Cole (The Ride Series) (5 page)

“Your father and I had a code to watch
each other’s backs. I’ll always feel guilt for what happened to him, always
wondered if I’d seen the signs that maybe I could have helped. But I sure as
hell can keep my end of the bargain when it comes to you. You have the full
protection of this club,” he said firmly, shocking me. I knew what that meant
and it was no small promise or one to be taken lightly. “We’re no longer
aligned with your dad’s club, like I said it went to shit without him and
there’s some fucked up mother fuckers running it now,” he added scornfully.

I couldn’t have agreed more. After my
father died, Jake and his henchman Victor had somehow clawed their way to the
top. I had always assumed that the club was so consumed by grief at my father’s
death that they hadn’t been thinking clearly. I still didn’t understand it.

“Obviously you’ve got a reason to
guard yourself close, when you feel more comfortable you can tell me exactly
what happened,” he said firmly. “Meanwhile, anyone fucks with you they fuck
with us,” he glowered before his expression lightened. “And something tells me
my boy won’t mind
keepin
’ an eye on you,” he added
with a mischievous smile that looked just like his son’s.

I blushed, unable to look at Cole.

“She’s already keeping me busy, Pop,”
Cole said with a chuckle, earning a narrowed glance from me. “Let’s get your
apartment sorted
darlin
’,” Cole suggested while
heading toward me.

I nodded, still feeling tongue tied.
“Thank you,” I said simply to Cal, unable to say anything else.

“You got it,” he replied firmly. “I’ve
got some more photos and some damn good stories when you got a mind to hear
them,” he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

“I’d like that,” I replied hoarsely,
as Cole put an arm around my shoulder and started guiding me outside.

Cal gave me a chin lift as he stood
braced against the pool table watching us leave.

I let Cole take my hand in his as he
led us to his bike. I was completely shell shocked not only at everything that
Cal had said but that Cole and I had known each other when we were children. What
were the odds that we would meet randomly but then share this type of history?
My capacity for trust was severely limited but there was a large part of me
that wanted to trust Cal and Cole, to believe that Cal had loved my father and
was still devoted to him. I tried to get a grip as we roared off toward my
place, focusing on the need for a long, warm shower and a change of clothes.
Beyond that I couldn’t focus on much. I could sense Cole’s contemplative mood
as well, as the warm breeze slid over us on the ride.

Cole pulled up to the curb and swung a
leg over his bike while holding a hand out to me. He kept a hold of my hand as
he led me to my door, gesturing for me to stay outside so he could check out
the place before returning to gesture me inside.

“I’ll be back soon,” he told me simply
when he established that I was safe.

“What?” I asked, confused.

He grasped my neck and squeezed it in
that now familiar gesture, and left me standing in my living room in surprise.
Coming back for what? I shook my head unable to process anything and headed for
the shower.

I stood under the blissfully hot water
trying to get a handle on myself. The day had taken a very surprising turn and
had dredged up a lot of emotion that I wasn’t prepared for.

I heard the front door close and
cocked my head to the side to listen.

“Scar?” I heard Kat’s voice call.

“Yeah, come in,” I hollered in
response.

She opened the bathroom door and
leaned against the counter as I continued my shower, something we did
frequently. Neither one of us was modest in the least.

“What’s going on?” she asked, sitting
on the closed toilet seat lid.

“What isn’t going on,” I said, as I proceeded
to fill her in on my bizarre morning.

“Holy shit!” she exclaimed when I was
done. “I can’t believe you two played together when you were young,” she
marveled, pulling out the one detail that shocked me the most as well.

“I know,” I replied. “He said he’s
coming back. I’m not sure what for or what to do with any of this. Just trying
to focus on getting my hair clean for now,” I said dryly.

She laughed. “That’s a good start.
I’ll leave you to it,” she added before leaving the bathroom.

When I emerged a little while later
feeling slightly refreshed, I was shocked to find Cole squatted in front of our
door installing a new lock.

“What are you doing?” I asked,
surprised.

He looked over at me briefly, his eyes
raking over me, reminding me that I was only dressed in my short, terry cloth
robe. I pulled it tighter and continued to stare at him, ignoring his cocky
grin.

“I’m installing new locks sweetheart.
The last one was shit anyway,” he muttered. “And Sal, my buddy from the club,
will be over in a few to install an alarm,” he added making my eyes bulge.

“What? That’s not necessary!” I
protested. “And Kat and I don’t have the money for that,” I added.

“Good thing you’re not paying for it
then,” he mumbled, turning back to his task at hand.

I scowled and huffed off to my room knowing
I couldn’t say or do anything to detract him. I threw myself on my bed and
stared up at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity, listening to “Sal”
installing a new alarm system. I could hear Kat chatting with him good
naturedly and admired her ability to take almost everything in stride.

“Come in,” I answered mindlessly when
a soft knock sounded at my door and I assumed it was Kat. Instead, it was Cole
who came in and shut the door behind him. I didn’t have the energy to tell him
to get out, even when he lay down on the bed beside me, throwing an arm
casually underneath his head as though he’d done this a thousand times.

I absolutely shocked myself when I
rolled toward him, put my head on his chest, and threw an arm over his stomach.
It was an action I completed before I even thought about it. Something about
him exuded comfort, and I needed that so badly that I couldn’t be sorry even
after I came to my senses. His other arm came up to stroke my damp hair and we
lay like that for an immeasurable amount of time without speaking.

“You should eat something,” he said
after awhile.

“Later,” I sighed, too content to
move. I finally felt relaxed and wasn’t in any rush to change the feeling.

“What time do you have to work?” he
asked.

