Reckless (6 page)

J.T. exploded into action, shoving men out of his way as he closed in on his goal.

Tucker gave J.T. a relieved look as he saw him.

Without a word, J.T. reached out and snagged her wrist. He pulled, but the guy holding on to her was reluctant to let go. Until he saw J.T.’s uniform. His compliance wasn’t enough, though. J.T. wanted his blood.

He decked the guy right in the jaw, and he went down, almost taking Nikki with him.

J.T. grabbed her and hauled her against him. He shoved her behind him as he waited to see if he’d have any more trouble out of Mr. Obnoxious.

Satisfied that he was out for the count, J.T. turned to Nikki. Her usually clear blue eyes were cloudy with confusion and the haze of too much alcohol.

“Are you all right, honey?” he demanded as he touched her cheek in a gentle gesture.

To his horror, her eyes filled with tears. Hell.

He pulled her into his arms then looked over her head to Tucker. “How long has she been at this?”

“A few hours,” Tucker said. “Only got bad about a half hour ago.”

“Thanks for calling,” J.T. said with a nod. “I’m taking her home.”

“Give Lucas my regards when you talk to him,” Tucker said. “Tell him he won’t have to worry about Nikki coming in here again.”

“No, he won’t,” J.T. said shortly. “She’ll be back in over my dead body.”

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Tucker nodded his satisfaction, and J.T. gathered Nikki under one arm, pressing her against his side. He urged her from the bar, keeping her in the protective shelter of his embrace until they were outside.

When he got to his car, he opened the back door and gently helped her in. She offered no resistance and crawled onto the seat, lying down and curling her knees protectively against her chest. He stood there looking at her for a long moment, his jaw clenched until he thought his teeth might break.

J.T. turned and nearly ran into Toby.

“I’ll head back over to the station,” Toby said. “You go ahead and take her home.”

J.T. nodded. “Thanks, man.”

“You bet.”

J.T. walked around to the driver’s side and got in. They rode to her house in silence.

He glanced over his shoulder in the darkness to see if she was sleeping, but she was just lying there, her gaze fixed on some distant object. He sighed and turned his attention back to the road.

A few minutes later, he pulled up outside her house and cut the engine. He got out, opened the back door and reached in to pick her up. She offered no resistance and lay limply in his arms as he walked to her front door.

Hell, it wasn’t even locked.

“We’re going to have a talk about your safety measures,” he grumbled as he elbowed his way inside.

Her silence was starting to unnerve him. For a girl who always had something to say, this prolonged no-talking thing was starting to bug the shit out of him.

He laid her on the couch and knelt down beside her. He touched her cheek and ran his finger down to her lips.

“Are you okay, honey?”

Again her eyes filled with tears. One popped over the rim of her eye and slipped down, colliding with his finger. Damn.

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“Don’t call me honey,” she said hoarsely. “I’m not your honey. I’m not your anything. I’m nothing to you. Just an easy lay.”

He damn near exploded. Only the fear of scaring her kept him from losing his cool entirely.

“Don’t you
ever
call yourself an easy lay,” he ground out.

She shrugged. “What else would you call someone who all but forced you to have sex with her?”

Sarcastic and acerbic. It was always how she’d dealt with situations that left her at a disadvantage.

“I have a lot I want to say to you, Nikki, but damn if I’m going to do it when you won’t remember it the next morning. So what I’m going to do is get you undressed and in bed. But tomorrow? We’re going to talk, and I don’t give a damn if you have the worst hangover in history. It won’t get you out of this.”

She gave him a faint smile. “Sometimes when you talk to me, it’s almost like I belong to you. It’s nice.” Then her smile faded. “But I’ll never belong to you. I don’t belong to anyone.”

She closed her eyes but not before he saw the renewal of moisture.

His chest heavy and aching, he picked her up again and carried her into the bedroom.

She didn’t stir as he undressed her then tucked her carefully into bed.

For a long moment he stood at her side, staring down at her in confusion. She spoke of belonging to him, of
wanting
to belong to him, as though she held deeper feelings, beyond a crush or sexual attraction.

