Chapter 5
Chapter Five
After school I ran by Desert Stone. Walking in, I was greeted by Derek, the redheaded personal trainer who had been covering the front desk ever since Stephanie had quit.
“Hey, Shiloh.” He eyed my dress and lack of gym bag. “What brings you in today?”
I walked up to the front of the desk and rested my elbows on the high counter. “You might be able to help me,” I said just as Knox walked out from the hall that led to his office behind the front desk. The sound of my voice pulled his attention away from whoever he had been texting. Seeing me, he pivoted from the direction he was headed and came to stand behind Derek.
“What can I help you with?” Derek asked me when I hadn’t elaborated.
I looked from Knox to him. “I need a shirt. Preferably a tank.”
“A Desert Stone shirt?” Derek clarified.
“I could have brought you home a shirt,” Knox said, startling Derek, who hadn’t known Knox was standing behind him.
I looked back at Knox. “You’ve been busy setting up the mud run. I didn’t want to add to your plate. Plus, I need to go to the grocery store, and this was on my way.”
He sighed through his nose and opened a large drawer in one of the few lateral filing cabinets up against the wall behind the front desk. He pulled out two shirts. One was a tank and the other was a racerback. Both were navy and had Desert Stone Fitness written on the front.
Knox walked around the front desk to hand them to me. I checked their sizes, finding that they were right. I held one in each of my hands, debating which one I wanted. When I couldn’t decide, I figured, Why not get both? “Are you going to let me pay for them?”
“Why’d you want a shirt?” he asked, avoiding my question.
I held one of the shirts up to my chest, displaying the Desert Stone logo. “I wanted to represent at the mud run.”
That earned me a smile and it was beautiful. “I’ll take care of the shirts, Derek. Don’t let her try to pay for them.”
“Understood, boss,” Derek said.
I shook my head but didn’t argue. “When are you getting off?” I asked Knox.
“I shouldn’t be much longer. Why?”
“Just want to make sure you’ll be home for dinner. There is this new recipe I want to try.”
“What are you making?”
I gave him a mischievous grin. “Something to eat.”
He nodded once and took a step backward. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll come with you to the store.” Not giving me an opportunity to respond, he spun around and went back toward his office.
Is he that worried about what I’m going to cook? I wondered.
As I stood there frowning, I caught Derek staring at me. Silence began to stretch between us. It was loud. Not in the sense that it hurt my ears, but in a way that was very obvious. Derek and I didn’t really know each other. Sure, he and I had been pleasant up until now in the sort of way acquaintances were, but conversation didn’t flow as easily with him as it had when I’d first met Ethan. I didn’t want to compare my interactions with Derek to how I’d gotten to know my guys. It would be like comparing apples to oranges. There was an attraction between me and my guys. I hadn’t understood it at first, or I hadn’t been ready for it. Not that it mattered, because I wasn’t attracted to Derek. As the silence continued, I figured I needed to make a better effort. Getting to know him, I mean. He might be training me soon and it couldn’t hurt to have another friend.
Just as I opened my mouth to say something, Derek asked, “You're doing the mud run?”
“I am, with Colt and Creed and some of our friends,” I said, grateful he’d dispelled the awkwardness. And his topic of discussion had been way better than mine, which was going to be about the weather and how crazy hot it still was in October.
“I’m doing the run with a couple of my buddies,” he said. “I might see you there.”
“Yeah.” Crap. What did we talk about now? “Um…”
His eyes flicked to mine.
“Keelan said you have MMA training.” It was the first thing that popped into my head.
His brows inched up a little. “I do.”
“How long have you trained for?”
“My dad threw me into karate when I was eight. Since then, I’ve trained in judo, jiu-jitsu, and muay Thai.” He glanced toward the ceiling for a moment as though he was counting. “So thirteen years.”
“Impressive.”
He grinned. “Does that mean I’m qualified?”
My brow scrunched up. “For?”
His grin wavered a little. “To help train you in the next couple of weeks. Keelan asked me this morning.”
Keelan had worked quickly. “Right. I wasn’t asking to see if you were qualified. I figured I’d get to know you if we were going to be getting up close and personal soon.”
He chuckled. “Understandable.”
Knox returned with his gym bag hanging on his shoulder. He looked from Derek to me. “Ready?”
I nodded.
“Enjoy the rest of your day,” Derek said to us as we walked out.
Knox followed me to the store in his classic red Camaro and let me park my car in the closest spot available near the entrance. He parked four spots down from where I had. I waited for him by my car so we could walk in together. As he walked toward me, I couldn’t help but watch him. The giant, strong man took his time, walked with confidence. He had a grumpy, guarded exterior that was intimidating. Not to me, though. I understood that surly wall.
As he approached me, I held out my hand. It was such a simple request, yet I’d never felt more vulnerable. I’d held his hand before, but I hadn’t really given him a choice then. Now, I was.
