Destroy You (Destroy #3) (18 page)

“Well, I do, and it makes me crazy thinking you could be alone and vulnerable,” Trent said.

Jeremy walked into the kitchen in the middle of our fight and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Can I say something?”

I raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to go ahead.

In no hurry, Jeremy brought his coffee cup to his mouth and took a sip. “I agree with Toni.”

“Of course you do,” Trent grumbled.

Jeremy set his cup down on the counter. “Let me finish. It’s going to be hard enough on her letting all of us hover over her. She shouldn’t have to give up school along with her independence.”

Trent groaned. “I’m sure he knows her class schedule by now. It leaves too many opportunities for him to find her without one of us around.”

“Reed and I have been talking,” Jeremy said. “We need to build a stalking case against him, so Reed talked to his former partner. It took some doing, but together they managed to convince the department to allow off-duty officers to guard her. After the police department investigated Reed, based off the accusations of that psycho Pratt, they agreed they owed him a favor.”

“She won’t be alone?” Trent asked.

Jeremy shook his head. “And the best part is that the officers will report if he approaches her.”

“That’s all well and good, but he’s going to be attending Central next quarter,” I pointed out.

“That doesn’t give him an excuse to be up here now, especially if he starts showing up at your classes,” Jeremy dismissed.

Before Trent could argue further, there was a knock at the door. Jeremy went to open it and let in the off-duty officer, and the moment he entered the kitchen, Trent tensed up.

The officer walked up to me and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Zack Davis. You must be Toni.”

I shook his hand. Trent stood up behind me, placed one arm around my waist, and extended his other hand to Zack. “I’m Trent, Toni’s boyfriend. Thanks for volunteering to help.” His words were polite, but it was painfully obvious he was staking his claim. I should be pissed, except I found his jealousy a little hot, but only as long as he didn’t get too possessive.

Trent’s problem was that Zack was really attractive in a boy-next-door kind of way. He was a bit shorter than Trent, probably close to six feet tall. He had a kind smile that lit up his face and made you notice his sandy-brown hair and deep brown eyes. Zack wasn’t leering at me, but I couldn’t imagine Trent was eager for me to spend a lot of time alone with a good-looking guy.

“Let me go grab my book bag and I’ll be ready to go,” I said and headed for my bedroom.

Trent still appeared disgruntled when I reemerged. I guess I wasn’t the only one prone to insecurity when it came to our relationship. At the front door I set my bag down, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him down to where I could reach his mouth. I meant to give him a quick peck as reassurance, but the moment our lips met, we tried to devour each other.

Jeremy cleared his throat, and I remembered we had an audience. “Right, time for class,” I reminded myself.

Trent chuckled and squeezed me once more before he let me go. “See you at the bar after class?”

I nodded but looked to Jeremy for confirmation. “Zack will drop you off there,” he told me.

“All right, I’ll see you after class,” I said to Trent and kissed him on the cheek before following Zack to his car.

Outside the house, Zack was all business. He scanned the street before ushering me off the porch and quickly into his car. We drove to the campus in silence, because he was busy making sure we weren’t being followed.

I was surprised when he entered the classroom with me, but I should have expected it, because Reed was very thorough. In my first class, my professor made an excuse about Zack finishing up an incomplete, and since he was around college age, no one seemed to question it. My second class was one I had with Jeremy, so Zack didn’t accompany me. My last class was a large seminar course, and no one noticed when he slipped into the back. Thankfully, I’d designed my senior year to consist of a fairly light load and was only usually gone for a few hours every day.

After my classes were done, Zack walked me back to where he’d parked his car. Miguel hadn’t shown up at all, at least not that I noticed, and I felt silly having a bodyguard.

“I hope it isn’t too much of an inconvenience giving up your free time to follow me around,” I apologized to him.

He glanced at me quickly and turned his attention back on the road. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard what happened with your ex and the court, and I was glad I could help. And it isn’t completely altruistic. Your friend Aiden is paying me.”

Ah, I should have expected something like that. Just because Aiden hadn’t managed to sequester me behind the gates of his fortress didn’t mean he wouldn’t get involved.

When we neared Trent’s bar, Zack drove around the block before finally parking near the front entrance. Once we were inside The Hitching Post, Zack wandered off to speak with Rocky, and I headed for the bar. Trent winked at me and continued serving the light afternoon crowd.

A couple of men in suits were in the back, probably out-of-towners who thought it was a good place for a drink with a colleague, but mostly the patrons were college students. Four college-age guys were seated at the end of the bar near where Melody was serving drinks. On the other end a few women were celebrating their friend’s twenty-first birthday, which I only knew because they kept shouting, “You’re twenty-one, do a shot, bitch!” When they weren’t taunting each other, they were making not-so-subtle passes at Trent.

He didn’t seem to notice their attention. Instead, he and Melody were working together, laughing and obviously having a good time. I paused halfway to the bar to watch them. Funny, but I didn’t feel jealous seeing them together. Unlike Trinity and the skanks vying for his attention, Melody obviously didn’t lust after Trent. In fact, she seemed to be the only woman with a pulse that didn’t respond to his raw sexuality. I wasn’t comfortable watching other women throw themselves at him so blatantly, but if he was going to ignore it, I would too. At least I’d try.

With that in mind, I crossed the room and sat on a stool in the middle of the bar. Trent set down a beer in front of a customer and rushed over to greet me. He wore another fitted Henley that was shoved up his forearms, displaying his muscles and tattoos. He smiled at me, and I sighed. Usually I’d try to hide my reaction to him, but he said he loved me, so what the hell, right?

He stood still and let me finish mentally undressing him, which I could tell by his smirk he knew I was doing. “Hey, Wildcat. Don’t look at me like that until I can get you alone, or I’ll be forced to take a long break upstairs.”

