Opening Up

by Lauren Dane

  “More. Please. Please.”

  He gathered her hair and yanked, pulling her back as he leaned close. “I’m here.” He flexed his hips, getting so impossibly deep she made a sound she didn’t recognize.

  “So hot. I can feel you through the latex.”

  He snarled things in her ear. Dirty things. Sweet things. He fucked her with his words as easily and skillfully as he did with the cock inside her body.

  He surrounded her, molding his body to hers; the sheer size of him held her, stole her breath.

  She hadn’t really even stopped coming, and this time a rolling aftershock orgasm hit her.

  He cursed. “Jesus. What’s going on, beautiful? Hm? I want to do it again because you feel so good.”

  But she was caught in the feedback loop of it. Snagged in the sticky-sweet pleasure of that state, post–multiple orgasms, where everything he did felt amazing.

  He sped, fucking her so deep and so hard that each time he slammed home she saw stars against the closed lids of her eyes.

  He held her hair tight enough to sting. Everything in her wanted him to come. Wanted to make him feel so good he couldn’t do anything else but climax. Wanted to shake his control.

  She squeezed her inner muscles and he slapped her ass hard enough to send that crack through the room and a flash of heat through her.

  He growled and she pushed back at him. He sped again, harder and harder, her nipples abrading the comforter beneath her. She dug into the bedding for purchase but found none as he pinned her to the bed and came on a strangled whisper of her name.

  “I yield,” she wheezed, and after a few seconds he remembered his order right before things went naked and sweaty, and laughed.

  “Do you have a few minutes?” Asa came into the living room the following day. She’d tucked up on his couch, near the windows, to steal some time to read and enjoy the quiet.

  “Dude, my vagina is not magic. If you want some, you have to pick a different place.”

  He burst out laughing and then someone else walked into the room. Mick. Jesus.

  “Thanks for letting me know someone was here.” She shot a look at Asa.

  He put his hands out defensively. “I didn’t know you were going to say that!”

  Annoyed, she rolled her eyes and latched her gaze on to Mick. “Why would I give you, or him, a few minutes?”

  Asa made a sound. He tried not to, she’d give him that. But he made it anyway. Pissy that she’d be mad he essentially dumped his friend on her with no warning and now she’d said all that in his presence and he could use it to hurt her, again.

  Mick took a breath. “I owe you an apology. You don’t owe me anything at all. I’d very much appreciate it if you’d give me a few minutes of your time.”

  “Hmph.” She put her book aside and tipped her chin at a chair she was sure he’d sat in dozens of times.

  “I was really rude to you. It wasn’t just inexcusable because I have better manners than that, but also because you’re with my brother. I don’t normally act like that to women.”

  “What’s your problem then?”

  Asa shrugged at Mick. “See? I told you.”

  Ugh, all this secret brotherhood stuff might be more maddening than she’d originally considered. Had Asa debriefed Mick on her?

  “Did you, Asa? Did you give him a primer on how to handle me?”

  Mick tried to stifle a smile. PJ shouldn’t be that annoyed. Asa’d fucked her into a nice, calm space. She’d stolen some leisure time to read and relax. He’d even made her breakfast to coax her to his house since he’d slept at her apartment. It had been a particularly lovely morning so far.

  But she was annoyed nonetheless.

  “I did not.” Asa frowned. “I told him you had a temper and to watch out. From an admiration standpoint, I should add.”

  “Listen, you.” She gave them both a look. “Both of you. I don’t normally have a temper if people don’t go out of their way to agitate me. You both get a motherfucking A plus. God.”

  Mick burst out laughing. “Please say you forgive me so we can be best friends.”

  “I have a best friend already. She saw you both in action, so if you think I’m hard to deal with, wait till you see her again.”

  “My problem was that I’d been gone a long time and I came back and saw you in a place I didn’t know you deserved. But instead of listening to Asa and Duke, who told me you did, I was petty and defensive. You didn’t need that. I do want to get to know you, and I hope you’ll give me a chance to do that. I’m not an asshole. Not most of the time.”

