“Let me give you a ride home.”
Beth nodded. “I’d appreciate that. Natalie is supposed to meet me in the morning for breakfast. I’m sure she won’t mind bringing me back up here.”
Cussing under her breath again, she snatched her bag from where she’d dropped it and headed back toward the bar with Kaleb.
“Pete’s a piece of work.”
“I don’t have the best of luck with men,” she commented, more to herself than him.
He opened the door for her. “I noticed. What’s the other guy’s name? The one who stood you up?”
“Chester.”
“Chester?” Kaleb snorted. “Chester, the molester.”
She laughed. “I can’t believe I was even going to give him the time of day. He did us both a favor by not showing up.”
“Didn’t call or anything?” Kaleb shut off the outside light once they were inside and locked the door.
“Nope. Not a word from him.”
“It’s his loss. Let me grab my keys and let Gabriel know what’s going on before we leave,” he told her, walking toward the door that read Employees Only. “Come on.”
“Is he here?”
He nodded. “We live in the apartment upstairs. I bet I can convince him to close up while I take you home.”
Beth was surprised she hadn’t realized that before now, considering how often she and her friends came by. She followed him into the back. The narrow hall was dimly lit, casting strange shadows.
The first door they passed stood open, revealing a small office. The light emanating from the laptop showed a desk littered with papers. Considering Kaleb was physically in the bar most days she came in, she assumed Gabriel did most of their bookkeeping. The metal cooler door was after the office. Kaleb turned at the back door and went up a narrow set of steps Beth hadn’t seen until then.
“How old is this building?” she asked him, curious. It certainly wasn’t new and based on the creeks, it had to be up there in age. Most of the town was at least a hundred years old.
“Built in 1841,” he said as he ascended the stairs.
A door was at the top of the steps. Kaleb rapped his knuckles on the door once before cracking it open.
“Hey,” he said, pushing the door open the rest of the way and stepping into the apartment.
“What’s going on?” she heard Gabriel ask him as she followed Kaleb inside.
Gabriel was lounging on the couch, hitting buttons on the remote control. When he saw her, he rose to his feet. His broad chest was bare, and he wore a pair of basketball shorts low on his hips.
The Azarov boys were a good-looking pair, she admitted to herself. Both had the same dark brown hair, olive skin, and were built like they belonged on the cover of Men’s Health. Gabriel was only slightly larger than his brother, but if she had to choose between them it would be Kaleb. He always seemed like less of a stick in the mud.
Gabriel looked to Kaleb for an explanation.
“Pete slashed her tires,” Kaleb supplied.
Gabriel rolled his eyes before addressing her. “It’s Beth, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Pete’s a jackass.”
“I noticed.”
“I’m going to give her a ride home,” Kaleb interjected. “Would you finish closing up for me?”
“Sure.”
Beth moved out of Gabriel’s way as he brushed past her to go downstairs. Kaleb disappeared into one of the rooms in the small apartment. She stood there awkwardly inside their door, looking around while she waited for him.
The living room wasn’t big, but it held a large screen television, a couch, and a recliner. The coffee table was old and stained, but still in relatively good condition from what she could tell. The kitchen didn’t look much different. The cabinets were white and had most likely been painted about a decade earlier. Every piece of furniture they had was mismatched, but it all appeared to be in decent condition.
From what she could see there were two bedrooms, one of which Kaleb had disappeared into, and a bathroom. The light was off in the room so she couldn’t see inside, but she assumed based on the number of doors.
“Ready?” he asked her, emerging from his room.
“Yes.”
He swung his keys in his hand and walked past her, out the door. She followed behind him, pulling the door closed as she went.
“You have a nice little place,” she said.
“Thanks. We work hard to keep it.”
“I know. You’re always working.”
He unlocked the back door once they reached the bottom of the stairs. Pushing the door open, he held it for her as she stepped through. There was a dumpster just outside and a few vehicles parked in the alley. Kaleb let the door close behind them and headed toward a green pickup.
“You say that as if you know my pain. Do you work a lot?” he asked her, unlocking the passenger side with his key and opening the door for her before going around to the driver side.
“Yes.” She climbed inside and buckled up. After waiting for him to start the truck, she said, “There are always bills to pay. I’m sure I’ll be working more overtime now just to pay for new tires.”
“I’m sure. So where am I going?”
“Kensington Apartments.”
He nodded and pulled out of the alley and onto the main road.
She was hyper-aware of everything he did. His forearm flexed when he shifted gears, and he leaned back in his seat, his left hand gripping the steering wheel. He had such large hands, she noticed. Powerful. The quiet in the truck started to bother her as he drove.
“Are you seeing anyone?” she asked before mentally kicking herself. It was no business of hers, but that didn’t stop her from putting her foot in her mouth.
He glanced at her, quiet for a moment as if debating how to answer. Or wondering why she was asking. “No, I’m not.”
She nodded and looked out the window to avoid eye contact. “You’re a good-looking man, Kaleb. I’m surprised someone hasn’t wrangled you in.”
He chuckled. “Thanks. Same for you.”
