by Lexie Ray
“I’ll head off then.”
Chapter Fifteen
Since the creep kept a low profile, the day went by pretty quick. Sophie was a surprisingly fast learner and took well to any challenge Daren threw at her. When the crowds thinned and the temperature dropped with the approaching night, Daren decided that he should probably give the kid a break. Sophie slumped against the ground when he had told her they were done for the day, panting like he had put her through a marathon.
Somewhere along the line, Jai joined them, happily being a spectator and occasionally shaking his head with disapproval when Jamie encouraged Sophie to be a little more violent than necessary. Daren didn’t much care about the audience. Sophie managed to keep her attention relatively focused.
Daren thought that Sophie would be quick to go about her own thing. Or maybe go and find a way to annoy the hell out Dwayne, which had apparently become a hobby. But the second he moved away, Sophie followed, mentioning that he had promised to show her how to work an engine. He had already fixed up the trailer’s engine, so instead he began to show the kid how his bike worked. He had thought it impossible for Sophie to keep her attention focused for so long, but she seemed eager to learn and was soon able to explain back to him everything he had taught her so far.
The sun went down but the floodlight gave them more than enough to work by. They had already gone over the basics, so Daren thought he might as well do some basic care. The process was a whole lot slower, and a great deal messier, with Sophie doing most of the work. But the kid was having fun, so he couldn’t bring himself to mind.
It caught them both off guard when the door opened and Rebecca stepped down onto the metal staircase. Her hair was slightly messed up, and her clothes were ruffled. She looked bed warmed and happy, and Daren couldn’t fight off the rather nice image that would make.
“What are you two up to?” she asked as she leaned against the door.
“Daren’s showing me how to fix up a bike,” Sophie smiled, “so I can take care of the one that you said I could get when I turned eighteen.”
Rebecca smiled. “Yeah, I never agreed to eighteen.”
“Really?” Sophie asked with false confusion. “I’m pretty sure you did.”
“Nice try.”
Sophie puffed out her cheeks but soon shrugged off the loss.
“Come on now. Time to clean up for dinner.”
Sophie grudgingly got to her feet and rubbed her hands off on her jeans. Daren stood up, not sure what to do as Sophie scrambled past her mother and Rebecca continued to watch him. He suddenly didn’t know what to do with hands.
“She might get a bit of oil all over the place,” Daren mumbled. “Sorry ’bout that.”
Rebecca smiled at him, her raven black hair shining like ink in the light. His stomach fluttered up again at the sight, and he lowered his eyes. It was a struggle to keep his thoughts from going back to what had happened a few hours ago.
“Did you have plans for tonight?” she asked abruptly.
He snapped his head up. “Nah, not really.”
“Would you like to have dinner with us?”
“Really?”
Her smile reached her eyes as she tilted her head to the side. “Yeah. Why not?”
Daren nodded even as parts of his mind were freaking out. Were they just ignoring what had happened? It shouldn’t be that much of a shock. But she wasn’t fully ignoring it. She was asking to spend time with him. Her voice cut through the mounting panicked spiral of his thoughts.
“Dinner should be ready by the time you clean up.”
Her eyes darted down to the thin layer of oil that covered his hands. Heat flared up his neck as he saw her lick her lips, eyes still on his hands, before she disappeared back into the trailer.
***
Rebecca hadn’t really been prepared for the physical reaction she would have to Daren’s presence. Just looking at him had been enough to open a tidal wave of dirty thoughts and fantasies. His voice actually made something deep inside of her quiver. The thought had occurred to her that she should really try and keep her distance. Almost within the same second, she invited him over. Sophie was excited when she told her Daren was coming over and went to wash up without a fight.
Rebecca surprised herself when she hurried back to her room, struck by the sudden need to change into something a bit more flattering. She hadn’t realized until this moment just how limited her wardrobe actually was. It wasn’t like she wanted to dress up or anything, but she would have liked to look a bit nicer than normal. Nonetheless, it was an impulse that caught her off guard. It was a little thrill she hadn’t really felt since she first started dating Ben, and she was torn between enjoying the sensation and shying away from it.
Daren showed up just as the fish finished baking. She opened the door, but he didn’t immediately try and come inside. Instead, he awkwardly shuffled his feet and handed her a new set of sheets. She glanced at it before her brow furrowed.
“I’m sure I bled on yours the other day,” he mumbled.
“Not that much.”
He hunched his shoulders. “I had been working all day. I’m sure I wrecked them.”
“I don’t mind you wrecking my sheet,” she said with a small smile, just to watch his ears go bright pink. “Come on in.”
His neck was still bright red as he headed up the stairs. Sophie was idly drinking a milkshake she had made while Rebecca had been distracted. She popped the straw out of her mouth just long enough for her to shuffle deeper into the booth, leaving the place Daren had sat in last night. It was quickly becoming his place, and Daren was warming to the idea.
Conversation followed a little easier than it had before. Daren still wasn’t an incredible conversationalist, but he didn’t shy away from joining in. It struck Rebecca that it was a minor change, but the ramifications were huge. It was comfortable. By the end of the dinner, her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.
