Gravity (Artistic Pricks Ink Book 1) (7 page)

“Today is just not my day,” She grumbles under her breath, burying her face in her hands. After taking a deep breath, she meets my eyes. Her face now streaked with grease from her hands. “I can handle this, you know?”

“I’m sure you can,” I reply, reaching out to cup her cheek. Her breath hitches, those brown eyes widening almost frantically. “The thing is,” I start, wiping the smudge of grease from her cheek. When I pull my hand away, showing her my now black fingers, she groans but I continue. “I don’t doubt that you can Kionna, it’s that you don’t have to. I’m here, let me give you a ride. I can call my buddy, we can handle the fix and save you the trouble of the garage bill. It occupies him tonight, and saves you the labor cost and headache of waiting until Monday to get it handled,” I shrug, figuring it will keep Mitch out of the bar tonight and it’s a way to thank her for helping Mom. “Everybody wins.”

“Okay,” She replies, walking to the driver side door to grab her bag.

Making my way over to my car, I move the food to the back seat. Taking a step back when I feel her behind me, I hold the door open for her. “All set?” I ask, watching her eyes. Kionna barely nods a reply before settling herself inside. Closing the door, I jog around to the driver side and climb in.

I start the engine and head down the highway so that I can get some signal on my phone. “Look,” Kionna sighs. Reaching over, I turn off the radio to listen to what she has to say. “I know I was a bitch earlier. You were only trying to help and my day has been shit. I mean, I…”

Taking my hand from the shifter, I pat her leg making her body tighten. “It’s okay, Kionna. I wasn’t all that nice at first either. I think I’ll get passed it.”

“Ki, call me Ki.” She corrects me, meeting my eyes. “I haven’t been called Kionna in years.” Her eyes break contact, her gaze going out the windshield at the road ahead.

“Okay, Ki,” I begin, “Once we get some service on my cell phone, I’ll make some calls to get your car running again.”

“Thank you.”

With a final pat to her thigh, I reluctantly return my hand to the shifter. I have had a million questions I wanted to ask her since we met. To make some kind of conversation so that I can get to know more about her. Anything really, even meaningless bullshit. I don’t though. For some reason, I let the comfortable silence last the rest of the drive on the highway. Surprisingly, I am actually fine with that. Which should be weird, I should be edgy. Quiet usually makes me crazy; now, I find myself not even needing the radio on.

“Ki, can you take my phone from the console and hit ‘hands free’?” I ask once I turn off onto the road that leads into the subdivision.

“Sure,” She replies. After fumbling with the phone a minute, she nods for me to go on.

“Call Pricks,” I say and seconds later, the phone begins to ring.

“Artistic Pricks, while I stick you with my gun, you can play with my tool.”

“Shelby is the only one allowed to answer the shop phone from now on.” I bite out, ready to turn the car around and kill my friend until I hear Ki giggle.

That’s a great fuckin’ sound.

“You can thank Caller ID for my phone answering skills, genius.” Mitch fires back, laughing at me. “You haven’t been gone an hour yet, even I need more time to get into trouble. I promise I’m sharing my toys with all the kids and that the cable guy isn’t trying to hook up to Mommy’s box,” He says, making Ki’s eyes dart from me to the phone and back again.

“You’re on speaker and I’m not alone.” I bite out, “I need a favor.”

“Oh, gotcha. Passcode to my condo is thirty seven, eleven, five. Condoms are in the drawer beside the bed, but you should check the expiration date on those bad boys before you suit up.” Mitch deadpans. “Wait a minute, weren’t you going to see Audrey though? That’s got me all sorts of confused and intrigued all at the same time.”

Ki rolls her eyes and, honestly, if I weren’t a guy, so would I. “Not that kind of favor, jackass.” I explain the situation; giving him a list of what we will need to fix the car. Knowing that it will sweeten the deal, I use my Ace in the hole. “I’ve got bags in the backseat from Leah’s.”

“Charlie just walked in, and Skinner will be here in like an hour. I’m leaving now,” He says, then shouts something in the background before the line goes dead.

“He got serious quick,” Kionna points out, a smile playing on those beautiful lips.

“There are a few things we don’t joke about. Cars and Leah’s Drive Thru are two of them,” I reply, glancing over I smile back at her. “We’ll have you fixed in a couple hours. No big deal.”

The minute I pull the car into Mom’s driveway, the door swings open. “Luke, I don’t know what happened. One minute I was folding the towels, then there was a loud pop, and most of the house went dark,” Mom says frantically as I climb out of the car.

“It’s okay, I’ll check it out,” I say, holding up my hands in an attempt to soothe her. “Smoke?” I ask.

“Hello Kionna,” Mom says, when the passenger side door opens and out steps Ki. Her mind already attempting to work out what is going on instead of asking.

“Ki had some car trouble on the out in the desert, I gave her a lift.” I explain. “Mom, was there smoke?” I ask again.

“Smoke?” She asks, shaking her head. “Oh, the house! Dear God no, Lucas. There’s no fire.” She replies, dismissing me to focus on Ki once more. “Kionna, what happened to your car?”

“It was nothing really,” Ki says, stepping around the back of the car, attempting to make a getaway by the look of it.

Sorry Ki, I’ve got other plans
.

“I’ll handle the problem with the power. Then we eat.” Turning, I grab the bags from the backseat. “Come on Ki, give me a hand.” Nudging the car door shut with my hip, I hand her a bag of food. “Mom, can you set up on the patio out back? I bet it’s hotter than hell inside if the air conditioner isn’t working.”

Just as I suspected; it’s like walking into a sauna. It has to be hot enough to fry fucking eggs on the tile floors in here. Walking into the kitchen, I settle my bag on the counter. After I dig through the drawers and cabinets, I finally find a flashlight.

