takes the stool beside me, making me grin at her initiative. Apparently I haven’t got a shy Charli tonight.

  “Thanks for helping,” she says. “You didn’t need to do that.”

  I shrug off her thanks. “I wanted to,” I tell her as I swivel on my stool to face her more directly.

  “You had a game tonight?” she asks as she takes a sip of her drink.

  “Sure did,” I say as a smirk takes over. “You keeping tabs?” I tease with a raised eyebrow.

  Her whole face flames, but she recovers quickly. “You’re the one who was parked outside the salon on Monday and you have the nerve to ask if I’m keeping tabs? You expect me to think that was a coincidence?” she fights back.

  “Would you believe me if I said it really was?” She presses her lips together in a tight smile and slowly shakes her head as if I had just been caught out. I roll my eyes but continue anyway. “How was it?” I ask.

  An excited smile completely takes over her face, lighting up her features like Christmas morning. “Amazing,” she responds. “I feel like I’ve already learned so much.”

  “That’s great. Your teacher nice?”

  “Yeah,” she says. “She gets a little grouchy if she misses her afternoon coffee, but otherwise she’s great, really knows what she’s talking about and the best thing is that the girls are really nice, maybe even nice enough to make proper friends,” she grins. “What about you? Win any illegal fights lately?”

  I can’t help but laugh. “Yes, actually, last night. I killed it,” I tell her as I launch into the details. “It was this big Scottish guy, people were still weary of me, wondering if I got lucky last week, but then I absolutely smashed this guy which means bets will raise again for the next one.”

  Her eyebrows crease in concern and she begins to bite her bottom lip. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  She cringes before speaking up. “When you say you smashed him, you didn’t hurt him, did you?”

  I let out a breath. “No,” I tell her honestly. “It’s a dirty competition, but I fight clean.”

  “Oh,” she sighs in relief as a small smile comes over her pink lips.

  “Besides, I want to go professional one day which means I can’t have anything that could come back and bite me in the ass,” I explain.

  “Apart from the illegal underground fighting thing.”

  I chuckle as she gives me a smart ass look. I shake my head at her, but can’t help grinning as I do. I’m finding that I absolutely love uncovering these little traits of hers. First, it was the innocence, then the shyness and the blushing which drives me wild, and now finding out she’s a sarcastic smart ass is just the cherry on top.

  I haven’t figured it out yet, but this woman pulls me in for some reason and for the first time, it’s not just because of the killer body or stunning good looks. This woman has something more, something that all the others simply just don’t possess.

  The one thing I do know is that I desperately need to figure it out.

  I look her over and watch as she does the same, clearly trying to figure me out. “What’s your story, Charli?” I ask softly, so she doesn’t think I’m prying and understands that I truly want to know her.

  She considers me for a moment before her eyes drop to her glass and begins drawing patterns in the condensation on the side. She lets out a breath. “My dad died when I was twelve, leaving me with a step mom and a massive debt. She wasn’t very nice, but tolerated me. Well, she did until a few years later when she started drinking and I suddenly became a burden on her,” she explains.

  My hand desperately wants to creep along the bar and take hold of hers, but I hold it back, not sure if she’s ready for that, so instead, I wait for her to continue. “She became verbally abusive, always letting me know I was nothing and that she was stuck with me. So, the moment I turned fifteen she pulled me out of school, deciding that the debt was my father’s, so that makes it my responsibility.”

  Fuck it. My hand has a life of its own. It makes its way across the bar and I place it right over hers, gently giving it a squeeze. An electric shock shoots through my hand, right up my arm and into my body. Holy shit, who knew just touching this girl could have such an effect. Her hand flips over on the bar and I find my fingers lacing though hers. She looks down at our joined hands and I see something settle within her, though, I’m not quite sure what, all I know is that it feels amazing. “You don’t have to tell me the rest,” I say, giving her an out.

  “No, I want to,” she says, finding the strength to continue. “Anyway, I was made to work her cleaning business while she stayed home each day drinking. It had gotten pretty bad by that stage and obviously, expensive, so she demanded I get a second job which is ridiculous for a fifteen year old girl, so I refused and that was the first time she hit me. I guess she must have liked it because it became her new thing after that,” she sighs as she looks away, almost as if she’s embarrassed.

  “I regret that I never once fought back, fearing I had no place to go, so I put up with it for years until she found her new boyfriend who introduced her to drugs.”

