14. Free-Fall
Chapter 14
Free-Fall
Simone
Guilt gnawed at me. I probably shouldn’t have said anything about Rafferty not prospecting with the Riot, and I felt like a traitor for sharing. Yet, over the last week, I had developed a soft spot for Jackhammer and Warden – maybe it was only by association with Steel. Who knew? Either way, I felt like I’d put myself in the middle of an untenable situation.
I made a mental note to text Rafferty and ask why he’d been following me. That wasn’t just something Steel wanted to know. Had Dad put him up to it? Or was he trying to impress all of the brothers?
The thought of Raff becoming a Devil Lancer made me cringe as much as it made me smile. Part of me thought it would be fitting for him to join that club. A vision hit me of Aunt Trixie when she found out and I snickered.
“What’s so funny?” Steel asked.
“The thought of Aunt Trixie if you convinced Raff to join your ranks. You really know how to stir a hornet’s nest.”
“Not me stirring anything, Jade. It’s up to him. Not my fault if I can spot leadership potential at a glance.”
“Leadership?” I blurted.
“Potentially. Character is what you do when nobody’s watching. He didn’t know we’d be right out and approached those assholes anyway. It could have gone wrong for him, but it didn’t.”
It struck me with razor sharp clarity that if there were a Steel and me, this would be my life. Feeling like I sat in the middle all the time.
“Do you have a concealed carry permit?” he asked.
“Sure do.”
“How often do you practice?”
“I’m due, but I usually go once a month at least.”
He shifted in his seat. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t carry your weapon.”
I glanced at him and back to the road. “Do you expect me to say yes to that?”
“It’d be nice.”
A small smile crossed my face. “Yeah, well, I can’t do that.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw him give me a hard look. “Either of those fuckwits could have taken that gun from you.”
“What about Rafferty?”
Steel faced forward. “He’s not the subject here.”
I stopped at a traffic light and looked at him. “They could have taken Raff’s gun, too. Or is it because I’m female?”
He met my gaze with earnest brown eyes. “Rafferty isn’t carrying my child. He probably has ten pounds on Pump, where you’re at a forty or fifty pound disadvantage.”
My eyes went back to the road as traffic flowed forward. “I held the gun. He’d have to be a huge moron to come for it in close quarters like that.”
Steel nodded. “There’s a reason Scar did all the talking, sweetheart. Pump is a moron. May have just met him, but it rolls off him like an odor.”
I swallowed down my sigh. “How am I supposed to take care of myself without a weapon? You know, considering that fifty-pound weight difference?”
“I was there, Simone, and I would have handled it.”
My temper flared. “Is this a blow to your ego? I pulled the weapon and what? You got embarrassed? I kept that fuckwit from getting the upper hand, tough guy.”
He leaned his head back on the seat. “I love that you’re a firecracker, but you gotta dial it down right now.”
A rueful laugh bubbled out of me. “Oh, I’ll dial it back when you give me the honesty.”
His head came forward and twisted my way. “The honesty is that you’re the one on security footage holding a weapon on those assholes. Not me – you. That pisses me off.”
I scoffed. “They aren’t going to report it.”
“Not the point. That mom could have screamed bloody murder. Hell, security footage gets reviewed at stores like that; you’re lucky they didn’t see you when it was going down.”
I took a deep breath and eased my SUV into the lot for my apartment. “I hadn’t thought about that at the time.”
He nodded. “I know. That’s why I want you to stop carrying.”
After I parked the SUV, I powered off the engine and faced him. “Why? Because I didn’t consider the security cameras? They threatened us.”
“With words, not weapons.”
“He reached for his—”
“He’d deny it,” he said in a firm tone.
Shit. This reminded me of arguing with Dad.
“You went quiet.”
“I’m not giving up my gun.”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “They shoot you, I could lose you and our baby.”
I bit back a grin. “So you changed your mind about peanut?”
He leaned toward me. “Simone, please. Put my mind at ease.”
“Answer my earlier question. What do I do instead? Carry a knife? Mace? How am I going to protect myself? Because you might have noticed that I take care of myself.”
His eyes heated. “I’m gonna take care of your sass in the bedroom, but we’ll talk about it later.”
Rafferty tapped on the back hatch, and our conversation ended.
Once out of the SUV, both men behaved as though this were the Olympics and their event was the grocery-delivery two-hundred-meter freestyle. I understood wanting fewer trips to the apartment, but they were one-upping each other for no good reason. We got all the bags inside on the first go, but they went back for the cases of soda, seltzer water, and Steel’s beer.
Not to be left out, I followed them back to the lot. They stood at the open hatch in an intense conversation.
Steel whipped his eyes to me. “Go inside, Jade. We got it.”
I tilted my head. “You got an agenda is more like it.”
