by Jenny Penn
They’d get there.
Right then there were other delights to enjoy. GD seemed intent on trying as many of them at once as he could when he captured one peaked tip of the breasts she was all but waving in his face. Once again her clothing offered no protection from the moist heat of his ravaging kiss. Nibbling on her nipple right through her blouse, GD damn near had Kitty Anne climaxing almost instantly.
She would have, too if, all of a sudden, GD hadn’t reversed course. The fingers biting deep into her hips hefted her upward as he dumped her on the seat beside him and shoved her across it with a denial that sounded as though it pained him.
“No!”
He ground out that denial, and it was clear what it cost him and just how close he was to breaking. Kitty Anne smiled and started to crawl back across the seat, but instead of ending up back in his lap, she ended up with a palm flattened against her forehead as he held her back with very little effort.
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on,” Kitty Anne coaxed as she lifted her chin to try and capture one of his fingers with her lips. “You know you want it.”
“I do,” GD admitted. “But I like my women a certain way.”
“You mean sandwiched with another man?”
GD didn’t answer that but just smiled and nodded toward the dash. “Open the glove box.”
There was something about the way he made that suggestion that had Kitty Anne hesitating. Straightening up in her seat, she eyed his smile. He was up to something. The last time he’d looked that smugly contented, she’d ended up arrested.
“Go on. Open it.”
Swallowing back her nerves, Kitty Anne reached out and did as he commanded, flipping down the plastic door to reveal a jewelry box inside. It was the size of a necklace, and her fingers began to shake as she pulled it out and stared down at the ornately engraved lid.
“Open it.”
Taking in a deep breath and preparing herself for what lay within, Kitty Anne was still caught off guard when she flipped the lid up. All the tension and anticipation rebounded into sheer exasperation as she glanced up at him.
“You got to be kidding. You don’t really think I’m going to wear this, do you?”
“Yep,” he answered with a crisp nod. “You can go ahead and hold on to it until you’re ready. I’ll wait.”
“And you’ll be waiting forever,” Kitty Anne vowed.
It was a lie, but she didn’t believe in letting the truth get in the way of a good line. Besides, the man had a lot of audacity to give her a collar. She couldn’t just let him get away with that without giving back some attitude.
“Oh, no, Miss Allison, I don’t think I’m going to have to wait that long,” GD drawled out slowly as his grin widened.
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we, Mr. Davis?” Kitty Anne shot back, crisping up her tone as she shoved her so-called gift into her purse. “But I do wonder what you would do if I got you a matching gift.”
“You never know.” GD surprised her with that comeback as he paused to look at her before he shoved out of the truck to come around and open her door. “And I hate to tell you this, but you wouldn’t be the first.”
Chapter Six
It took a supreme act of self-control for GD to hold back the laughter as he opened Kitty Anne’s door. She pinned him with a sour expression. Her lips were pursed, her gaze narrowed, and her brow pinched with an adorable look of disapproval.
“You actually let some woman tie you up?” She picked right back up with their argument, managing to sound ironically appalled, given she had just suggested she be allowed to do that very thing.
“I don’t kiss and tell, beautiful.” Especially not when it was going to get him into trouble.
“Oh, you got to be kidding me!”
Kitty Anne broke away from him, dismissing GD in that moment as she rushed up to her car. There was a boot clamped down over her tire. It took him a moment to make sense of what he was seeing, but she seemed to understand almost instantly.
“That crazy old bat,” Kitty Anne spat as she ripped open the note taped to her window.
She read it out loud, snarling over the words as her mother demanded five hundred dollars—cash—as a fine for blocking the driveway. It was the most outrageous thing GD had ever seen or heard, and that was saying something.
“Your mom’s not serious…is she?” She couldn’t be.
“Of course she is.” Kitty Anne huffed, crumpling the note in her fist as she turned toward him. “I need you to take me by an ATM.”
“But—”
“She needs the money.”
There was a grim acceptance in those words that suddenly made everything click into place. Kitty Anne may not have made that much, but she did make more than enough to afford something more than a monthly rental motel room, but not if she were supporting two people.
“Okay then.” GD nodded, silently coming to an understanding of what he needed to do. “Let’s go.”
Without a word, he drove her back into town, taking her by the bank, where Kitty Anne took out the cash her mother needed. GD could tell by the worried way she lingered over her receipt that Kitty Anne wasn’t annoyed but anxious and knew that she had to be strapped for money. He'd have given her some, but he also knew she wouldn't take it.
No, what he needed to get her was a better job and a safer place to live. The safest place would be with him, but again, GD knew there was no way Kitty Anne would move in with him and let him take care of her. Things had to change, and they would. He’d see to it.
Laying down that silent vow, GD reached out to cover Kitty Anne’s hands where they were fisted on top of her purse. After a few seconds, she uncurled one to lace her fingers through his and held on tight, allowing him to share his strength silently with her.
He didn’t dare to ruin the moment by speaking, leaving Kitty Anne to the privacy of her own thoughts. She didn’t need to share them. He understood how important appearances were to Kitty Anne. He also knew that the connection they shared had allowed him to slip beneath those defenses. Hell, she was technically about to introduce him to her mother.
