Drunk Dial (Hard Core #1) (Hard Core Series) (8 page)

“Has she said anything to you about me?” I could almost hear Lacy screeching in my ear, warning me to back the hell off, but that didn’t stop me from asking. “I know this may sound like a stupid question, but you think she’s into me?”

Ash laughed, raking a hand through his short dark hair. “Man, that’s tough to say. Wasn’t all that long ago she swore she’d never go on another date again.”

“Why is that?” Seemed like an extreme statement for a beautiful young woman to make, even one who had been burned one too many times.

Ash sighed. “If you grew up in our house, you’d understand, York.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Let’s just say we didn’t have the best role model growing up. Our mother was—is—pretty messed up, and Lacy didn’t want to follow in her footsteps.”

“So she hasn’t dated a lot?” I found that hard to believe. Sweet and innocent weren’t words I’d use to describe Lacy. If that had been my perception, I never would have pursued her. A girl like that would get chewed up and spit out in my world.

“I didn’t say that. She’s dated, but she’s…” Ash checked his Rolex. “Man, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get back out there.”

Before I could stand to shake his hand, someone tapped on his door and popped her head in. “Ash, Brendan said you were back here.” Lacy stared at me, her eyes narrowing as she threw open the door. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Busted,” Ash said under his breath as he rounded the desk. He kissed the top of her head as he passed her. “We can talk later. Go easy on him, sis.”

“Like hell I will,” she muttered, slamming the door as she glared at me. “I’ll ask again. Why are you here talking to my brother?”

I leaned back on Ash’s desk, crossing my arms. “You wouldn’t talk to me. What choice did I have?”

I wasn’t big on backing down, not even when I knew I should. So I stood my ground, preparing to let her tear a strip off of me because I deserved it. If she’d gone poking around in my life, asking other people questions she should have asked me, I would have been pissed too.

“You could have taken a hint and backed the hell off,” she said, stepping closer. She was too small to be intimidating, even though I knew those little feet and hands could be lethal weapons to someone who wasn’t trained in self-defence. “Who do you think you are, insinuating yourself into my life like this? I barely know you. And what’s more, I’m not even sure I want to know you!”

She had every reason to resent me, but that didn’t mean I was going to let her write me off that easily. “There’s something between us.” I waited, daring her to challenge me. “You feel it; so do I. So when I saw you flirting with that asshole in the park today, I got pissed.”

“You had no right to. We’re just friends.”

I wasn’t sure whether she was talking about me or Brent the bonehead, so I asked, “You really gonna go out with him?”

“Why not?”

“Why waste precious time with him when you could be spending it with me instead?” I wasn’t arrogant. I just knew a good thing when it was staring me in the face, and I suspected she did too.

“You’re so full of yourself,” she said, rolling her eyes. “What makes you think you’re so much better than him?”

“I didn’t say I was better. But I’m more your speed.” I knew she’d have more in common with me than with a guy who wore thousand-dollar suits every day and got weekly manicures. “You can’t deny that.” When she didn’t try, the light bulb went off. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? He’s a safe bet. I’m not.”

“I don’t have time for this,” she claimed, turning toward the door. “I need to talk to my brother, then get out of here.”

Before she could turn the knob, I wedged my body between her and the door. “That’s it, isn’t? The last guy cheated on you, and you think I will too?”

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” she said, trying to side-step me.

“Can you just give me a second?” I asked, feeling pathetic for having to work so hard. I raised my hands in supplication. “I won’t even touch you.” Though I was dying to use my mouth to convince her since I was sure pretty words would fail me.

“Fine, say what you have to say so I can leave.”

I knew if she really wanted to leave, she wouldn’t stay to hear me out. I took that as a promising sign. “The truth is my last relationship kind of messed me up.”

She looked wary, her eyes raking over me. “You look fine to me. That chick you were banging the night you called me would probably agree.”

“Maybe I’ve been doing what you do,” I said, testing her, hoping she wouldn’t retreat further. “Sticking to safe bets, people I know can’t hurt me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She paced the small room. “And I really don’t have time for your psycho-babble bullshit. I’ve got real problems.”

