Manster

by Cari Quinn

  As I got closer to them, Callie’s laugh reached me. She settled her hands on her belly. “Stop frowning, Wyatt.”

  “The demon drew blood.”

  “No, she was kneading you. Means she likes you. A lot,” I added with a little surprise of my own.

  “Why?”

  “Obviously, she has issues.”

  Callie snorted. “I’ve missed hanging with you, Piper.”

  I laid a hand on her shoulder. “Well, you’ve got that Irish husband taking up your time and making babies.”

  She blushed. “That’s the truth. I didn’t think he was ever going to knock me up.”

  Wyatt held up a hand. “Stop, please.”

  Callie grinned. “I have a captive audience. Should I tell you about my last doctor’s appointment? How about my mucus plug?”

  “Sweet Jesus, no.” He tried to stand up and Maya must have expressed her displeasure.

  I laughed, until the word mucus registered. “I don’t want to know either.”

  She lifted her croissant. “You don’t know the half of it. I’ve had so many hands up my skirt, I should start charging. Instead, they’re charging me.” She broke off a corner and caught the chocolate with her thumb. “God, this is good.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “How can you eat after what you said?”

  “Oh, I can eat anytime, sweetheart.” She licked her thumb. “I could eat while I’m sleeping if it were possible.” Callie moved over a seat. “Sit,” she said between chewing.

  Then I’d have to sit in front of Hudson. Not sure I was ready for that. Even if my cat was currently holding him hostage.

  “Sit down, kitten. I won’t bite.”

  “No, you just leave.” I hadn’t meant to say that one out loud. As usual, if I didn’t keep quiet, my mouth got me in trouble.

  His fingers tightened around his mug. “About that.”

  “It’s fine. You made it very clear. I’m over it.”

  Callie gave him a sharp look. “What does that mean, Hudson Jefferson Wyatt?”

  His shoulders scrunched up. “Jeeze, Cal.”

  “Jefferson? Really?”

  “My parents are cruel, evil people.”

  “Your mother’s a saint.” Callie rubbed her belly. “Oh, baby didn’t like the chocolate.”

  Hudson sat up straight. “Do you need anything?”

  “It to be October twenty-eighth?” She waved him off. “I’m fine, the baby is just kicking like a footballer.” She blew out a breath. “Probably from watching all the games with its father.”

  “Still don’t want to know the sex of the baby?”

  She shrugged. “I thought about asking, but Blackbeard wants to be surprised. He keeps doing the guessing game thing and flipping back and forth about it, but I know he still wants to do it the old-fashioned way. Next one, I’ll need to know.”

  “You’re going to do it twice?” We both asked together.

  Callie laughed. “Yeah, I think two is good. Unless, you know, I twist his parts off during the delivery. I have strong hands.”

  I pressed my lips together and looked down at the table.

  Hudson cleared his throat. “Well, let’s not shorten the Irishman any more than he already is.”

  Callie laughed. “He has room to spare.”

  I plugged my ears. “La-la-la. I don’t want to know.” I stood up. “I’ll get you a little milk to help settle things.”

  “Thanks, Piper.” Callie winced. “I think that’s a good idea.”

  “I can get it.” Hudson tried to get up, but again, Maya let her needs be known—with claws. He looked down at the cat. “Am I being held hostage?”

  “Until she’s hungry anyway.”

  “You have to help me.” His voice was a little strained.

  Unluckily for him and his needs, the cafe got busy. I didn’t have time to do much more than drop off a glass of milk for Callie before I was sucked back into barista mode.

  Tabs and I made a good team. She’d been the first person I hired when I opened the place. Her real gig was as a struggling hairdresser in Los Angeles. She was forever fighting for space in the salons, so the cafe allowed her to make day money so she could work evenings and build her clientele.

  But here at the cafe, she was perfect at building the various drinks. I didn’t know if it was part of her chemistry abilities, or just that she was that good. Especially since she didn’t even drink the stuff.

