Cara Darling

CARA DARLING

A Heroes and Rogues Story

DESTINY BLAINE

Cara Darling

Copyright © 2014

Published by Dark Hollows Press

About the Book You Have Purchased

All rights reserved. Without reserving the rights under copyright, reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Distribution of this book, in whole or in part, is forbidden. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law.

Cara Darling

Copyright © 2014 Destiny Blaine

ISBN 10: 1940756545

ISBN 13: 978-1-940756-54-7

Publication Date: May 2014

Original Publication Date: February 2014 in
Red Hot Valentines

All cover art and logo copyright © 2014 by Dark Hollows Press

Cover design by
3 Rusted Spoons

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

Chapter One

She may have been a little rough around the edges. She may have seen more miles on her back than she’d ever dared to walk, but one way or another Cara, often referred to as Mama or the MC’s sheep, would soon wear another title, too—his woman.

Scott stood next to the pool table watching the club’s broads like he had some interest in one or two of them, but most of the night he’d kept Cara in his periphery. By two in the morning, he considered himself lucky. His drunken stupor provided excellent double vision. And in his mind, both Caras didn’t have a clue he’d been gawking for the better part of the evening.

His buddy Logan Marcs sort of shot that assumption all to hell when he appeared out of nowhere. And nowhere must’ve been an exciting place because he sure didn’t look too pleased as he marched toward Scott in the wee hours of the morning.

“Didn’t expect to see you again tonight, Marcs,” Scott slurred. “With a pretty little thing like Sassy in your bed, most men would think you’d know better than to leave her alone, especially after the party you and your boys threw here tonight.”

“If I had my way about it, I’d still have a beautiful woman snuggled up in my arms,” Logan said. “Cara called. Says she’s not sure if she should throw you out or invite you back to her room. Claims you’ve been standing here gawking at her for the past couple of hours.”

Scott stumbled to the wooden ledge on the far wall and grabbed his lukewarm beer. “That’s a lie and the truth.”

“I can figure out the truth. What’s the lie?”

“I haven’t been gawking exactly. Admiring has a much better ring to it.” Scott turned up the bottle and took a drink of the god-awful brew. “Any chance you could talk to Tigger’s old lady and see if she’ll grab me a cold one?”

Logan smirked. “I never took you for a fisherman, Scott.”

“I’m not,” he said, not at all following him.

“You’re fishing, all right. Tigger and Cara haven’t been together in over a year. She’s free game, if that’s what you want to know.”

“Is that a fact?” Scott played dumb. He took another sip of his beer. “Ah.” He tried to pretend the alcohol was ice cold and the news wasn’t music to his ears. “I hadn’t heard.”

“You’d heard. You just wanted confirmation.” Logan slapped him squarely between the shoulders. “Come on. Let me find you an empty room and see if you can’t sleep off that drunk.”

“Are you the hospitality chairman nowadays?” Scott looked around the large recreational room. After the big spring fling the Heroes and Rogues had hosted, Scott was surprised the MC didn’t have more night owls. Other than a groping couple making out in a dark corner—well, by the looks of it, they’d moved on to fucking—the place was pretty deserted.

Then again, it was after four in the morning.

Even the pretty pool-sharks called it a night. As soon as Marcs appeared, they went on their merry way. Apparently, they’d looked at Logan as an opportunity and taken off. The club’s broads rarely left an invited guest unattended.

“Devon and Victory are camping out back. I’ve got floor duty,” Logan told him, interrupting his self-inflicted pity party before he had the opportunity to invite a few guests. “I told them I’d lock up.”

“You guys lock this place up?” He snorted at that. “Man, things sure have changed around here.”

“Meth heads,” Logan grumbled, guiding him toward the other side of the recreational area. “If we left this place open for anyone and everyone, we’d wake up without food and booze. And they’d take everything that wasn’t tied down.”

“You can thank the Devil’s Angels for that. They make that shit quicker than the customers can line up for it and that’s saying something.”

“Uh-huh,” Logan said, noncommittal.

Stopping abruptly when he realized Logan was definitely trying to push him off to bed before he was ready, Scott said, “I hope I didn’t scare Cara. If I see her in the morning, I’ll beg for her forgiveness.”

“If you’re gonna whisper sweet nothings in my ear, sugar, you might want to start with goodnight.” Cara ducked under the bar and approached them. “I could’ve been in bed hours ago if you hadn’t been hell-bent on keeping the girls entertained.”

“I do believe she’s jealous, Marcs,” Scott sang, sounding drunk as a skunk as he hissed out his s-sounds. “And Cara darling, I wasn’t trying to entertain those young broads, for the record.”

“Oh no?” Cara slapped a long piece of white rectangular paper against his chest. “Whether you were or weren’t doesn’t matter to me. Beer was on the house, but the girls’ liquor comes at a fee.”

Scott held out the paper long enough to realize it was a receipt. Dizzy without trying to focus on anything in particular, Scott folded the receipt and put it in his pocket. “I’ll settle up with you tomorrow.”

Cara leaned forward. “You don’t have the money on ya. Do you?”

He patted down his pockets. “No.”

“Well, between now and tomorrow afternoon, you’d better figure out how you’re gonna settle up.” She looked him up and down, just really stroked him with one hell of a heated gaze. “Of course, if you don’t come up with it between now and then, we can always take it out in trade.”

