He folded his arms across his perfect chest, watching me, and a slow smile spread across his lips. “For you, not for me,” he said like he could read my mind.
My world brightened just as quickly as it had darkened. “I’ll think about it.” I smiled nonchalantly. I didn’t want to give him an answer right away like I was desperate.
“All the guys will be there. Let me know, okay?”
“I’ll think about it,” I repeated.
His tongue gently stroked his bottom lip, and he eyed the bottle in my hand. “Enjoy your brandy.” Then he turned in the other direction, walking away.
My stomach was a crazy ball of butterflies. What the hell just happened? I walked to the clothing section of the store and wandered around for a while, trying to compose myself. I didn’t want to go to the checkout smiling like I’d won the lottery.
When I’d finally composed myself, I paid for the brandy and walked out of the store in a daze from Jamie O’Shea and his damn gorgeous grin.
Walking into the parking lot, my attention was turned to the road as a shiny black Dodge Ram with its familiar chrome side mirrors growled as it pulled up ahead of me. Through the reflection in the mirror, I could see his familiar face.
“Hey, you wanna ride home?” he shouted in that husky voice of his, arm resting along the open window.
“I’m good, thanks.” I didn’t want Dad to find out, especially if he caught sight of him again.
“C’mon, it’s dark out. I’ll drop you at the corner?”
I hated that he knew my dad would freak out. But it was dark out, and I really loathed walking back home, and since he was being so nice, I thought I’d chance it and take him up on the offer. “Okay, thanks.” I walked around to the passenger side, looking at the shiny bodywork as I did, and I remembered how good his body looked the day he washed it. Pulling the door open, I stepped onto the running board and climbed in, again silently cursing how high these things were. Sitting inside, I surveyed the interior, and as I thought, it was immaculate too, from what I could see in the dark. A small laugh escaped me.
“What?” He looked at me, puzzled as he pulled away from the sidewalk.
“I’ve never seen a truck so clean before.”
“Been in many trucks?”
“You know what I mean.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, I like to take care of it.” He shrugged, stopping at a red light.
I wondered if he took as much care of the girls he dated. I wondered about his girlfriend and what she would think about him giving me a lift home. She certainly wasn’t too happy with me the other week at Musicfest.
“Won’t your girlfriend be upset that you’re giving me a ride?”
He narrowed his eyes and looked confused. “My girlfriend?” After a few seconds, his eyebrows slowly rose when he obviously understood who I meant. “She is not my girlfriend. At all.” He shook his head.
I liked his answer. But who was she then, and why did she react to me touching him? “She seemed pretty angry that I touched you.”
He bit his lip, deep in thought. “She was just some girl who tagged along with us.”
I bet he had plenty of girls who were willing to tag along with him, but I didn’t press him any further; it wasn’t any of my business. Imagine Dragons played out on the sound system, and he tapped his fingers along to the beat as he drove. His familiar scent, which I now recognized from being flush against his body during training, filled the cab of his truck.
He eventually pulled up at the corner of my street like he promised, and I felt disappointed I had to get out. I wanted to stay for a while and talk to him like a normal person, especially while he was in this happy-go-lucky mood, but I knew I couldn’t. “Thanks, Jamie. I’m sorry for yelling at you the other day. My dad’s… crazy.” I wondered how little I had gone down in his estimations from the other day. He hadn’t mentioned anything about it at the club, although he did point out my eye from the aftermath.
“I understand. Don’t worry about it.” He smiled then looked down at the brown paper bag in my hands containing Dad’s liquor. I don’t think he needed to guess who it was for.
I opened the truck door and turned to him. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Can I have your cell number? You know, so I can send you mine and you can let me know if you’re coming,” he explained tentatively, almost like he was unsure of whether I would give it to him. The soft glow of the cab light illuminated the uncertainty on his face.
I had a feeling I was reading more into this than I should, but I was going to give it to him anyway. He dug his phone out of his pocket and stored my number as I read it out to him.
“What’s your last name?”