Without pausing, his hand took mine and then I was walking by his side toward the store. I faced forward, happiness taking over my face.
“I’m just holding your hand,” he grumbled next to me.
I tucked whips of hair behind my ear, my wristlet smacking against my forearm as I did. “Sometimes simple things like holding hands can have more meaning than, say, kisses.”
“Are you saying you’d rather hold hands than kiss?”
“Why can’t I have both?”
One side of his mouth stretched upward, showing me that he was teasing. “You can have both.”
Inside the store, as I began putting things into the cart, Knox quickly figured out what I was making for dinner. “Tacos?”
“And you were so worried,” I teased as I tossed corn tortillas into the cart. “I guess you came to the store for no reason.”
“I’ve never been worried about your cooking.”
My brows rose and I pushed the shopping cart down another aisle. “Oh, really?”
He shook his head. “I just like how cute you get when your feathers are ruffled.” A glint of mirth showed in his eyes at the you’ve got to be kidding look I was giving him. “And as for why I came to the store with you…I wanted to spend time with you.”
It was a task to hide the giddiness bubbling in my chest.
“I also wanted to talk to you about this morning,” he said.
I had a feeling I knew what he was referring to, but still asked, “What about this morning?”
Knox stopped walking, which made me stop, and we stood staring at each other in the middle of the aisle. He gave me a look that said he knew I was playing dumb. “Have I ever given you any indication that your age is an issue for me?”
Oh, boy. It was time to confront this. “No, but you didn’t deny it this morning, either.”
“Because I was a little blindsided and with how you kept looking at me, I knew the insecurity was directed at me.”
I didn’t deny it because it was.
His eyes narrowed. Not in an angry way, but in an assessing way. “You gonna tell me why that is?”
“It was something that Stephanie said?—”
“Stephanie?”
Gathering my confidence, I squared my shoulders. “Look, I know I’m being stupid. The last thing I should be worrying about is if my gorgeous older boyfriend is bothered by my age, which is something I don’t have the power to change. Nor would I. I am who I am.” Having said all that with one breath, I paused to take another and to figure out the best way to explain my point. “But at the same time, you make me happy, Knox. All four of you do, and you all have the power to take that happiness away.”
His face relaxed as he stared down at me. “My beautiful younger girlfriend has that power, too.”
My heart seemed to puppeteer the corners of my mouth, stretching them up. It was the first time he’d ever said I was beautiful. Knox was a man of bluntness and harsh words. But when he had a moment like this, where he was kind and wonderful, it was profound.
“Don’t act like you didn’t know you’re beautiful,” he grumbled.
“Not as much as you just made me feel.”
He sighed as if exasperated and pulled the cart from my grasp, clearing the obstacle between us. He grabbed my wrist and drew me to him. When his hand went to the back of my neck, I instinctively pushed up on my tiptoes, tilting my head back and offering myself to him.
His lips descended on mine. At first his kiss was slow, but passionate, like he wanted to savor the moment and the taste of my lips. That was, until I tried to kiss him back—to savor him. He stilled the instant I tried and put his hands on my shoulders to pull away. It was such a sudden change in mood, from passionate to closed-off, I found myself stunned and wondering what had just happened. I did my best not to show my disappointment as I waited for him to explain.
But he didn’t. He stepped away from me and grabbed the cart. “Are we almost done here?” he asked over his shoulder, and it seemed as if he didn’t want to look at me.
Maybe it was because we were in the middle of the store. It wasn’t the ideal place to get carried away kissing.
When I didn’t answer him right away, he finally looked at me. I couldn’t read his face. It was too indifferent. “What else do we have to get for dinner?”
“Uh,” I stammered, making myself focus on what he was asking. I did a mental check of what was left on my grocery list. “Cheese, and I need to restock on cinnamon.”
“The spice aisle is next. You head there and I’ll go get the cheese and meet you at the checkout counters,” he suggested and left me with the cart.
I frowned at his back until he turned out of the aisle. I should have asked him what was wrong.
In the middle of the next aisle, I stood before a wall of spices, scanning it for cinnamon. I spotted a small glass jar of it toward the top. Pushing up onto my tiptoes, I reached. Before I was able to grab it, a presence came up behind me and grabbed the jar of spice before I could. Flattening my feet, I turned. I noticed the person’s brown hair first before my eyes dropped to their bruised face. I jerked back quickly. My back slammed into the wall of spices, knocking a handful of containers and jars to the floor.
A dimple appeared to the left of his mouth. A result of the menacing smile that slowly spread across Jacob’s face. It had only been two days since he’d attacked me at the gym and his nose was still slightly swollen. Knox had clearly broken it. By the amount of bruising under his eyes, along his jaw and cheekbones, I’d say Knox had tried to break his whole face.
The fear surging through my veins made me itch to run. I ignored it, choosing to stay calm instead.
“Hello, Shiloh.” He reached for me.
