Chapter 12 #2
“Mm-hmm ... I love it when it rains. It’s so—” I shot up in the bed when I remembered the fishing poles and the tackle box were still out on the pier.
“Crap!”
I rushed over to the dresser and grabbed a pair of sweats. As I started putting them on, Jared looked at me like I had three heads. “What the hell are you doing?”
“It’s about to rain!”
“Yeah, and—?”
“Billy’s fishing gear is still out on the pier!”
“Oh shit!” Jared jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, throwing on his strewn clothes as he found them around the house. “I forgot all about that.”
“Me too!”
We both raced out of the house and down towards the pier.
We hadn’t made it far when I felt a couple of big rain drops plop against my skin.
Not a minute later, the bottom fell out of the clouds and rain came barreling down on us both.
As we hurried to collect all of Billy’s things, Jared looked over to me and ordered, “Get back to the house.”
“I will once we get this stuff back to the shed.”
“I’ll get it,” he fussed. “Get out of the rain.”
“Why?” I squinted through the rain as I joked. “A little water never hurt anyone.”
I’d barely gotten the words out of my mouth when a huge bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky. Clearly worried that I might get hurt, Jared took the fishing poles from my hand and repeated, “Get back to the house, Parker. Now!”
“Fine!”
I turned and ran back up to the porch but didn’t go inside. Instead, I waited there while he finished putting everything back in the shed. By the time Jared reached me, he was completely drenched. I started to go inside and told him, “I’ll go grab us a couple of towels.”
“Don’t bother.” Before I could stop him, Jared picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, carrying me into the house like a sack of potatoes. He reached up and gave my ass a hard slap and said, “Next time I tell you to do something, you best damn well do it.”
“Jared!” I started trying to wiggle myself free as I shouted, “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“I did it, and I’ll do it again if I need to.” He didn’t put me down until we reached the bathroom. After he removed his soaking wet t-shirt, he leaned over to the whirlpool tub and turned on the water. “Get out of those wet clothes.”
I didn’t see the point in arguing. I was freezing, and the tub looked so very tempting.
I’d barely gotten my t-shirt off when there was another loud rumble of thunder, and the lights started blinking.
Jared was down to his wet boxers when the room went black.
My eyes were still trying to adjust when I heard him say, “I’ll be right back. ”
I took off my remaining clothes but waited a while for the water to fill up before getting into the tub. Moments later, the room flickered in a soft glow as Jared returned with two lit candles. “Where’d you find those?”
“I can’t reveal all my secrets.” He placed them down on the counter, then removed his boxers and climbed into the tub behind me.
I leaned back against his chest with a contented sigh.
It felt amazing to be surrounded by the warmth of the water and him.
He slipped his arms around me as he kissed the back of my neck. “You good?”
“Yes, very good. Thanks to you.” I thought back to our day, and even though it had a rocky start, it ended up being wonderful.
I loved fishing with Jared. He was so much fun to be with, and just like the times before, the sex was incredible.
I was thinking about how we’d christened almost every room in Billy’s house when I remembered us being momentarily interrupted by an unexpected phone call.
I tilted my head back as I looked up at him and said, “I heard you on the phone earlier. Was everything okay?”
“Yeah, it was just Viper calling to check in.”
“Viper’s the president of the club, right?”
“He is.”
I’d seen Viper several times, but I’d never actually spoken to him—mainly because I never got close enough for him to speak to me. I reached for the washcloth and asked him, “Is it just me, or is he scary?”
“What?”
“He scares me a little. Actually, he scares me a lot.”
“I won’t lie. I felt that way when I first met him, but now he’s more like a father to me than a president.”
“Hmph, that’s all well and good for you, but as far as I’m concerned, he’s still pretty scary. And he’s not the only one.” Jared didn’t respond, so I continued.
“Widow seems pretty scary, and Hawk does, too, but Delilah’s pretty cool, and Frankie is, too, so they can’t be that bad, right?”
“Right. So, who else do you find ‘scary’?”
“Well, I’m still trying to figure out Rafe.
” Since the day I’d started at Stilettos, Rafe had been watching me like a hawk, like he was waiting for me to mess up or something.
I’d tried to be polite and talk to him, but he never had much to say in return.
I gave Jared a slight shrug as I told him, “He’s not exactly scary, but I’m pretty sure he hates me. ”
“He doesn’t hate you, Parker. He was and is concerned about everything going on with you. Now he knows, and like the rest of the brothers, he wants to do what he can to help you get through all this.”
I glanced back up at him. “And what about Lynch?”
“What about him?”
“I saw pictures in Peter and Sally’s house. I know he was their grandson. What is he going to think when he finds out I was responsible for their deaths?”
“You weren’t responsible for their deaths, babe. That was all Rossi.” Jared placed his hand on my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again...You’re not to blame for any of this, Parker. Anyone can see that, including Lynch.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am,” he answered confidently. “Lynch and I have been brothers for a long time. He’s a good man. It might take some time, but he’ll understand.” He lowered his mouth to my ear and chuckled. “And if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his ass.”
“Well, hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
“It won’t.”
He ran the warm cloth across my shoulders, letting the hot water cascade down my back. “I think Shotgun seems pretty cool.”
“You think Shotgun is cool?” he scoffed with a chuckle. “Of all the guys, Shotgun is the one you should— Never mind.”
“No, what were you going to say?” I pushed.
“Nothing ... Seriously.” Jared leaned down and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Now, I have a very important question for you.”
“Okay?”
“What do you want to eat?” He dropped the washcloth into the water, then got out of the tub and grabbed a towel. “I’m starving.”
“I’m starving too.” I watched him dry off and wrap the towel around his waist. “I’m good with whatever.”
“Okay. You finish up here, and I’ll go see what I can come up with.”
“Sounds good to me.” When he turned and started towards the door, I called out to him, “Jared?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for today. I really enjoyed it.”
“It’s not over yet.”
He winked, then slipped out of the bathroom, leaving me alone in the tub.
I leaned back and took a moment to just reflect on things.
I had no idea how Billy’s plan would play out, but for the first time in a very long while, I had hope.
It was the one thing that gave me the strength to face the present, and I had a feeling I’d need all the strength I could muster to face what was to come.
Thankfully, Jared would be at my side, and with him, I could do just about anything.