“Baxter.”
“Don’t want to confuse you with another Lauren.” He grinned devilishly.
I shook my head at him playfully.
“What?” He tried to look shocked that I would insinuate something about him.
I studied him for a few seconds, wondering what on earth caused him to be so chatty and so…normal tonight. He silently watched me back.
“Night, Jamie.” I broke the moment and climbed out of his truck, closing the door.
“Enjoy your brandy,” he mocked through his open window.
He waited until I reached my front door and had opened it before he took off. Closing the door behind me, I thought how ironic it was that Dad didn’t want me anywhere near Jamie, yet he ended up sending me straight out to him.
“How long does it take for someone to walk a block?” he yelled from the front room.
“They were all out. I had to go to the next store,” I lied, taking the bottle to him. He didn’t say anything back as I held the brandy out in front of him. Taking it from me, he held his other hand open for his change. Putting the little money left from his brandy in his hand, I walked out of the room. “Night, Dad.”
As usual, he didn’t reply.
Fresh from the shower, I got my books out to study a bit before school tomorrow. My attention was soon turned to my cell phone, which buzzed on the dresser. Opening the text message, it read, Here’s my number. J.
My stomach somersaulted. I left it a few minutes before typing in a reply. What’s your last name? I didn’t want to make out that I already knew it.
Don’t worry about it. There’s only one of me you’ll ever meet ;)
A stupid smile spread across my face. That, I didn’t doubt.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Getting ready for Jamie’s party, my nerves were all over the place. None of them were at the club earlier, and Jamie failed to tell me the most important part of inviting me to his party: his address. I didn’t want to text him and sound desperate, so I text Cam instead, who gave it to me. Luckily, we’d exchanged numbers a few days ago.
I made an effort putting on my makeup, and I curled my blonde hair into beach waves. I chose to wear my favorite red silk top that had thin straps and teamed it with my blue skinny jeans. Slipping on my sandals, I stared at myself in the mirror, wondering whether I looked okay. Before I could decide, I heard Taylor arrive outside in the cab. Grabbing my purse, I darted downstairs, shouting bye to Dad as I walked out of the front door. I didn’t want him to see me dressed up because I knew he would start.
“Hey.” I smiled as I opened the cab door. Sitting down in the back seat next to Taylor, I buckled myself in and gave the driver Jamie’s address. I wondered what his house would look like.
“Are you excited?” she asked, her tone laced with sarcasm.
“Why would I be excited?” I tried to sound cool and calm, although my stomach was in a frenzy.
She raised her eyebrows suspiciously. “I know you. Look at all the effort you’ve gone to for a get-together with your work friends.” She eyed me from head to toe.
I dropped my jaw at her bluntness. What was with her? I looked down at my outfit. “Are you saying I’m overdressed?” I didn’t want to look like one of those desperate girls he hung around that scream
ed “I’m easy.” I waited anxiously for her reply.
“I’m joking, jeez. Calm down.” She chuckled.
Thanks, Taylor! I was already nervous about going, and the last thing I needed was to feel self-conscious as well. I could tell by the way she was being with me that she knew something was going on. I just hoped she hadn’t figure out the who yet.
Arriving at Jamie’s, we saw his house was a duplex on a quiet street. It looked nice from the outside and had a lovely porch at the front. It seemed like a family house, and I couldn’t imagine a single guy living in it unless he lived with his parents, or maybe shared it with the guys.
We got out of the cab and I could hear the slight bass of music. Nervously, I smoothed down my top as we walked down the path and up the three steps to his porch. There was a cute white wooden bench resting against the side of the house, and it reminded me of a place you would sit wrapped up in a blanket, reading a book, or just watching the world go by.
Taylor wasted no time using the knocker to rap on the door. She didn’t even give me a minute to try to compose myself. My stomach lurched in anticipation. Through the glass panels, I could see a figure walking toward us, but I couldn’t make out who it was. My heart began to pound, and I tried to keep myself calm. It was only a get-together with my work friends, not that big of a deal.