  “If you are, you’ll get a lot more of me than you did last night. You get me?”

  He took her hand and kissed it. “Damn, it really is too bad Asa found you first.”

  “Hands off.” Asa frowned some more. He had a line between his eyes, clearly from all the alpha-male scowling he did. Good thing for him it only made him more handsome.

  “Shall I leave the two of you alone to work this out?” She lifted a brow at Asa.

  He simply moved to her, picked her up, sat, and put her in his lap. Which she allowed because it was hot.

  “Stop.” He kissed her.

  She would have told him to make her, but he might have, and it would have been embarrassing to do in front of Mick because her vagina did not care at all that Asa was a bossy dude who’d made her very sore from all his attentions over the last twelve hours or so.

  She narrowed her gaze at him and he hugged her tight. “I think we should go to lunch. Mick will pay, since he’s been an asshole.” Asa said all this smugly, like he’d neatly packaged all this silliness up and was ready to move on.

  “I have a job.” PJ peered at the clock on the wall. “In three hours.”

  “Perfect. We’ll go to lunch and I’ll drop you off and be back to get you later. Don’t forget we’re going out for a ride tonight.”

  “We’ll go to lunch, but I’ll drive.”

  He looked like he was going to argue, so she put a finger over his lips. “No. I said what I was going to do. You’re gorgeous and I adore you, but you need to hear that answer and not argue.”

  He frowned at her extra hard and she kissed him quickly, getting up. “I’ll be back out in a few minutes.”

  CHAPTER

  Fifteen

  PJ parked her work truck and headed into the building. This was a newish contact for her. The client had actually looked her up and asked if she’d be willing to meet with him at the restoration shop where his Chevy was being worked on.

  Working with new people was a hugely important thing. Sure, she had a lot of clients up in the Seattle area, but down in southwest Washington she didn’t know too many people outside the tire world.

  This shop was newer, and though she’d called to ask Julie to look them up, they didn’t do any business with Colman, which could be a huge gift or a terrible problem. Either way, there was no knowing until she went inside.

  The place wasn’t as magnificent as Twisted Steel, but really, she’d been in a lot of garages and shops and very few of them were. It was a good-sized operation, though, which was encouraging.

  “Hi there. I’m PJ Colman. I’m supposed to meet with one of your rebuild clients today,” she said to one of the guys inside, giving him the client’s name. They didn’t seem to have a receptionist or an office manager, at least not there right then.

  “The owner is right in that office there.” He pointed and she headed in that direction after thanking him.

  She tapped on the door and the guy inside motioned for her to come in.

  “Can I help you, sweetie?” he asked, and she shoved down her impulse to curl her lip. Sweetie? She sensed this flavor was misogynist with that tone. She bet he didn’t like icky girls in his sandbox.

  But this was a job and she was a business owner now. Maybe he called everyone pet names. Maybe he’d grow on her. Maybe he was a total tool. She might as well try to make the best of this. It wasn’t the first time she�
��d been patronized, and it wouldn’t be the last.

  Her smile went cooler as she stood taller. “I’m PJ Colman. I do custom paint. Joe asked me to come down to talk with you two about some options for his Chevy.”

  He looked her up and down without speaking until she crossed her arms and glared.

  “Is he here?”

  He raked his gaze over her body again, lingering on her boobs. “He just called. He’s running a little late. You’re not what I expected. Or maybe exactly what I expected.”

  She was still trying to remain professional and aloof, but the longer he acted this way the harder that got.

  “I’ll wait until he arrives then.”

  He stood, following her out into the open shop area. “Don’t you want to know what I expected?”