From the impatient look crossing Steel’s face, I’d pushed his patience to the brink. “Jade, humor me.”
“Fine.” I pointed at Rafferty. “I’m texting you and you better respond.”
“Whatever, Si—Jade. Go inside.”
Twenty minutes later, I had everything put away when Steel led Rafferty inside, telling him where to put the boxes of Bubly seltzer water.
“Productive pow-wow?” I asked.
Rafferty straightened from the pantry where he’d stacked the water. “Simone, cool it. He told me who those assholes were and what you did in the store. I can’t believe you brought out your gun inside a Target.”
“I kept most of it hidden by my purse.”
Rafferty widened his eyes. “The cameras in the sky will see that shit.”
I threw a thumb toward Steel who leaned against the breakfast bar with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I got that from this guy already, Raff.”
“Someone’s gotta make sure it’ll sink in.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Say… Gainesville, perhaps?”
His jaw ticked. “You aren’t funny, Simone. No, I’ll be in the parking lot. Jackhammer should be here soon.” His gaze moved past me. “Later, Steel.”
Steel lifted his chin. “Let me know what you decide.”
Part of me wanted to call Aunt Trixie, but more of me wanted to call Alexandra. In the end, I was too damned tired to call either. I stifled a yawn and moved toward the master bedroom. “I’m taking a shower and going to bed.”
He grinned and twisted the top off his beer. “No, we’re taking a shower and then I’m taking you to bed.”
My lips twisted. “Fine. But it’ll have to be a quickie. I’m not kidding, this baby is draining my energy.”
I woke up tangled in Steel, his legs were twined with mine and his arms were wrapped around me. Under any other circumstances, I’d have loved this, but my bladder felt ready to burst.
With careful and precise movements, I adjusted his arms, slid my legs free, and extracted myself from his grip. After doing my business in the bathroom, I spied the blue digits of my alarm clock. Two-o-two in the morning. That was a little later than I normally had to go pee, but then I’d gone to bed a little later compliments of Steel’s insistence to take care of my sass.
The sheets rustled, and Steel’s husky voice filled the air. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Go back to sleep. I had to pee, that’s all.”
He rolled out of bed and came toward the bathroom. When he drew even with me, his hands cupped my cheeks and he gave my lips a peck.
That was surprisingly sweet .
I climbed back into bed and wiggled around until I was comfortable again. The pregnancy books all warned me that in my third trimester, getting comfortable would be a serious challenge. I made a mental note to buy more pillows.
Steel came back to bed and wrapped his arms around me from behind, his hands sliding down to my belly. “Make me a promise, Jade.”
“A promise?”
“Yeah. Promise me, you won’t fall for me,” he whispered.
My lungs froze. I rolled toward him, but he held me in place. “I can’t do that, Steel.”
“Do it anyway.”
I bit my tongue, unsure how honest I could be. It was the middle of the night. We were both tired. Still, I couldn’t make that promise because I’d already started falling for him. At this point the question was how much farther did I have to fall? Because it already felt deep – deeper than anything I’d ever experienced.
“Can you do that for me, stubborn woman?”
“No, and not because I’m stubborn, but because I’m already in free-fall.”
He lowered his forehead to my shoulder and sighed.
Never one to leave well-enough alone, I asked, “Why shouldn’t I fall for you? Is there a reason or something?”
He pulled his hands away, allowing me to roll toward him. In the dim moonlight streaming inside, I saw the seriousness in his eyes. He cupped my cheek. “I could name at least five reasons. One reason is that I’m not invincible, Jade.”
“Nobody is, Steel.”
“Most men don’t get guns pulled on them at the grocery store.”
“And most men don’t interest me.”
“Simone.”
“Raymond.”
His head reared back. “How do you know my name?”
I grinned just thinking about putting his credit card back in his wallet earlier and spying his driver’s license while I was at it. “I have my ways.”
He let out a quiet sigh. “When I told you to put the credit card in my wallet, you got nosy didn’t you?”
“Not exactly, it was staring me right in the face.”
“I’m dangerous, Simone. You should keep that in mind.”
I dipped my chin. “I will. Can we go back to sleep now? This man who doesn’t want me to fall for him did an excellent job of fucking me earlier and I’m a wee bit wore out.”
He lowered his mouth to mine, and gently sucked on my lower lip. “You got it, Jade.”
I edged away from him. A moment later, he shifted to his side and spooned me. Yeah, this man was crazy if he expected me to promise something as outlandish as not falling for him. A strange thought hit me.
“Did you want that promise so you wouldn’t fall for me?” I whispered after a couple minutes.
He exhaled in a heavy, steady rhythm and I figured he’d fallen back to sleep. Men seemed to have that uncanny ability, not that I was jealous. I was completely jealous.