“No.” Ki’s voice echoes from the hallway. “Please, Audrey, call me Ki. Everyone does.”

Mom walks through the doorway, now carrying the food bag I had given to Ki. “Of course.” Scooping up the bag on the counter, she scoots past me attempting to balance them both in her arms. “I’ll just be outside setting this up. Thank you Lucas, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“No problem, Mom.” I reply, but my eyes are locked on Ki leaning against the counter on the other side of the room. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she stares right back at me. The air in the room changes, it’s supercharged with the energy between us. Like she’s holding all my strings and pulling me in, closer and closer.

Taking a step closer to Ki, I hand her the flashlight. “While she’s handling the food, why don’t you give me a hand?” Before she can argue, I steer her out of the room and down the hall toward the basement door.

Today has been a monumentally shit filled day. After cutting my hand on a broken glass, I burned my breakfast, and my attempt at lunch went horribly wrong. So, needless to say, when I pushed start on the dishwasher, only to realize I used dish soap to fill it, yeah I needed a drive. The mess that is my soap and water covered kitchen floor would be there when I got back.

One ride into the city and an ice cream later, I was feeling somewhat better and heading home. Only I didn’t get that far. One minute I was driving, singing along with the radio. The next, I was dead in the water and two seconds away from an emotional breakdown. Being stranded on the side of the road was just the icing I needed to top my shit day cake. The shock of seeing Luke Hanlon on the side of that desert highway nearly made my knees buckle. Living next to his mother all this time, I never ran into him. Now, he is popping up everywhere and ready to run in and save the day.

“Is that good?” I ask angling the flashlight at the breaker box.

“Right there, just keep it steady,” Luke answers, checking each fuse one by one.

Watching him work, I stare at his arms and shoulders as they move. Honestly, he was the last person I ever expected to see stop. When he started ranting, I was about to let him have it. I thought he was just another bull-headed asshole about to give me shit because I was a woman. I was prepared to take my entire day out on him, until I looked into his eyes. Now though, I’m not upset. Actually, I should really be grateful while I stand here and appreciate the view of his backside while he works. Running into him, or well him nearly crashing into me I should say, is definitely a positive for today. That little act of fate is going to save me the money that I would’ve been spending at a garage on Monday. If my car didn’t get stripped to the frame by the time a tow truck made it out there, that is. It’s just a good thing I didn’t have to work tonight.

“Ah ha,” Luke says pulling me from my thoughts. “Here we go.” With a click and a buzz the lights in the basement come on along with the washer and dryer beside me, making me jump. The flashlight slips from my hand, falling to the concrete floor with a thud.

Both of us bend, grabbing for the flashlight only to bump heads. Hard. “Ouch, shit!” I yelp, nearly stumbling back into the dryer.

“Are you always so jumpy?” Luke asks, switching off the flashlight and tossing it into the basket of clothes on the washer.

“No,” I reply, but even I don’t think I sound convincing.

Luke steps closer, forcing me back against the dryer. Smiling at me, he grabs my wrists in his hands. I know my heart is racing, and no doubt he does too. His fingers brush over my pulse point over and over, those hazel eyes never leaving mine. “I think you lied to me yesterday,” He says softly, running his rough fingers up my arms, making me tremble. Brushing my hair off my shoulder, Luke leans in so that his lips nearly brush my ear. When I tremble again, I can feel him smile against my skin.

“Oh?” I ask breathlessly.

“I think I make you very uneasy, Ki,” He whispers.

Yes. Yes, he does.

“I also think you like how I make you feel,” he continues. “Which is good, because so do I.”

My mind races, my heart nearly beating out of my chest. Raising my hands, I flatten my palms against his chest. Even though I know I should, I don’t push him away. Luke leans back just enough to meet my eyes, studying my reaction to his accusation. He is right, but I don’t like that he is. I also don’t like how much he thinks he knows about me. Sure I’m attracted to him. Attraction is nothing more than a chemical reaction, and that can be counteracted right? “You don’t know anything about me, Luke,” I reply, swallowing hard.

His eyes heat, his lip quirking up skeptically. “Don’t be so sure about that, Dollface,” He replies surely. “I think you might be surprised how much of you I’ve got figured out already.”

He smells like spice and screams forbidden. I should shove him away and run like hell, but I don’t. Kissing Luke Hanlon right now is the worst possible thing I could do. It goes against all my rules to let a man get close, but it’s all I can think about. My hands fist in his shirt, the rest of my body frozen in place. There’s no fighting the energy flowing between us. Whatever this is that keeps pulling us together, it’s too strong and I am afraid I’ve already lost control. All I can do is breathe and wait for his next move, all my rules momentarily forgotten. My lips part, my tongue running along my bottom lip in anticipation.

Luke’s thumb runs along my bottom lip, following the path my tongue just made. His eyes fixated on my mouth, as if trying to figure things out himself. “This makes no fucking sense.” His voice just above a whisper, gravelly and yet, it’s smooth. “What is it about you?” He asks, meeting my eyes once again.

Then his lips are on mine.

Luke cups my jaw with one hand, the other sliding around my waist, pulling me against him. As if on its own, my mouth opens for him, giving him my silent approval to deepen the kiss. My tongue slides along his bottom lip, making him groan into my mouth. Luke kisses me hard and hungry. Like he can’t get enough, but neither can I. My knees go weak, but Luke simply slides his thigh between mine so that I don’t slip from his grasp. His erection presses against me and my stomach drops into my toes. The ache between my thighs is so fierce that I would gladly let him throw me to the floor right here if it meant I could get lost in him right now and have release. It’s been so long since I’ve been kissed, or even touched, by a man this way that my senses are on overdrive. I’m taking him in; every breath, every touch and I want more.