Aaron was no idiot. He dealt with skinheads and thugs on a regular basis. When he’d taken over Rico’s gym, he’d cleaned house in more ways than one. The gym was less than half an hour from the border, and the cartels were an ever-present force and a huge part of the culture. If it wasn’t them, it was biker gangs. Aaron snorted at his thoughts. He was just as bad, only he realized that long ago and got out while he still could. Any of them, or someone else entirely, could easily be behind whatever the hell was going on now, and no matter what, Aaron had a feeling this was going to get ugly. Apart from Mike there wasn’t a single person he could trust to help. He was alone, and he’d be doing one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his life—keep Lainey safe and keep his damn hands off her.
Leaving his apartment, Aaron trudged to the gym, the energy to run today gone. Memories welled up inside him with every step, triggering waves of intense emotions along with them. Lainey was Anna all over again, with a sweet smile and innocent face. She was in trouble and he was completely overwhelmed. Walking inside, he all but collapsed at a back table in the juice bar, closing his eyes and begging any God that would listen to make it stop, to change the way things were so he didn’t have to do this himself. He was too weak, damn it, every time he looked in her eyes.
And then there was Josh. Even the man’s voice felt like fire brushing up against his skin. He wasn’t what Lainey needed, a blind man could tell that. Aaron pushed his head up and punched his fist against the table, just to feel something other than the pain of his memories, pain that only reminded him how worthless he really was. He’d fucked up with Anna, and he had no idea what to do here. Lainey’s life depended on him learning how to be her protector, on figuring out who was threatening her, and he couldn’t even stand up and get out of the fucking chair without wanting to scream.
Fuck that. If he didn’t get his shit together, then Lainey was going to die. He wasn’t the man she needed, either, would never be, but the pain—that was something he knew how to deal with. Locking everything down in his mind, all the memories, everything except what he needed to do, Aaron stood abruptly and walked into his office. Thank God it was still early enough for him to be the only one in. Inside his office, he opened an old beat-up cabinet, throwing aside wrinkled clothing and sports equipment until he revealed a tiny notch, just small enough to stick your finger in, cut so it was almost invisible unless you bent down. You didn’t live the way he’d done all his life and not know how to protect yourself. That, at least, he had covered. The false panel in the back of the cabinet slid aside to reveal his stash. He grabbed his favorite semiautomatic and shoved it in the back of his jeans. At least if trouble came knocking today, he could answer.
Hearing a clatter echo from back in the juice bar, he turned and sprinted back. Lainey was there, just in time for him to rush in with wild eyes. She looked up at him and jumped, like he was the madman waiting to kill her.
Smooth, Man. Just in case she didn’t already think you were a complete nut job after yesterday.
“Hey,” he sighed, forcing himself to sit down at the bar and at least look relaxed.
“Hey yourself.” She rushed in back and began doing prep while he sat in the empty front of the house. Where had her smile gone? She’d been a little edgy around him lately, but he hadn’t thought that she’d lost her happiness, period. That bothered him.
Maybe there was something going on in her life that he wasn’t aware of? That was another possibility. Aaron dismissed it as quickly as the thought came when Lainey appeared again, humming softly and her hair twisted back gently, secured with a flower tucked into the tie. No, as much as it killed him, she was just pissed at him. She was alright with the world. That he could live with.
A customer walked in and Aaron forced himself not to turn around and stare. If he started acting even weirder than usual, Lainey might start avoiding him entirely. The customer was a young woman with short blond hair. She held her head low and had terrible circles under her eyes. When Lainey walked over, she gave her a sympathetic look. “Can I help you?” Her voice was pure sugar.
“I don’t know,” the woman sighed. “I’ve never been here before. Is there anything good?” Her voice was low, quiet.
“We’ve got a pineapple orange smoothie that I think you’ll really like. It’s perfect for waking you up, getting you going.” Aaron smiled. Lainey had a sixth sense for what people needed, even with him.