****

The next morning, Cara was flipping pancakes and tossing bacon when Sassy and Logan entered the kitchen. Logan was in an ill mood and Cara understood why. Interrupting his sleep was akin to shaking a hibernating bear.

“Morning, sunshine,” she teased, shooting Sassy a wink.

Sassy just rolled her eyes, grabbed a mug, and poured a cup of coffee.

“It might have been if I hadn’t been on house duty last night.”

“Ah, poor baby.” Cara had heard all the commotion an hour or so after she turned in. Apparently, some of the girls had decided to visit Jake’s room—at the same time—and the dumb bastard had been intoxicated and had actually thought he could run interference in his own lame game. “What was Jake up to last night?”

Logan snorted at the question. “Tell me you aren’t going there again.”

“I’m not going there again.”

“And mean it,” Sassy muttered, taking a seat next to Logan at one of the many long cafeteria-style tables.

Cara grabbed a spatula and scooped a few pancakes off the grill. “What happened between me and Jake happened for a reason. I don’t have any regrets, but I sure don’t have any future plans where he’s concerned.”

“Too much for you, Cara?” Jake asked, entering the kitchen with an extra spring in his step.

“Never mind, Logan,” Cara said. “I can tell by the look on his face. Dumb bastard banged every last one of them last night.”

Sassy sighed, sipped her coffee, and as soon as Jake passed on through without pausing for conversation, she said, “Britt took him to his knees in the hallway.”

“Hmm. That doesn’t sound right. Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around? Poor girl spends so much time crouched on the floor, she’ll eventually need knee replacement surgery.”

Sassy snickered. Logan scowled.

“You liked that one, huh?” Cara had developed a true friendship with Sassy. Most of the Heroes and Rogues women were close, but there were a few exceptions. Britt had wanted Logan for herself, so she and Sassy weren’t exactly pals.

After Cara finished frying the bacon, she placed the greasy pieces on a pan and carried it to the table. Tigger and Summer would be along soon, and she wanted to be sure to give the little wench something to bitch about—greasy foods would set her off first thing in the morning. Cara couldn’t help but grin at the thought. Anytime she could crawl under that bitch’s skin was a win for the home broads.

“Logan said Scott kept you up late last night.”

“Yeah, right. I wish,” Cara teased.

A door slammed behind her. Blank expressions washed over Sassy’s and Logan’s faces.

“What?” She felt her skin heat.

A masculine, throaty voice gave away their reasons for silence. “Mornin’ Sassy, Logan.” A thud or two later, he stood right behind her with his mouth to her ear. “Cara, darling, I’m here to make all your wishes come true.”

Chapter Two

“So what’s your story?” Cara didn’t beat around the bush. She wasn’t the kind of woman who saw a man, flirted a little, and then started some kind of song and dance. Nope. When she met a good-looking fellow with charm and sex appeal, she saw no reason to dally around with a slow approach.

“Passing through, visiting old friends,” Scott said.

“Sassy and Scott used to date,” Logan said, seemingly accepting of the fact until he locked a hard gaze on Scott and then swung his gaze to Sassy. 

Scott set his jaw and stirred his coffee, and apparently Logan’s claim, thoughtfully.

“I see,” Cara sang, though for some reason she couldn’t quite picture Scott and Sassy together. “And so he stopped by to check on an old lover?” She glanced at Scott. “Do you have a death wish?”

“It’s not like that. We hung out a little bit when Sharon left Scott a few years ago.” The left side of Sassy’s face twitched and her upper lip curled. “Isn’t that right, Scott?”

“Yeah,” he bit out, going for the coffee pot.

“You know, Sassy, those tics are a dead giveaway.” Cara leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “You’re lying.” Cara’s gaze bounced between Scott and Logan before she eyed Sassy again. “I don’t know what the three of you are up to, but it must be some kind of secret if Sassy here is in on it, too.”

“Everybody has secrets, darling, but when you and I are finally alone, all I want to hear is those dirty little secrets you don’t want anyone but me to know.”

Cara’s skin heated. She didn’t know what it was about this man that made her horny as hell, but she had a feeling she’d soon find out. “You didn’t answer me. I asked about your story and Logan says you dated his woman. Since Sassy and Logan have been together for a few years now, I don’t think that’s the reason you’re here. If it is, Logan here ought to be a little worried.”

“I’m not concerned, Cara,” Logan said, rising to his feet and collecting Sassy at the same time. Once he had her secured against his side, he added, “If the two of you will excuse us, we were interrupted several times last night and I have a little matter that needs to be handled.”

Scott laughed, and that laughter of his was contagious. Cara couldn’t help but smile. “You two kids have fun.”

After they left, Scott said, “So what does Cara do for fun?”

Seeing the dare in front of her, Cara glanced at the prepared platters of breakfast. The fellows and their broads would be in soon and they could warm up whatever they wanted and fend for themselves. “Are you hoping I’ll say something like, ‘why don’t I show you’ and drag you off to the closest bedroom?”

“I’ve got a thing for kitchens, closets, and hallways, too.” He shot her a wink and a smile.

“I’ll just bet you do.” She stood up and started for the sink with intentions of placing her coffee mug there.

Scott caught her around the waist and pulled her to his lap. “How about let’s toss a few wagers around. Want to?”