“Really?” she asked, turning slightly in her seat. “You watched one man stand me up tonight, and another called me a cunt before slashing my tires.”
The truck came to a stop, and she realized they were in front of her complex. He pulled the emergency brake and put the truck in neutral before unbuckling and turning in his seat.
“Pete and Chester are stupid. They don’t know what they’re missing out on, but they don’t deserve you.”
She smiled, warmth flooding her belly. Leave it to the bartender to make her feel good about herself. She unbuckled her seat belt and turned, ready to tell him goodnight and thank him again, but the look on his face stopped her dead. The lights from the dash cast shadows on his face. He was focused on her – those piercing eyes almost feasting upon her and causing her heartbeat to quicken once again. Her stomach clenched, and she froze. It was like being spotted by an animal.
“Beth,” he said, his voice low and smooth. “You deserve a man who will show up early to wait for you because he’s hoping to gain even a few extra seconds with you. Someone who wants to take care of you, not because you can’t take care of yourself, but because he enjoys seeing you worry-free. Someone who dreams of your lips, your touch, your taste—”
Kaleb might have been about to recite poetry, but she didn’t give him the chance to finish. She launched herself across the bench seat of the truck, arms wrapping around his neck as her mouth found his.
He met her halfway, his own arms wrapping around her middle and pulling her upper body against his hard chest in a vice-like grip. His lips were warm but firm as he assaulted her mouth. She let him, opening herself to him and his probing tongue.
It was like electricity. Beth had heard that analogy before and had laughed at it, but now she could think of no other way to describe it. Jolts went straight from her mouth to her groin. The warmth of his chest seeped into her, turning
her to jelly.
When he broke away from her mouth, she moaned, her head falling back. Hot kisses traced her jawline, her neck and down to her shoulder. Whiskers scraped her skin, and she clung to him. The thin shirt she wore was pulled to the side, and she felt him on her shoulder, teeth nipping at the skin. She shuddered with want.
He growled – growled? – before his mouth crushed hers. She sucked his bottom lip, moaning into his mouth. Whatever he wanted, he could’ve taken it right there in his truck. She would give it to him happily. She wanted more of him, his mouth wasn’t enough. She reached between their bodies, fingers trailing over the grooves of his shirt-covered abdomen. Lower she went until her fingertips were toying with the waistband of his jeans.
“Beth, stop,” he said into her mouth before releasing her and pulling back. “We have to stop.”
“What?” she asked, wishing she hadn’t heard him correctly. She was breathless. “Why?” She sat back and touched her kiss-swollen lips, still feeling him there.
“I can’t. We can’t.” Kaleb closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his mouth.
They’d gone at it like randy teenagers in his truck, and now he was telling her no? She couldn’t figure out what had changed in the past minute and a half, but his rejection stung.
“B-But…” she stammered, trying to find her voice, “but you told me you were single.”
“I am. Beth, it’s more complicated than that.” He gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. “I’m sorry.”
There was nothing else for her to say, so she didn’t say anything. Instead, she grabbed her bag, got out of the truck and slammed the door before taking off toward her apartment. She took the steps two at a time and jammed the key into the lock. Beth didn’t glance back but knew he waited until she was inside to leave. She heard the truck pull away just as she closed and locked the door.
She sunk against the door and slid to the floor. Her mouth was still swollen, her body uncomfortable with need. Her mind raced, thoughts about everything that had transpired that night filled her mind until tears slid down her face.
Jerk.
But Kaleb wasn’t a jerk. He’d been kind to her, had driven her home even. He’d totally rocked her world and gave her just a taste of something she hadn’t even known she’d wanted just a few hours before.
Then immediately dropped her on her ass.
She hated people.
She hated Kaleb.
She hated him even more the next morning when Natalie took her to her car, only to find that her vehicle had four brand new tires on it.
2
Present day
Life or death.
Those were the words Lila had used and the only reason why Beth was speeding to meet her friend instead of going to work like she had every day since the girl’s night they’d had the weekend before.
Lila wasn’t one for dramatics. She was easy-going and laid back; she certainly didn’t make early morning phone calls demanding people come to her house. It plagued Beth to hear the trembling in her voice, but Lila had declined to elaborate over the phone. She’d have to wait until they were in person.
Her cell phone chirped, signaling a new text message. She waited until she was at a red light before she glanced at it.
Apparently, Beth hadn’t been the only person Lila had contacted. A text from their friend Natalie shown across the screen.
Are you going to Lila’s? What’s going on?
She didn’t respond. Instead, she tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat of her new but used powder blue Volkswagen Bug. Foot hitting the gas, she sailed through the intersection as soon as the light turned green.
Glancing at the clock on the radio, she sighed. Lila’s call had come when she was leaving her apartment to head to work. The last-minute demands had led to Beth calling out, something she never did. She needed all the overtime she could get. Saving up for a down payment on a house wasn’t cheap and giving up the extra eight hours irked her. She was done with apartment living, especially with her current coo-coo roommate.