  Sighing, PJ turned and looked him up and down slowly like he had done to her. Only she was dismissive. “Did you have something to say?” She peered at his work shirt. “Gary. I assume that’s your name, but these days, one never knows if it’s a work shirt or a fashion statement.” She gave him one last opportunity to prove he was actually a good guy, or at the very least that he wasn’t going to be a nightmare to deal with.

  “Just that I expected you to be some big-titted blonde who couldn’t tie her own shoes. You appear to be basically competent and not overly whorish.”

  “That’s a relief. I decided to wear my overly whorish shirt tomorrow.”

  “You got this job because you’re riding Asa Barrons’s dick. Look at you.” Distaste ruled his features.

  He looked upset. Him. Like he hadn’t just called her a whore. Yep, woman hater. She was done here. There was no way to deal with guys like him. You couldn’t explain anything to them or even expect that they’d remain civil and professional. He’d be a problem the whole time.

  “I got this job because a customer paying you a great deal of money to restore his car saw some of my work and called to hire me. However, I won’t be working through this shop, so I’ll let him know that.”

  She turned to leave and he got in front of her, his face very close. “You think you can threaten me? I don’t care who you are, little girl, you don’t have the stones to threaten me.”

  That’s when the guy who had pointed her to Gary’s office when she first arrived rushed over and got between them. “Dude. Chill out.”

  Gary snarled around the guy’s body, “Fucking bitch.”

  “That’s Ms. Fucking Bitch to you.” PJ was surprised she didn’t stutter the words because she wanted to shake.

  The mechanic who’d gotten between them opened the door for her. “I’m sorry about that. Are you all right? Let me walk you to your truck.”

  She wasn’t. She needed to be away from there when it came so she could pull over out of their view.

  “Please, just leave me alone. I need you to back up and let me do this.”

  She didn’t even look his way as she found her keys and hit the alarm to unlock her truck.

  “I’d say he didn’t mean it, but he’s an asshole. I’m sorry that happened to you.” He said it from a distance, giving her the space she’d asked for.

  She opened her door and finally looked at him. “Thanks for getting in between us.”

  “Listen. If you decide to press charges, my name is Pete. The cops can talk to me. I saw most of it.” He ducked his head and went back inside, and she managed to get three freeway off-ramps away before she had to pull into a strip mall parking lot and let the shaking take over.

  Duke crouched next to the spot Asa measured the gap where the doorframe on the old Ford had been bent. “Got a second?”

  Asa frowned but nodded. They headed to grab some coffee. “What’s going on?”

  “You know how that guy called here asking for information about PJ?”

  It happened from time to time. They got calls asking who did the upholstery, paint, whatever. Usually they shared the details. Their world ran on word of mouth, so if you referred someone one time, the next year someone referred your business.

  “No. I mean, I know it happens, but not all the particulars. Is this about the place she was supposed to go this morning? She got up at five to be down there in time.” He wasn’t panicked. Yet. If it had been urgent Duke would have spit it out already.

  “That same guy, the client. He called and told me what happened when she was there.”

  Asa’s mind went very still. He knew he wasn’t going to like what Duke was about to say.

  “She called him about three hours ago and told him she wasn’t going to be able to work with that shop anymore, but if he wanted her to do the paint work outside of that, or through another shop, to let her know. He said she was very calm but it was weird. Then he got to the shop and one of the mechanics told him what happened.”

  Duke relayed what he’d heard Gary Weston, the owner of the shop, had said and done to PJ. In full view of his employees and customers. And that the mechanic had to get between Asa’s woman and a guy Asa remembered as nearly as big as he was. Someone was going to be very, very sorry.

  “The fuck? For what?”

  “I don’t know, man. Joe, the client, he felt awful. Said he tried to call her cell after he found out what happened, but she has it on voicemail. She was so nice he wanted to be sure she was all right.”

  Asa saw red as he paced, pulling his phone from his pocket. Her number went straight to voicemail, so he texted her, but she didn’t reply.

  “Why didn’t she tell me?”

