Elite Metal-ARE-epub (34 page)

“Is that what that tattoo is on your arm?” She nodded at the flame and letter emblem partly covered by his shirtsleeve.

“It’s a mark of loyalty and a promise to our fallen brothers.”

“And how do I fit in to all of that?”

“You don’t. Yet.”

“Oh my God.” She dropped her head in her hands. “You need to take me back.”

“No can do, buttercup. Just give me a day. I’ll come up with something.” He patted her on the knee. “Relax. It’ll be fine. Let’s think about happier times. Do you remember senior year and the harvest festival at Martinez’s orchard?”

“Seriously? You want to talk about the night Jason and Randy Shoemaker thought it would be funny to steal some of Randy's dad’s moonshine and spit fireballs in the middle of a stand of trees? You call that happy? They were lucky only one tree burned and the fire didn’t spread. He almost lost his ride to A&M over that, the asshole. I should have run then,” she ended in a mutter.

“Before that. When we took the hayride from my parents’ ranch out to the orchard. My mom sent along a basket of oatmeal raisin cookies and caramel brownies, and we had a huge jug of hot apple cider. Remember that?”

Instantly, her palms warmed as she recalled the heat of the cider through the paper mug. Even now the scent of warm apples and cinnamon reminded her of home.

“Yeah,” she replied with a breathy sigh. “I remember.”

“And we danced under the stars and Christmas lights, and embarrassed the hell out of my brother Daniel when all you girls ground up against him.”

“That’s right. I think Jenny even squeezed his ass.”

He barked with laughter. “His face turned so red. And you, you wore a pale pink dress, and a white sweater, and you curled your hair in big, fat loops. You looked like an angel. Prettiest girl I ever saw.” He turned his gaze in her direction. The bright blue of his irises sparked with an inner fire. “Still the prettiest.”

Her mouth went dry as perspiration broke out across her skin. Unable to face the unbanked desire in his stare, she turned toward the front windshield, confused as all get out about the general scope of their current situation and this crazy, sexy energy humming between them.

Was he flirting with her? Her husband’s best friend? The quiet guy who had always seemed to be more interested in video games and computers than women? Oh, he had had the occasional girlfriend, but never a relationship one would call serious, at least that she had seen. And he had never given any indication that he thought of her as a woman. As in a real woman. As in a potential mate and bed partner.

But there was certainly a vibe coming from him now. A subtle flex of muscles and a narrowing of his gaze that suggested he was interested in far more than merely reminiscing about the past.

“Here we go,” he said as he steered the car off the freeway. Two blocks further down the road, he turned into a driveway of a motel. “We’re already checked in and the parking lot is in the back, so we won’t be seen from the streets. When we get settled why don’t you take a bath, relax, and I’ll get us some dinner and some shoes for you.”

At the word “bath” she imagined being soaking wet and naked while Adamantium stood on the other side of the bathroom door in all of his manliness as he prepared to turn in for the night. Somehow she didn’t think he wore pajamas to bed.

“Oh,” she said and tried to control her racing heartbeat. “Um, sure.”

Holy cow. Was she seriously getting turned on by her oldest friend?

“Sit tight here while I do a quick check around,” he said as he parked the car. Once he climbed out, he stood by the side of the Charger. His tight backside was perfectly framed by the driver’s side window.

She closed her eyes on a groan. Dear lord, she was.

Chapter Four

Ant rapped twice on the motel room door before inserting his key in the lock. “Beth?” he called out before peering inside.

Although he knew she was alone, to err on the side of danger had been so ingrained in his behavior, he checked behind the shower curtain every time he entered a bathroom.

“I’m almost done,” she shouted from behind the bathroom door.

He set the shopping bag in the closet then checked his laptop. Before he had stepped foot on Chesterfield’s property, he had left a few of his favorite gadgets on the phone lines and nearby houses to monitor communications coming in and out of the house. It was past time for Chesterfield to have returned and found his “possession” gone.

Ant’s lips curled. The fact that Beth referred to herself as one of Chesterfield’s possessions chapped his hide. Ridding Beth of that mindset was another thing to add to his to-do list.