Had he gotten her intentions wrong all along? Was the brazen, sex-kitten act just a cover-up for deep-seeded insecurities? Okay obviously the sex-kitten act was a farce.

She saved herself for you.

If it were any other woman, he’d read a lot into that fact, but with Nikki, he’d never been sure of anything. She moved too fast, made his head spin and generally kept him in a state of befuddlement.

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What if she did want more? What if it wasn’t all a game? What if he’d fucked it all up before he realized he’d even had a chance?

He lowered his head and kissed her temple, letting his lips linger there for a long moment.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “So damn sorry.”

After touching her cheek one last time, he turned and walked out of the bedroom toward the living room. He’d crash on the couch, and then tomorrow he’d find out what the hell had prompted tonight’s uncharacteristic drunken binge.

Even though he had a bad feeling he knew.

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Nikki woke to a pounding head and a tongue that was dry and swollen, sticking to the roof of her mouth like fly paper. She was naked. In her bed.

Shame crowded into her mind until she wanted to scream. So much for not being her mother’s daughter.

She fought to try and remember what happened last night. She remembered drinking too much and having to force herself to swallow the nasty crap. The rest of the evening was fuzzy, though she did remember being pulled off the bar by a guy she’d never seen before.

Fear took hold. Please, please don’t let her have had a one night stand with him.

She scrambled out of bed, inspecting it for signs that she hadn’t been alone in it. Her stomach lurched as she hurriedly dressed, and she had to breathe deeply to keep from having to hang her head over a toilet.

She brushed her teeth then doused her face with water until some of the cobwebs cleared. Then she ventured out of her bedroom, afraid of what she might find in the living room.

When she saw J.T. sitting on the couch, TV remote in hand, she sagged in relief. No matter what he might think of her, he wouldn’t have allowed anything to happen to her.

He turned to stare at her, his expression indecipherable. Unable to hold his gaze, she ducked and headed for the kitchen.

“Oh no you don’t,” J.T. said as he strode after her.

He touched her shoulder then let his fingers slide over her skin before turning her around to face him.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, though his expression told her he knew damn well how she felt.

“Like shit,” she said bluntly.

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He nodded. “I’m not surprised. That was one hell of a drunk you threw last night.

Want to tell me what’s going on?”

She almost laughed. Would have if it wouldn’t have split her head wide open. She shrugged indifferently. “Nothing’s going on. Just decided to give the public what they expect.”

His eyes glittered dangerously. “And what do they expect, Nikki?”

She shrugged again, and his hand tightened on her shoulder. She was pissing him off.

Not that it was anything new.

“Drunken whore. Like mother, like daughter.” She would have shrugged again, but his grip prevented her.

He cursed under his breath, but the words still stung her ears. “You’re not a whore or a drunk, Nikki. Why the fuck would you want people to think you are?”

She lifted a brow and stared straight back at him. “What else would you call a quick fuck?”

J.T.’s face darkened in fury. He spun her around and all but shoved her out of the kitchen and back into the living room. He sat her on the couch and plopped down beside her.

“Cut the crap, Nikki. You were a virgin. I was your first.”

She couldn’t breathe. It hurt too much. She hadn’t wanted him to know, hadn’t wanted him to have that kind of power over her.

Then he cupped her cheek, his touch so gentle, she wanted to cry. He nudged at her chin until she was forced to meet his gaze.

“I hurt you, honey, and I’m so damn sorry. It shouldn’t have been like that. It should have been special, not a quickie on my office desk.”

“It was my choice,” she said defiantly.

“But why was
I
your choice?”

She refused to look at him even though he held her chin as he stared at her.

“Nikki, look at me,” he ordered.

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She let her gaze flicker back to him. “Does it matter? I didn’t even think you’d know. And who would believe I was a virgin anyway?”

“I would,” he said quietly. “And damn it, Nikki, you should have told me. I could have hurt you badly. If it had been someone else, someone who didn’t have your pleasure or best interests at heart, it could have been a lot worse.”

