Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JOHNNY “HAWK” MANN
I pull my bike right in front of the salon and kill the engine. My gaze travels through the front window and I spot her standing behind her chair, working on a client. That alone should rein me in, but I can’t find it in me to care. The lady getting a blowout is about to get a front row ticket to a show too. It’s her lucky day.
The bell chimes over my head as I walk through the door, and Jo immediately turns. Judging by the smile on her pretty face she was expecting to see another customer. Her lips turn down the second her eyes land on me, and she pretends to focus on her client’s hair, making stupid small talk about the fucking weather as she ignores me.
The girl from yesterday regards me with a warm smile, though. Too bad I don’t remember her name. I could use a fucking ally.
“Jo,” she calls. “You have a visitor.”
Seeming to ignore her, and me, Jo continues to carry on with the lady in her chair. I make my way over there and park my ass in front of the mirror. The woman with foils in her hair looks up at me with wide eyes, taking in the patches that decorate my vest.
If I was in a halfdecent mood, I’d have a little fun with her. Make her clutch those pearls around her neck and shit. But my focus is lasered in on the girl playing with her hair and the red marks I left around her neck.
I tip my chin. “That’s a nice necklace you got there, greedy girl. Guy who gave it to you must be a real stud.”
Jo’s eyes go wide as saucers and her cheeks turn a pretty shade of red.
“You wanna do this here, in front of the lady, or you want to go in the back?”
“I’m working, Johnny,” she hisses.
“Don’t give much of a fuck, Jo.”
The woman in the chair gasps.
“I’m sorry for the language, Grace,” Jo says as she stares daggers at me.
I cross my arms against my chest and hitch a shoulder. “You can glare at me all you want, but we’re working this shit out, and I don’t mind an audience. In fact, I prefer it.”
She drops the paintbrush looking thing on the tray beside her and turns to her co-worker.
“Kate, do you mind finishing up Grace’s foils?”
“Not at all.” Kate rushes to takeover for Jo but takes a minute to examine her neck. “I have a scarf in the back if you want to cover up.”
I uncross my arms. “I think she wants them on display. Ain’t that right, Jo?”
Clenching her jaw, she grabs my hand and leads me to the back of the salon, but I pull out of her grasp when I notice she’s walking funny. Huffing out an exasperated breath, she glares at me from over her shoulder.
“Are you coming or what?”
The rage pumping through me subsides at the thought that she might be hurt.
“Why you walking like that?”
Her eyes narrow into tiny slits as she clenches her teeth. “You know why I’m walking like this,” she snaps, then turns on her heel and limps on. It takes a second for it to click for me, then pride swooshes through my veins and a crooked grin spreads across my face.
“Fucked you so good you can’t even walk.”
She flips me the bird, and a chuckle escapes my lips. I take another moment to appreciate her hobble, then follow her into the back. Once we’re alone, she lashes out, poking her finger into my chest.
“You don’t get to come here and act the way you just did in front of my customers. I don’t know why the hell you’re so bent out of shape anyway. I did you a favor.”
Is she for real? She fucking sabotaged my morning.
“Your idea of a favor is different from mine.”
“Not really,” she says, cocking her hip. “You left without a trace and so did I. The only difference is, I had every intention of coming back. I just needed space to clear my head.”
My brows pinch together as I process her words.
“Hold up. I left without a trace—are you referring to Thanksgiving?”
Breaking eye contact, she worries her lower lip between her teeth. I don’t scold her for it, though. I’m too wrapped up in trying to figure how I’m going to tackle the subject at hand. I knew we’d have to discuss it eventually, but with everything going on, it kind of fell off my radar.
“Last night was a mistake,” she whispers as she slowly brings her gaze back to me and releases her hold on her lip. “I shouldn’t have come on to you like I did. I just needed…I wanted to escape everything. It didn’t mean anything.”
Oh, she’s so full of shit.
“The fuck it didn’t,” I growl.
She sighs. “Oh, come on Johnny. Do you honestly expect me to believe that? You might have forgotten our history, but I didn’t. I listened when you spoke. I absorbed every word in every letter. You don’t do relationships, and if you did, you wouldn’t pick me. I was your person during your tour, but that’s where it ended, and the only reason we’re breathing the same air is because Andrew’s dead. When the dust settles, and there is no more saving for you to do, you’ll get bored.” She shrugs slightly. “It’s what you do.”
I can’t argue with that because everything she said, she got from me. My track record is absolute shit. Still, I feel the need to set her straight about what happened that Thanksgiving, but the only way I can do that is by dragging Andrew under the bus, and that don’t feel right. The man is dead. He deserves to rest in peace.
“I know my brother was important to you, and that you need to feel like an active participant in all this, so I’ll play by your rules until we lay him to rest and clear out the apartment, but after that, I think it’s better we just go our separate ways.”
“An active participant? This isn’t a fucking sporting event,” I growl. “I hate that Andrew’s dead, but let me perfectly clear, I’m here for you. You called and I came, and I’ll keep coming for you until you open your eyes and realize I’m not letting you go.”
That last part just kinda flies out of my mouth, but I don’t wish to take my words back. I don’t know much about anything really, but I know Jo belongs with me, and after last night I don’t want to let her out of my sight. I don’t want to lay in bed wondering where she is, and what’s she doing. Who she’s with, and if she’s happy.
I want to be the one that makes her fucking happy. The guy who takes care of her in every way a man can take care of a woman.
I want to be the man who that makes her walk with a limp because he blew out her back the night before.
Yeah, I want to be that guy.
Decision made.
I’m keeping her.
Closing the distance between us, I lift my hands to her face. Her eyes close at my touch, but she quickly opens them, and stares back at me, a war raging in those big brown orbs.
“I’m not proud of how I behaved that Thanksgiving. I’ve spent many a night regretting my actions, but I wasn’t right in the head then, and I would’ve blown any shot of keeping you.”
Andrew was right about that. Things are different now, though.
I’m different.
“You run, I’m gonna chase you, Jo.” I drop my hands, but I don’t back away. Every breath that leaves her lips touches mine, and the urge to claim her mouth consumes me. Don’t know that’d I’d be able to stop though. I can already picture myself lifting her in my arms and holding her against the wall as I fuck her, and I think we’ve scared the lady with the tinfoil in her hair enough for one day.
Just then my phone rings, breaking the moment. Jo takes full advantage and puts some space between us as I reach into my kutte to answer the call.
“Mr. Mann?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s Detective Reynolds. I’m calling to let you know Andrew’s body has been cleared for release, and so has his place of residence.”