“Sounds good.”
Lainey turned around to prep the drink and didn’t even flinch when a group of six people walked in together. She could always handle the pressure, she always had. In many ways, she was stronger than Aaron. The pressure got to him every single day. Lainey was so graceful, even with such a mundane task of mixing drinks. She never had to measure. She did it instinctively, and the drinks always came out perfect.
Lainey handed the drink to her and moved on to the next group. The woman smiled when she took a sip. Lainey had that way about her. She could make people feel better just by being around them, something Aaron could never do. He was so bogged down in his own world that lately he had to fight every day to just stay afloat.
She could teach him something.
Every so often, Lainey glanced back at him with a strange look in her eyes, and he realized he was staring a little too long. But he didn’t stop, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. If it took until his last day on earth, he was staying right here, by her side. Protecting her.
11
Lainey
Lainey glanced around the juice bar and over to the stool where Aaron had planted himself for the past three days in a row. It was empty right now; for once this week she’d arrived first. What was going on with him? Aaron’s schedule was usually sporadic; he had both the gym and the juice bar to oversee. He usually left the latter completely to her, but Lainey didn’t mind. She didn’t need the help, and it gave her the creative freedom to do just about whatever she wanted with the business. It had become her space. He could have the gym.
The morning went along pretty easily, with fewer customers than she was used to, so it gave her a chance to get things cleaned and freshen everything up a bit. She’d even had time to stop at the market that morning and pick up a few bunches of flowers. Wildflowers were her favorite, but she hadn’t been able to go past one stand promising ice-cream scented blooms. Who knew there were plants that smelled like chocolate? She broke up the bunches and placed bud vases on each table and around the room. The scent of vanilla wafted toward her from the clematis, a white flower that turned deep purple and smelled exactly like premium vanilla ice cream. If that didn’t have her customers begging for her new vanilla fruit smoothie, nothing would. After Aaron had gone on his cleaning spree, the place had smelled like artificial cleaner, and Lainey hated it. She appreciated his efforts to help out, but the place needed ambiance, not sterility, and the flowers would help a lot.
With her slow morning, by the time the last breakfast customer left, she’d already finished cleaning and prep for the next wave and so she pulled the latest romance novel that was keeping her up at night out of her bag and grabbed a stool. If the scene she’d read before her eyes finally closed last night had been any indication, the next ten minutes were going to be very well spent. Immersed in her book, Lainey jumped when she heard the door slap shut behind her. Aaron. He was covered in sadness and regret, his eyes trained right on hers. Her skin broke out in goose bumps and she slammed the book closed.
“Hey,” he walked up to the bar and took his usual spot.
“Hey yourself.” Lainey still wasn’t sure what to make of his now almost constant presence and so she ducked out the back and grabbed a bin of strawberries, taking a few minutes longer than necessary to rearrange the stock. She’d been doing that a lot lately, and the place was almost even more organized than Aaron’s standards, but she still lingered. It was difficult to be around him at the moment, his colors shouting pain at her. There was definitely something wrong with him, and it wo
rried her more each day. Usually when she saw someone like that, they were falling headlong into something bad—very bad. That it was Aaron had shaken her more than she’d like to admit. He’d had bouts of moodiness before, maybe even depression, but he’d always managed a smile for her. This was something more, only he wasn’t sharing.
As she chopped the strawberries, Lainey was surprised to feel wetness slide down her cheek and she quickly reached up to wipe the tear away before anyone saw it. This place was her home, Aaron was her friend—one of her best friends—and now something was changing all that and she couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Aaron was strong, a fighter, and normally she’d never peg him as someone who would just give up. She glanced back over at him, and the look of his aura nearly crushed her. The heartbreaking inevitability of the situation was too much for her to handle, and she fled back into the storage room. She closed the door so Aaron wouldn’t follow and slid down the wall, unable to take another step. She closed her eyes and imagined nothing but white, flooding out the darkness. The brightness in her mind made her think of Josh. He’d made her smile and given her chills all at once on their first date. She was still unsure about him, but at least she didn’t feel crushed when standing across the room from him.
