Jack’s gaze slammed into hers and she quickly lowered her eyes, back to his hand. Droplets of blood formed up from the mangled skin and dripped onto the hand she held beneath. She was so distracted by the red blood, that she forgot how dangerous Jack could be. Instead she focused on not passing out herself.
“Nothing some water and a bandage won’t take care of.”
“You’re going to need more than a bandage for that! More like five. I’m sorry,” she said again. “You scared the hell out of me and I-”
“Decided to teach me a lesson?”
Her eyes swept back up to his face. He was grinning down at her, looking, far too charming. Yes, men like Jack Stevens were dangerous indeed. She dropped his hand like it was a viper ready to strike. Unless he’d already bit her. That would explain the numbness tingling up her arm.
“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I wanted to tell you how great your idea was. The entire team hasn’t been this energized, in- well- I can’t remember how long. I’ve decided to run the brochures and the posters with your design, but we’re also going to do a commercial, just something for the local channels. You should come up with a skit we can act out.”
“We?” She choked.
“Not us, us. Everyone in the department.” He winked at her, which was entirely disarming and he probably bloody well knew it. “Maybe we’ll borrow a few people from accounting too. They look like they could up and die from boredom at any given time. I wonder if they’ve taken out policies with us. Maybe we should pay them a visit.”
Flustered, Tia turned her gaze down. She remembered, with a start, that Jack’s hand needed attention. It was currently leaking droplets of blood onto the dark carpet below.
“You seriously need to get that taken care of. Are you going to file a report? I mean, as a workplace accident?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “In my life, I’ve had far worse than this.” A shadow, so fleeting that she doubted she’d even seen it, crossed his face.
“At work?” she asked stupidly.
“No.” He seemed to reconsider. “Well, you could say that. I’ve had other jobs that weren’t quite so- white collar as this.”
She couldn’t imagine Jack doing anything that wasn’t in a suit and tie. He looked too damn good in those clothes. The dirty thoughts were closing in. She knew any profession Jack worked at, he was going to be as sexy as hell. No, she couldn’t go there. She wasn’t even going to imagine him in greasy coveralls as a mechanic or shirtless and sweaty working in construction or- goddamn it!
To try and take her mind off of what it was already dwelling on, which was Jack, shirtless, bronzed, sweaty and ready… she tried to think of him clothed. She came up with a new image entirely. A simple t-shirt, black, of course, since it seemed to suit him best. All his suits were black, even his ties. It was like he feared color or something. She imagined him with a leather jacket thrown over that t-shirt, old and faded and soft as butter. A pair of faded jeans that hugged his delicious ass- what the fuck. I can’t even keep my own thoughts from going straight to the gutter anymore? What the hell is wrong with me?
“Right.” That word sounded wrong. Mostly because her voice sounded thin and raspy. “Well- uh- your hand… do you want me to find a first aid kit? You shouldn’t bandage it on your own.”
“You don’t think I’m capable.”
“No- I, I just meant that I- it might be hard to put them on with just one hand.” Tia clamped her lips shut. She felt utterly ridiculous. Could it get any worse?
“Alright. There’s a first aid kit in the kitchen. Above the microwave.”
She stared at him open mouthed. Yes. Yes, it could get a whole hell of a lot worse. She hadn’t expected him to actually agree. She just felt horrible about what happened and was just trying to be nice. Or was I? Do I actually want to touch him? Even just his hand? The answer was, resoundingly clear, a yes.
She turned and hurried off towards the kitchen, Jack’s loud footsteps echoing behind her. Each one was as loud as her heart, slamming against her ribs, as her pulse, jumping out of her neck, as the blood zinging through her ears.
Tia threw open the cabinet, nearly nailing Jack in the face. She gasped. How did he sneak up right behind her?
“That was close.”
So was his breath. Far too close. It was warm and fragrant and tickled the nape of her neck right above the collar of her dress.
“I- sorry,” she said for the hundredth time. She reached into the cupboard and took down the small white plastic box. She opened the lid and found it woefully under stocked. “It looks like a few people were already here.”
