Who was she kidding? He’d probably already forgotten about her.
While she’d had the best sex of her life, and finally felt connected to another human being, he was probably brushing her off like a piece of lint. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t get hordes of women if he wanted to. Between his wealth and his looks, she was surprised he wasn’t constantly tripping over them.
At her car, she slid into the driver’s seat then let loose a flood of tears. It hurt that he didn’t want her help anymore, that he saw no value in her. Had he ever really intended to consider her for their group at all, or had he been stringing her along? He thought of her as a liability instead of an asset. But mostly, it hurt that he’d let her walk away.
God, the things she’d let him do to her. She felt a blush heat her neck and burn her cheeks. She’d submitted to him so much further than she’d ever meant to, thinking they shared some special connection. To him she was probably just a convenient piece of ass. It was humiliating, but he’d gotten even deeper into her head than he had into her body.
She squealed out of his driveway and headed to her parent’s house. Her roommate, Mariella, was at work at the fabric store and sitting alone in her apartment meant she’d eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s while hugging pillows embroidered with inspirational sayings.
At least her parents would be a distraction. Maybe Gran was there and Addison would get her priorities straight again.
Make money. Save Gran and Gramps.
Not fall for bossy men who tied her up and gave her the best orgasms of her life. Ugh. She should’ve known he’d try to control her, to take over her life. They always did. Maybe she was submissive—to some people—but she was also a free spirit. Nobody was going to control her. Nobody was allowed to dictate her life.
Hard limit!
More tears fell, blurring her view of the road. She wiped them with the back of her hand. She was still mad at herself for thinking he’d really let her into the group. God, and here she’d been thinking he respected her!
Idiot.
As she replayed things in her mind, she was more and more convinced their whole tenuous relationship had been a crush on her part and nothing to him. A few flirty comments and two fucking fantastic nights in bed and she’d been hooked. Even made them chicken salad sandwiches and homemade brownies!
She really needed to guard her heart better.
After fifteen minutes of arguing with herself, she finally pulled into her parents’ driveway. She checked her face in the mirror to make sure it wasn’t blotchy then stepped out of the car. Only then did she notice the sign on the front lawn.
South Vegas Real Estate.
What? Panic twisted in her chest. What the fuck? They had put their house on the market already?
“Shit.” She overrode the urge to yank the stupid sign up out of the lawn and throw it away, and ran up the path to the door. She pushed it open, calling for her parents at the same time.
“In here,” her mom answered from the dining room.
Addison followed her voice and found her at the dinner table, organizing her dozen arts and crafts boxes. Were they planning to move already? No way.
“You’re early,” her mom remarked, placing a stack of colored paper in a plastic bin. “Dinner isn’t for hours.”
“You put the house on the market?” she nearly shouted. “Why?”
Her mom canted her head to the side with a frown. “We had to. Gran’s health is making it hard for her to get back and forth to the nursing home, and she’s just not sleeping well.”
“I can help!” she lied. Not really. Not yet. But soon. She just needed a little more time.
Marilyn tsked. “It’s not your place, Addy.”
Great. She was using her childhood nickname. Did anyone respect her anymore?
“Your dad and I can handle it,” she continued. “You need to focus on your studies and not worry about us.”
Yeah right. She was worried as hell about them and Gran. How could she not be? These were the people who’d raised her, loved her unconditionally her whole life. Her parents didn’t deserve to lose their home, and her Grandma didn’t deserve to lose her husband. She had to find a way to fix this.
Her emotions were already spinning out of control—courtesy of a certain animal-named jerk—so when tears pricked her eyes again, she couldn’t hold them back. Her mom rushed to her and pulled her into a hug.
“Ohhh, sweetheart,” she crooned in Addison’s ear. “It’s okay. It’s just a house. We’ll be fine.”
“But . . . but you’ve lived here since you married Dad!”
Her mom patted her hair. “Sure, there are memories here but the important stuff stays in our hearts.”
Addison pulled away, struggling to get herself back under control. The last thing her poor mother needed was a guilt trip.
“And in our scrapbooks,” she added, pointing to the stack piled high on the table.
She snorted a laugh. Leave it to her mom to bring scrapbooks into this.
All of her eggs had been in the same damn basket, and now she had nothing to fall back on. She’d have to find a buyer for the cars she would steal without Fox’s help. But as she’d discovered before they’d met, making connections like that with no one to vouch for you was easier said than done.
Addison helped her mom sort through a few shelves and craft carts, culling and reorganizing, and doing her best to make her mom laugh. Her mom was the kind of woman who always put on a brave face and tried to make life pleasant for everyone else. It sucked that Addison couldn’t figure out how to return the favor, other than trying to stay optimistic and not burdening her with her guy problems.
When she went home later that night, she still ate a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.
***
Dr. Penn’s heavy footsteps creaked on the hardwood floors of the hall as his lecture went on, but Addison was skimming the manual of a Lamborghini Diablo instead.
Nikki, the girl who sat beside her, nudged her elbow.
Addison turned to look at her. “What?” she mouthed.
