“He is running the shop.”
“No, he thinks he’s running the shop. I would have never sent him in there if I thought he was going to railroad you. Where’s your damn backbone? I’m a little disappointed in you. Colt is smart but he ain’t woman-smart.”
Zanna took a deep breath, her mind starting to work again. “He did say that if I could find a way to bring in more clients, he would keep Bertie on. I think I know just how to do it.”
*
She wore pink today, Colt noticed when he walked into the room. A bright-pink top, in a shade that most women couldn’t pull off. But she did. The color looked like it belonged against Zanna’s bronzed skin.
“Good morning,” she said, nodding to him. He could tell by the frostiness of her tone that she was still angry with him. And not the angry that he liked, not the type of angry where she came flying at him with sparks in her eyes and heat rolling off her body.
He much preferred that Zanna to this one. She had barely spoken to him. She had gone along with everything he had said for the past few days. No pushback, no arguments, no fights.
She had been unfailingly polite.
He hated it.
He hated the politeness, the distance, the quiet, even though that was what he wanted. He needed to concentrate, to work, to figure out what the issues were in Lolly’s salon—and he had. He had accomplished a lot in a little bit of time, but the urge to touch her never went away. In fact it grew stronger, as if her absence was making him want her more. It was making that wild voice in his head, the one he’d kept buried for so long, louder.
He tried not to look at her as she bent over and stared into the refrigerator, but he couldn’t resist. Her ass looked damn good in those blue jeans. It was like she was taunting him. The kitchen was small, and her behind was inches in front of his face.
He couldn’t help himself. He reached out, hooked his finger through her belt loop, and yanked her toward him.
“What the hell?”
She landed in his lap, her curved bottom fitting there just right.
“You’re not wearing black to work today.”
“I’m not going to work today, Mr. Boss Man. I thought you knew that. You keep track of all our schedules so well.” She tried to get off his lap but he wouldn’t let her.
His hands slid up her hips to her waist. The little of band of skin between her shirt and the top of her jeans always looked delectable. He couldn’t help but to run his fingers over it.
He felt her tremble slightly at his touch. She couldn’t hide that from him, so he slid his hand farther up her shirt, his thumb massaging the small of her back in circles. “You’re mad at me.”
“No shit.” She shifted in his lap so she could look him in the eye. “I’m pissed at you, Colt. But I’d bet you don’t even care.”
He did care and that’s what had been driving him crazy the past few days. He cared how she felt. But he was right when he said Bertie had to go. It didn’t make sense to keep her on. “I half expected you to show up at my door with your shotgun, threatening to shoot my balls off if I didn’t take back my decision.” He ran his hand up her back, to the band of her bra. It was smooth, probably made of satin. He was growing hard just imagining what it looked like, how her plump breasts would look spilling out of the cups. He touched the fastening, rubbing his finger along it, reminding her it would only take a swift move of his fingers before he had it off.
She squirmed in his lap. “Let go of me.”
“I don’t want to.”
She slowly raised her hand to his hair, which was in need of a cut. He waited for her to run her fingers through it, like she had in the jail cell just before she kissed him. But the gentle touch he was waiting for never came. She grabbed his ear and yanked on it instead. It was almost better than the caress he had been expecting.
“Ow, damn it!”
“Did that hurt?”
“You know it did.” He rubbed his ear with one hand but couldn’t bring himself to let go.
“Good. I’m mad at you. The last thing I want is your big paws all over me.”
“I don’t believe you.” He rubbed her back again. “Why aren’t you going to work today?”
She seemed surprised by the question. “I took the day off.”
“But why?”
“Why the fifty questions? You would think it was stupid anyway.”
“You don’t know that.”
“It’s my granddaddy’s birthday, okay? He’s been dead for fifteen years but when he was alive, he would keep me out of school so we could celebrate it. We used to get giant cupcakes from the bakery in town and cookies-and-cream ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. And we used to go to the movies. Every year before he got too sick to go. I just don’t like to work on this day. Okay? I save it for him and if you think that’s stupid, I don’t care.”
“My mother loved chocolate peanut butter brownies,” he said, not knowing what prompted him. “Sometimes when I miss her, I make them.”
“You make them?”
“From scratch.” He nodded. “I used to buy them but they weren’t the same. I kept her cookbook. My brothers don’t know, but I took that cookbook with me the day social services came to remove us from the house. I haven’t tried the other stuff in there, just the brownies, because I knew they were her favorite. I don’t think it’s stupid, Zanna. I know what it’s like to miss somebody you love.”
She let out a long sigh before resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m still mad at you.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t think that I’m not.”
“Good.” He hugged her back, amazed at how good it felt to wrap his arms around her and just hold her. “If you tell anybody what I said today, I’ll have you killed.”
“I would expect no less.” He felt her chest shake with laughter.
“Yo, Colt.” Levi walked into the kitchen, his cell phone in hand. The position that he and Zanna were in didn’t seem to faze him. “Duke’s been calling you. He gets all pissy when you don’t pick up your phone.”
“What does he want?”
“I don’t know. Something about a bank. He wants us to meet him.”
“Right now?”