Lainey swiped her fingers across her cheeks, wiping anyway any lingering tears, and pulled herself to her feet. People were bound to arrive for the lunch rush soon, and she couldn’t hide out in here forever. She needed to be able to walk out to the front of store with a smile. That much was easy. It was what she did, but this time she had a feeling Aaron would know if it wasn’t genuine. If her moods darkened his aura any more, she’d be furious with herself. Did he realize just how much she cared for him? There’d never been any romance between them. The man was hot, but he’d had years and never made a move, but the colors swirling the other day? Now all of a sudden everything was just . . . different. She was seeing him more in a day than she normally would in a week, and yet he’d never felt further away. Everything Lainey thought she knew about Aaron was changing, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. Then there was Josh. What the hell—she should open herself to lust, love, whatever came. When she’d told Josh on their date that she didn’t have any plans outside the juice bar, it was true. She was happy there and that was enough. But now, Lainey could almost feel the world shifting around her. Maybe it was her time to move too, maybe even move on? The whole world was out there, and she was enjoying experiencing it properly for once. That brought a real smile to her face.
Lainey walked back out to the front of the bar, only to find Aaron staring at her again. It was hard to breathe under his scrutiny. He tilted his head just a little, as if examining her, and then scowled deeper. Shit. She’d managed to piss him off somehow anyway. Pulling herself together, she shot him a bright grin, and his colors brightened. Was that it, was he only upset because she was?
She didn’t have time to analyze the idea as customers started flying through the door, but she kept an eye on Aaron out of the corner of her eye, and every time she’d look his way, he was already looking at her. Not staring exactly, but a steady focus. Sitting there, drink in hand, just watching her. He was still shrouded in sadness, but there were hints of brightness and color now too. She’d always had a calming effect on people, usually just by smiling at them. They’d smile back and their colors would tinge with pink and yellow. If she could use whatever that was to cheer Aaron up, well, then being different would be worth it.
Finally, the lunch rush was over and she was alone with him again. She could have just started cleaning up in silence again, but the silence was starting to close in on her. She had to at least attempt to make things right with Aaron, or she’d be unsettled all day, even after he finally left his post to return to the gym. She pulled out a rag and started cleaning the bar’s surface, moving toward him without being too obvious—she hoped, anyway. “How are things?”
“Fine. Been pretty tired, I’ve been working out more.”
“Everything going okay?” Nothing like jumping in with both feet. “You seem a little down.”
Aaron took another sip of his drink, stalling. “Everything’s good.”
Ahuh. That’s why you’ve taken up a permanent camp in the juice bar. Because everything’s completely normal. She walked around the bar, picking up empty cups and napkins. “Anything you want to talk about?”
Aaron stood quickly. “No, nothing. It’s just work stuff. I need to get the Krav Maga classes running again.”
“Oh, sure. Any takers?”
“Some. It’d be nice if it was full, though.”
Lainey threw away the trash and then began to wipe down the tables. Could he really be this upset over a work problem? “Have you thought about advertising?”
He smiled. “It’s just a couple of spots. Besides, Payton’s coming along again. That ought to drag the boys along, if Cole doesn’t shoot them first.” Aaron chuckled, thank God. She laughed along with him.
“So she’s doing well? Last I heard she hadn’t managed to take Cole down in the melee yet.”
Another grin. “Oh, she’ll manage it alright, she’s one of my best students. Even if Cole doesn’t let her, she’ll take him down anyway. That girl is vicious.” That did it, his grin was infectious and Lainey burst out laughing at the thought of tiny Payton taking down Cole, a ex-cop who was over six foot tall and nearly as wide these days. He’d been coming to the gym for over a year after he was kidnapped and held for over a month by the cartels. Aaron had helped bring Cole out of his shell again, even helped with his PTSD. Hang on—Lainey felt her eyebrows draw together—was there a reason Aaron had been so helpful to Cole? Did she have something to worry about with him, too?