“Makes sense. I’ll put an order in with accounting as soon as we’re done here.”
Tia produced a few plastic bandages. They looked skinny and shitty, like they wouldn’t actually be much good. “I don’t know, should I disinfect this first? That filing cabinet was metal. Isn’t metal supposed to contain all sorts of bad things? What if your jaw starts locking up?”
“I had a tetanus shot a few years back. I think I’ll survive.” Jack actually laughed.
The sound did something to her. As in… in the panties. She exhaled a breath that was half disgust at her reaction and half to try and regain her equilibrium. She was horrified to find that when she clenched her legs together to stop the ache between them, she was soaking wet.
Too bad they don’t make a first aid kit for that. Or for my damn mind either. Or hormones. She wanted to find whatever part of her was responsible for the attraction to a man like Jack Stevens and rip it out. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a cure for being far too damn handsome. And talented. With his tongue. Holy Hannah. Stop it already! His fingers were a close second.
Tia literally shook herself. She would have done it harder had Jack not been standing right there. He held out his hand and she nearly gagged at the mangled skin. She didn’t have a strong stomach, certainly not when it came to blood.
“I never could have been a doctor,” she said under her breath as she applied the first bandage. It didn’t stick well and she had to press harder than she thought she was supposed to. The heat of her fingers met the heat of Jack’s palm and her stomach hollowed out.
“You’re doing a good job so far.”
He watched, amused, as she set the other two bandages on. After that was done, she looked in dismay at her work. There was still mangled, raw flesh exposed and blood welled up around the edges of the bandages.
“Hold on.” She grabbed a roll of white gauze. “I’ll wrap this around everything. I probably should have done it in the first place.”
Jack shrugged casually. Even that did something to her insides. Tia realized how fucking pathetic she was. She wondered, had Friday night not happened, if she’d still be attracted to him? Of course she would, on a physical level. On any other level, she would have kept her distance. She didn’t like guys like him. Guys like him couldn’t keep their dick in their pants long enough to actually have a meaningful connection. Although… Friday night felt pretty meaningful.
She cursed herself as she wounded the bandage around his hand, starting at the top and ending near his wrist. She reached for the small pair of scissors in the kit and worked their dull edges against the gauze until she had a strip torn off. She tucked it in against the tightly woven wrapping. Her hands still burned at the contact, even when she turned and started stuffing everything back into the first aid kit. Guys like Jack Stevens were not to be trusted. They were homewreckers and heart-breakers and cheaters and everything else she despised.
Why then, as she tucked the first aid kit back into the cabinet, did thoughts about his dick, the dick she unfortunately hadn’t got to see or experience, plague her? She wondered what it would feel like, seated inside of her. If he’d be as talented with it as he was with his hands and mouth? Fuck. No, no, not fuck. Not fuck at all. I’d stay celibate for the rest of my damn life if I could stop thinking about him. It seemed like a good trade off, considering that she felt like she was
going insane.
She turned to find Jack holding up his hand. His brow was cocked at such an angle, that she thought that he knew exactly what she was thinking about. Which was damn well just about the most mortifying realization of her entire life.
“Thanks.”
“Uh- thanks?”
“For the surgery. I think I’ll make it.”
She forced a watery smile and tried to pretend that she was capable of an ounce of composure. “Watch that it doesn’t turn green. I might not be a doctor, but I know that’s a bad sign.”
“I’ll watch. I don’t think it will require amputation.”
“That’s good. It would be a shame to lose those fingers.” Too late, she realized what she’d blurted out. Instead of letting herself go beet red and turning into a puddle of embarrassed mush, she flashed a cocky smirk she didn’t know she was capable of and walked right past Jack out of the kitchen.
Chapter 11
JACK
Jack was drowning in paperwork that he had no desire to do on a good day, when his office door slammed open. He had to blink twice when the handle nearly exploded through the drywall on the other side.