That was actually a big step, and he took a moment after he got out of the truck to make sure his shirt was tucked in and run a hand through his hair. Still, GD couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as he came around to assist Kitty Anne from the truck and follow her up the path to the front door of the small trailer.
Kitty Anne rang the bell and stepped back, shooting him little worried glances out of the side of her eye as the trailer shifted ever so slightly with movement from within. A moment later the door opened to reveal a slightly older lady dressed up in a house robe and a set of curlers.
She was tall and willow thin, the total opposite of her well-rounded daughter. Her hair was darker, too, and her features more delicate yet, there was something in the way she held herself that reminded GD of the woman beside him.
“Well, if it’s not my wayward daughter and her…date?”
That was it. That was what mother and daughter had in common, a gift for the drama and the crazy. It was honestly amazing and more than a little impressive the way the older woman managed to not only look down her nose at GD but also, at the same time, rake a lecherous gaze over him, leaving no doubt of the directions of her thought.
He couldn’t help but blush a little, given where Lynn Anne’s gaze lingered. Never before had he so thoroughly been checked out by a woman’s mother. GD wasn’t exactly sure what to do or say. Kitty Anne came to his rescue, thrusting a large wad of cash at her mother and drawing the woman’s gaze back toward her.
“Here’s the money. Now give me the key to the boot.”
“Not so fast, young lady.” Lynn Anne moved quickly, blocking Kitty Anne as she tried to shove past into the house. “Let me just take a look at this and make sure it’s all here.”
“Mother—”
“Twenty…forty…sixty…”
Kitty Anne heaved an aggri
eved sigh that ended with a glare Lynn Anne returned when she ran out at three hundred.
“You’re short.”
“The ATM has a limit.”
“Then get your gentleman friend to pay,” Lynn Anne suggested, turning a smile on him. “He can work it off.”
“Mother!”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lynn Anne apologized without a hint of remorse sounding in her tone. Her gaze lingered for a moment too long on GD before she turned back to her daughter and shocked him once again with her boldness.
“I meant to say that you could work it off. I mean really, what does two hundred dollars buy a man these days? An hour? A half?”
“Mother!”
“What?” Lynn Anne blinked innocently. “I’m just curious and trying to be supportive. As a parent, you learn to accept your child as is.”
Lynn Anne imparted that bit of wisdom to GD while Kitty Anne blushed an even brighter red. “Keys! Now!”
Lynn Anne eyed her daughter with a smug little smirk tugging on her lips. GD held his breath as he waited to see if she pushed Kitty Anne further, but obviously the older woman had decided she’d had enough fun. Stepping back, she waved Kitty Anne in.
“On the kitchen counter.”
Without a word, Kitty Anne stormed past her mother, leaving GD standing there somewhat awkwardly as the woman turned her gaze back on him. The warmth and interest that had shown there moments ago was lost now to the hard glare she pinned him with.
“So, you’re the new toy, huh?”
“I think you mean boy,” GD corrected her, knowing that had been no accidental slip-up.
“No, I don’t.” The smile Lynne Anne shot him was anything but warm. “You’re a little big to be a boy, Mr…”
“Davis,” GD filled in for her as he extended a hand. “George Davis.”
“Lynn Anne.” she responded, shaking his hand with a quick, firm grip. “I’m sure my daughter has told you all about me.”
“Well—”
“Don’t believe a word of what she says.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Kitty Anne snapped, coming up behind Lynn Anne, who turned around to defend herself.
“It’s true. You go out with one guy after another, breaking hearts left and right. Someday fate is going to catch up with you,” Lynn Anne warned her.
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Really?” Lynn Anne lifted a brow and turned back to study GD with a more studious glance than her previous ones had been. “This one looks like a nice guy. You tell him how I sued you, twice?”
“Mother.”
“That’s her sympathy play, cons all the good guys into thinking she’s damaged and they can save her. You don’t know how many men in this world want to be a hero.” Lynn Anne shook her head. “It’s sad really, but my girl is good. She has them grateful to be rid of her by the end of the week. Can't keep a man's interest to save her life.”
“I can, too,” Kitty Anne cut in defensively. “It’s called dating. Things don’t always work out.”
That got an eye roll from Lynn Anne before she leaned in close to GD and dropped her voice into a conspirator’s whisper that was still loud enough for Kitty Anne to hear.
“You want to know the truth you can come back by tomorrow and we’ll have ourselves some tea.”
“You want to talk about a well-practiced line,” Kitty Anne muttered, a hint of jealousy darkening her words.
GD knew that he was out of his depth and it was time to retreat. Reaching out past Lynn Anne to take the key out of Kitty Anne’s hand, he made a face-saving, gentlemanly offer to take care of the boot. Then he fled, or tried to. Kitty Anne’s car was parked not but twelve feet or so away from her mother’s front door, more than close enough for him to hear the two women whispering furiously between themselves.
“Really, Mother, must you hit on all my boyfriends?”
“Oh, please. Don’t be ridiculous, and don’t leave your car in my driveway.”
“Then don’t let Candice be so rude to me.”