“Five,” I groaned.

“Till when?”

“Closing, around one,” I answered him.

I felt him stiffen slightly. “You
always work those kinds of hours?”

“No,” I said. “But the tips are best
with the night crowd so I take it when the opportunity presents itself,” I
explained softly as he continued to stroke my hair.

“You
wanna
tell me who you think broke in here last night?” he asked, his voice
deceptively soft.

I lifted my head and met his serious
gaze, now aware of how close his lips were to mine, how good his body felt
underneath me. “I think I’ve met my quota of sharing for the day,” I replied
quietly as he gazed up at me.

“I’ll give you that for today,” he
allowed.

“Gee, thanks,” I said as I forced a
sarcastic smile.

He ignored my flippant tone and stared
up at me, his hand still drifting through my hair. I shocked myself yet again
by leaning in and pressing my lips to his. I’d never made the first move with a
guy before. I figured I’d had a rough few days, so I could allow myself this,
even if it meant that I had to steel my resolve against him later. History or
no history, I was far more comfortable with the wall I’d built snugly around
myself.

His grip tightened in my hair as his
lips opened, his tongue meeting mine. It was just seconds before he rolled us
so that he was on top taking control of the kiss in a way that nearly
devastated me. I’d never been kissed like this. My entire body began to hum and
tingle as our tongues tangled in the most natural yet exhilarating way. I was
suddenly very aware that I was wearing only a robe, and I found myself hoping
he would dive into it to explore. Something told me that Cole would be able to
make my body feel things that I’d never felt before. My hand slid up underneath
his shirt wanting to touch his bare skin. He groaned softly as my hand explored
the contours of his muscles and surprisingly soft skin.

“Cole! I’m done man,” Sal hollered
from the living room breaking the moment.

“Shit,” Cole breathed, his lips
against mine. We were both breathing hard as he leaned back to look at me. He
traced my lower lip with his thumb before he reluctantly hauled himself off of
me and stalked out of the room to talk with Sal.

I took a moment to collect myself. My
heart was hammering in my chest, my nipples were aching, and I couldn’t believe
how damp I was in between my legs just from kissing. I sat up and quickly threw
on my clothes, trying to convince myself I was grateful that the moment had
been broken before I allowed something more to happen.

I emerged from the bedroom fully
dressed as Sal was issuing his final instructions.

“Sal, this is Scarlet,” Cole
introduced.

Sal looked over at me and gave me a
chin lift. He was incredibly handsome, with jet black hair and dark eyes. He
had slightly olive skin and a few days worth of scruff. A tattoo snaked its way
out of his T-shirt and up his neck. Kat generally liked preppy guys, but there
weren’t many women who wouldn’t be attracted to Sal. My eyes swung to her and I
suddenly realized why she’d been so eager to chat him up. She shrugged at me
and winked. I stifled a laugh. A quick last sweep of his attire confirmed that
he was part of the MC as well.

“Thanks for doing this,” I replied
awkwardly.

“Not a problem,” his deep voice
rumbled.

He headed out after giving Kat a quick
nod. She blushed in response-- something I’d
never
seen her do.

Shit. The last thing we needed was to
have two broken hearts under one roof.

Cole took the time to show Kat and I
the alarm system, making us repeat back his instructions over and over again
until we were both rolling our eyes.

Once satisfied, Cole grabbed his
jacket. “I’ll see you later, got shit to do,” he told me swiftly and grasped my
neck. But this time, he accompanied the squeeze with a soft, swift kiss.

No way. There shouldn’t be a “later.”
This was a good place to call it quits.

“Um, what do you mean ‘later’?” I
asked quietly.

He looked down at me with amusement.
“I mean I’ll see you
later
,” he
replied, his voice barely above a whisper. That tone wreaked serious havoc on
me.

“Um, I’m working later and then I’m
sleeping. So maybe we should just…” I drifted off suddenly nervous.

He just chuckled and shook his head
giving me another neck squeeze.

“Later, Kat,” he called over his
shoulder as if I hadn’t spoken.

“Later,” she replied, fighting back
laughter as he left.

“Don’t even say it,” I ordered sternly,
spinning to face her.

“Scar, there’s so much to say I
wouldn’t even know where to start!” She grinned from ear to ear.

I scowled, knowing she was right and
went to get ready for work.

My shift went by quickly and I was
grateful for the distraction. Rushing from table to table and remembering food
and drink orders didn’t allow for much else to fill my head, though I did
manage to think of Cole and that kiss about a thousand times.

It was winding down around midnight,
and Connie and I were taking a breather when a blond girl with huge breasts and
bright red lipstick came striding into Jupiter.

“Oh shit,” Connie muttered.

“Who’s that?” I asked, perplexed when
it was clear that the girl was headed right for us.

“One of Cole’s old hook ups, just
ignore her,” Connie replied with disdain.

Shit.

“You Scarlet?” The girl sneered.

“Yep,” I answered, standing up
straight and meeting her judgmental gaze. If this girl thought I was someone
who could be easily fucked with, then she had another thing coming. It was a
common misperception about me--people always thought I was sheltered and soft.
It wasn’t until they rubbed me the wrong way that they discovered what I was
really made of.

“Stay the fuck away from Cole, he’s
mine,” she warned.

I laughed right in her face. “Honey,
you might want to pass your message along to Cole if you’re concerned about it.
I’m not the one doing the chasing,” I replied, completely unaffected by her.
I’d dealt with this type of woman time and time again and they were all the
same. Thought they could sleep with a guy in the club and then sink their claws
in. There were the kind of girls who became old ladies, and then there were the
ones who were one-night stands. This girl was clearly the latter.