Two leather clad figures entered, their shit kickers scraping over the carpet, leaving dirty trails in their wake.
Heart in his throat, Jack jumped up from behind the desk. Robber and Rock shuffled in like they owned the place. Dressed in the same leather cuts, black jeans, and dirty boots, as the day before, they were a disgusting parody of what he’d seen in the alley.
“Nice place you got here.” Robber made a production of glancing around while Rock, thankfully, slammed the door shut behind him as he entered.
“Real nice place,” the bastard echoed.
Robber had yet another dip packed into his lip and Jack expected at any time that the bastard would let out a stream of dark spittle across the carpet. Thankfully, he didn’t.
Instead, the two thugs lumbered over to stand in front of Jack’s desk.
“Talked to our Prez,” Robber ground out. “He liked the idea of you joining. We could always use more good men. Half the bastards in the club are pieces of shit that can’t follow directions to save their fuckin’ lives.”
“Never even got their prick wet. Half these fuckin’ kids show up never even havin’ killed a man,” Rock grumbled, as though that was a requirement to join. Sometimes it was.
“He wants to meet you. Tomorrow night,” Robber finished. He slurped back on his saliva, but instead of spitting it out, he swallowed it.
Jack shuddered. Nausea twisted his belly and acrid bile crawled up his throat. He edged closer to his desk, to where the only weapon he had sat right on top. A letter opener, but he was willing to bet that some serious shit had gone down over the course of history. The object was sharp and deadly and the thought of it sticking out of Robber’s eye or out of Rock’s throat nearly made him grin. Except the shit the bastards were pulling was not fucking funny. They were probably packing, okay, no doubt they were armed, and they were in his place of work. Innocent people worked there, people who had probably never even told so much as a lie in their life.
He immediately thought of Tia, but he pushed the image of her face out of his mind. He didn’t want Robber or Rock to read any kind of emotion on his face. He was good at keeping a mask on and if that’s what they needed to see, then that’s what he’d give him.
“Doesn’t like takin’ no for an answer,” Robber went on, when Jack didn’t immediately respond.
“Well, my answer is still no. It was always no and always will be. Thing is, I’m fucking fine doing this life. I don’t want to join your little circus club. I’m done dealing and smuggling arms and living that life. I got out when I could. It should be fucking obvious, seeing as if I wanted to join your tea party, I would have come with my own fucking teapot.”
“Teapot?” Rock asked stupidly. “What’s a fuckin’ teapot got to do with it?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Robber ground out. He took a menacing step forward, but Jack didn’t shrink back.
“Guys like you don’t like public attention. It’s bad for business. I think your Prez would agree.” You want to rough me up? Put a gun to my head? Force me out of here with it shoved into my mouth? You go right ahead. I guarantee the cops will be here before you even reach the front door. You want that kind of attention for your club? All of a sudden you get arrested and some shit gets traced back to you, some guys who went missing back in the day, some drug deals you slipped up on, some guns that went missing, one of the underage girls you fucked or some poor bastard you beat up and left for dead, only he didn’t up and fucking die on you like you thought he would? Right. I’m sure you both have a record and getting nailed for coming in here like a bunch of dumb thugs isn’t the kind of press your Prez had in mind. Am I right?”
Rock nearly pulled out his gun, bur Robber stopped him with a scathing look.
Robber leaned into close to the desk and this time, he let a string of dirty spittle fly all over the paperwork that crowded the surface.
“You’re the one who is going to feel us, Jackie. We’ll be back. Next time, we ain’t taking no for an answer.”
“Don’t bother wasting your time,” Jack hissed. “I’m not joining your club. Never will. Go find another more wiling recruit. I’m sure there are a fuck ton of able bodied men who want to make some quick cash and who can handle a weapon. I’m old. Washed up. I’m slowing down. I like retirement. I’m not getting back into the life.”
“You’re younger than I fuckin’ am,” Rock protested angrily. He looked honestly butt-hurt about Jack’s refusal.