Records showed a few phone calls had gone out since they left, but not so surprising, none to the local law enforcement agency. Yeah, try to report that theft, asshole.

What was surprising, however, was that all of the calls were made to Europe, specifically Russia and England.

“Huh,” he muttered and began to scan the transcripts, looking for key words that would suggest any discussion about Beth’s child.

When the results came up negative, he eased a small sigh of relief and took a seat at the foot of the bed. Soon enough they were going to be in the same room together. In the quiet. Alone.

The anticipation of being truly alone with her, without the distraction of driving or being jumped by hired guns, for the first time made his skin tingle and muscles twitch. As the seconds passed, he jumped up and moved to one of the rickety wooden chairs next to the small dining table. If he stayed on that bed, he’d probably ask her to sit next to him, which was one step closer to putting his arm around her shoulders and reclining until they lay side by side.

While they were in the car, he’d caught her sneaking little glances in his direction. There was confusion in her gaze, as if she were seeing him in a new light and wasn’t sure what to make of it. At least, he hoped that was what was going on in that pretty head of hers. One thing was certain, he had to let her know exactly what his intentions were before they continued another step. He needed her trust. As much as he dreaded the next few minutes, he had no choice but to come clean about his past. Both of their pasts.

Tick-tick-tick-tick
. The second hand on the small clock on the nightstand clacked along with his heartbeat. He drummed his fingers against his thighs and tried not to picture Beth on the other side of that flimsy door. Naked, damp, gliding a cloth across her creamy skin…

“Fuck,” he muttered and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, creating spots in his vision to cover the mental images.

The bathroom door opened and a warm cloud with the scent of woman and bath soap floated into the room. “Did you say something?”

“What? No. I—uh—” Ah, shit.

Beth stood in the doorway with the light shining behind her like a halo. Her hair was swept up in a messy bun and she wore the same yoga outfit as before, but she was there. Standing before him only a few feet away. Whole, healthy skin scrubbed to a rosy pink that made her look oh-so-soft and feminine. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, hold her close and never let her go.

“Beth. Sunshine,” he rasped out and pointed to the end of the bed. “Come sit here.”

“Have you heard something?”

“No. is quiet, but sit down.”

Her frown deepened as she took one slow step after another until she took the seat across from him. A few scant inches separated their knees, but even that small distance was too far away.

He reached out and clasped her hands. Huh, he didn’t remember them being so small.

His grip tightened. “Beth, there are a few things I want you to know. Things I should have told you a long time ago.”

She said nothing, but her breath hitched and her fingers jerked.

“I. I.” He drew in a deep breath then looked her in the eye. “I’m responsible for Jason’s death.”

Blink. Blink. Blink-blink. Her lips parted, then closed several times before she whispered, “I don’t understand.”

“We were out. Jason and me. Bar hopping. Living it up before I was deployed. Part way through the night we ended up at a place that had a band playing. I went to the restroom, and when I came out…” He paused to swallow. “Jason was talking to some girls. He had been drinking, and there was flirting going on. Lots of it.”

Her hands stiffened, and she pulled away.

The words burned in his throat, but he pushed on. “It became uncomfortable, for me at least. And then he took the girls to the dance floor, and things started to get out of hand.”

She arched a brow. “Out of hand? Is that what you call fucking around?”

Her choice of words shocked him. “I—uh. Well…”

“I had a suspicion Jason was cheating on me. He kept denying it, but I had a hunch.”

“God, Beth.”

She raised her hand to stop him from saying whatever platitude he would have tried to mutter and lowered her head.

Old, residual anger boiled inside him. It was almost as if he were back in that seedy bar with the band playing cover songs of Garth Brooks, and Jason in the corner of the room with his hands up that blonde’s skirt while his tongue was down her throat.

When Ant had pulled the couple apart and asked what the fuck he was thinking, Jason had just looked at him as if he were stupid.

“Fuck, man,” Ant had shouted. “What about Beth?”