The door opened slightly, and Marc’s head came poking through the gap before he opened it wider. “Hey, sweet cheeks,” he greeted and enveloped me into a big hug.
“Hi, Marc.” I gave him a quick squeeze back.
I introduced Taylor to Marc, and a small blush colored her cheeks as she shook his hand. I looked at her, amused. It was so unlike her. Marc was also looking at her kinda weird, all big blue eyes and a stunned look on his face before it turned into his endearing smile. They smiled sweetly at one another for a few seconds too long, and it was almost awkward. I felt like I was intruding on some kind of moment.
Alarm bells started to ring, and I remembered my plan to keep her away from work, even though I’d already failed with Cam and Jamie. Pushing the bag of beers we’d brought into Marc’s stomach, he came back down to earth, clutching them to him so they didn’t fall. Then he backed away from the door, allowing us to enter, all the while his eyes never leaving Taylor’s.
As we walked in, I sternly mouthed, No! to her.
“What?” she said quietly, shrugging her shoulders.
I knew that look too damn well. I didn’t bother telling her he worked at the club too.
The house was nicely decorated and very warm and neutral in color. Oak wooden floors and cream walls were a common theme, with an oatmeal-colored carpet that ran up the stairs in front of us. Marc led us into a large room to the right, where we spotted Cam chatting loudly above the music with a group of people.
“Don’t know where Jay is.” Marc looked around the room for him. “Let’s get you a drink.” He gave us a toothy smile, showcasing his cute dimples.
A drink sounded like a great idea. Maybe even a shot of something? Anything to settle my nerves. Where was he? We followed Marc through to the kitchen area, where he went straight to the huge double refrigerator and stocked our beers in the already-bursting-at-the-seams fridge.
He opened two already chilled Coronas, popped a slice of lime in, and handed them to us. Immediately, we took a sip, and the tangy lime together with the beer was a welcoming refreshment to my very dry mouth.
“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming. Thought you were going to text me?”
My body stiffened, instantly reacting to Jamie’s familiar voice. I quickly swallowed the beer down, narrowly avoiding coughing and spluttering, and turned to see him in the doorway. His plain red T-shirt seemed to really emphasize his brown eyes that were staring at me quite sharply. Was he mad at me?
“And now you’re in my kitchen, drinking my beer?” He looked down to the bottle I was cradling in my hands.
From his straight-faced expression, I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, and I felt Taylor nudge me. I laughed nervously at him. “It was last minute,” I lied, shrugging. “And Marc’s to blame for your beer.”
Marc looked at me in mock surprise that I’d just ratted him out, but Jamie wasn’t bothered by Marc. His eyes were still firmly fixed on me. I hoped he wasn’t going to ask us to leave. I took another sip of my… well, Jamie’s beer, and thought I better offer it to him, seeing as though they were obviously his and he seemed pretty protective over them. “Here.” I held it out for him to take. Thinking he would decline the offer, to my surprise, he walked over and took it from me, and then took a long swig in front of us.
He licked his lips seductively and leaned into me. “Tastes even better, now that you’ve had your mouth around it.”
I felt my cheeks heat and I stared at him, mortified, before that damn sexy grin spread across his face, obviously pleased with himself at my reaction. I quickly turned away from him toward the fridge to get one of my own beers. I glanced at Taylor, who stood there open-mouthed in shock, which for her said a lot. She was Miss Brazen.
Marc chuckled and playfully slapped him on the back as they walked off out of the kitchen, continuing with their banter.
Taylor turned to me, eyes still wide. “No way did he just say that to you,” she whispered.
“He’s probably just trying to embarrass me because I didn’t tell him I was coming.” I shook my head, not fully understanding his need to be that way with me. He could have just been annoyed, but to be kind of suggestive and pissed off at the same time was a bit of an odd combination.
We both stood in the kitchen, not quite knowing what to do or where we should stand. I didn’t want to go anywhere near Jamie at the moment, that was for sure.