The energy shifted as they began to clear the table. Daren brought his plates up to the sink, his face ducked and shoulders hunched like he was trying not to be noticed. Like she would forget he was there and let him stay. Taking the plate from him, Rebecca placed her hand on his bare bicep. She didn’t fight the sudden urge to squeeze her fingers and feel the solid muscle under his warm skin.
“Can you get the deck of cards? It’s in the cabinet by my bedroom door.”
He looked up at her as if he wasn’t sure he understood but didn’t want to question it in case she changed her mind. The second he had the cards in hand, Sophie called him back to the table and started to shuffle.
“You know how to play poker?” Sophie said.
Daren scoffed and nodded. “What are we playing for?”
She narrowed her eyes playfully. “Dignity.”
“Then how do you have enough to put down a bet?”
Rebecca laughed as Sophie thumped his arm. He jerked back with more reaction than would have been necessary.
“We play for gummy bears,” Rebecca said as she retrieved a large bag from the cabinet above the kitchen skin. Daren smiled up at her, his blue eyes bright under his bangs. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “If you stall, she’ll eat all her chips.”
Daren swallowed thickly and he stared straight ahead. It took her half a second to realize that he had fixed his gaze on the far wall to keep from checking out her cleavage. Sophie won the first couple rounds and wasn’t above gloating horribly over it. Daren looked more amused than anything, and Rebecca was sure that he threw a few hands just to see her reaction.
There was no lull in the rounds they played, and the minutes quickly became hours. Each time Sophie was thoroughly distracted, Daren’s eyes would slide to Rebecca. She could feel him watching her and always tried to catch his gaze. No matter how she tried, he always seemed to take it as a rebuke and quickly shifted his attention elsewhere. In an attempt to correct his impression, she took to running her bare foot over his ankle, working her toes unde
r the loose legs of his jeans. He jumped each time, his knees hitting the underside of the table with a loud thump.
Eventually, the time came to put Sophie to bed for the night. Her eyelids were drooping and her head lolling to the side as she struggled to keep her fatigue under wraps. Daren stood up, preparing to say goodnight as Rebecca bundled Sophie into her arms. Her stomach went cold at the thought of him leaving right now, and she reached out and touched his arm again.
“Could you get two beers out of the fridge? I’ll meet you outside in just a second.”
Daren hesitated, and she wondered for a moment if she had been too direct. Just because he liked some kind of direction didn’t necessarily mean that he took to having make his decisions for him. A smile spread across her face when he nodded and slipped past her to look through the fridge.
It took longer to find the old baby monitor than it did to get Sophie into bed. She took the batteries out of the TV remote, tested to make sure the device still worked, and set one of the receivers in bed with Sophie. As quietly as she could, Rebecca slipped out of the door and left it slightly ajar. Daren was sitting on the far chair, hunched forward with his forearms against his strong thighs. He lifted his head and smiled shyly as she approached.
Rebecca wiggled the monitor as she took the free seat. “Ben used to always say that I’d never have a reason to use this again. I love being right, but not necessarily in this situation.”
She placed the receiver on the small table between the chairs and sank down into her seat. A chill had seeped into the air to soothe the heat of the day. The floodlights illuminated everything for a good distance around them and performed the extra service of attracting most of the bugs. Still, she missed being able to see the stars. It was a small luxury that she had never really thought about before, just being able to feel comfortable within anything besides blinding light.
“Why do you think this creep is doing this?” Rebecca asked before she met his eyes. “You know, your professional opinion.”
Daren began to pick at the label on the bottle with his thumb. He hadn’t opened it and didn’t seem in any hurry to change that.
“You need to ask Mads about all that kind of stuff. I can’t think like these guys, and I don’t want to. The day any of this makes sense to me is the day I quit.”
“So, you focus solely on helping people?”
“Pretty much.”
“Can I ask you something personal?” Rebecca asked.
Daren shrugged one shoulder, his eyes focusing on the label he was shredding.
“What did your parents do to you?”
His head snapped up, eyes a little wide.
“I’m sorry,” she rushed. “I shouldn’t have asked that. I have no right to know.”
But she wanted to. She had said the words with no thought behind them, but now that they were out, she realized that she desperately wanted to know everything about him. What had made him who he was today, what he wanted to be in the future, the good and the bad. She wanted to know him.
Daren lowered his face again, fixing his eyes on the ground as he spoke. “They had an idea of what a man was and took offense when I didn’t measure up.”
Rebecca’s brow furrowed. “There isn’t much about you that’s not masculine.”
“I guess their style worked then,” he smirked.
“What did they have a problem with?”
Daren tried to look at her but was only able to lift his gaze as high as the table.
“They thought I was a soft touch. I wasn’t comfortable around people I didn’t know. I didn’t have a short temper.”
“You were kind.”
“Guess you could see it that way.”
Rebecca reached across the space dividing them and placed her hand over his own. “They didn’t change you at all. And I’m really glad for that.”
“Yeah?”
“I think you’re a pretty great man.”