I wanted to hear more about those problems, but that would never happen until she believed she could trust me. “If I’m not too invested, it won’t bother me if she walks away.”

The flash of light in her eyes when she looked at me told me she got it. She got me.

“But seeing you walk away today did bother me, Lace. In fact, it bugged the shit out of me.” I stepped closer, daring her to let me. “That’s how I knew you weren’t a safe bet.” My breath was fanning her face, but I was keeping my promise. I wasn’t touching her. “You’re dangerous. You think the same of me.”

She let out a ragged breath, shaking her head even though the truth was in her eyes. “No.”

“You want me, and that scares you because it’s been a long time since you’ve wanted someone. I mean, really wanted them.” I knew exactly how she felt. Hell, I could read her mind right now because I was thinking the same thing she was. Bail or risk it?

“No.” The word came out as a broken sob before she cleared her throat and shook her head furiously. I didn’t know if she was mad at me for backing her into a corner or at herself for showing some real emotion, but her vulnerability only made me want her more.

“No you don’t feel it or… no you can’t take a chance on me?”

“I can’t. I won’t.”

She tried to be so strong all the time. I wondered if she ever let anyone in, aside from her brothers.

“Then this is the end of the road for us?” I’d never felt such loss over something I’d never really had.

“It has to be,” she said, looking as disappointed as I felt. “Maybe if we’d met some other time—”

“Sssh.” I didn’t want to hear her excuses. If she couldn’t be with me, the reasons didn’t matter. “It’s okay. You don’t owe me an explanation. I mean, we barely got started, right? Hell, we haven’t even slept together.”

But I knew that didn’t make what I felt for her any less real. I’d slept with some women dozens of times and felt nothing when I said good-bye to them. But with Lacy, it was different. She was different.

“Good luck against Morales.” She tried to smile, but it never reached her eyes. “I’ll be watching you kick his ass.”

Sure, she would—on the TV screen, from her comfortable sofa. Where her heart wasn’t at risk. Where I couldn’t touch her and she couldn’t touch me. Where it was safe.

“Thanks.” I reached the door, and I felt her chest brushing my back. She may have just been anxious to leave, but I preferred to think she wanted the same thing I did. I turned and cradled her face, remembering my promise not to touch her. “One more kiss.”

She responded by thrusting her hands into my hair and plastering her tight little body against mine. Our tongues danced, both of us getting hotter with every stroke, and I knew if I didn’t get the hell out of the club, I’d take her right there on the desk.

“Gotta go,” I panted, tearing my lips from hers. “While I still can…”

Lacy

“This can’t be happening,” Ash said, pacing his penthouse. “How the hell did this happen?”

He turned on our older brother, Cooper, and glared at him. Coop, not one to be intimidated, glared right back.

“Don’t blame me!” Coop shouted. “I’m just the messenger! If I had my way, that prick would be in jail for the rest of his life after what he did to Lace.”

The prick my brother was referring to was my ex-husband. The man who’d tried to take my life. According to the prosecutor who’d put him away, Jordan had paid his debt to society, and now he was getting out early for good behavior.

I thought I’d have more time to live my life, more freedom. By my sentence came early. Eighteen months early. Now his period of incarceration was ending, and mine was just beginning. I knew he’d come after me. His last words still haunted me. A threat promising it would never be over, that he’d never let me go.

“He can’t come within fifty feet of her,” Coop said. “And he’s still on probation. He’ll have to check in with his probation officer for the next—”

“Are you even listening to yourself?” Ash asked, throwing his arms in the air. “You think this son of a bitch gives a goddamn about some restraining order? You’re a cop, Coop. You know those things aren’t worth the paper they’re written on half the time.”

Coop was an undercover cop who busted drug dealers. He looked the part with his bulging, inked biceps, faded jeans, leather jacket, biker boots, and black bandana. No one would question whether he was a legit member of the motorcycle gang he was currently trying to infiltrate.

“Well, it’s all we’ve got,” Coop said with a worried glance in my direction. “Besides, she’s not as defenseless as she was back then. She’s got a gun, and she knows how to use it. I made sure of that.”

