Cockpit: A Second Chance Romance (11 page)

"Damn, that's a fine ass. Am I right?"

My eyes cut to the guy standing at the bar beside me. He was Army. I could tell with just a glance. Our two branches of the Armed Forced did not mix well.

Never mind the fact that he was oogling my woman like she was a piece of meat. She chose that moment to slide behind the bar and smile at me. She saw the asshole next to me and froze.

"Hi Jenny."

"Oh, hi Davis. How are you?"

Great. She knew him. I said a silent prayer.

Please God do not let him be her ex-boyfriend.

The thought of his hands on her... well, it would be hard for me to get that thought out of my head. I said nothing, just sat there biding my time.

"Please sweetheart, call me Clyde."

The guy was oilier than a rattlesnake. I felt my nails bite into my palm and I unconsciously made a fist. Jenny didn't look too happy at the guy's cloying tone either.

Definitely not an ex-boyfriend then. I smiled. That made me love her just a little bit more than I already did.

My girl
had taste. Not like some women who preened no matter who came near them. Or try to make their man jealous just for the attention.

Jenny's flirtatious manner shut down instanfuckingtaneously. I smiled at her and she gave me a cute little smile. Then she shut it down again.

"What time do you get off from this dive anyway?"

Jenny gave him a cold stare and answered Margie, who told her to bus some pretty clean looking tables. Jenny left with a clean rag and a tray without saying a word. Margie on the other hand, had plenty to say.

She leaned against the bar and gave Davis a look that would freeze lava.

"Dive, eh?"

Clyde had the presence of mind to look uncomfortable. But that didn't stop him from being a shit heel.

"That's what it is, isn't it?"

Margie gave him a cold look, using her rag to knock his beer off the counter. He jumped back as his shirt got splattered. The glass had been nearly full. She just smiled at him, looking kind of like a pirate.

"Nope. It's a juke joint."

He gave her an incredulous look and she turned away. I was hiding a smile as he used napkins to blot his shirt. He held his hands out to the side, staring at his wet button down shirt.

"Shit. Hey, can I at least get another beer
please?
"

Margie nodded.

"Sure, honey. I'll be there in a bit. Customers."

She waited on every single person at the bar, sliding them free drinks even if their glasses were full. After twenty minutes she tossed a beer at Davis who was fuming at that point. He caught it in mid-air. I'd been hoping it would smash his head.

He twisted the cap off without thanking her. He just turned to watch Jenny working. He wasn't even subtle about what he was looking at.

It wasn't her face.

Yeah, I'd had just about enough.

"Maybe you haven't heard, jackass, but she's off the market."

He barely spared me a glance. He was too busy pulling on his drink and oogling my woman. I felt the urge to beat his ass ratchet up a notch.

"Oh yeah? Says who?"

I stared at him.

"She does."

He finished his beer and turned back to Margie. His voice was dripping with sarcasm as he sneered. "I'll take another one,
honey
." He used the same term of endearment she had. He didn't know that Margie only talked like that when she hated you.
 

If she actually liked you, she was salty as fuck.

She just nodded and he turned away, back to watching Jenny. This time I didn't mind so much though.

Because he didn't see Margie spit in it.

Feldon walked in with a few of his buddies. I took another beer from Marge, who refused to let me buy myself drinks anymore. The woman had a big heart, even if she cursed like a sailor.

"Jagger!"

I nodded to Feldon and lifted my beer. I looked around but the meat puppet had slithered off thankfully. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that neither he or Jenny were in the room.

"Motherfucker."

Jenny

✈

I was bent over in the stock room, sorting empties into a case. As soon as I filled one up, I added it to the stack by the back door. Then I started on the next.

"You shouldn't lift that. Too heavy for you, cutie."

I twisted, looking behind me. Clyde stood there, his eyes looking glazed over. I got a chill, wondering why I hadn't noticed how damn
creepy
he was.

His head was tilted in a way that made it very obvious he'd been trying to get the best view of my ass. He was craning his neck, practically upside down. I turned back to what I was doing, ignoring the feeling of his eyes on me.