I leapt to the left and away from him. My arm banged into the grocery cart in the process. The pain that zinged up my arm was a good reminder that it was there. Without taking my eyes off Jacob, who was unmoving and watching me, I rolled the cart between us.
He held up the jar of spice. “Didn’t you want this?”
“What do you want?” I forced out.
His hand, still holding the jar of spice, dropped to his side. His eyes began to roam over me, his smile never dropping. I held my breath as they lingered on my breasts, and as they wandered to other areas, I swore I could feel it. It was like dirty and cracked fingernails gliding along my skin.
“Did I mention at our last encounter how much I love your red hair?” he asked.
The flare of anger that hit me was somewhat startling. Not enough for it to show. Just enough to make me aware that it had overshadowed my fear. “And I love what you’ve done to your face.” As if my anger had conjured her, it had been Shayla’s voice that had come out of my mouth. Her strength. Her attitude.
His smile withered and his hand shot out, grabbing the other end of my cart.
As he yanked on it, I blurted, “Why?”
He ignored my question and scowled at me while trying to pull on the cart.
“Why me?” I pushed, doing my best to hold the cart in place. “What the hell did I do to make you so obsessed with me?”
He gave me a pitying look. “Obsessed?” He looked up and down the aisle, seeing that we were alone. “Do you know how many girls I’ve fucked from that gym?” He chuckled arrogantly. “Some of my conquests have been willing. Some weren’t. Like you. It’s because you bitches think you’re too good for me, but you all sound the same when I’m inside you.”
“Disoriented?” I quipped. “Is that how you’ve gotten away with it all this time? The women you’ve raped have been too drugged to remember what you did to them?”
His hand holding the cart squeezed until his knuckles turned white. “I thought you wanted to know why I picked you?” he snarled. My silence was his cue to continue. “The day we met, I noticed the guy next to me stop in the middle of a rep to watch you. You were stretching, oblivious to the many eyes admiring you, including the owner of the gym, Knox Stone.”
I did my best not to react.
“The longer I watched you, the more I knew you’d be easy pickings. You had these sad eyes, begging anyone to come and save you. And when I spoke to you…” He closed his eyes, humming as if he tasted something delicious. “It was obvious you were innocent.” He opened his eyes and his menacing smile returned. “Untouched pussy ripe for the taking.”
I took a step back, unable to hide my disgust. He liked that. I could tell by the way his eyes lit up.
“Mmm,” he hummed, his gaze aimed toward the ceiling. “I’ve fantasized about your blood on my dick so many times.”
Not wanting to hear any more and taking advantage of him not looking, I backed away. Because Logan had taught me not to, I refused to give him my back. I only made it a handful of steps before I collided with a wall of muscle. From behind me, a giant hand wrapped around my middle and flattened on my stomach. I couldn’t bring myself to look away from Jacob to see who it was. Not that I needed to. I knew it was Knox.
When Jacob looked down from the ceiling and noticed Knox behind me, his expression hardened. He opened his mouth, but closed it as an elderly lady, pushing a cart, walked by. She eyed the three of us, reading the obvious tension, and began taking quicker steps. Seeing the woman, Jacob’s hardened features changed to what seemed like haughty arrogance.
Knox noticed the change in Jacob as well. “Being in public won’t protect you.” His tone was calm, yet there was a threatening undertone that made my skin break out in goosebumps.
“I’m guessing your girl didn’t tell you about my new friend the sheriff,” Jacob said, his eyes dropping to me. “Or is she your brother’s girl? I really can’t tell which of the two of you she’s spreading her legs for.”
I assumed he meant Colt. One of the times Jacob had tried to come on to me, Colt had showed up and I had kissed him, hoping Jacob would get the hint that I wasn’t interested.
Knox pushed me behind him and stalked toward Jacob. Jacob’s can’t touch me arrogance quickly dimmed. Knox tossed the block of cheese he’d left to go get into the cart before yanking it from Jacob’s grip easily and sending it rolling down the aisle behind us. “I don’t care whose cock you had to suck to get out of jail. They’re not here to stop me from breaking every fucking bone in your body.”
Jacob stumbled backward, refusing to let the space between them shrink.
Knox stopped walking. “I’d keep going.”
Jacob didn’t even slow down in putting distance between them. He just kept walking backward.
“I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if you come near her again,” Knox said loud enough for Jacob to hear.
Almost to the end of the aisle, Jacob spun on his heel. His feet wobbled, almost causing him to fall, and he dropped the jar of cinnamon he had been holding.
It wasn’t until Jacob was out of sight that Knox turned and came to me. He brought his hand up to my cheek. “Are you all right?”
I nodded.
“Let’s go home,” he said, ushering me toward the cart.
I resisted and went back over to the spice wall. I finally got my own jar of cinnamon because I refused to pick up the one Jacob had dropped. Then we headed for the checkout counters.