“You could come to the classes, Lainey. You’d have a lot of fun, and it’d be cool to show you the moves.”
She was about to say yes when she remembered Josh’s vehement objection to her taking classes at the gym. If Payton knew Lainey was even thinking that, she would kick her ass. Come to think of it, Lainey would kick her own ass before she let a man tell her what to do. But all the same, maybe it was worth waiting a few weeks, or scoping out other gyms, rather than rubbing it in the guy’s face right at the beginning of a relationship. Aaron was still quiet, waiting for an answer.
“Maybe. I’ve uh, I’ve just got so much to do here already, with work and all.”
He almost deflated in front of her eyes, his good mood gone. “Sure, okay. I just thought you’d enjoy it. You’ve talked about maybe taking some self-defense classes for awhile now.”
“I know, it’s just not the right time.”
“Huh,” Aaron finished his drink and tossed the cup in the trash. “Well, I’ll keep a spot open for you if you change your mind.”
He turned to leave, but she couldn’t let him just walk out like that. As he brushed past her, Lainey stopped him, putting her hand on his bare arm. Her palm tingled where she made contact and Aaron’s gaze locked with hers. “Thank you, Aaron. I really appreciate you looking out for me.”
He stopped dead, staring at her for what felt like a year, before he bent down and brushed his lips across her cheek. “You’re worth it, Lainey. I hope you know that.” He turned and left, and Lainey could finally breathe again.
Everyone missing from her quiet morning must have decided to hit the juice bar that afternoon instead and the hours passed quickly as Lainey barely paused between customers. Aaron’s kiss never left her mind and Lainey brushed her hand over her cheek at least five times an hour. She’d thought he was furious with her, angry maybe, for days, and then he’d gone and kissed her. It had been totally platonic—on the cheek for heaven’s sake—but it hadn’t felt that way. Payton knew Aaron well too, and she wasn’t as clueless around men as Lainey, maybe she’d have some insight as to what the hell was in his head.
In his head . . .
No. She’d never asked Payton to use her powers on someone deliberately like that, and she never would. If that meant she was goi
ng to sit here and worry over it for the rest of the day, that was better than exploiting both Aaron and Payton just so she could get some peace.
The door swung open just as she was getting ready to close, and to Lainey’s relief, Josh strolled in. His shirt was pulled tight across his chest and his pants were even tighter. Despite the blush that ran rampant over her face, she’d take any distraction she could get. He strode up and grabbed her into his arms, swinging her around and making her laugh before smacking a kiss right on her lips. “You look beautiful today.” When he placed her back on the floor, Lainey studied him. His colors were a little dimmer today, and more refined. Was he calmer or was she simply getting to know him better? She could see distinctions today, beyond the blazing white. Colors moved in random patterns, changing quickly from pink to yellow, then red—fiery like the passion between lovers. The colors changed as quickly as they appeared, but she was starting to be able to read him. He was hot for her. Just that tiny glimpse into his mind gave her chills.
She reached out and took his hand, lacing her fingers with his. “How was your day?”
“Good. Just got a workout in, feeling pumped!”
She grinned and touched his biceps, squeezing. “Well, I’d say you did well.”
“By the way, Gorgeous, I need to talk you about something.” Lainey moved over to clear the tables again, smiling to herself. “What the fuck was that prick doing in here again? I thought he owned the gym.”
She nearly dropped the glass.
“Aaron? He owns the bar as well. He’s my boss.”
“He’s what now?” His body tightened and his colors spun into red, not the good type this time. What the hell was going on with him?
Lainey (Dreamcatchers Romantic Suspense Series Book 4) Page 7