“But it wasn’t,” she said. “Everything was just fine. My first time was all I could hope for, and now I no longer have my pesky virginity to worry about. I can lose the hang-ups over who the first guy will be and go out and have fun.”

J.T. frowned, and he gripped her shoulders and shook her slightly. “Can you be serious for two seconds here? This isn’t a game. I know damn well you don’t take sex that lightly. Why are you acting so goddamn flip?”

Pain centered in her chest and spread at an alarming rate. Rose up her throat until she couldn’t breathe. “I was being serious,” she whispered. “There was only one man I wanted. I thought…I thought he would be different than all the others. I thought he could see past who my mother was and see
me
. But in the end, I was just another quick fuck.

Nobody important. Certainly no one he’d ever settle down with.”

J.T. looked as though she’d just slapped him. He released her chin and stared at her with a combination of shock and horror. And she hadn’t thought she could hurt any more than she already did.

She rose abruptly from the couch, folding her arms protectively across her middle.

“I want you to leave, J.T. We have nothing more to say to each other. You won’t have to worry. I’ve gotten the message. I won’t be stalking you anymore.”

He was on his feet in two seconds, pressing into her space. She backed warily away.

“Now you wait just a damn minute, Nikki,” he growled.

They were interrupted by the doorbell. She turned swiftly to answer it, relieved to be saved the confrontation. What else was there to be said? He’d made his point. She got it.

No need to beat her over the head.

She yanked open the front door to see Zane standing there, hands shoved into his pockets.

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“Hey, Nikki,” he said in a gentle voice. “I heard you had a rough night.”

To her eternal disgust, she burst into tears.

Zane pulled her into his arms. “Hey now, it’s okay. I’ll take you out to the ranch.

Jasmine was worried about you.”

She nodded against his chest.

“J.T. still here?” he asked.

She pulled away and scrubbed at her face. She started to ask how he knew J.T. was here, but then she looked beyond him to see the squad car in her drive. Great. Now the whole damn town would know he’d stayed over. Not that she gave a shit, but J.T.’s reputation would suffer, no doubt.

She turned in time to see J.T. walk up behind her. “You should get your car out of my driveway,” she said acidly. “Whatever will people think? You can’t have everyone thinking you’ve been a round with the town whore.”

J.T.’s face whitened, and anger glittered in his dark eyes. “That’s enough, Nikki.”

She turned back to Zane. “Can we go?” she pleaded. She didn’t want to stay here another minute.

“Sure,” Zane said. “Go on and get in the truck.”

“Wait a minute. You’re not going anywhere,” J.T. said in a frustrated voice. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

She ignored him and walked at a fast clip out to Zane’s truck. As she got in, she could see the two men talking and then J.T.’s nod. A few seconds later, Zane slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

He gave her a look of sympathy then reached over to squeeze her hand. “It’ll be okay, Nikki. You can stay out at the ranch as long as you need to.”

“Thanks, but there’s no need,” she murmured. “I’m leaving Barley.”

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J.T. sat in his office, his sweltering office, head in his hands, elbows propped on his desk. Nikki had been holed up at the Sweetwater Ranch for two days, and when he’d finally gotten tired of getting the runaround on the phone, he’d driven out, only for Jasmine to refuse him entry. He was seriously tempted to go out with a warrant. But then he’d piss off Seth and Zane and ruin a perfectly good friendship. His only hope was that Nikki would eventually calm down and have a rational conversation with him.

His cell phone rang, and he reached for it, irritated by the hope that it was Nikki. He frowned when he saw an unfamiliar number on the LCD screen. Flipping it open, he brought it to his ear and uttered a brisk hello.

“J.T., it’s Lucas. We need to talk, man.”

Fuck.

He sucked in a deep breath. “Hey, man,” he greeted, trying to keep his voice light and unaffected. “What’s up?”

“I need you to tell me what the fuck is going on with Nikki,” Lucas said, cutting straight to the point. “She said she’s leaving Barley. For good.”