  Me, I couldn’t live without it. And I’d had far too little of it today, thanks to unexpected guests and an influx of customers. The fact that I had a real live rockstar in my building had gotten out as well. More people had come through the doors today than had in the last month total.

  Finally, things started to die down and I was able to give Tabitha a break. The afternoon help came in and I changed over the cash register. It was dangerously overflowing. Even though most people used their cards or Apple Pay and the like, there was still a shit-ton of cash flowing through the place.

  I took a minute to drop one of the money bags into my safe as a new pot of coffee was brewing. When I came back out, it seemed as if the afternoon staff had things well in hand.

  I took a pot of my regular coffee to do a run through the cafe for refills for the regulars. I did a drive-by of Callie and Hudson’s table. He clamped a hand on my wrist.

  “Have mercy on me, woman.”

  “I’m busy.” I pulled away and his fingers slid down to tangle with mine. I looked down at them and hated that my hand was all buzzy and tingly. Why with this guy? I’d pretty much resigned myself to the idea that me and the opposite sex were never going to be a real thing.

  Mostly because I never met one who got me motivated to try. This one? Motivated and promptly denied.

  “I’ve had to piss for an hour,” he said out of the side of his mouth in a harsh whisper. “Every time I try to push her off, she digs her talons into me.”

  I sighed and put the pot down.

  He leaned forward a little. “Is that the delicious stuff you made earlier?” He hissed out a breath. “Honestly, cat.”

  “Call her by her name and she might treat your thighs a little better.”

  Hudson glanced up at me. “Is that right? Her owner too?”

  “I never treated your thighs badly. You’re the—”

  “Yeah, we’re good. Let’s not go there.”

  Callie looked between us. “Tell me more.”

  “Can you take the cat please?”

  “Call her by name and I will.”

  “He’s being all gruff, but he’s been petting her for the last thirty minutes.”

  “What else am I supposed to do?” The fact that he looked offended about being nice to my cat made me twitchy. “Kitten, can you please take Maya off my lap?”

  “Why must you call me that?”

  “Because it bugs you. And I like poking at you.”

  Callie did the eye thing again. “Aww, it’s like a boy on the playground.”

  I rolled my eyes and scooped up Maya. She did indeed dig her nails into his legs, but let up pretty quickly when I gave her a treat from my pocket.

  “Thank you, Jesus.” He stood up and swayed a little. “My legs are numb.”

  “Don’t be a baby.”

  “No love here.” He looked down at the cat who was contentedly eating treats off Hudson’s chair. “Too much love from you.”

  Maya looked up at him and rose onto her haunches to try and bat at him again.

  “Oh, no. You stay there.” He turned and fled.

  Callie glanced over her shoulder until Hudson was out of earshot, then folded her arms on the table. “Tell me everything.”

  “There’s nothing to tell.”

  “You’re lying. What did he do? Or rather what didn't he do?”

  “How do you know it’s not do?”

  “I know Wyatt. He’s a good guy, but has some flaws. I generally make allowances for them because he makes me laugh.”

  “Yes, well,
he doesn’t make me laugh.” No, more like burn and then get itchy. That sounded like a rash. How fitting.

  “Very interesting. Generally, he uses charm on everyone.”

  “Does he give people nicknames?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “He did for me. Seems to only give real nicknames to people he likes. Otherwise he goes with the standard darlin’ or babe that all the guys use.”

  I didn’t know what to make of that. Especially since he hadn’t stuck around after I’d kissed him. In fact, he hadn’t even kissed me back.

  The embarrassment flooded me again. As if I needed to relive it. I’d only gone over it in my head about nineteen times since it happened. And I wasn’t that girl. Even Bobby Stewart in high school—who had been my longest running crush of all time—hadn’t left me as fluttery and out of sorts.

  And as much as I loved music, I was more likely to go fangirl on Kelly Clarkson than a rockstar. I knew Hammered music, who didn’t? But I didn’t have their albums or anything. I couldn’t even name a song off the top of my head besides their big hit, “Cathedrals”.

