Chapter Six
The woman was wild, certifiable, and funny as hell.
He’d missed that.
The thought made Billy pause as he pulled the rental up in front of The Ruckus.
There had always been that sizzling sexual tension between them whenever he’d come back, but this time he was seeing flashes of the old Roxie—the girl who’d made him pull out his hair one moment and laugh until he couldn’t breathe the next.
“Think Lexie and Maxie made it into the clear?” she asked. The broken heel twisted in her hands as she held it in her lap.
That was the Roxie way. Act first, think later.
“They were ahead of us. I’m sure they made it home safely.”
She grimaced. “I’m a bad influence on those two.”
“They don’t have to follow you.”
But he always had. The reward had always been worth the risk.
Until the end.
The keys bit into his palm as he turned off the engine. Hopping out of the truck, he walked around the front. She’d already jumped down from the passenger seat and was balancing on one foot like a high-wire acrobat.
“How the hell do you walk in those things?” he asked, looking at her boots. They’d be dangerous even without the broken heel.
“I’m fine when they’re even.” She closed the passenger door but tilted when she lost her balance. She managed to stay upright by catching the side of the pickup.
Muttering under his breath, Billy looped one arm around her shoulders and bent to catch her behind the knees. She let out a huff when he swept her into his arms. “You’re high maintenance,” he told her, his nose inches from hers. “You know that, right?”
“They’re cute boots.”
“Get out your key,” he grumbled as he carried her to the bar.
She was still whip lean. Her weight felt warm in his arms. Right. A curl of her long hair brushed against his neck, and the soft caress made him take a deep breath. Even through the thickness of their jackets, he could feel her curves pushing back against him.
She dealt with the lock and the door swung open, gliding silently on well-worn hinges. Turning so he wouldn’t hit her head, he carried her inside. The dim lighting inside the bar made it momentarily difficult to see, but the memory that struck him then was as brilliant as a lightning strike.
The last time he’d carried her over the threshold, they’d just gotten married by a justice of the peace at the Cobalt City Courthouse.
His gut tightened a notch. She’d worn a pretty white dress with hot pink flowers in her hair. Hell, he’d even worn a tie.
The bar slowly came into view, but what he saw instead was the tiny apartment they’d furnished with pieces from the Goodwill. It had been their first place. Their first attempt at normalcy.
His arms tightened around her, and her warm breath hit his ear.
He quickly set her down. She wasn’t ready for it, and she wobbled on her one tall heel. He caught her by the waist, but she’d already propped herself up against the wall.
Billy couldn’t help himself. He stepped in.
Her eyes were big as she looked up at him.
Her pupils were adjusting to the lighting, too, but something told him he wasn’t the only one focused on the old memory.
They’d both been nervous and excited that day, like two fugitives running for the border.
Marrying him had been her escape from the system, and he’d been willing to do just about anything to keep her with him.
That wayward curl still clung to the zipper of his jacket. Swirling his finger around it, he freed it.
“I like how you are with your sisters,” he said softly.
“The bad seed?”
“Happy.” It had been a long time since he’d seen her light up the way she did around them. She’d gotten so prickly and guarded.
Her gaze slid away. “I don’t always think when I’m with them. I sometimes wonder if I should be more careful… before they decide I’m too wild…”
He caught her by the chin when he heard her voice catch. “Those two aren’t going to ditch you, Roxie.”
“How can you know that?”
It was a fair question. They’d both been left behind, overlooked, and passed along their entire childhood. “Because they need you. Those two need you like an engine needs gasoline—just like you need them.”
She swallowed hard. “But today… I might have gone a bit too far.”
He chuckled. “Ya think?”
“The prude deserved it,” she said with a pout.
He shook his head. “Baby, if you want to flash your boobs at someone, I’m right here.”
The words weren’t even out before they turned husky. Sexual. Memories of their wedding day quickly turned to visions from last night.
Hot, steamy visions.
They hadn’t really dealt with what had happened. They hadn’t been alone since she’d sneaked out of bed. Her sisters were gone now, but Billy wasn’t really in the mood to talk. His gaze dropped helplessly to her breasts. Her chest was rising and falling in a rhythm too fast for normal respiration.
He braced his hand against the wall alongside her head.
