by R. Linda
“Ryder’s girlfriend?”
“Yes. Ryder had been crushing on Bailey secretly for, like, ever, and Chace knew. But the moment Ryder’s back was turned and I was no longer in the picture, Chace swooped in.”
“The guy’s a dick.”
I laughed. “He’s a lot of things.”
“And now?” Jeremy turned and looked at me.
“Now, for some reason, he’s decided he wants to be a father. Five years and a hell of a lot of trouble too late.”
“Maybe he’s grown up and seen the error of his ways,” Jeremy suggested.
“I doubt it. A lot of bad blood happened between Ryder and Chace while they were at uni as well. I don’t know much of it because Ryder and Bailey refuse to discuss it, but from what I’ve gathered, it got pretty intense. Ryder put Chace in the hospital and was arrested for assault. I don’t know what caused him to snap that way. I just know Chace must have screwed up really bad. Did something unforgivable.”
“More unforgivable than what he did to you?”
I nodded. I’d find out what happened one day. But for now, all I knew was it had something to do with Bailey. There was no other reason for Ryder to almost beat Chace to death.
“Shit. And now?”
“And now he wants to be in Cole’s life. He shows up here, at work, uni. Everywhere, demanding to see my son. But I don’t trust him, and the more I tell him no, the harder he tries, the angrier he gets. The police won’t do anything because he hasn’t legally done anything wrong. So, we just keep going ’round in circles. When it comes to Chace, Ryder has no control. He’s protective of me and Cole, and Bailey, and hates Chace with a passion. I’ve stopped calling him when Chace shows up because he’ll get himself into even more trouble with the law, and I don’t want that. And Chace knows it too. Tries to use it to his advantage because he knows Ryder won’t be there to get in the way. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Jeremy nodded in understanding and rubbed a hand over his face. “Quite the situation you’re in, huh?”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Well, there’s not much I can do, but if he shows up here and you don’t want him to, I’m right next door,” he said before adding quietly, “You know, if you need me.”
“I appreciate that. Thanks, but I don’t want you getting in trouble either. Chace has a way of bringing out the worst in people. And aren’t you on good behaviour or something? You have to keep your nose clean.”
“Don’t worry about me. Worry about Cole.”
I smiled at Jeremy. It was nice to know I could rely on him if I really needed, though I wouldn’t. I didn’t want anyone to fight my battles anymore. I had to do it myself. I had to do it for Cole.
We sat in silence and finished our drinks. I stood and collected Jeremy’s empty bottle. “Want another one?”
“I won’t say no.”
“Okay, just give me a minute. I want to get changed out of these clothes,” I said and walked into the kitchen to get rid of my glass.
I walked down the hall to my room and quickly changed into a pair of yoga pants and tank top. I tied my hair into a messy bun on top of my head before returning to the kitchen to pour more wine and get a beer for Jeremy.
“Here you go.” I handed him the bottle and sat back down on the sofa.
“You didn’t have a sexy little white nurse’s outfit in your room to change into?” Jeremy smirked.
“You’re a pig.” I laughed. “Of course not.”
“That’s a shame. Though I must admit…huge fan of the yoga pants, babe.”
I stamped down the butterflies in my stomach and snorted. “Does it ever work?”
“What?” Jeremy raised an eyebrow.
“Your pathetic attempts at flirting.”
“You tell me. Is it working?” He raised his beer bottle to his lips in a show of flexing his bicep.
Yes. It was definitely working.
“No. Sorry, Casanova, you have to try harder than that to get in my pants.”
“I don’t want to get in your pants. I doubt I’d fit. But I do want to get you out of them.” He winked, and I burst out laughing.
“Smooth.”
“Well, you know. I haven’t had much of a chance to practice. Hot chicks in prison are non-existent.”
“True.” I paused then asked, “What was it like?”
“Prison?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“A hellhole.”
“As bad as TV shows make out?”
“Worse. TV shows have censorship. Prison doesn’t.” Jeremy gulped down his beer, and my stomach dropped. I shouldn’t have asked him. I had no right. I couldn’t imagine how awful it would have been for him.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.” I gave him an apologetic smile.
“No worries. I just don’t talk about it much. I was the one who mentioned it, so you don’t have to be sorry. Really know how to kill the mood, don’t I?”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and a sip of wine. “Enough with the heavy talk. Let’s lighten the mood.”
“By playing doctor?”
I shook my head and threw a cushion at him. “Mind out of the gutter.”
“It was worth a try.”
“How’s work?”
“Mmm, small talk. Riveting company I’m in,” he joked.
“The door is right there. You can leave.”
“You want me to go?”
Did I want him to go? In all honesty, no. I was worried Chace was still hanging around outside, and I enjoyed having someone to talk to other than my brother and Bailey, since Harper was still away for a few more days.
“No,” I said as my stomach grumbled, “but if you’re staying, how about dinner?”
“I could eat.” Jeremy nodded. “What if we order some takeout, and I duck home for a shower and come back?”
“Pizza?” I suggested.
