Reese (6 page)

             
I opened my door and
had to bite back a groan. Some women didn’t like the overly muscled look. All those popping veins, bulging muscles and hard angles. I, however, was not one of them it appeared. Stone was six feet three inches and the last time he had had a match and been weighed in he was two hundred and fifty
seven
pounds of solid muscle. His trapezoids were ginormous; his biceps and triceps sculpted under his tattoos, and…
Lord
,
help me!
That chest of his underneath that black tank top he wore just begged me to touch
it
.

             
His eyes were eating me up while I was doing the same. I knew what he was seeing, and I also knew from the deep almost gun metal gray of his eyes that he liked what he saw. My long red hair with its many natural highlights was pulled back into a high ponytail
, which exposed the tattoo on the back of my neck: A
pink and white winged
butterfly with
a skull in the center as it’s
body
. My white tee was tight across my chest and just barely covered my belly. If I were to raise
my arms it would uncover my bellybutton and the skull dangling from my ring there. My jeans were shredded at the knees and fit my slim hips perfectly. My biker bo
ots gave a little extra height to my five feet eight inches.

             
“Hi.” I greeted with a small smile.

             
“Hey.” His voice was deep and a little hoarse. His hands clenched at his side and I knew that he was finding it hard not to touch me. That he did
n
o
t
had
me melt
ing
a little more toward him.
Soon I would be one melted puddle if I wasn’t careful.

             
“I’m ready if you want to go.” My smile was a little bigger this time and his gaze zeroed in on
the
dimple
in my left cheek
.

             
He licked his lips before nodding. “Got a jacket?”

             
I reached inside my coat closet and extracted a leather jacket.
It was early September and temperatures were still basically scorching, but I would need the jacket come
December
.
I slipped it on and zipped it up as I followed him downstairs and out to his bike. It was a sexy bike
:
Gray like his eyes and gleaming. It was about two years old and I could tell that he tinkered with it regularly
from the custom rims and tires to the art work on the sides
. He pulled on his own leather jacket, which covered up all of those delicious muscles, but in no way made him less devastating to me.

             
His powerful legs straddled the motorcycle and then he handed me his extra helmet. “There is a microphone and a receiver inside so we can communicate.” He told me.

             
I slid on behind him before pulling it over my head.
Then I carefully wrapped my arms around his waist and waited for him to start the powerful beast up. It roared to life and my arms tightened around his waist
impulsively
. I could hear his laughter in my left ear and a goofy grin spread across my face.

             
“Ready?” His deep voice caressed my ear in an almost sensual way.

             
Was I? I wasn’t completely sure but still said yes.

             
He handled the Harley expertly. At first I was nervous because I had never been on a motorcycle before, but I began to trust his skills and relaxed more and more as the afternoon wore on. Stone didn’t have a specific destination in mind, just drove on and on, enjoying the ride. And the entire time his voice caressed me as he told me about himself.

             
He came from a small town in Oklahoma. His father was a doctor while his mother had been the mayor
of
his hometown.
His was the middle child of five, with an older brother and sister and two younger sisters, the youngest of which was eighteen. He was twenty-nine, which I
had already known. He had gotten into the whole mixed martial arts world when he was twenty two
, something else I had known because there had been a bio of him before his big championship fight two years ago
. Up until then he had competed in various martial arts tournaments
around the world
and
had been
really successful.

             
His brother was a corporate lawyer, and lived in New York. His
older
sister was a kindergarten teacher back in Oklahoma with twin six year old daughters that he spoiled rotten
when he went home for Christmas and a few other holidays. The younger two sisters were in college, one was getting re
ady to graduate and was going
on
to get her masters in English, while the youngest one was just starting and so far was undecided what she wanted to do with her life.

             
I enjoyed listening to him, hearing about his siblings and parents. There was affection in his tone and it made me yearn for the childhood that he had had. It wasn’t until
we
stopped just outside of Pho
enix for dinner that he asked about me
.

             
I took my time cutting up my grilled chicken while I thought of what to tell him. My heart was racing, but when I was done murdering my dinner I raised my eyes and simply told him. “I was lonely mostly.”

             
He was watching me closely. No doubt taking in my flush
ed cheeks
, the fear and indecision in my eyes. I had only ever told Mel the whole story of my life up until I had come here. I felt like I was two separate people. Rebecca was part of the childhood I had had. Reese was me now.

             
“So you don’t have any brothers or sisters.” Stone gave me a reassuring smile after a minute, telling me that he wasn’t going to press me for information
I wasn’t ready to give
.
“I don’t know if I would have liked that.”