  This whole thing was annoying. And maybe he’d just not come back after this visit. Maya certainly chased him away easily enough. Perhaps he wouldn’t bother with my place after this.

  A girl could hope.

  “He’s a really good guy, Piper. Maybe you should give him a second chance. He was the one who volunteered to bring me here today. Owen was going to bring me, but he had to do some studio stuff.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  I didn’t know what to do with that information. Now I was even more confused.

  “Ready to go?” Callie looked over my shoulder.

  I didn’t need to turn around to know he was behind me. His scent had rolled up just before the heat of him threatened to flay off the skin on my back. “Do you need to loom over me?” I asked him.

  “You’re pocket-sized, kitten. I don’t have much choice but to loom over you. Unless you want to try and climb up on a chair again.”

  I whirled on him. “What does that mean?”

  “Means maybe we need to try that again.”

  Heat climbed up my neck and blasted my cheeks while excitement bloomed in my belly. “Why? So I can feel like a jerk again?”

  “No, so I can make it up to you.”

  I crossed my arms. I didn’t know what to say to that one. And I really wasn’t sure I was ready to give up my mad. “Why?”

  “Is that the only word you know?”

  “How about ‘why me, God?’”

  He grinned down at me. “You asked me for a lesson or two. I’ve decided I like that idea.”

  The excitement inside me was now battling with panic. Mad was pulling in a distant third. “Oh, have you?”

  “Yes. As long as you answer one question.”

  “This ought to be good.”

  “It’s an important one.”

  “I’m on pins and needles.”

  “Are you a virgin?”

  “Wyatt!” Callie’s voice rose. “You can’t ask her that.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You’re not, right? You would have told me.”

  My face was now officially on fire. I expected to see wisps of smoke anytime now. “You can go now. I’ve decided to rescind my offer.”

  “What offer?” Callie slapped the table. “What the hell did I miss?”

  We both ignored her. Hudson stepped closer to me until we were toe-to-toe. “Answer the question, kitten.”

  I bristled. “No.”

  “No, you won’t answer it, or no, you aren’t?”

  “Guess you’ll just have to live with the mystery.”

  “Guess I’ll just have to come back tomorrow and find out.”

  “Be prepared to pay for twenty-dollar coffees all day, buddy.”

  “I have a very good line of credit.”

  “Incorrigible.” I hip-checked him out of the way and he had the gall to laugh. Freaking jerk. “I’ll be over to see the new nursery set up this week, okay?”

  “Sounds perfect.” Callie struggled to her feet. Hudson went around the table to help her. She smiled up at him. “Why don’t you go get the car?”

  “So you two can talk about me again?”

  “You wish,” I snapped.

  “Even if you don’t talk about me, you’ll be thinking about me tonight, kitten.” He absently smoothed his hand down Maya’s back and then strolled out the door, whistling the whole way.

  “Seriously? Why do you like him again?”

  Callie grinned. “Not a clue most days. He grows on you.”

  “Must be an acquired taste.”

  “Must be.”

  “Stop smiling at me like that. It’s creepy.”

  “Is it?” Callie dragged me in for a hug.

  My lips twitched as I hugged her back. “Stop smiling.”

  She laughed. “Make me.”

  I nudged her away, then looped my arm through hers and led her to the door.

  “Oh, look, the penis car has arrived.” I squinted out the window. “How does he even fit in there?”

  She slid her arm around my waist. “He used to drive Formula One cars. He can fit those crazy long legs in some weird spaces.”

  I didn’t have any response to that one. Probably because my girl parts were all fluttery about the racing thing. I hadn’t known that part. “Are those the weirdly low to the ground cars with the ridiculous wheels?”

  Callie nodded. “That’s the one. He got in a pretty bad accident and had to stop racing. He doesn’t talk about it much. The reason why he joined the band. Now he beats the shit out of skins instead of the road.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Interesting, isn’t he?”