I loved going to the shooting range with my brother, but the thought of putting a bullet through someone, a man I’d once loved no less, scared the hell out of me. “I’ll be fine,” I said, trying to assure them as well as myself.

Not looking convinced, Ash said, “Maybe you should stay with me for a while, until we can figure out what he’s got planned. This building has twenty-four security and—”

“I won’t be his prisoner,” I said, thinking of the dark days when he’d made me just that. “Not anymore.”

Coop’s eyes softened before he pulled me into his strong arms. Ever since we were kids, these two guys had been my lifeline. I knew I wouldn’t be as brave as I was if I didn’t know they had my back, that they’d lay down their own lives for mine.

“You don’t have to be,” Coop said fiercely and kissed the top of my head. “Because I swear to God, if he comes after you again, I’ll hunt him down like a dog, and this time I will kill him.”

Last time it had almost come to that, but I’d convinced Coop to let the law handle Jordan. I just assumed he’d get more than seven years for attempted murder and kidnapping. But he’d cut a deal. It seemed like a long time ago when the prosecutor proposed the plea deal that would allow me not to testify at his trial. I thought I’d have more than enough time to banish the ugly memories, but I still woke up screaming and thrashing, begging for my life and feeling as though my hands were bound while his threats echoed in my ear.

“What’s this I hear about you having a new boyfriend?” Coop asked, holding me at arm’s length. “Are you really dating a fighter?”

“Not anymore.” It had been five days since I’d heard from York. He’d probably forgotten about me by now.

He glanced at Ash. “I thought you said they were together?”

“Last I heard they were,” Ash said, shrugging. “But how the hell should I know? She doesn’t tell me shit about her personal life.”

Because my brothers were overprotective and didn’t think anyone was good enough for their baby sister. Except York. Ash had made it clear he thought
he
was good enough. Probably because he was angling for front row seats to his next fight.

“I can’t think about that now,” I said, hoping they wouldn’t ask questions I couldn’t answer. Like why I’d pushed York away without giving him a chance. I’d been asking myself that question ever since I watched him walk out of my brother’s office. My safety would always be more important to Coop than my love life, or lack thereof, so I asked him, “Do I need to take any special precautions?”

“For starters, you can take my Mustang,” Ash said. His “spare” car was the classic car he’d lovingly restored because he’d obsessed over it as a teen and believed he’d never be able to afford one. “It’s safer than the bike. Plus, asshole doesn’t even know I own that car, so he wouldn’t know to look for it.”

I loved my bike and the sense of freedom she promised every time I straddled her, but Ash was right. I wouldn’t feel safe out in the open like that, where any maniac with a grudge could have a clear shot at me. But I knew how much he loved that car. “Are you sure?”

“You’re more important to me than a set of wheels,” he said, as though he could read my mind. “Take the car.”

“It’s not a bad idea for you to think about staying here,” Coop said, leaning on the arm of Ash’s leather sofa. “Just for a little while.”

“I don’t want to turn my whole life upside down.” I knew I’d have to make some concessions, but he’d already taken too much from me. “I’m staying at the apartment with Rachel. Besides, I can’t leave her there alone knowing he’s out there. He might come looking for me, and that would put her in the line of fire.” At least I had a prayer of defending us if my ex showed up on our doorstep. My friend was defenseless.

Ash seemed to consider that before he said, “You could both stay here.”

Coop chuckled. “You’d want your ex-girlfriend staying here with you?”

“She wasn’t my girlfriend.” Ash swiped a hand over the dark stubble on his jaw. “She was a hook-up.”

“Oh?” I said, deciding to test him. “Then it won’t bother you that she’s dating Ace Matthews.”

Ash’s jaw dropped. “Shut the hell up! Since when?”

Huh, so he wasn’t as immune as he pretended to be. Interesting. “Less than a week, I guess. But they’ve been together almost every night. I think he’s spending the night at our place tonight. Which reminds me, can I crash here? They can get kind of loud.”

Ash’s neck was corded as he folded his arms. “Are you telling me she’s sleeping with this guy already?”

“Why should that bother you, Ash?” Coop asked, tongue in cheek. “You said she was just a hook-up.”

“It doesn’t bother me. Why the hell would it bother me?”