It didn’t take long for Beth to reach to her destination. When she pulled into the long gravel driveway, she saw Lila’s new Jeep and a truck. A green pickup.
Her stomach dropped.
Why was he here? She rarely saw Kaleb anymore, having cut back on excursions into the Wolf’s Den. It had been awkward to say the least after the incident in his truck. Their conversations were kept to a minimum and she no longer went into the bar alone. If she went, she went with friends.
Even after two years, it still bothered her. After the debacle of that night, she’d stopped trying to date. Instead, she’d thrown herself into work, working sixty plus hours a week to get ahead of the curve. She had been done with just about everything that wasn’t directly or indirectly work related. She didn’t need a boyfriend. The responses Kaleb had triggered in her...
Even now, two years later, she shivered.
Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her cell phone from the passenger seat and shoved it into the front pocket of her beige scrubs before letting herself out of the car.
She refused to worry about the bartender. Beth could ignore him here just as well as she could ignore him anywhere else. Lila was the one requiring her attention.
Lila must have seen her pull up because she was standing outside, holding open the screen door as soon as Beth stepped foot on the porch.
Kaleb and his brother Gabriel stood just inside the door. Hand on her hip, she glanced between the brothers. Life or death? This certainly hadn’t been what she’d expected to find.
“What the hell are they doing here?” she cut out, not caring in the least if they found her tone offensive.
“Long story,” Lila said, turning into the house. Beth followed, ignoring the two over-sized men in the living room. “We’ll get into it when Natalie gets here.”
She’d forgotten to text Natalie back. “Natalie’s coming too? Damn, what is it? An intervention?”
Pulling out her phone as she followed Lila into the kitchen area, she responded to Natalie.
I’m at Lila’s. She brought the friendly neighborhood bartenders home with her. We’re staging an intervention.
Lila grabbed the empty coffee pot and held it under the sink. Beth leaned against the counter, her back to the two men still in the living area of the large open room.
“Um, no. Why would you think it’s an intervention?”
Beth shrugged. “Well, you have been drinking a lot more lately...”
She wasn’t going to take it easy on Lila. Beth had worried just to show up and find Kaleb and Gabriel in her living room.
Lila snorted. “I have not. And besides, why would I hold an intervention for myself?”
“I don’t know,” Beth said with a smirk. “You’re strange sometimes.”
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she used that as an excuse to look away from the glare she was currently receiving.
“Hey, I’m just saying,” she defended as she pulled the phone from her pocket.
Natalie. We’re not really having an intervention, are we? She made it sound important.
No intervention, Beth replied. Just messing with her. Bartenders are here though.
I’m here.
Beth put the phone back in her pocket just as she heard the screen door open. Gabriel had opened the door for Natalie, who was staring between the two hulking men before finding both Lila and Beth. She made a beeline for them.
“Are we having an intervention?” she asked, her native Southern accent now diluted with Northern sounds. She hopped up onto the kitchen counter.
“No!” Lila snapped, louder than necessary. She put a mug full of steaming coffee on the counter and Beth grabbed it. “Why do you guys think I need an intervention?”
“You do like to drink.” Natalie’s attempt at a straight face was laughable. Her mouth twitched, and Beth grinned as Natalie tried to suppress the smile.
Lila shot her
a dirty look. “You told her to ask that when she came in, didn’t you?”
Not replying, Beth sipped the coffee and feigned innocence.
“So, what's all this madness about?” Natalie asked, bringing them back to the matter at hand. “You sounded all ‘life-and-death’ on the phone. Gave me the creeps. Not to mention I had to cancel my date with this really gorgeous doctor who had plans to take me bowling at three.”
Bowling? Beth almost choked on her coffee. “Bowling. Seriously?”
Natalie’s hand flew to her chest as she turned to Beth, offended. “Yes. What’s wrong with bowling?”
“Nothing,” Beth said. She could think of a dozen things wrong with bowling. Athlete’s foot was one.
“It’s fun!”
“I’m sure it is.”
“Oh, be quiet,” Natalie groundout before turning back to Lila. “Tell me why I’m here. Not that I don't love hanging out with you Lila, but you know, I have places to go, people to see...”
Ditto.
“Let’s go sit down," Lila said, pouring a cup of coffee for herself and an extra before walking back to the living room.
Lila gave the extra cup of coffee to Gabriel. Beth observed them. Lila wasn’t very good at hiding the fact that she wanted him. It was evident by just how close she sat next to him. She’d left no air in between their bodies.
Kaleb had wandered over to the shelves in the living room, looking at the pictures that had been placed on Lila’s bookshelves. Beth knew the one he stared at now. It was of her and Lila when they’d gone to Old Orchard Beach the previous August for a quick weekend getaway.
If he wanted to stare at a picture of Beth in a bikini, she wouldn’t stop him. Let him look at what he missed out on. There was a reason why that one was the picture on the shelf and not the next one they’d taken where she’d looked stoned. That one had been deleted.
“Kaleb, do you want coffee?” Beth asked before she even realized she’d opened her mouth.
Wild and Untamed (Netherworld Series Book 4) Page 3