I closed my eyes and willed my mind to clear.
Then I heard him whisper, “No. I’m in free-fall, too.”
For the first time in a very long time, I fell asleep with a small smile on my face.
My boss had approved me working a half day on Friday because he knew I’d moved into a new apartment. This might have been the only reason I was willing to have a moonlight chat with Steel at two a.m. Though I was grateful I did. Knowing we were both in the same boat – free-falling for each other – gave me a reassurance like nothing else.
Steel’s phone vibrated before a tinkling alarm filled the bedroom at seven-thirty. I rolled away from the sunshine pouring into the room through the flimsy blinds, while Steel slid out of the bed and hit the shower.
The sound of water always made me drowsy and I dozed for a few more minutes. I cracked one eye open when I heard the door open. Steel sauntered out of the bathroom with a navy blue towel wrapped around his waist. His sparse chest hair failed to hide his luscious tattoos. I wondered how he kept his abs so ripped because I wasn’t the only one putting away fried shrimp and fish last night.
“Rest, woman. There’s no time for you staring me like that.”
I tossed the covers off and got out of bed. “No time in your schedule . I have plenty of time today, but I’ll let you get to it…whatever it may be.”
He dropped the towel and tugged on a pair of boxer briefs. “I’m not giving into your attempt to fish information out of me Jade. But, I’ll be back by six – maybe sooner depending on how shit goes.”
I nodded and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
After I washed my hands and brushed my teeth, I opened the bathroom door to find Steel in a pair of faded black Levi’s and a black t-shirt. My hands itched to run up and down his chest.
He grinned and shook his head. “You’re easy to read when you wake up, baby.”
I shrugged. “Can’t say I was trying to hide anything.”
“Does your buddy, Rafferty, have a truck? Or just a bike?”
I twisted my lips as I thought about it. “If he has a truck, it’s a beater, but he and I haven’t kept in touch that well while I was in Gainesville. I can ask him.”
He shook his head. “Don’t bother.”
“What do you need a truck for?”
A secretive smile made his eyes twinkle. “I’ll let you know later. Now come give me a goodbye kiss.”
I stepped into his space, and he wrapped his arms around me. What should have been a goodbye kiss quickly turned into a hot and heavy make-out session. Steel broke the kiss and rested his forehead against mine. “Goddamn, Jade.”
I smiled. “You can say that again.”
He pulled away, but not before kissing my forehead. “Be good today.”
I rubbed my hands along his biceps. “I normally am.”
“Hate to say it, but you need to stay inside as much as possible.”
I nodded. “Also the plan, since I have boxes to unpack, and I need to get onto the network and do half a day’s work.”
His chin dipped in a slow nod. “Sounds good, but you always have a way of surprising me.”
I shook my head. “Not today, tough guy.”
He gave me a quick peck. “Later.”
I locked the deadbolt behind him, and heard my phone ding with a notification.
Unlocking my phone, I saw it was a text from Mom.
Dinner tomorrow. Six-thirty.
Sorry, Mom. Won’t be able to make it.
The little dots weren’t jumping around on my screen. Maybe she was texting someone else. My phone rang and I should have expected that.
I swiped up to take the call and Mom spoke before I could.
“Your brother is coming home for the weekend, Simone. Why did you text me that you can’t make it for dinner tomorrow?”
I sat on the sofa. “I’ll be in Augusta tomorrow, Mom. And Bobby’s home for Spring Break, not just the weekend. I can catch up with him during the week.”
“Ha! I’ll be lucky if I see him after that first dinner. I wanted to have both of you at home, together.”
“How about we shoot for Thursday? Make Bobby’s favorite dinner, he’ll be there for sure.”
“His favorites are things you can’t stand.”
I shrugged. “I’ll suck it up and deal with it. Will that work?”
“I suppose. Why are you headed to Augusta so soon?”
“It’s not ‘so soon’ really, but think about it. How often is Dad away from the club for three weeks at a time?”
“It hasn’t been three weeks.”
“Steel was at Bike Week from start to finish, then followed me back to Gainesville, spent a week in Jacksonville, then helped with my move. We’re coming up on three weeks, Mom.”
“Hmmph,” she muttered. “Well, I can’t wait for you and your brother to be here on Thursday.”
I smirked. “Can I bring Steel?”
After a long moment, she said, “Sure. Tell him to wear Kevlar because your father will probably shoot him.”
“You’re joking.”
“Only a little, but you can bring him.”
I nodded. “He might be busy, but it’ll be nice to extend the invite.”
“Are you saying he doesn’t like us either?”
I chuckled. “Not at all. I’m saying he doesn’t want to be in an awkward situation any more than you do.”