“Looks who’s flirting now. Pizza is the way to my heart, babe. Better watch yourself.” Jeremy smiled and stood to throw away his empty beer bottle. “I’ll be back.”
He paused at the door. “Lock this door as soon as I leave. Okay?” He tapped his hand against the back of the door and nodded once.
I did as I was told and bolted the lock once he’d closed it behind him. Then I called for pizza.
I had a smile on my face the entire time.
Jeremy
I didn’t think I’d ever showered so fast. I rushed back to my apartment and jumped in the shower before the water even had a chance to heat up. My heart was beating in my chest, hard and fast. It was a strange feeling, something I’d never felt before, and I wasn’t sure what it meant. All I knew was I enjoyed Kenzie’s company, and her ass was pretty sweet to look at too. Harper was going to kill me.
Deciding to go outside for once to have a cigarette, I made my way downstairs. It was more in search of Chace than to actually have a smoke because I didn’t trust the guy to have left yet. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked out the front door of the building to find no one lurking in the shadows. I leaned against the wall and inhaled the tobacco, calming my suddenly jittery nerves. The pizza delivery guy showed up as I was finishing my cigarette, so I stopped him.
“Apartment Two-B?” I asked the guy as he walked up the steps.
“Yeah, man.”
“Great.” I handed him some cash, grabbed the boxes from him, and headed back upstairs to Kenzie’s apartment.
She answered the door the instant I knocked, with a bright smile on her face. “Hey!”
I frowned and closed the door behind me. Could she be any more careless? We’d just had an entire conversation about her feeling unsafe with Chace hanging around, and she just went and opened the door without checking who was out there first.
“What?” she asked, her eyebrows pinching together as she took the pizzas from me and shook her ass all the way to the kitchen.
“You opened the door.” I followed.
“You’d rather I�
��d left you outside?” She raised an eyebrow before turning her back on me and opening the fridge to pull out another beer. Her wine glass was full and resting on the counter.
“No, but I’d have liked you to check who it was first.” She handed me the beer, and I gripped her wrist, pulling her close. “What if it was Chace at the door, and not me?”
“But it was you. So, no big deal.” She shrugged and pulled out of my grasp. “Now, do you want food or not?”
“Yes, it was me. But what if it wasn’t?” I was pushing her too far, overstepping the neighbourly boundaries, but I’d feel a hell of a lot better if she took extra precautions to make sure she and the kid were safe.
“Well, it’s lucky I have this crazy overprotective neighbour next door who seems hellbent on watching every move I make.” She snatched a pizza box off the counter and shoved it into my chest before collecting her wine and the other box and stalking into the living room.
“I’m concerned about that stupid son of a bitch that won’t take no for an answer. I’m not watching every move you make,” I said, falling into step behind her.
“Liar. You’re totally checking out my ass.” She looked over her shoulder at me and smirked.
Busted.
“Can you blame me? I mean, those pants…”
“Shut up and eat,” she said, falling back into the sofa. I sat beside her, closer than earlier because…well, she smelled incredible, and there was this pull, something tugging me closer to her. It was a foreign feeling. One I wanted to explore more every second I spent with her.
Harper was going to butcher me.
“So, you’re a mechanic, right?” Kenzie asked as we ate our pizza.
I nodded.
“How’d you get into that?”
“Not too many places are keen to offer a twenty-six-year-old guy who spent the better part of his teenage years and most of his adult life behind bars.”
Kenzie winced. “Sorry. I did it again, didn’t I?”
“Nah, it’s okay.” I reassured her that talking about prison wasn’t a bad thing. I just didn’t like to go into detail about it, because then it would rehash memories I’d rather forget. “I don’t mind the work. When there’s enough to keep busy, that is. I just wished it was closer to town, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“Ever thought about setting up your own garage?”
“No…Actually, that’s not true. I’d love my own garage, but…” I frowned. “It would cost a fortune for all the gear, and no bank is ever going to loan me money. Plus, I’d need to find a suitable place to set up. It just wouldn’t work for me.”
“You should speak to Ryder,” she said, discarding her pizza and turning to face me on the sofa.
“Your brother? Why?” Without even realising I was doing it, I mimicked her actions and placed my pizza box on the coffee table and turned in my seat to look at her.
“He’s got a good head for business. He studied business management at uni, and he took over the running of the bookstore in town. He might have a few ideas, or at least be able to help with a business proposal, if you were serious about it.”
I smiled. She was a genius. I barely gave it a thought when I reached across the sofa and grabbed her face between my palms and kissed her. I froze, and Kenzie didn’t push me away. Her lips pressed against mine, soft and warm, and began to move. Her hands grazed my ribs and gripped my shirt, pulling me closer, yet keeping me away.
I tilted her head, my fingers finding their way into the mass of blonde curls I’d been aching to grab. And the sigh that escaped Kenzie’s lips just about sent me into overdrive. I wanted to let her go, put distance between us, and at the same time, I wanted to pull her onto my lap, kiss her neck, and taste her skin. I was torn. Her lips parted slightly. Her fingers released their grip on my shirt and splayed across my abs. My tongue brushed against hers. Once. Twice. Three times. And then I forced myself to release her.