“I guess. He sounds pissed.”
“When is Duke not pissed? Call him back and tell him we’re on our way.” Zanna climbed off his lap as he moved to stand up, but he didn’t want to leave her today so he took her hand in his and said, “Come with us.”
*
They pulled up in front of a small white house that had clearly seen better days. A little house-shaped mailbox with the name TRUMAN printed on it stood in front, a huge contrast with the tumbledown house behind. Paint was flaking off, and the porch seemed kind of lopsided. The overall effect more haunted than homey and cozy. In a town as small as Destiny, Zanna knew most people by name. So she knew Grace Truman, the elementary school nurse and the daughter of the former judge. Even though the man had stepped down from the bench some ten years ago, everyone still called him the Judge. And everyone knew that he lived in the big white house on the outskirts of town and drove a new Cadillac every year. So she was surprised to see that Grace lived here, in one of the shabbiest houses in town. There was nothing about the way Grace dressed or acted that suggested any kind of lofty lifestyle, but Zanna wasn’t expecting this.
“Why did Duke tell us to come to the old Phillips place?” Levi asked as Colt pulled the car to a stop.
“Old Phillips place?” Zanna looked back at him.
“Next to us, the Phillips were the most talked-about people in town. Everybody said the son was crazy and that they kept dead bodies down in the basement.”
“That wasn’t true,” Colt said staring at the house. “The Phillips were older parents and their son was mentally ill and didn’t take his medication because of all the side effects. He was harmless, though.”
“I wonder what happened to him.”
“He lives just outside Vegas in an assisted-
living apartment.”
“How do you know that?” Levi asked his brother.
“I sent him there. His mother wrote to me five years ago and asked me to help her find a place for him after she passed away.”
“Why did she ask you?”
“Because I’m rich.” He shrugged. “Don’t you get people writing to you asking you to help them?”
“Sometimes. I guess the better question is, Why did you do it?”
“Because I’m rich.” He shook his head. “Does it matter? Let’s go see what Duke wants.”
Zanna suspected there was a reason behind Colt’s kindness, but she didn’t push the issue. Duke came from around the side of the house and walked up onto the porch, which was piled high with tools and building supplies. She could tell by the fresh slabs of wood that he was replacing the rotting porch. He wasn’t focused on the task before him, though; instead he was staring up at the roof. As they got closer, they could hear the stream of cusswords coming out of his mouth.
“Whatcha looking at, Duke?” Levi came up behind him, slapping his brother on the shoulder.
“He’s on the fucking roof.”
“Who?”
“My son.” He quickly glanced at Levi and then back up to the roof.
“What do you mean your son?” Levi walked forward grabbing his shoulder. “You’ve got a goddamn kid? When the fuck were you going to tell us?”
“Today.” He shrugged Levi’s hand off his shoulder and gave him a look that would make any normal person crap their pants. “I just learned the truth for sure myself. Grace got pregnant before I got locked up. She never told me. She still wouldn’t have told me, but I threatened to sue her for custody.”
“That worked? Her father is powerful in these parts.”
“The boy is mine. There’s no denying it. She named him Ryder.”
“Shit. Really?” Colt asked, speaking for the first time since they had arrived. “The whole damn world could have figured out he was your kid with a name like that.”
“Somebody want to clue me in?” Zanna said to him. “What’s the big damn deal about the name?”
“My favorite movie is Easy Rider.”
“He used to have a leather jacket with an American flag on it,” Levi told her.
“He always said that if he had a boy, he’d name him Ryder,” Colt added.
“Yeah. I’ve got a boy and he’s on the fucking roof.”
“Where’s Grace?” Zanna looked up, trying to spot the boy.
“She’s taking shifts at the hospital to make ends meet now that school is out for the summer. She left him here with me. I told her that I would sue her for full custody if she didn’t let me be a part of his life. And she did and now I fucked up because I don’t know shit about kids. He was supposed to be heading to summer school, but when I tried to take him, he climbed onto the roof. And I don’t know how to get him down without dragging his ass off.”
“Did he climb on the roof because he was afraid you were going to kill him?” Zanna asked, only half joking.
“I should kill him. He’s a surly, miserable little bastard. The only thing that’s stopping me from wringing his neck is that he’s just like me when I was his age.”
“And you were a delight,” Colt said, surveying the house. And before she knew it, Colt had climbed the porch railing and was hoisting himself up to the roof.
“Colt!” Zanna called after him. He still shocked her so often. He was the last man she’d think would climb on top of a house. Especially in his pressed trousers and expensive Italian shoes.
“It’s not that high.” He extended a hand to her. “Levi, help her up.”
“Gladly.” Levi grinned and hoisted Zanna up to the railing. She didn’t need much help, though. She had climbed many trees when she was a kid in Oklahoma. She was, however, glad she had worn espadrilles today, instead of her usual sky-high heels.
The roof of the old house gently sloped upward, and on the other side she could see a young boy lying down with his hands shielding his eyes. Without saying a word Colt took her hand and led her to him. It was the second time today he’d held her hand. It was probably an absentminded gesture for him, but it turned her on. Hell, she had been turned on since he pulled her into his lap this morning, but there was something about holding hands with the generally cold man that made her legs turn jiggly and rushed tingles all over her sensitive places.