“What do you want to do?” Taylor asked.
I knew we couldn’t just stand in the kitchen the entire time, and I still wanted to avoid Jamie while he was in that type of mood. His little ‘get-together’ was, in fact, little. For some reason, I was expecting a lot of people, but it really was just a small gathering for his friends. Considering I only knew the guys, I still didn’t really understand why he had invited us, unless it was to balance the gender group. There were a lot more males here than females, it appeared.
“Let’s go see Cam,” I suggested. We walked into the large sitting room, which again was very neutral in color. Standing in front of the large windows was a huge smart TV with massive surround sound speakers on either side of it. Two biscuit-colored fabric sofas were angled toward it, and the TV was the sole focus point of the room. A cream rug lay centered on the floor. On the wall behind one of the couches hung a black and white picture of Mohammed Ali. I smiled at the fighting reference.
Along the main wall was a tall fireplace decorated with unlit candles and some pictures in frames. One side of the fireplace encased a large bookshelf, and the other, a long sideboard with a sound system sat on the top, which was providing tonight’s music. The small crowd in the room was sitting on the couches, some of them perched on the arms of them, and others stood. I spotted Cam, who was talking with Leon and two other guys next to the TV that was silently playing a music channel. Jamie was sitting just behind the door where we walked in, one ankle propped onto his knee, talking to two guys and a girl. The girl was laughing at whatever he was saying and played with her hair flirtatiously.
“Hey, you.” Cam pulled me into a one-armed hug, an approach they all tended to adopt when greeting me socially. Except Jamie, of course. Leon smiled warmly at us both.
“How are you?” Cam asked.
“I’m good, thank you.” I nodded and looked nervously at the two other guys he was with. I hated meeting new people.
“This is Jase and Aaron,” he introduced us both to them. In return, they looked us up and down and seemed to like what they saw. They didn’t bother to hide it.
Taylor and I greeted them. Her greeting was confident, whereas mine was… feeble. Well, they had just blatantly given us the once-over. Cam suddenly hit
Jase on the chest like he’d forgotten to tell him something, and they resumed their conversation about some party they went to. I felt awkward standing there because neither Taylor nor I had anything to add to it. I looked over at her and realized I’d never seen her so quiet before, and that was saying something. She was just silently sipping on her beer, eyes darting around the room. I finished my drink and asked her if she wanted another one.
“Yep,” she said without hesitation and took off toward the door.
Following behind her, I glanced at Jamie as I passed him. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge us; instead, he kept his attention on the guy he was talking to. I didn’t expect him to make a fuss over us or anything, but I wasn’t expecting him to act like we weren’t even there. He was the one who had invited us, after all. So far, his only acknowledgment was him getting mad because I didn’t tell him we were coming to the party, and because we had each drunk a bottle of his beer. Again, I didn’t understand his switch in personality. He was happy and flirty at the store the other day, and now he was being crude and ignorant. I didn’t like it, and I was starting to feel irritated. “Is it me, or do you feel awkward here?” I snapped, as we got into the kitchen.
“Yeah, I feel awkward all right,” she agreed.
The sound of the doorbell caught our attention, and I wondered who it might be. We poked our head around the kitchen door curiously to see who it was. Jamie walked to answer it, scratching the back of his head. When he opened the door, a girl came walking in wearing a slutty skirt and a crop-top that would fit a preschooler. It was barely covering her chest. She gave him a doe-eyed look and a quick kiss on the cheek. He seemed to flinch in response to her quick movement. I couldn’t help but turn to Taylor and screw my face up in distaste, and she mirrored my expression, mouthing, Ew. The sound of the door closing a little too harshly made us turn back to Jamie, and he was looking directly at me, eyebrows raised questioningly. Judging by the expression he was giving me, he knew my thoughts on his new houseguest. I turned my back on him and grabbed more beers from the fridge. I unintentionally slammed the fridge door as I closed it; the girl’s presence had further ignited my irritation.
Reckless Retribution (West Warriors Book 1) Page 8
