Hammer's Fall (The Breakers' Bad Boys) (20 page)

Hammer finished his beer, then set the glass back down on the table. “Leanne wants to go with us.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly. Your job is to help control her while I pick out the perfect ring.”

Rever groaned. “Now I see why you really wanted me here now, you bastard.”

Hammer just grinned.

****

Kalista was nervous as she drove up to the Beaumont Rescue Center the morning of the adoption event. It was a beautiful day out, and she was glad that the weather had given them a reprieve from the unusual cold they had been getting slapped with lately. The sun was shining, and puffy, white clouds danced lazily in the sky as she pulled into the last stretch of road that would lead her to their final destination.

She had spent the previous two nights working on the creations that the bakery would be donating with Becca, Anna, Nate and all of her part-time staff. Last night they had even used her oven upstairs in her apartment when they had run out of room in the bakery.

Wednesday morning she had gotten a rough start, since she and her friends had been out late the night before drinking at The Fox Hole. They’d had a good time dancing and having a few drinks, but then they had started taking shots and things had started to get a little hazy.

They had been well protected while they had been at the bar. Dante and all of Jared’s other friends had seemed to show up, creating a protective circle around them as they’d had their fun. It had been almost comical to see some of the most notorious bad boys in town acting like bodyguards for a bunch of women. Nikita and Zoe had been irritated by it, but Kalista had just felt protected and cared for by the gesture.

The next morning her head had been pounding, and when she had shuffled into her kitchen she had let out a squeak as she’d found Zoe passed out on her couch. Becca had all but crawled out of the guest bedroom at the first scent of the coffee Kalista had started to brew when there had been a knock on the door. Bleary-eyed, Kalista had gone down the stairs and frowned at a very normal looking Nikita, who had grinned at her when she’d opened the door.

“I thought you could use this,” Nikita had said once they were back upstairs in Kalista’s apartment. She pulled out a large container of a dark, green sludge-like substance that had Kalista, Zoe and Becca eying it suspiciously.

“What the hell is that, and why in the world do you look so normal?” Zoe had asked as she’d frowned at Nikita.

“I have a cast-iron stomach,” Nikita had said cheerfully. “This is a secret remedy I learned from an old gypsy woman when I was in Russia.”

“When in the world were you in Russia? And that isn’t fair,” Becca grumbled. “We’re twins. How can you be okay when I have to suffer? I totally got shafted.”

“You almost did last night. Who knew my sister could dance on a bar. You have several guys panting after you,” Nikita had asked as she’d poured the three of them a tall glass of the green sludge. She ignored the question about her time spent in Russia, but that didn’t shock anyone. Nikita was very closed-mouthed about where she had spent those years away from Breakers.

“Don’t remind me,” Becca had groaned. “If I don’t think about it, it didn’t happen.”

Nikita had stood there with her arms folded over her chest until they had drunk the entire glass down. Kalista had shuddered at the foul taste of the drink, but amazingly enough she began to feel better almost immediately.

Nikita had turned to Kalista, her violet eyes bright with humor. “And aren’t you glad I talked you out of getting a tattoo last night?”

Kalista had blinked at her in surprise. “What?”

“You wanted to go to my shop last night and get a tattoo.”

“Oh my God…”

“Don’t worry. I’d never ink someone who was as drunk as you were. Hell, I drank too much to pick up my needle. I liked your idea though. If you change your mind and still want to do it, just let me know.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“You wanted to get a little hammer tattooed on your breast,” Nikita had told her with a laugh.

Kalista shuddered as she thought about how glad she was she hadn’t woken up with a tattoo she couldn’t remember getting. And didn’t it say something that she had wanted to get a hammer tattooed on herself, like a stamp of ownership or something?

Trying not to dwell on it, Kalista focused on parking the van the bakery used for large deliveries and specialty items such as wedding cakes, which was now loaded with goodies they’d made for the event. They ended up making three types of cookies and cupcakes to go with the three types of dog treats they had for the canine participants of today’s festivities, and they had made sure to make extra so they wouldn’t run out.