“It’s hot as hell up here.” Colt eased down on the roof next to his nephew.
“Who the fuck are you?” The boy sat up and stared at Colt.
“Watch your mouth.” Colt clamped his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Your father may feel too guilty about missing out on your life to tan your behind like our father did ours. But I’m not your father. I’m your uncle and I’ll put your ass in check.”
“We’ll toss you right off the roof,” Levi said. “It’s not that far a fall. You can survive with a broken arm, Ryder. A good compound fracture might mellow you out a bit.” Levi sat on the other side of the boy.
“There’s a lady here.” Colt motioned toward Zanna. “We respect them. Apologize.”
Ryder looked at her and then back at Colt, his face mulish. He looked a hell of a lot like Duke. She wondered why no one in this town had put it together that this boy was his son.
“It must really hurt being tossed off a roof,” Levi said, looking around him. “Especially if you don’t land right.”
“You wouldn’t throw me off this roof.” The boy’s voice sounded surer than his face looked.
“You don’t know us,” Colt said. “We would. I’m surprised you haven’t heard about us. We were infamous here.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryder said quietly. “My mom doesn’t like cursing, either. She tells my dad—I mean Duke—that he’s not allowed to do it in the house.”
“He shouldn’t. I’m Levi by the way.” He extended his hand. “That’s Colt. The pretty lady here is Zanna, but she’s not family yet. We just are staying with her for a while.”
Zanna heard the yet but chose to ignore it as she sat down next to Colt on the increasingly warm roof. Levi probably didn’t mean anything by it anyway.
“I know who you are,” he said, looking at his uncles. “I watch your show.”
“Do you?” Levi grinned. “I get to play with cars and people give me money for it. My job is pretty cool.”
“I told my mom I didn’t need to go to school to get a good job.”
“You’re wrong.”
“My dad—I mean Duke— didn’t even finish high school. He’s rich. You didn’t go to college.”
“Your dad got his GED. I had to train in Europe to become a race-car driver. Nobody handed me anything. And Colt”—Levi looked over to him and grinned—“Colt’s the reason we have what we have. He’s the one who went to the fancy school. He’s the one who learned all about finance and how to make money. He’s the reason your dad has freaking windshield wiper fluid with his name on it. Race-car drivers and football players make lots of money, but when you’ve got smarts like Colt, you keep growing your money. You’re not just rich, you’re wealthy.”
“What’s the difference?”
“You don’t know?” Levi shook his head. “I guess that’s why you should take your ass to summer school. Come on.” Levi rose. “I want pancakes. You want pancakes? I didn’t get any breakfast yet.”
To Zanna’s surprise Ryder got up and followed his newfound uncle. “Levi has always been great with kids,” Colt said to her as he rose. “I used to think it was because he was a big kid himself, but it’s more than that.”
A few minutes later they were all back on the ground. Duke looked kind of bewildered seeing his son climbing down with all of them. “What the hell did you say to him to get him down?” he asked Colt.
“Levi threatened to toss him off the roof and then offered him pancakes. You know, normal uncle stuff.”
Chapter 10
“What are you thinking about, Colt?” Za
nna asked softly. She was seated next to him in a booth in Destiny’s only coffee shop, located on the outskirts of town. Getting pancakes with Ryder had gone out the window when Grace showed up, wanting to know why the school had called her to tell her that Ryder was absent. Colt had never wanted to see anything as bad as he wanted to see the showdown between Duke and Grace. He had remembered his brother’s ex as delicate, but the woman who pulled up today, mad as hell, was a big departure from the one he knew years ago.
“Colt.” Zanna nudged him with her knee when he didn’t answer. He looked over at her. Damn, she was gorgeous. He’d thought he might get used to her face, but every time he looked into it he had the same reaction. He had always prided himself on being clearheaded, but the truth was he had trouble thinking when she was around. Trouble focusing on her words when her leg was pressed against his and her sweet scent was infiltrating his senses. It made him want to pick her up, carry her home, and bury himself inside her until he regained his senses. But he was afraid that that might never happen as long as he was around her.
“Why do women always ask that?”
“Women ask you that a lot?”
“No,” he said so only she could hear him. “If I’m alone with a woman, she usually knows what’s on my mind.”
“Are you seeing anyone back in Vegas?”
Her question surprised him. “Why do you want to know?” He ran his hand up the length of her thigh.
“I’m making conversation,” she said lightly, but he could hear the hitch in her voice. “I’m trying to get to you know you. You confuse the hell out of me.”
He ran his fingers along the inside of her thigh, wishing he could feel her skin instead of the rough denim. “You confuse me, too.”
She grabbed his hand, linking her slender fingers through his, looking around the half-full restaurant to remind him that this wasn’t the place to start something he couldn’t properly finish.
“You never told me what you’re thinking about.”
“My brother has a son. There’s another one of us. Another King male walking around this planet that we hadn’t known about. I’m half surprised that Levi isn’t the first one to father an illegitimate child.”
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