“Is that what this is all about? Some childish tantrum?”
“I’m not the one who booted the car!”
“You have to be taught a lesson.” Lynn Anne shrugged, completely unconcerned that her daughter looked as though she was about ready to burst a vein.
GD spied on Kitty Anne as she took several calming breaths while Lynn Anne watched him work. That glint was back in her eyes, but he could see through it now. She was just as full of shit as her daughter. Lynn Anne didn’t want him. She wanted to annoy Kitty Anne.
It was working.
“Where did you get that boot?” Kitty Anne finally asked after a clear pause to collect herself, but the strain still sounded in her tone.
“Candice’s nephew runs a tow truck company. He brought it out.”
“And how much did that cost you?” While the exasperation was clear in Kitty Anne’s question, the desperation was better hidden in Lynn Anne’s answer.
“Fifty and you still owe me two hundred.”
“I’ll bring it by tomorrow, Mom. I promise,” Kitty Anne swore, her annoyance blunting any sweetness in the gesture. “Now I’ve got to get.”
Kitty Anne dropped a quick kiss on Lynn Anne’s cheek and stepped around the older woman as GD finally pulled the boot off and away. He stowed the equipment up by the house where Lynn Anne directed him. She reiterated her invitation for tea the following afternoon before disappearing back inside.
“I’m so sorry about her,” Kitty Anne said almost instantly.
“Don’t be.”
Actually, GD was thinking that a cup of tea would be an interesting way to pass an afternoon. He didn’t suspect that Kitty Anne would appreciate that thought, so he kept it to himself as he opened her car door for her. She hesitated there for a moment to offer GD up a smile that had him going all warm inside.
“You know you could follow me back to my home and we could find a better way to end this night.”
GD smiled, wanting more than anything to give into the sweet rush of lust flooding through his veins, but he knew better. It wasn't time. Not yet. Instead, he dropped a chaste kiss on top of her head and whistled his way back to his truck, leaving her standing there staring after him.
* * * *
Nick was exhausted and about ready to pass out when his phone rang. It wasn’t late, not by most people’s definition, but it was by Nick’s. He grumbled over the disruption as he reached for his phone, glancing at the number flashing in the small screen before flipping it open.
“I swear to God if Kevin—”
“This isn’t about Kevin.” GD cut him off.
“Oh.” That threw Nick for a moment. “Then why the hell are you calling me so late?”
“Dude, it’s ten o’clock.”
“Yeah?”
“And you’re not even thirty.”
“So?”
“I got a problem, okay?”
“Uh-huh, let me take a guess. It’s the Venus,” Nick teased, knowing damn good and straight that he was right.
He’d been waiting for this move ever since GD had started going on about his plans for the girl. GD wanted to set him up, but Nick wasn’t interested in riding shotgun into the happily ever after with some goddess. He had a camp to run. His mission to help his boys, that was what he was married to.
“I told you that mythical creatures always lead to trouble,” Nick reminded the big man. “I warned you the other night. This is why I only date easy women, less drama.”
“Just shut up and listen,” GD shot back, sounding both annoyed and amused at the same time. “Kitty Anne got fired today.”
“Uh-huh,” Nick repeated, not trusting himself to say more than that for fear that the laughter building up inside of him might pop out.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that GD had fallen for some naughty librarian, her name was Kitty Anne. Kitty Anne! Nick didn’t know what was funnier, the girl’s name or the fact that GD thought he’d
fall in love with a woman named Kitty Anne. It physically hurt not to give into the roar of the chuckles rumbling in his chest.
“You know I can hear you snickering,” GD snapped, even though Nick knew he couldn’t. GD just knew him that well.
“I’m sorry, man.” Nick took a deep breath and tried to push his amusement back down, but it knotted in his stomach and had his words strangling on themselves. “You were saying?”
“You just go on and laugh it up, man,” GD grumbled. “I can’t wait to have a laugh at your expense when you meet our Venus.”
“Whatever, man,” Nick dismissed GD, but the man was like a dog with a bone.
“No, it’s not whatever because I need you to do Kitty Anne a favor.”
“Yeah?” Nick sighed, flopping back on the bed and closing his eyes. “What?”
“Give her a job…and maybe a place to stay.”
“What?” Nick’s eyes popped open at that request. He’d expected GD to put some pressure on him but this was ridiculous. “Are you nuts? You know this is a guy-only camp. Women are a distraction, and a Venus even more so.”
“Come on,” GD urged. “She’s in kind of a bind.”
“And?”
“And…” GD drew out that word before muttering over the rest. “It’s kind of my fault.”
“Kind of?”
“I got her arrested, and that got her fired, and I’m sure she’s good at something.”
“Yeah, I can guess what.” Nick snorted.
“I didn’t mean that,” GD snapped. “But since you bring it up, I’ll make you a bet.”
“A bet?” That caught Nick’s attention. He did love to gamble. “What kind of bet?”
“I bet you can’t interview the woman without fucking her.”
“Oh, you are kidding me.” Nick knew that GD thought he’d find Kitty Anne irresistible, but this was too much. After all, Nick had never, ever met a woman he had to fuck. “And what do I get if I win?”