They were an hour early for the event to give them plenty of time to set up, but Kalista could see that Evie and her crew had almost everything done already. There were four large, red and white striped tents arranged near the main rescue center, with dozens of cages lined up in rows under the shaded canopies. Volunteers and staff members took the dogs out of the cages in turn to take them for short walks, while others were let into the play area or allowed to try the obstacle course in the fenced in area. In the tent closest to the building was a separate fenced-in area where all the pit bull puppies were playing together.

Kalista looked over to her passenger seat where Becca was napping and nudged her none too gently on the shoulder. “Wake up, Becca. We’re here.”

Becca’s eyes popped open and she yawned. “Ready to work, boss.”

Kalista rolled her eyes as she got out of the van and went around to open the back doors. There were two part-time workers who pulled up in another car and hurried over to help them as they began unloading the containers of baked goods. Anna had chosen to remain at the bakery with the rest of their staff since Valentine’s Day was one of their busiest days. She promised to make it out to the rescue center later when Nate got out of school so she could drive him over.

Evie and Francesca walked over just as Kalista set down a large box of cookies. Both women were wearing sweatshirts with the Beaumont Rescue Center logo on them. Earlier that week, Evie had dropped off similar items for Kalista and her employees to wear, and she made sure to pass them out to each of her staff members that would be attending today. Kalista let out a laugh as Evie hugged her.

“This is amazing! Thank you so much for doing this,” Evie exclaimed, delighted as she looked at all the boxes of goodies.

“It’s our pleasure,” Kalista said. “Where do you want us to set up?”

Evie picked up one side of a large cooler and helped Kalista carry it over to a huge white canopied tent. There were small tables and chairs set up for the guests and three long tables towards the back that had been decorated with heart-covered tablecloths for the baked goods to be displayed. On each table was a spectacular cartoon drawing, two of people playing with dogs, while the third was just a cute picture of dogs staring hopefully at a jar filled with treats. Kalista was touched to see that not only were the cards and pamphlets she had dropped off spread over the table, but a large pink and black sign had been put up promoting Sinfully Sweet.

“Wow, that’s awesome. Thanks for putting up the sign for us,” Kalista said.

“It’s the least we could do after all the goodies you brought us,” Evie told her. “We’re also promoting the pet store and the animal clinic in the dog tents. I’m hoping for a big turnout today.”

“We’ve gotten a lot of questions about the event from people who have stopped by the bakery. If that is any indication, we should have a lot of people coming today.”

Evie braced her hands on her hips and smiled. “Looks like you might be right. People are already starting to show up.”

Kalista looked over as several cars pulled into the parking lot. Smiling she turned back to Evie. “Go do your thing. We’ll get everything ready here.”

After Evie left, Kalista, Becca and her two employees finished unloading all of the boxes and coolers from the van.

“It’s not even ten yet and there are so many people here already,” Zoe said as she and Nikita joined them.

Kalista turned to them and grinned. “Thanks for coming.”

“I thought you were working today,” Becca said.

Nikita shook her head. “I’ll open the shop late today. Most of the crazy assholes who want to come in and get inked on Valentine’s Day end up doing it later anyways.”

That made them all laugh. “What can we do to help?” Zoe asked.

She put her friends to work helping set up tiered trays of cookies and cupcakes. They had also filled little bags with a selection of the treats for people to be able to take with them when they visited with the dogs. She decided to stash the rest of the items in the coolers they shoved under the tables so they would be able to easily replace the trays throughout the day.

Kalista couldn’t help but feel annoyed that Jared hadn’t come with her to help out that morning. He had gotten back from his trip late Wednesday night and had called her to tell her he had gotten home safely. It had worried her that he hadn’t come over, but she had been too busy to think of it too much. The following day she had worked at the bakery all day, and around dinner time Jared had shown up with two huge bags full of Chinese takeout for all the people helping with the baking.