The blonde glared at the manual then shook her head. Yeah, Addison was getting a reputation for being a bit of a daydreamer in class. And she was pretty sure Dr. Penn was purposefully trying to catch her off guard with questions when it looked like she wasn’t paying attention. But she couldn’t help it. The material he droned on about wasn’t nearly as interesting as the stuff she researched on her own.
When Addison wanted to know something, she stopped at nothing to learn it. But all this dry, boring stuff that she’d never use in the real world, even in the engineering world, only dragged her down and wasted time.
Times like these, she really wondered if continuing school had been the right choice. But with the scholarship, it had seemed sensible at the time. More and more, she was growing restless and disinterested. Was this a normal part of the program? Something all students went through? Or was this just more of her adrenaline-seeking personality?
Later that evening, during her shift at the electronics store, Addison took apart a defective computer, pocketing parts she’d need to build a new gadget later. Dr. Penn had unknowingly given her an idea during his lecture. Since then, her brain had been going crazy with the need to build it.
“You’re a space cadet lately,” Sarah, the shift manager, said, eyeing her from the shelf where she restocked headphones. “Boy troubles?”
“No,” she snapped too quickly then winced. “I have a big test coming up.”
“Oh yeah. You’re in the engineering program, aren’t you?” Sarah flashed a sympathetic smile.
Addison nodded.
“I went there.” She ripped open a box next to her and started pulling out USB ports.
“What?”
“I went there for two years. For engineering. Same as you.”
For some reason, she figured the thirty-year-old had worked her way up to manager starting as an after-school job in high school.
“What happened?” Addison asked, trying not to sound so shocked.
“I flunked out. Couldn’t keep up a job and studying.” Sarah adjusted her ponytail then lifted the final box onto the nearby counter. “It gets harder.” She gave Addison a weary look. “Good luck.”
For a while, Addison leaned up against the computer help desk and stared at the blinking lights on the display. Was this her future? Working retail at an electronics store, pickpocketing spare parts for gadgets she’d never use?
No. She refused to go down that road without a fight.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Fox. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed him. Even if she had to sit in the background for a while, he had to come around eventually. Plus, things couldn’t be over between them already. It was just starting to get good. Really good.
They’d had a fight, she’d lost her temper, nothing they couldn’t get over. Hopefully.
She typed a message.
Sorry I flipped out the other day. Can we talk? Maybe coffee?
The store was slow tonight, which meant she had every opportunity to check and recheck her phone a billion times. By the time she fell into bed, four hours later, he still hadn’t responded.
***
Her dad’s car was a hazard on the road. No matter how hard Addison gunned it, the 2004 station wagon wouldn’t hit forty-five. Honestly, she was afraid to push it for fear parts would start falling off in the road.
She’d been bugging him to get it looked at for months. Earlier today she’d found out he’d been duct-taping parts back together. Addison and her mom had managed to convince him to let her take it to a shop herself. He didn’t know enough about cars to negotiate a good price so she’d told him she was taking it to a trusted friend.
The “trusted friend” was actually someone Fox had mentioned when he’d torn apart his car looking for her tracking device. Jimmy’s Auto Repair. She’d looked it up online and hoped they had enough integrity not to try to take advantage of her based on her gender and age, like so many others had. But if Fox was friends with them . . . maybe they were decent people.
The GPS led her to a parking lot where a small building sat, dilapidated and looking as if a bomb had just detonated inside.
She pulled up front and sat there stunned for a moment. Crap. What now? She shifted to reverse but stopped when she spotted movement through what once had been a window.
Someone stepped through the broken glass door. She recognized him immediately.
Luke.
What was he doing here?
Curiosity drove her to find out. She put the car back in park then climbed out. Luke watched her with interest.
When she drew closer, he smiled. “Hey, Addison.”
“Hey.” Her Converse sneakers crunched on the broken glass scattered across the ground.
“Fox isn’t here.”
Her cheeks heated. “I wasn’t . . . I didn’t . . .”
Smirking, he crossed his arms. “Did you put a tracking device on me this time?”
Great. So they all thought she was a stalker. “No.” She gestured to her dad’s car. “I was trying to get my dad’s car fixed but”—her gaze traveled over the wreckage—“apparently it won’t be here. What happened?”
Luke frowned. “A rival group trashed the place.”
“What?” Rivals? She had no idea there was more than one car-theft ring around here. Was the car repair shop in on Fox’s business or just an unlucky casualty?
“Put our friend in the hospital too.” He shook his head. “Fuckers.”
Realization hit. Fox had said something about danger but she’d written it off as an excuse to get rid of her. “Is this why Fox said I couldn’t do any more jobs?”
“Of course,” Luke replied, his brows drawing together in concern. “You didn’t think he just reneged for no reason, did you?”
She shrugged.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Addison.” He gestured to the damage done to the garage. “He didn’t want you to get mixed up in this shit show.”
Could that really be why Fox had pushed her away? It wasn’t about him being controlling—not totally—and it wasn’t about respect or trust. He’d been trying to protect her?