  “Babe,” I say, cutting her off, fea
ring what direction this could go in.

  “Don’t stress,” she says. “It doesn’t get much worse.”

  I press my lips together, not sure I believe that, but listen as she goes on. “She was on drugs, hitting and yelling at me. The boyfriend hardly came around, so that wasn’t much of a problem. I stuck to my routine. I would stay out ‘cleaning’ as long as I could, come home, cook dinner, and hide out in my room. She would pass out by nine most nights and not wake until ten or eleven the next day, so I could generally avoid her in the mornings,” she says, then takes a breath.

  “Anyway, a few weeks ago she had found a stash of money I’d been hiding to get myself out and blew it all on drugs. She had passed out for the night and they were just sitting there, so I flushed them,” she says with a cringe. “She had misplaced drugs before and lost her shit at me and I knew for sure this time would be much worse, so I packed my things and ran. I walked for three or four hours during the middle of the night in the worst storm we’ve seen all year. Had no money and no phone so I couldn’t get help or call a taxi. I just had to keep walking. Anyway, I couldn’t find anywhere to crash so I stopped on a storefront where there was a bit of shelter from the storm and was approached by this really bad kind of guy.”

  My whole body tenses and I’m pretty sure that includes my hand because she stops immediately and looks up at me in alarm. Suddenly she’s the one soothing me. “It’s ok, nothing happened,” she practically coo’s. “He tried but I nailed him in the balls and kicked him down the stairs. I ran until I came across Micky’s. I pretty much broke his door down trying to get inside. I had no idea if the guy had followed me or not, I just knew I had to find somewhere safe, and I guess, the rest is history.”

  “Fuck, Charli,” I curse, unable to calm down. Who the fuck would treat this beautiful woman that way? Literally, every person in her life has let her down in some way until she came here. I get up off my stool and take a step in her direction so I stand directly in front of her. I take her chin in my hand and lift her face so her eyes meet mine. “You are the strongest woman I have ever met,” I tell her honestly.

  Her eyes grow watery and I realize being strong is something she’s never considered of herself before, but she needs to know. I’m in awe of her. With all the shit she’s been through, she’s still managed to pull her life together. She has taken control of a shitty situation and turned it around. She has set herself on a path to freedom which is something I desperately want to do for myself, take control and make the changes, but I always hold back, only taking small steps at a time, but Charli leaped, making her the most inspirational woman I know.

  I look her in the eyes and watch as her eyes focus in on mine. My head slowly ducks towards her and she closes her eyes just as my lips come in contact with hers. I press down, feeling the softness of her lips against mine.

  She lets out a soft moan as her hand leaves the bar and slides up behind my neck, pulling me in tighter. I let her take control, let her show me exactly what she’s ready for.

  Her lips begin moving against mine and I welcome it. She keeps it soft and controlled, never once losing herself, just as I had expected of her. She pulls back and I rest my forehead against hers and watch as a small smile plays on her lips. “There’s something about you that drives me wild,” I tell her.

  She sucks her bottom lip between her teeth and I see the need in her eyes. She wants to invite me upstairs, but I know she isn’t ready, and I’ll be damned if I push her too quickly and freak her out.

  “I better go, Charli,” I tell her quietly.

  She nods her head ever so gently and I take that as my sign to go. I press my lips to hers once more and leave before I convince myself to stay.

  Chapter 9

  Charli

  I’ve been working at the hair salon for a few weeks now and I am absolutely loving it. The girls are amazing and my boss Gina is incredible. From the moment I walked in on my first day, Gina took me under her wing and has been teaching me everything I need to know. She is starting off slowly, so I don’t get overwhelmed and have a chance to really master each thing before moving on. It’s been great. So far, I’ve been working on basic cuts, though I’m dying to move on to the advanced stuff like colouring, but I’ll just have to be patient.

  I must admit though, when she handed over the scissors and let me take the reins on my first client, I almost pissed myself. I was a nervous wreck. I aced it of course, though I took my time and the poor lady was sitting there for much longer than necessary. I’ve managed to speed that shit right up, though.

  The only downfall is that with the title of being the newbie, I also get stuck with the shit jobs like mopping and sweeping the floor after each client to keep the place presentable, but I get it, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.