             
I stab
bed
a steamed carrot and devour
ed
it. “I would have loved having a big brother.” Someone who would have protected her from The Pervert; who would have been a friend
when I needed one the most
. Maybe gotten
me
into and out of some of the trouble that Stone’s had him. “Your family sounds really special.”

             
“I like to think so.” He took a long swallow of his tea to wash down his bite of steak. “Even
the
times
when I really only
wanted to stab them
—most times it was my brother—in
their sleep, I still felt loved and needed.”

             
I put my fork down and reached for my water. “You know, listening to you talk about your family and everything it makes me wonder. How the hell did you end up owing Greg Daventry a favor?”

             
He grimaced. “My brother
…
Kevin works for your grandfather at the New York office.
He has this one weakness. B
londs. His new secretary was a blond and it is against company policy to sleep with someone within the company
, and especially in your own department
. But when the relationship came to light Greg decided not to fire either one when he found out who I was.” He shrugged. “Long story short, I had to owe the old man a favor down the road or Kevin was out and black listed from any other corporation this side of the globe.”

             
“That sucks.” And it sounded just like my grandfather. He was a shark in the boardroom and in real life.

             
“I thought so too, at the time.” He caught my gaze and I watched as those steel gray eyes darkened. “But then I never would have met you if I hadn’t owed him
that
favor.”

             
That muscle sprang to life and if I had been scared of it before I was
petrified
now. I was developing feelings for Kieran Stone that went way beyond a crush.
But with the
trepidation
also
came a little of excitement. Stone was turning out to be a
great
guy. And as the evening wore on I found myself smiling more and more.

             
“So…” He was leaning against the door frame of my apartment as I unlocked it. “Are you free tomorrow?”

             
“I don’t work on Mondays.” I told him, as I opened the door and turned to face him. “Most people are still recovering from their weekend hangovers so Safe Haven doesn’t get much business. One of the bouncers bartends.”

             
“Will you have dinner with me?” His smile was so infectious that I took a half step closer to him, returning it.

             
“Maybe.”

             
His fingers skim
med
along
my jaw and I couldn’t
help my shiver. W
hat was
it about this man that affect
ed
me in
such a
potent
w
ay? “Want me to beg?” He murmured
, seeming
fascinated by the softness of my skin
…the angle of my jaw…the soft peaches and cream skin tone compared to the darker tone of his fingers. “I will if you want me too.”
His voice is a caress to my senses and I fight the tremors that quake my body.

             
My tongue slipped out to dampen my now dry lips and I watched in my own
enthrallment
as his steel gray eyes followed the movement and dilated with want. “You don’t have to beg. I just don’t spend that much time out…Can we order in and have dinner here?”

             
Those skimming fingers dared to journey down my neck ca
using my heart rate to run wild.
“That sounds perfect. I could really use an evening just being lazy.” His thumb stop
ped
over my raging pulse at the base of my neck. “I’ll text you when I am through with my workout and training session.”

             
He stepped closer, his head lowering. And even though I had known it was coming, panic set in and I jerked back, my heart racing for an entirely different reason now. His eyes darkened, but a small smile lifted at the corners of his sexy mouth. “Slow.” His tone h
eld
a promise. “We will go as slow as you need to.”

             
“Got a letter of my own from FedEx.” Mel is munching on something crunch and I have to hold my cellphone away from my ear a little because it is
so
loud. But her words
are
smooth and clear and I grit my teeth at this news.

             
I had hoped that the letter and other documents from Greg Daventry would be the end of it all. But now he was reaching out to Mel. I glare up at the ceiling above my bed and wonder if it would be sensible to just run away again? But I roll my eyes at the thought even as it whispers across my mind. I was done running from my past. And if I wanted to move on and get over what had happened to me five years ago I had to start facing my past.

             
And I was more than ready to move on so I could explore what I felt for Kieran Stone.
One date and I suspected that my feelings went far deeper than a mere crush. It was terrifying, yes…But exhilarating too.

             
“What does it say?” I ask as I set up in bed and switch off the alarm that was going to go off any second now at noon. I didn’t have anything to do today except maybe a little dusting before Stone arrived.

             
“It explains who he is, and that he has given me the title to Safe Haven free and clear. Also that he wants to thank me in person for being so good to you…Get this, he wants to meet me at Kieran Stone’s MMA fight the Sunday after next. There are two VIP
passes as well as the
tickets with the letter and another copy of the deed to
the bar.” She sounds both outraged and a little excited. Mel, like me, was a big MMA fan.

             
“Are you going to go?”

             
She blows out a long sigh. “I don’t know yet. I guess it depends on you. I’m not going without you. But if you aren’t up to seeing the old fart then I’ll send the passes and tickets back.”

             
Without even really taking time to consider it I told her to accept them. “It’s time I dealt with some of my ghosts.” I murmur
ed
.