“You were gone when I woke up this morning.”
“I had to meet my sisters.”
His cock hadn’t cared.
He settled his other hand at her waist, and his thumb brushed back and forth. Last night had been wild and crazy, too. Had she been thinking then?
They did so much better together when they didn’t think.
Leaning in, he finally did what he’d wanted to do since he’d walked into the bar hours earlier.
He kissed her.
Slowly, sexily, he melded his mouth with hers.
A shudder went through her and then a groan. The broken heel of her boot bounced off the toe of his as her hands came up to clench at his jacket.
She gave a tug, and he settled his weight against hers, trapping her against the wall.
Damn, she felt good. Her curves cushioned all his hard places. Her breasts were soft against his chest, and her thigh rubbed against the outside of his leg.
His grip tightened on her waist, and he deepened the kiss. She tasted sweet, like the chocolate donut she’d had for breakfast. Sweet and…
He sucked in a hard breath when she nipped at his bottom lip.
Sassy.
He couldn’t have stopped his hips from swinging forward if he’d tried. Her softness cradled the erection growing behind the zipper of his jeans as the kiss became hotter and hungrier.
Damn, he wanted her. Last night hadn’t been near enough.
“Roxie,” he rasped against her lips.
God, why had they broken up?
His thoughts became disjointed as her tongue slid against his.
Oh yeah. That’s right, because he’d been reckless.
He’d been street racing, drinking, and then there’d been that pregnancy scare. They’d simply been too young with personalities that were too big. Passion that was too intense.
Together, they’d imploded.
She let out a whimper, and he fisted his fingers in her hair. The softness nearly sent him to his knees.
The repercussions still hurt, but he couldn’t stay away. He kept coming back for this, for her. She knew him. She got him. He couldn’t stay away, even knowing he’d get hurt in the end.
She was like his drug.
The thought jolted him out of the erotically charged moment.
His drug.
Oh, holy Jesus.
He pulled back as if he’d just put jumper cables on backwards. He stared at her, his mouth going dry even as her kiss was wet on his lips.
Her hands stilled on him, hesitant. “Billy?”
He’d joked about it before, but all that talk earlier about his mother was suddenly reverberating in his ears.
She was an addict, too, one he hadn’t forgiven for her weakness.
Was he the same? Had the apple not fallen far from the tree?
Was he hooked on the highs that only Roxie could make him feel?
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
When he didn’t—couldn’t—respond, the haziness of arousal left her face. Her soft brown eyes turned hard. She jerked away and her shoulders slammed against the wall.
He took another step back and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
Was it true? Was that the reason he kept coming back and putting himself through the wringer?
He’d dated other women, but none of them had made his heart pound and his gut knot in need.
None of them had let him feel the ecstasy of the highs and the crushing darkness of the lows.
Every time he came here, he left worse for the wear. There was something about the two of them together; they just weren’t good for each other. He knew it in his head, yet that had never been enough to keep him away.
He jonesed for her too badly.
He pushed out a breath of air.
Shit.
She watched him warily, her hands bracing against the wall behind her.
Billy turned away. His gaze landed on two things, his bag and her computer. Everything inside him told him to grab his stuff and go, yet he’d promised to help her with her search for her parents.
“Are you leaving?” she asked, her voice flat as asphalt pavement. “As always?”
“I said I’d help you.” And that meant staying.
Being around her. Smelling that entrancing lavender scent she always wore. Watching her hips sway as she strutted around in those ridiculously sexy boots.
Heaven help him.
He faced her again, every muscle in his body tight. The look she gave him so jagged, he couldn’t meet it. He knew he was giving off mixed signals, but he was having a hard time wrapping his brain around the truth that had just slammed into him.
He was addicted to her.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said in a low tone. “You’re the one who jumped me last night. I’m just stopping it before it goes too far.”
She muttered something unintelligible under her breath.
He stepped back, disengaging further. “I need to get out of here.”
Her jaw hardened, but there was disappointment in her eyes. A sadness she didn’t want him to see. He grabbed his duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder. “We’ll start the search tomorrow.”
Swearing softly, Billy headed for the door, not looking back. Hitting the road was probably the sanest thing he could do… put some distance between them. But that was what he always did, wasn’t it? Look how well that always turned out.