“Not bad, Casanova, but you’re still not getting me out of these pants.” She smiled and pressed her fingers to her lips.
I barked out a laugh. “Not bad?”
“Yeah. I’d give you six out of ten.”
“Six?”
“You could do better, surely.”
I stared at her, a blank expression on my face.
“What?” She laughed.
“Eight years in a men’s prison. I’m a little out of practice.”
“You’ve been out a year,” she stated, like I should have been up to my eyeballs in one-night stands.
“And?”
Living with guys who were locked away for life on various charges of sexual assault and who had no problems detailing their crimes right down to the finest point kind of turned you off…everything, in every way possible. I’d barely even glanced at a chick since I got out, let alone anything else. Until Kenzie.
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “So, what was the kiss all about?”
“Do you wish I hadn’t kissed you?”
“No, of course not.”
I smiled. “Good. I just got carried away. You were talking about your brother.”
“My brother?” Her mouth dropped open, and she raised both eyebrows in surprise. “You kissed me because I mentioned my brother?” A look of understanding crossed her features.
“What? No.”
“Look, it’s fine, really. You spent eight years living with men. I get that things could happen and—”
“No! You mentioned your brother could help me out with a business proposal if I was serious about starting my own garage. It gave me an idea. I got swept away in the moment and kissed you.”
“You don’t have to make excuses or try to explain yourself to me. I don’t care. I’m the least judgement—”
Ah, hell.
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto my lap, tangling my fingers in her hair, and she gasped in surprise. I kissed her again. “Please stop talking about men,” I mumbled against her lips. Her chest pressed against mine, her hands around my neck, she moulded her lips to mine. Her tongue met mine, slowly, languidly exploring my mouth, as my hands ran over her shoulders and down her back. If I wasn’t careful, I could lose myself in her too easily.
“And what was that for?” She pulled back, a slight flush to her cheeks, which was either from the kiss or the wine. I was going with the kiss.
“Practice.” I kissed the underside of her jaw. “Wanna be my coach?”
“Mmm.” Kenzie tilted her head, her eyes drifting closed as my teeth skimmed down the side of her neck.
What the hell was I doing? We’d been neighbours for a couple of days. But more importantly, why wasn’t she stopping me?
A knock on the front door snapped us out of our lust-induced haze. Kenzie slid off my lap, straightened her tank top, and attempted to fix the mess in her hair from my fingers. I wasn’t sorry. I liked the dishevelled look on her.
“Stop,” I called as her fingers grasped the door handle.
“What?” She whipped her head around to look at me.
“We talked about this before. Check who it is.”
She rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure I’m safe with you sitting on my sofa.”
“Kenzie.”
“Whatever.” She peered through the peephole and turned back with a frown. “No one is there.” With a shrug, Kenzie crossed the living room and sat back on the sofa beside me.
A heavy feeling settled in my stomach. It wasn’t likely to be kids messing around and knocking on doors. Ding dong ditch kind of lost its appeal when you had to run up or down stairs to hide in an apartment building.
“Not to get you excited or anything, but let’s talk about my brother.” Kenzie pulled her lips between her teeth to stop from smiling.
I groaned. “Your brother does not excite me.”
“I’m not complaining. That kiss was…”
“What?”
“Better than a six.”
“You really know how to make a guy feel goo
d, babe.”
“It’s a gift. Now, back to my brother. What are you thinking?”
“Not about him.”
Kenzie huffed out a breath and blinked slowly.
“Okay, fine.” I explained how Julie and Johnny were tired and wanted a break, and that Ryder knowing his way around both the roadhouse and how to run a business gave me an idea. “I want to set up a garage at the roadhouse. There’s space. I’m pretty sure there used to be one there years ago. I could take over some of the work from Johnny and Julie so they can semi-retire. Harper already works there, so she’d be able to help out a lot.” I wanted to do something for Johnny and Julie after everything they’d done for Harper and for me when I moved here. Nothing could ever repay them, but I could at least try.
“That’s perfect.” Kenzie nodded in agreement. “I know Ryder would do anything for Johnny, so I’m sure he’d help in any way he can. You should definitely speak to him.”
“Get him to give me a call?” I said.
“Sure, what’s your number?” she asked and grabbed her phone from the table, her lips tugging into a frown as I smiled widely at her.
“Seems my pathetic attempts at flirting are working. You want my number. That kiss rocked your world, didn’t it?” I was only half joking. But that kiss was pretty frigging magnificent. So much, I was fighting with myself not to kiss her again. But that would be suicide. I didn’t need to get involved with a woman I had to live next door to.
“Smooth, Casanova. You proud of yourself?”
“Little bit.” I reached over and took the phone from her hands and quickly entered my details before calling myself so I’d have her number as well.
“I’ll get him to call you.”
“You can call me too, you know?”
“We’ll see.” She smirked.
I stood up and stretched my arms above my head. Dropping my gaze to look at Kenzie, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth, I chuckled. “Now who’s staring?”
“What? No.” She trailed her eyes up my body and narrowed them on my face. “You have too high an opinion of yourself.”