“What about Beth?” Jason laughed. “I love her. She’s good to me and loyal. I know she’ll never stab me in the back. But I got have my fun, man. Married life can be such a drag.”

To see someone he had once thought of as a brother treat the woman
he
loved so callously had been the death knoll on their friendship. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to punch the fucker dead in the face.

He had gotten right into Jason’s grill and stared him down. For once he was the bigger man. Broader, stronger, more lethal. And Jason realized that as he paled and the smirk faded from his lips.

“Beth deserves better than an asshole like you,” Ant had spat.

Jason’s gaze skittered away and landed on the small audience that had gathered around them. He straightened and shot back, “And what are
you
going to do about it? Tell her? Go ahead. She won’t believe you. I know you’ve had a hard-on for her for years but you were too much of a pussy to say anything. Plus she loves me. Always has and always will. I’ll just tell her you were only trying to break us up because you’re a jealous bastard.”

“God, you’re such a fuckhead.”

“You know I’m right. You’ve been riding my coattails for years. Always second place behind me. It was me that got you on the football team in high school. It was me that got you invited to all of the parties. It was me that pushed you out of that shithole little town. Face it, boy, you wish you were me. And you’ll be wishing you were me when I take these lovely ladies back to their place and give them the ride of their lives. Right, girls?”

His fingers curled into his palm. A second later his muscles flexed and his fist connected to the wall next to Jason’s head, creating a dent in the wood paneling.

Nose to nose with the SOB he snarled, “If I hear you’ve hurt Beth in any way, shape or form, I’ll end you.”

Then he turned and walked away.

The sound of Beth’s sniffles made him flinch as he shook his head clear of the memories. “I’m sorry, Beth.”

“I don’t know why I’m crying. I told myself years ago that I wouldn’t give that man any more of my time.” She shook her head. “I knew. Deep down, I always knew. But I was too much of a coward to leave him.”

“God, baby. Don’t think that way.” He moved to sit beside her. “I should have punched him like I wanted to. Instead, I left. I left him with the keys to his car when I knew he had been drinking too much. If only I had punched his lights out, he wouldn’t have died.”

“Please don’t. It wasn’t your fault, Scott.” She placed her hands on either side of his face. “You didn’t strap Jason into the car, tape his hands to the wheel and his foot on the gas. He was the one who was the dumbass.”

“But I should have stopped him.”

“And then what? You were leaving. You wouldn’t have been there to stop him the next time. Or the time after that.”

“But he would have been alive. And Chesterfield would have had no need to have gone after you. And you’d have your baby.” His voice cracked on the last word.

“Oh, Scott.” She threw her arms around his neck and cradled him against her chest.

He pulled her across his lap and hugged her tight. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“Forgive you for what? Being my friend?”

“Friend.” He chuckled without mirth then lifted his head. He really hated that word. “Beth, do you remember that Valentine’s Day party? Junior year. At the Sigma house?”

“Maybe.”

“Between the kitchen and the living room, they had hung mistletoe decorated with paper hearts in the doorway.”

“Oh, yeah.” Her lips twitched into a smile that quickly fell as her eyes flashed with memory. “Oh.”

In his life, there were so many moments he wished he could redo that if he had the power to go back in time, his neck would be stiff with all the whiplash.

But that moment, that one single moment was the one that could have changed the course of all their lives forever.

He had been nursing a beer in the kitchen of the frat house when Beth had crossed his vision and stood just to the right of the doorway. She was gazing out into the main room, looking shy and self-conscious as she tugged on the hem of her skirt. She had taken to wearing shorter hemlines and lower-cut blouses, although he didn’t know why. Sure, he liked seeing the extra bit of flesh, but Beth wasn’t the flashy type. She was more old school with her jeans and hooded sweatshirts. More tomboy than girlie. Frat parties weren’t her favorite scene, either, but they were Jason’s, and he knew she only attended them because he asked.

“Hey, sunshine,” he said and came to stand by her side. “When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago. You?”

“Not much before you. You look pretty.”

She batted her lashes and looked at the floor. “Thanks. New dress,” she mumbled.