“I’d ask who taught you about guilt trips, but that would be me. Fine. The ball’s in your court, and I’ll welcome him with an open mind.”
“And Dad?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“I’ll do what I can.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I’ll always love you more, pumpkin.”
A dull headache formed along my brow late in the afternoon as I reviewed programming code. I glanced at the time on the lower part of the computer screen. Four o’clock. No wonder I had a headache, I hadn’t eaten anything in hours.
Setting my laptop aside, I went to the kitchen and grabbed a package of peanut butter on cheese crackers and a can of lime Bubly. I heard a key slide into the lock and a moment later Steel came inside.
Exhaustion rolled off him and his eyes looked defeated.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No offense, baby, but this town sucks.”
My head reared back. “Why’s that?”
“Too many reasons to count, but the fuckin’ building department, code enforcement, the awful traffic, and a fuckin’ HOA to start.”
My brows furrowed. “An HOA?”
He huffed out a derisive chuckle. “Yeah. I’d terrorize the shit out of those pretentious, ignorant, motherfuckers, but it’d be too damned obvious.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling. Not that I found his anger funny, but rather he was really freaking sexy when he was pissed – as long as it wasn’t with me.
The doorbell buzzed and I shook my head. “Who could that be?”
Steel took a deep breath and wandered toward the door. “It better be Rafferty.”
He opened it, and Rafferty came inside handing a key fob to Steel. “Gray Tundra, parked near the retention pond. Don’t have a ramp, but I brought a sheet of plywood to get your bike in the bed. You need straps?”
Steel shook his head. “No, I got those. Can you be here in the morning? Don’t want to load the bike until I’m ready to leave – otherwise those assholes will know exactly which vehicle to follow.”
Rafferty nodded once. “You leaving at five?”
“Six, if Jade isn’t dead to the world.”
Rafferty nodded, then looked at me. “Hey, Simone.”
“Hey, Raff.”
He locked eyes with Steel. “I’ll be here at five-thirty, then.”
Steel shot him a skeptical look. “You won’t be out partying tonight?”
He shook his head. “No, sir. I’ll party tomorrow night – if the mood strikes.”
“Nineteen-years-old that mood should always strike,” Steel said.
Rafferty’s brow ticked up and down. “Not always, not for me anyway.”
“You want something to drink?” Steel asked.
Rafferty shook his head. “Nah. Gonna get rolling,” he pointed a finger at Steel. “That general contractor I used to work for got back to me. He’s willing to take a look at the structure, but can’t get out there until Monday afternoon.”
Steel nodded. “That works since we’ll be back by then.”
“Cool,” Rafferty said.
“By the way, Bobby will be in town for Spring Break – in case you feel like hanging with him tomorrow night,” I said.
Rafferty nodded. “I heard. Be safe, Simone.”
He left, Steel locked the door behind him, and turned to me. “Bobby’s your younger brother, I take it?”
I nodded. “Yep. I’m having dinner with him, Mom, and Dad on Thursday night. You’re welcome to come with me.”
“I doubt that,” Steel muttered.
“Nope. Mom said she’d welcome you with an open mind.”
“Is that so?”
I nodded. “Yes, though she did say to wear Kevlar since Dad might shoot you, but I think that would have been at her request, so it’s all cool.”
He laughed. “Not sure it’s all cool, seeing as yesterday she was worried I knew where she and Volt live, but I’ll keep the dinner in mind. What time on Thursday?”
“Six-thirty.”
His lips ticked to the side and his brow went up and down. “It’ll depend on how shit shakes out that day, that’s for damn sure. Might have to meet you there, which isn’t ideal.”
I shook my head. “Sure it is. If you’re spending time at the Devil Lancer compound, then meeting me there saves you two trips across the river.”
He lowered his chin. “But it doesn’t keep you safe.”
I tossed my hands out. “I could always ride over there with Dad, he’s usually on this side of town during the day and you can bring me back.”
He gave me a chin lift. “We’ll play it by ear, Jade. Are you packed?”
I scoffed. “No. I have another hour of reviewing code, then I can call it a day and focus on packing.”
“It’s just a weekend.”
I smiled. “And I’m rapidly approaching the halfway point of this pregnancy. Most of my clothes aren’t fitting half as well as I’d like.”
“You’re hardly showing.”
I chuckled. “I am a little if you know where to look, but that doesn’t change the fact that my pants are tighter, and I probably ought to buy a couple new bras.”
His eyes heated, he stepped into my space, and wrapped his arms around me. “Get another one with the cherries on it.”
I grinned. “I’ll see what I can do, baby.”
He gave me a long, gentle kiss. His dark eyes held warmth after he broke it and stared down at me. “Good. I gotta shower. The AC isn’t working at that clubhouse and I’ve been sweating all day. You get back to work.”