  Duke just looked at him for long moments before deciding to take pity on Asa. “Because she likes to do things herself. Because she’s upset and she knows if she comes to you like that you’ll be even more keen to kick Weston’s ass.”

  “I warned her she wasn’t ready for what I was. Guess she’ll have to deal with it.” She was his. His in an old-school way. To protect and cherish and take care of.

  “I’m going to give you some advice. I know you haven’t asked for it, but you need it anyway.” Duke leaned back, settling in for what Asa thought of as a dude lecture.

  But he always had something thoughtful to say, so Asa tried to rein in his impatience at not hearing from PJ yet and focus on Duke. “What?”

  “It’s a good thing you’ve saved my ass a dozen times, or I’d kick yours for being such a shithead. You two have something major and it’s good for you. It’s like she puts you in a more Zen place or what have you. She’s serious about cars and this is important to her. If she sees your response as interference, you’re going to do some damage.”

  “Are you telling me I can’t punch that asshole Gary?”

  Duke laughed, but it wasn’t his good-natured dude laugh. This one was darker. This one was the laugh of the guy who brawled and raced just as hard as Asa. Once he got riled, Duke was wicked dangerous.

  “Hell no, I’m not saying that. You should absolutely punch him in his face. But separate it from PJ’s Custom Designs and Twisted Steel versus his shop. Make it about Asa and Gary.”

  Asa paused, pushing a breath out and then dragging one in. His control went back into place, but when it came to PJ there seemed to be a whole new set of rules. Entirely new ways to seriously dig on this woman who was quickly taking up a very integral part of his life.

  PJ sat in her truck for a bit before she went inside Twisted Steel. What happened back at the shop down south was upsetting and all, but she had to keep moving or she would dwell. She knew herself well enough to understand that. Luckily she had work to do to keep busy.

  Asa had texted her several times and had left a few voicemails. She’d needed the drive back up to Seattle and then a milkshake before she’d sent him a text saying she was on her way back to the shop and that she was fine.

  And she was better once she’d opened the side door and taken in the smell, the sound of Van Halen’s “Runnin’ with the Devil” blaring as Duke worked on a motorcycle off to her right, the way the place soared in every direction, full of hot dudes fixing stuff.

 
; This had become a place she loved to be. A place that felt more like home to her than Colman ever had. Some of the guys had held her at a distance at first. She was young. Strike one. She was pretty. Strike two. She was from a well-known family, which also made her suspect. And then she went and started dating Asa.

  If she’d been thinking with her business sense instead of her pussy, she probably would have held him off for at least another year so she could establish herself first.

  Slowly but surely, though, she’d earned their respect. It wasn’t perfect. She knew she had a lot of work to do before they’d accept her totally. And when they did, it would be as PJ and not that young hottie the boss was banging.

  Lottie saw PJ approaching and waved. “Hey. You have some receipts in your basket. I deposited some money. We got paid from a few customers this week.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Asa’s been looking for you. He just went into his office to make a call.”

  As much as PJ just wanted to go out and finish the rear fender she’d started yesterday, she knew if she did, it would only make things worse.

  “Okay. I’ll go grab some coffee and by the time I’m ready he’ll maybe be off the phone.”

  “There’s pizza in the fridge in the break room. We had it for lunch. There’s a lot left if you want some.”

  She could have said no, but why would she turn that down? “Cool. I’ll be back shortly.”

  He stalked into the room as she was sliding the pizza box back into the fridge. He didn’t stop at the doorway, or even just a few feet away. He didn’t stop until he’d pulled her to him gently.

  “I was worried about you.” He kissed her forehead. “You’ve had your phone off for hours. You can’t just not call me back when something happens like that.”

  “I didn’t even think you’d know. I didn’t think anyone would know. It happened, I left. After I called my client I turned off my phone and came back up here. How did you find out?”

  “Not from you.”

  She blinked at him, trying to remember he was worried and hadn’t been able to connect with her. “This is not my favorite thing.”