I still had work to do.

"You shouldn't be back here, Davis. No customers."

I felt him behind me, an instant before his hands closed over my ass. For a second I was shocked. Then a fury unlike any I had ever known flashed through me.

The fuckwit had
no idea
what he'd just done.

I twisted, still in a crouch. Then I brought my arms together to wrap one hand over the fist. Then I swung up.

Kinda like I was playing volleyball.

I was pretty sure I heard a crunch as my fist connected with his sac. I jumped back, already wanting to wash my hands. I didn't want to touch him
at all
, even though it was satisfying to watch the stupefied look on his face turn into a grimace of pain.

I was too angry to be satisfied with that though. I wanted to punch his stupid face. His stupid,
furious
face. His normally placid features twisted into something ugly as he snarled at me.

"Fucking bitch!"

"You shouldn't have touched me, Davis. Now get out."

He stood up, clearly still in pain. He loomed over me. He was big. Suddenly, I felt like I might be in trouble.

Big, bad trouble.

"Fuck no. Not until you lick my sac and make it feel better."

"You're disgusting!"

"And you're a cheap tramp!"

He grabbed me and I flailed, trying to twist away from him. I started to panic as his hands closed over my arms. He was too strong. His hands were all over me as I struggled. I cursed, realizing I was going to have to scream for help. I didn't have my damn pepper spray or my taser.

He was fucking lucky about that. I'd really like to tase his balls.

I screamed but he covered my mouth. No one was coming to help me. He couldn't do this. Couldn't get away with this-
 

"Guess I could just fuck you and leave you with another illegitimate baby, you whore."

I hadn't seen Jagger come into the stockroom. But I saw his face as he grabbed Davis's shoulder and yanked him off me. I'd never seen Jagger's face like that. It was a mask of cold, hard fury.

Relief mingled with panic as the two huge men faced each other. I was suddenly afraid again. I knew that look on Jagger's face.
 

Things were about to get ugly.

Jagger paused and flashed a look at me. He wasn't waiting for Davis to steady himself. He was waiting for me to get out of the way. I stumbled backwards, leaning against the shelves by the back door.

Then all hell broke loose.

Jagger's fists started flying, so fast they were almost a blur. He'd inadvertently given Davis time to recover but it wasn't enough to even the odds. Davis wasn't as fast as Jagger and he definitely wasn't as pissed off.

And then it happened.

Jagger flipped the switch to combat mode. He was practically vibrating with his anger less than a minute before. But now he had an incredible control of himself.

My boyfriend's fists were a blur as he pummeled Davis, forcing him backwards. I got out of the way in a hurry, darting across the room to the other corner. Jagger was so calm that he actually turned and looked at me, mid-punch.

"You okay?"

Davis's head had snapped back. But he saw his opening and took it. I screamed but it was too late.

"Look out!"

Davis had sucker punched him. Jagger's whole body turned with the punch, going with the momentum to minimize the damage. But I knew it was going to leave a mark.

With a roar Clyde jumped on him but Jagger was ready. They wrestled, knocking over boxes left and right. Davis broke free and they circled each other, both of them wary. They had each other's measure now. It was almost an even match.
 

Almost.

But Jagger was just a little bit crazier than Davis. A little bit stronger too. And he'd seen more action. He knew how to handle himself in a high-pressure situation.

Davis on the other hand, was a weak bellied jackass.

He hit Davis again and again, punctuating the hits with ground out words. Davis was in a defensive position now, unable to do anything but try and block the punches.

He wasn't being too successful at that either.

"Never."

Jagger's fist hit his gut.

"Touch."

Jagger's elbow snapped Davis' chin up.

"Her."

He pulled his fist back and drove it straight into Davis' nose.

"Again!"

We all heard the crunch. Davis bent forward, covering his face as blood gushed out of his badly broken nose. He was squealing like a pig.