Robber snarled, all those rotted teeth on full display. “We’re coming back for you, Jackie. ‘Til next time, sweet fuckin’ dreams.”
Rock glanced at Jack, then back at Robber, like he couldn’t really believe they were leaving just like that. Robber nodded, some universal head bob, the brain to the brainless one, that they were getting the hell out of there.
They made a fast exit after that, but it wasn’t until the door slammed that Jack breathed out a sigh of relief. He sure as hell didn’t sink back behind his desk. He wasn’t going to take a chance on those bastards still being in the building.
He marched straight up to security to make sure they were out of the building. They should never have been able to get past the lobby in the first place. Heads were going to roll and he didn’t plan on one of them being his.
Chapter 12
JACK
Good lord, he was in purgatory. Which was funny. When he died, he always figured if there was anywhere he was going to go, if anything did indeed exist, he’d end up in hell or some version of it. As it was, he felt trapped in some middle ground. The workplace changed from something he was good at, something he excelled at, shockingly enough, a place where what he said went, to being a place he felt almost… helpless in. If not helpless, he didn’t know what. Just- all too aware. Maybe that was the right word. Aware that wherever he went, Tia was there. Aware that he couldn’t escape her. Aware that two whole fucking weeks after the fact, his balls were so blue they might be the thing that needed to be amputated, forget his hand, which had healed up fine.
He was also well fucking aware that he had a black cloud in the form of Tweedle Dumb Ass and Tweedle Dick Head looming over him. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he had to get his head in the game and worry about work.
With their advertising campaign in full swing, at least on their end, Jack found himself putting in long hours at work. He stayed late every single night and came in on the weekends. He spent the rest of the time at the gym. Unfortunately, nothing worked. He couldn’t work away or work out his frustration.
He’d actually thought about firing Tia, but he didn’t have that authority. Even if he did, she was a good member of the team. She was smart, worked her beautiful ass off, and had great ideas. She was kind and compassionate and put others first. She was an excellent team member and she worked even better alone. Given that
there was a union, she would be protected, in any event, even if she was lazy and sucked at her job.
As usual, Jack worked late. It was past seven when he stumbled, bleary eyed, out of his office. He was more than ready to get something to eat and hit the gym. If he fell exhausted into bed, then he often made it through the night with a dreamless sleep. Which was a mercy he probably didn’t deserve. He knew he couldn’t take being haunted during the day and during the night.
He was about to lock up his office when a noise froze him. It sounded like the photocopier going off, which could mean only one thing- someone else was still there.
Instead of calling out, which would make him look like an idiot, he walked towards the source of the noise.
There was a main area just off from the kitchen, where the tech and machinery was located. It couldn’t be anyone else. Fuck, it just couldn’t be. It had to be her.
“I thought everyone was gone.”
Tia turned so fast at the sound of his voice that he nearly laughed. The horror on her face was almost comical. Almost. Those parted lips and wide eyes tortured him far too much to be entirely funny. His cock squeezed in his pants, reminding him that somewhere between the Christmas party and the present, he’d become what he always despised. A hopeless case, moaning after one woman. A co-worker, no less. The faint blush that rose to her cheeks did him in completely. He knew then, without a doubt, that he was a complete lost cause.
“No. I’m still here. I thought I said that overtime had to be approved by myself.”
That blush deepened. “I- I wasn’t going to put in any hours. I just know how hard everyone’s been working and I’m almost done with the poster design. I wanted to stay until I was finished. I didn’t want to lose my inspiration over the weekend.” Tia looked so pretty it actually hurt to breathe.
She took a poster off the photocopier and held it up for his inspection, as if to prove that she really had been working on it and not just lying in wait, until everyone was gone, to ambush him. He stared at the sheet of paper. The design was good. Really good. The fact was, Tia was pretty damn talented. It made him feel like a real fucking creep that he’d actually considered trying to make her lose her job just so that his balls would finally return to their right damn color.
Lonely Rider - The Box Set: A Motorcycle Club Romance - The Complete Series Page 18