Fuck. Well now she felt like an ass. She hadn’t really given him a chance to explain either.
Still, he hadn’t stopped her when she’d left. And he hadn’t texted her. Not even once and it’d been three days. She’d put out an olive branch, hoping he’d say something, but he’d ignored her. Pride kept her from looking too desperate and trying again.
Obviously, Luke was wrong. Fox didn’t actually care about her or he wouldn’t have blown off her text. He’d already forgotten about her. Tears threatened her eyes.
Change of topic, Addison. Quick.
“So is this the best place for repairs?” she asked. “Er, was it?”
“It was and it is. We’re gonna clean it up.” Luke grabbed a broom from just inside the door. “We’ve got the oil cleaned up inside, the floor clean, and some of the tools sorted out, but the lot is still a mess. The windows are taking longer to come in than we thought. Fox is so torn up about it. The only reason Marcel’s group came here was because of us. We owe it to them to fix it.”
She nodded, toeing some of the glass on the ground. Poor Fox. She could imagine him taking all of the blame for this. God, the guilt must be eating him alive. She wished he trusted her enough to tell her and to let her comfort him.
With a sigh, she said, “I’ll help.”
When he didn’t answer, she looked up at him. His eyes narrowed as he leveled her with a suspicious stare. “Why?”
“Why not? I have nothing better to do today.” Hanging out at her apartment meant facing Mariella’s nosy questions, and her parents were house-shopping, which she couldn’t even stomach thinking about. This week’s work shifts didn’t start until tomorrow. It was a nice day and the distraction was welcome.
She wanted to laugh at herself. Some life she had. Working retail, daydreaming during classes, avoiding her only friend, and attending Sunday dinner with her parents. Other women her age were thinking about getting married and having babies. Addison didn’t even know what she wanted to do with her life past graduation. Working at the electronics store was a waste of her education, but her motivation to do anything else was seriously lacking. Getting a job would take months, if not longer. And she needed money now to help her family.
But Fox had shut that plan down.
Could Luke turn into an ally? Did she even want to work with them anymore? Luke seemed a little more lenient than Fox. Maybe she could win him over and join the group without landing in anyone’s bed.
But god damn did she enjoy his bed. Her past partners were shit at dirty talk compared to Fox. He could melt her with just a few words. And the way he’d commanded her body . . . No one else had ever been able to put her in subspace, to hurt her so good, to make her come so hard.
As for other feelings she’d started having for him, she didn’t even want to think about all the crying she’d been doing, or the fact that it probably meant it’d been about more than sex for her.
She gave her head a shake. That was over. Time to get down to business. “Give me the broom,” she said, putting out her hand. “I’ll sweep up out here.”
He grimaced. “I don’t know. Fox will be back soon. I don’t think he’ll like you being here.”
“Let me deal with him,” she said, braver than she felt. “I’ll just leave when he gets here.” When he still seemed torn, she pressed. “Come on. If this shop is the best, we need to get it fixed up. My dad’s car is a piece of junk and he can’t afford a new one. I need someone I can trust to fix it.�
��
Luke gave in with a sigh. “Fine.” He shoved the broom at her. “But if Fox is pissed, don’t blame me.”
She swallowed hard. Did she secretly want to see him again? Was that what this was about? Duh. Of course it was. Maybe a bit of closure would help. An official breakup. Or maybe another chance at getting into the group, at least peripherally. Maybe if she told him why the stakes were so high, he’d have pity and let her join them.
She snorted at herself. Yeah right. She was delusional. The best course of action would be to sneak away as soon as she saw his car come down the road. Or just be a freakin’ genius and leave now.
Avoidance. She didn’t usually do things that way. She was a head-on confronter, but she still couldn’t control her emotions when it came to him, and the last thing she needed was to show weakness in front of the very group she had lingering hopes might accept her.
The two worked, side by side. Luke was pleasant, joked and smiled a lot. Way more than Fox did. But there was no sizzle between them—no chemistry. Not like with his cousin, who’d woken senses the second she’d met him.
Luke turned on an old radio he’d found in the back room, which made the job seem to go faster. She swept the glass as she hummed along to the songs, not minding when Luke grinned a few times at her singing.
About half an hour later, another car pulled up. It was Fox.
For some reason, she didn’t bolt for her dad’s car and drive off. Sometimes she was too stubborn to take the easy way out. Her body froze in place and her chest tightened as she watched him get out of the vehicle with his brother, Atlas, right behind him. They grabbed cans of paint from the trunk then headed toward the shop.
When he spotted her, he stopped in his tracks. For a moment she forgot to breathe.
“What are you doing here?” Fox snapped.
Luke emerged from the shop and winced.
Fox looked at his cousin. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“Chill out,” Luke answered. “She brought her dad’s car in for repairs then offered to help sweep. It’s not a big deal.”
Fox put the cans on the ground. “Her dad’s car? Here of all places?” He narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “What have the two of you been doing? How long has she been here?” He shifted his gaze to her, looking suspicious. “Why are you dressed like that?”
Stealing His Thunder (Masters of Adrenaline) Page 14