Jagger grabbed him by the collar and forcibly carried him to the back door. I opened the heavy metal door and Jagger tossed him through it. Davis landed on his side, still covering his face with his hands. He stared up at us, sprawled on the ground by the dumpster.

"You broke my nose, you bastard!"

Jagger leaned out the door, spitting blood inches from Davis's prone body.
 

"Good."

He wiped his lip off and smiled coldly.

"If you see her out, cross the street. Don't speak her name. Don't even look at her."

His voice was cold and his look unflinching. If I were Davis, I'd be peeing my pants right about now. Actually, Davis looked like he might.

"Next time I won't be so nice."

Then he looked at me. I watched as Jagger slammed the door and locked it. I ran into his arms and he held me tight, kissing my hair. Then he pushed me away, looking carefully at my face.

"Are you alright, Jenny?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Are you alright?"

He ignored my question, running his hand over my face. Like he was making sure I was real.

"Did he hurt you?"

"He just... pawed at me a little bit."

"I wanted to kill that bastard for touching you. I really did."

He crushed me against his chest again. I felt so safe. So protected.

So loved.

Then Jagger stumbled on his feet. I cursed, realizing he was in worse shape than he'd let on. He'd won the fight, but he'd taken a lot of hits in the process. He was hurt.

I helped him sit on a case of beer and looked him over.

"Did you ride?"

He shook his head and pointed at his boots.

"Nope. I used my feet."

I rolled my eyes. He was loopy alright. At least he wasn't feeling any pain. Not yet, anyway.

"Come on champ, I'll take you home."

Margie's eyes were wide as we came out of the stockroom. Jagger was leaning on me. Not hard, but he was weaving around a bit.
 

"Sorry Margie. There's a mess in the back."

She leaned on the bar.

"You take out the trash, Jagger?"

He nodded and she smiled big and wide.

"Don't you worry about a thing then. You two go on home."

She tossed him a cold bottle of beer and he caught it.

"For your cheek."

He toasted her and held it against his face as we stumbled out and into the cool night air.

Chapter Fifteen

Jagger

✈

I watched Jenny as she organized her supplies on the kitchen counter. I was sitting on a stool, slowly bleeding onto the linoleum. She looked so beautiful, so precious to me. Even though the scuffle with Davis had messed up her hair and torn the shoulder of her shirt.

The thought of what he'd tried to do made me sick. It made me see red. It made the pain far away, a minor concern.

Something else was bothering me though. Something Davis had said to her when he thought they were alone. It was fuzzy but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

"What did he mean?"

"What?"

I winced as she dabbed peroxide on my swollen cheek. He'd split it with that sucker punch, just a little. Just enough to leave a scar. That thing he'd said was itching at the back of my mind though.

It hadn't made any sense at all. I stared at her, feeling like I was looking through carnival glass at a stranger. Something wasn't right.

"Davis. What did he mean about giving you a baby?"

She looked at me. Then she went back to what she was doing.

"He's disgusting. I can't believe I used to think he was a nice guy."

"Yes, but Jenny. What did he mean? He said
another
baby. Didn't he?"

"What do you think he meant? He was being a pig."

I just looked at her, waiting. She finished cleaning my cheek and leaned back. She bit her lip, suddenly looking very, very nervous.

"Jenny? What is it?"

She took a deep breath, then got some antibiotic ointment and a gauze bandage. She applied it and taped the soft white square to my cheek.

"I don't need all that."

"Just leave it on tonight. Please?"

I nodded and waited. I was waiting for her to tell me the truth, though I was already starting to suspect it. I needed to hear it from her though. The picture was coming into focus. I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been. How blind.

Jenny wouldn't look at me while she started to clean up. But at last she started to talk.

"I'm not a babysitter."

My voice was thick. From emotion or being punch drunk, I couldn't say.

"What do you mean?"

She exhaled and looked at me. She looked nervous. She was afraid to tell me.

"I have a kid, Jagger. Hallie is mine."

I nodded. It made sense. It explained why she'd waited to go to school. And the wistful way she talked about going back to college someday. It explained her ferocious work ethic.