  “No.”

  “Sure.” She waved at Hudson. He got out and opened the door to the electric blue sports car as I led her through the front door.

  “I’ve got her.” He gently helped her into the car and closed the door.

  Callie lowered her window. “I came here for a reason and got caught up in all this soap opera stuff.”

  My cheeks flushed. “Not that interesting.”

  “So you say.” She reached her hand out the window to me. I caught her hand and squeezed. “I just wanted to say how much I appreciated you closing up for my baby shower. It was such an amazing day. You made it awesome.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m glad we made it so special for you.”

  “You did.” She blinked away tears. “So special. Wait until you see all the stuff in the nursery. We almost need to give this little girl or guy our master bedroom to fit everything.”

  Hudson leaned against the side of his car. “Not spoiled at all.”

  “Just loved. Super loved.” Callie sniffled. “Okay, evidently I need to go home and take a nap. No crying.”

  He pushed himself off the car. “Owen has already texted me three times.”

  “Did he? He’s so sweet.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, kitten.”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Wow, you almost stomped your foot that time.” He flicked his finger down the slope of my nose. “Cute.”

  I batted his hand away. “Jerk.”

  “What time does the cafe close tomorrow? Or don’t you have to close?”

  “It doesn’t matter since we’re not doing anything tomorrow.”

  “Sure we are. Lessons start at, say, four?”

  “I said I rescinded my offer.”

  “I have vetoed that proclamation.”

  “You can’t veto anything,” I yelled. But it was too late, he’d already gotten in his car and gunned the engine.

  This time I did stomp my foot. What the hell had happened? How had I lost complete control of the situation? And why were my nipples hard enough to carve my name in his leather seats?

  Okay, not the last one, probably. But there was no denying Hudson Wyatt was a complication I’d never expected.

  Especially si
nce I was pretty sure he could complicate me all night long and have me screaming for mercy.

  Or more.

  I turned to go back inside. Tomorrow seemed awfully soon. And I had no one to blame but myself.

  Lessons. God help me.

  5

  Wyatt

  As usual, trying to park close to Piper’s shop was a lesson in futility, but at least I found a garage with an empty slot. Much safer than on the Strip. I’d gone with my Jeep today, hoping I could lure her out to someplace neutral.

  I couldn’t really get a sense of her when we were constantly on her turf. It was too easy for her to slip away from me. The worst part was, I was finding it harder and harder to stop thinking about her.

  She’d shocked the hell out of me with the kiss and her crazy offer the other day. I was used to women throwing themselves at me. It was just part and parcel of being a rockstar. Pussy was everywhere, and I didn’t mean the kind that came in palaces.

  I wasn’t a saint, but I didn’t partake as much as the media led people to believe. Mostly because I was just plain bored, not due to any other altruistic reason. I had a healthy sex drive, but I was tired of the fakeness that surrounded me. My band was the only place I felt at home, and even they were changing drastically.

  Parties weren’t a staple of our lives anymore, thanks to marriage and impending baby makes three on the Blackwell home front. Not only did that kill the party circuit, but my friendship with Callie had become a little strained. Nothing overt had occurred, but I didn’t have that whole baby-makes-three rhythm she had going on with Owen. Life was changing not just for her, but for all of us in Hammered. And overall, things were going well.

  Even the tensions with Bats were at an all-time low. Mostly because he didn’t have us peeking over his shoulder every goddamn moment like we had while the band was on tour. He was still secretive as fuck. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t his mother, for fuck’s sake. If he wanted to ruin his damn life with Victoria, then it was his business.

  Poaching on another man’s ex was bad juju as far as I was concerned, regardless of the fact that she was a damn shark. We’d been thrilled when Hunter had come to his senses about her, but now she was back and creating havoc all over again.

  Now I’d met a different sort of havoc-creator. Whether Piper would end up being a momentary distraction or more remained to be seen.