  After my first pay check came in, I was able to go and buy my first brush kit. By no means was it an amazing one, but it will do to get me started. Next up, I’ll be going for scissors, but I don’t want to go stingy on them so I’ll have to save for a few more weeks, you know, in between slowly building up a new wardrobe and paying rent.

  I’m finishing up the trim on my four thirty client and am extremely pleased with my work when I glance up at the clock. Holy crap, it’s nearly closing time already. Every single day I’ve been here has flown by like you wouldn’t believe. It’s awesome, but also has me wishing for a few more hours in the day, though, I’m pretty sure those few extra hours would nearly kill me.

  With my day to day shift working for Gina, my night shift at Micky’s, and my constant day dreaming about Xander, I am utterly exhausted. A good exhausted, though. For once in my life, the feeling of spending a day working has me feeling on top of the world and I’m pretty damn sure it has something to do with the fact that my work is contributing to my own future rather than someone else’s drinking and drug habit.

  It’s amazing. Having control of my own life and money that way has given me my happiness back and allowed me to feel free for the first time in nearly ten years and I will never trade it in for a damn thing.

  I check over my client one more time in the mirror and decide she looks absolutely stunning. I take off her cape and watch as the smile comes over her face when she gets the full effect. She thanks me as she grabs her purse off the table and I lead her over to the cash register.

  Gina approaches as I’m taking care of payment and chats with the client who makes another booking with me for four weeks time and also manages to boost my ego.

  The client leaves and Gina turns to me with a proud smile. “You’re really getting the hang of this,” she says.

  “Thanks,” I grin. “Today felt really good.”

  “Excellent. That’s what we want,” she replies as she opens the till to start closing up for the day. “Why don’t you head off. I can take care of the rest.”

  “No,” I say with a shake of my head. “I can do it,” I insist.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want you overworking yourself,” she demands, knowing about my night shifts in the bar.

  “Honestly. I managed to have a clean-up between my afternoon clients, so there really isn’t too much to do.”

  “Fine,” she groans giving me a concerned look. “Suit yourself.”

  With that, I dash off into the back and grab the broom. I get straight to work, knowing I can give myself fifteen minutes to clean which will allow me just enough time to power walk back to Micky’s, grab a fresh change of clothes, scoff down dinner, and be ready for my shift in the bar at six.

  I say goodbye to the other girls as I dash around the salon with the broom. As usual, my mind takes me straight to Xander the moment I have a second to myself. I haven’t seen him this week, but I know I’ll probably see him again in the next few days. He seems to find his way back to Micky’s no matter what he’s doing and to be honest, I love the random surprises.

  Especially that night he came in and watched me finish my shift. I felt his eyes piercing into me t
he whole time, though I don’t know what could have been that interesting. I was mostly wiping down tables, but then he went and helped me to close. I don’t know why, but something inside me found it incredibly romantic. So, I spent the rest of close, swooning like an idiot.

  We then sat at the bar and I opened up to him, told him everything and I mean everything. I had opened up to Micky that first night, but not on this level. I had just given Micky the need to know stuff but with Xander, I needed him to understand me, to really know why I am the way I am.

  I felt ashamed telling him how I allowed myself to be mistreated for so long, but then I saw the way he was looking at me and that feeling dissipated into thin air and I suddenly felt more like a survivor and like the strong woman he said I was.

  Gina calls out that she’s leaving for the night and reminds me to set the alarm before I leave. I tell her to have a good night as I put the broom away. I hear the bell over the door telling me that she’s gone and I make my way back out into the salon. I do a quick once over, straightening up all the chairs and equipment before flicking the lights and locking up.

  I check the clock one last time and grin as I’ve allowed myself a few extra minutes to dawdle on the way home.

  I key in the pin for the alarm and pull the door closed behind me, making sure I hear the familiar click that tells me the door has closed properly. I shove in the key and quickly twist before sliding it back into my pocket.

  I head off down the road, feeling on cloud nine. Things couldn’t be going better. Well, besides all the Xander stuff. I kind of wish I wasn’t so shy and could be more of the woman he craves. I know a guy like him is probably after a woman with a little experience, especially in the bedroom. After all, he has probably seen and done everything there is to offer. Which makes me wonder what the hell he sees in me. Why does he keep coming back? Am I a game to him? Does he just want to corrupt the sweet girl from the wrong side of the tracks? I don’t know, I just can’t figure it out.