Over dinner he’d told her about the press conference he had attended, but she hadn’t been able to ask any deep, probing questions because they weren’t alone. After they ate, he had helped out in the kitchen, washing the trays after they had transferred the cookies and cupcakes to the cooling racks or doing whatever else was needed. He and Nate had taken over the task of filling the bags with the finished dog treats while the women continued making whatever they needed for the adoption event.

There was something about Jared’s behavior that had put Kalista on guard. When asked, her friends said they didn’t think anything was different, but Kalista knew there was something off. She had come to know him too well, and she was sure that he was hiding something from her. Not wanting to hear that he was ending their relationship, she hadn’t asked about it. Instead, she used the time to figure out what she wanted to say to him when they finally got a minute alone. Unfortunately, she had been so tired by the time they had finished with their baking that all she could do was take a shower, then crawl into bed.

At dawn she had woken up to feel Jared’s mouth pressed against hers. She had welcomed his heavy weight as he covered her body with his and held on to him tightly as he made love to her with a passion that stole her breath. After they climaxed together, Kalista had closed her eyes and fallen back to sleep with a soft smile on her face. When she woke the next time, her smile was gone, and so was Jared.

He had left her a note saying he had some things to take care of before he met her at the rescue center. It had left her with an aching heart since she could feel him pulling away from her, but she was determined to get through the day before she allowed herself to fall apart.

With the extra help from Zoe and Nikita, it didn’t take them long to get everything ready. As the women had been setting out the baked goods more people had arrived, and the area was already packed with people.

“Here,” Francesca said as she walked up to them carrying two clear, plastic containers with a hole cut into the top. “Can we put these donation jars on the tables somewhere?”

“Sure,” Kalista said, finding the perfect spot for each. She started to introduce Francesca to her other friends only to find out that Hunter actually worked part-time at Ink This with Nikita when he wasn’t at the rescue center. Zoe seemed to know everyone in town because the bar she worked at was such a hot spot. Becca was the only one who didn’t know everyone else, so Francesca offered to give her a tour so she could introduce her to everyone.

“It looks wonderful. Oh, Kali. You did such a wonderful job, and we are so grateful to have you be a part in today’s festivities,” Madeline said as she and Evie joined them. She pulled Kalista into her arms and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Kalista still felt awkward with the affection gestures that seemed to come so naturally from Jared’s mother when she couldn’t even remember when the last time her own mother had given her a hug. Kalista opened her mouth to respond when they heard a loud rumbling sound coming from the road.

“It figures. Naturally, they get here when all the damn work is done,” Zoe muttered under her breath. Still, she couldn’t help but eye the men with appreciation.

“They do like to make an entrance,” Evie said with a chuckle.

Kalista’s eyes widened as a dozen men rode up to the rescue center on their motorcycles, the loud sounds temporarily drowning out the sound of the dogs barking and people talking.

Madeline laughed. “Ah, trouble just rolled in. Now the party can really begin.”

Chapter Twelve

The men turned off their bikes in unison and dismounted.

Even without their grand entrance the group would have been the center of attention. Out of the corner of her eye Kalista could see more than a few women had stopped in their tracks to admire the group of bikers. Among the riders she could see Jared, Dante and Sheriff Storm Wyatt, but there were several other good looking men that were sure to set a few hearts aflutter. Individually, each man was eye candy to look at, but together as one big group, they were absolutely devastating.

As if he could feel her looking, Jared’s head turned, and Kalista was sure his eyes locked with hers even though she couldn’t see beneath his sunglasses.

“Well, well. My son certainly looks at you as if he wants to gobble you up,” Madeline said cheerfully, trying to hold back the dance of glee she wanted to do.

“Hell, I’m out of here,” Nikita said before she disappeared into the crowd.

Jared, Dante and Storm walked over to join them at the edge of the food tent. Jared leaned down to kiss his mother on the cheek before pulling Kalista into his arms. “Mmm, you smell like sugar.”

Dante frowned at Zoe. “I told you I’d pick you up,” he snapped as soon as he got within hearing distance.