I raised my eyebrow and licked my bottom lip, teasing him. “I guess that just gives me more time to think of what I’m going to do to you when I can get you alone.”

He groaned, but before he could reply, a blonde sauntered up next to me and leaned over to shove her already exposed cleavage more into Trent’s line of sight. “Hey, baby. I’ve missed you. When are you getting off?” She batted her false eyelashes at him. I didn’t know anyone actually did that.

He rolled his eyes and went back to his customers. When he came back over to us a few minutes later, he directed all his attention to me. His smirk curved up the corner of his mouth that had the piercing. I remembered the taste of that piece of metal from our kiss this morning, and my cheeks heated.

Seeing my blush made his smile widen, and his eyes sparkled with mischief. “I can’t wait to hear what made you blush like that,” he said in a low, husky voice.

“It was your lip ring. Have I told you how much I like it?”

He raised an eyebrow. “If you like that so much, maybe I should put my tongue ring back in.”

“You have your tongue pierced? How come I’ve never noticed?” I asked. If he was going to ignore the woman still seated next to me, then I would too.

Trent shrugged. “I only put it in every once in a while to keep it from closing up. I got kind of bored with it, but it has some pleasurable uses I’d like to show you tonight.”

Oh my, yes, please. “Can’t wait,” I said. My voice had dropped to a husky purr. This man was turning me into a sex fiend, and I loved every second of it.

“Give me a few minutes and we can go into my office,” he said.

I gasped, and my mouth dropped open. I looked around and realized his admirer was hanging on to every word we exchanged. “I thought you were joking about taking a break. There’s a bar full of people,” I said as quietly as possible.

He chuckled and shook his head. “I keep the paperwork in my office, Wildcat.”

“Oh,” I squeaked.

“One of the bartenders called in sick today, and his replacement should be here soon,” he added.

I covered my face with my hands. “Just go back to work while I sit here and die of embarrassment.”

He pulled my hands away from my face and winked at me again before resuming serving customers.

As soon as he walked away, the blonde next to me huffed. “You might have him right now, but as soon as he gets bored with you, I’ll be waiting to give him what he really needs.”

I laughed. This was what I was worried about? Looking at this pathetic woman, all I felt was pity. She didn’t value herself enough to demand respect, so it was no wonder she wasn’t getting it. She used men and expected to be used by them in return. I couldn’t imagine how empty that lifestyle made Trent feel.

I turned to her. “I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you, because you have no idea what he needs or how to give it to him.”

She sneered at me. “And you do? Whatever. I’ll have him back, just watch. One night you won’t be here, and believe me, honey, he likes what I have to offer.”

I rolled my eyes. She was such a cliché it was pathetic. I could rub the fact that he was mine in her face, since she obviously wanted him, but she wasn’t worth it. We might all be products of our personal history, but it didn’t mean we had to be a slave to it.

“Thank you. I was bothered by his past, but I can let that go now. Do you even know why you want him?” I asked, curious if she’d answer truthfully.

“Look at him,” she said and waved in his general direction. “He’s a living sex god. Every woman wants him, and I’ve had him.”

Ugh, hearing her thoughts was not as satisfying as I’d hoped. She really believed her sexual exploits with men that wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence later made her special. “Women like you go after men for sport. You use them to compete against other women. I feel sorry for you.”

Trent glanced back at me and frowned when he realized she was speaking to me. He rushed back over. “Is everything okay?” he asked me.

Melody came up behind Trent and glared at the woman whose name I still didn’t know. “Cici, I see you still haven’t gotten a clue.” Cici was a stupid name.

“Melody, I see you’re still a bitch,” Cici responded.

Mel shrugged. “It works for me, but at least I’m not sniffing after a guy I can’t have like I’m in heat.”

Cici let her gaze travel over Trent’s body suggestively. “I can have any man I want, and I’ve already had that pleasure.”

“Not for over a year you haven’t, and it’ll never happen again,” Trent snapped.

She studied me skeptically. “That’s what you say in front of your bed buddy, but you’ll change your mind.”

He looked at me. “Toni, I…”

I put my hand on his forearm to stop him. “I trust you.”

He sighed in relief and smiled. “Mel, I’m going to take Toni to the back and show her the books.”

“Sure you are,” she said and waggled her eyebrows. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just going to go stare at the hottie Toni brought me, and I’ll take care of this.” She nodded toward Cici.

Cici huffed. “Whatever, I don’t need to waste my time with trash.” She turned her nose up like she was too good for our company.

“Thanks, Mel, and remember we need Zack, so don’t break him, please,” Trent begged.

Melody nodded and waved for Rocky’s attention.

Trent came around the bar, took my hand, and started to lead me to his office. He stopped when Rocky and Zack came up to us. “Any news?”

I tensed up, and he rubbed my arm.

“Everything is fine, Mac. I’m just going over security with our new friend here. I wanted to introduce him to the staff and let him get the lay of our security system.”

“Good. Before you get into that, would you escort Cici out? Melody will explain everything,” Trent told Rocky.

“Sure thing, boss.”

Trent slapped him on the back and ignored Cici’s glare. Girls like that didn’t like being turned down. I knew girls like her in high school. They didn’t back down easy and could be vengeful if they didn’t get their way.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said when we were away from the group.

“I know, but she won’t take a hint. I want you to be comfortable here. Thank you for trusting me.”

I smiled and followed him through the bar. As we passed the businessmen, one of them stood up and stepped in front of me. I felt like I should know him from somewhere, but I couldn’t quite remember. He stared down at me and smiled. It should have seemed like a nice gesture, but it made my blood run cold, and I started to shiver from the inside out.