“Give it two weeks and see what you think,” Daren deflected as his neck burned.
A part of her wanted to chase the point, but Rebecca had probably pushed enough on an old wound for one day. So instead, she pulled her hand back and added, “Well, whatever you are, I feel safer with you around.”
“You do, huh?” His voice was timid, like he was worried she was about to tell him it was just a joke.
“Yeah, I do. You do have a way of making a girl feel good about herself.”
He blinked at her, his mouth twisted down into a confused frown. It was hard to keep from laughing at the sight.
“You do remember a few hours back, right?”
Surprise dropped his jaw a split second before he ducked his face.
“I am sorry I didn’t get time to…” She hesitated as she decided just how embarrassed she wanted to make him. “…Return the favor.”
“Wasn’t no favor,” Daren said gruffly. “You don’t owe me anything.”
She smiled at him. “Doesn’t seem fair.”
His sharp back caught her off guard. That was not the reaction she thought she would get.
“You let me within three feet of you. That more than makes us even.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked as warmth fluttered around her ribs.
“Well, look at ya.” Daren quickly glanced to her and just as quickly looked away. “Guys like me don’t get that lucky.”
“You think I’m out of your league,” she teased. “Oh, come on, Daren. It’s just us. I’m sure you’ve had your fair share of pretty girls.”
Daren hunched his shoulders and attacked the bottle with renewed attention.
“You haven’t?”
“I ain’t a virgin, if that’s what you’re asking,” Daren said.
“You’re just edgy all of a sudden.”
“It’s a personal subject.”
“I would have thought we got plenty personal.”
Daren grumbled as he ran out of label to destroy. “Let’s just say I’m used to quick, messy, and semi-public.”
Rebecca laughed lightly as she turned more toward him. “Semi-public?”
“I’ve never really got any further than the bar’s parking lot.”
“Wait,” Rebecca cut in, because there was no way that was true. “You’ve never taken a girl home?”
“Nah.”
“Seriously?” she said.
He nodded. But the most baffling thing was, he didn’t see how that was surprising.
“So, no one’s ever just taken their time with you?”
He was so responsive, reacting to every passing touch like it was the most amazing thing he had ever felt. How was it possible that no one had felt inclined to exploit that?
His frown reappeared. “What ya mean?”
“You know, like along the lines of stripping you naked, stretching you out on a bed, and licking every inch of you until you beg them to even just breathe on your cock.”
Daren choked on nothing as his face flushed bright red. “You came up with that quick.”
She flashed a wicked grin and watched his face get even redder.
“Nah, I ain’t never done that,” he muttered, like he wasn’t quite sure that he wanted her to hear. His voice grew to a whisper as he added, “Or the whole mouth to…that part thing.”
That got her attention. “No one’s ever given you a blowjob? Isn’t that the premise of car sex?”
Daren shrugged. “I think most of them just wanted a story to tell their friends. Something wild and crazy that they did with a redneck once.”
“And you were okay with that?”
He shrugged. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t get anything.”
“That is so wrong.”
It took a moment for Daren to find his voice, and even then, all he could come out with was a dismissive grunt. “Who’d want to do that with me?”
Rebecca knew the answer instantly: she did. She wanted to be the one to show him just how incredibly sexy he was. When he glanced at her – a sheepis
h slide of his eyes – she resolved that one day she would.
Chapter Sixteen
Daren woke up with a slight grunt. Memories of the night before floated in his mind, too calm and pleasant to feel real. He had never really had the opportunity to be part of a family. A functioning one, at least. It had been easy to just have a quiet night.
Admittedly, it had been a little awkward at first to discuss his dismal sex life with Rebecca. There was a special kind of embarrassment in admitting to her that he had never been able to get a woman to want him enough to touch him for more than what was completely necessary. Halfway through, he had wanted to beat himself up. But once they had gotten over that pathetic hurdle, they had settled into talking about nothing and everything.
The night had seeped into the early morning while they remained talking just the two of them. At points, it had been hard to keep his thoughts away from certain subjects, but even with that struggle, he had enjoyed every moment. Eventually, when fatigue left them with little option, Rebecca had offered him the couch. Even though his own trailer was a slight distance away, with a bed that would be far more comfortable, the option of staying here was way more appealing. So Daren had stayed on the narrow couch, his head propped up in a way that was only going to cause pain later on, and fell into a fitful sleep.
Daren had always been a light sleeper. Sophie never had a chance to get close before he cracked open his eyes and glared at her. She paused, glass of ice water still in hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Momma said to wake you up.” She followed his line of sight to see him eyeing the cup. As discreetly as he could, which wasn’t discreet at all, she pulled the cup behind her back.
“What’s that for?”
“Huh?” she asked with forced innocence.
He slid up straighter and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Before he could say anything, Rebecca’s bedroom door opened. She ended a call on her cell and gave Sophie a weary look.
Sophie’s grin was all teeth as she held out the cup. “I got you a glass of water.”
Rebecca took it but made it clear in the narrowing of her eyes that she didn’t believe her daughter for a second. “I just got off the phone with Mads.”
