Jacked Up (Bowen Boys #4) (35 page)

“You are pushy.”

“You don’t like pushy,” she said, feeling awkwardly embarrassed.

He kissed her softly. “I love your kind of pushy, pet. Never doubt that. For the record, we aren’t a good fit.”

She froze at his words. “No?”

“No. We are a fucking perfect one.”

Jack took her into his arms and kissed her long and deep. At some point, she heard the patrons at Rosita’s clapping and whistling, but she didn’t care. Her Borg was home.

* * * *

Jack would have trailed after Elle like a puppy the whole night, gladly, but Tate took pity on him and pushed them out of Rosita’s.

Not a word was uttered as they walked to Jack’s truck, or all the way to Elle’s house.

Once they had a closed door between them and the rest of the world, he cupped her face, kissing her, feeling more complete and at peace than he’d felt in the last four weeks. Heck, in his whole life probably. “I want you.”

Her eyes said yes, but her expression was hesitant. “You’re injured.”

Jack cracked a smile. “Not badly enough, pet.”

“I want to see it.”

“Why? You’ve seen it before.”

“No, you dork. I don’t mean your cock.”

She grabbed his T-shirt, bunched it up, and with trembling fingers, proceed to caress the angry red scar on his side, her eyes welling.

Jack put his hand on top of hers. “It doesn’t hurt, pet.” Which wasn’t totally true, but in comparison with the pain he’d endured without her in his life, this little scar was nothing.

She glanced at him, her voice quivering. “I’m so sorry that the biggest scar on your body is related to me. All the other wounds seem insignificant.”

“This is the most important of all of them,” he corrected her. “This I wouldn’t trade for anything. This says I saved the woman I love. I know I’m not the easiest man to be around, but I love you with all my heart. No one will ever love you more than I do. I’d give my life for you.”

“You almost did that,” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“And I’d do it again. In a heartbeat. I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough to take you on and I walked away from you. Honestly, it all but destroyed me. And every time I think that it almost got you killed, I feel furious with myself.” If he’d admitted his feelings to her and himself, neither Exxum nor Maldonado would have ever gotten within a hundred feet of Elle, much less kidnap her and threaten her life.

Elle hugged him tight, speaking against his chest. “That wasn’t your fault. You saved me.”

As far as he was concerned, she’d saved him.

“You cut your hair,” he mumbled after a long silence.

“Yes, I hated how it had hindered my movements,” she replied, lowering her gaze. “Plus I decided I needed a change. Why? You don’t like it?”

Her sudden confrontational tone brought a smile to his face. Fuck, he’d missed her. Her wit. Her warmth. Her smart-ass attitude. “I love it.”

“Good. You said some pretty hurtful things when you left me. Not to mention that you left me.”

Jack flinched at the pain in her eyes. “Fucking sorry, pet.”

Her voice was barely there. “Don’t do it again. Please.”

“I won’t.”

He kissed her, slowly. Reverently. Relishing every one of her shivers, and lifting her into his arms, he took her to the bed. Time to love his woman.

* * * *

Elle sat on the porch stairs and read the e-mails that Jack had sent her, furiously wiping the fat tears rolling down her eyes.

Good morning, pet. I woke up at the hospital, without you. You’ve been here. I can still smell you. And I remember going in and out of consciousness and seeing you. There was no e-mail from you, so I decided to write to you. I miss you. A lot. Where are you?

She scrolled through the e-mails. There were dozens of them, which, considering they hadn’t seen each other in four weeks, was a lot.

I finally got to see that damn movie
, Grease.
Apparently the same principle applies to the TV and the radio: given enough channel-hopping, you are bound to find one where that movie is on. I still don’t get the fascination with it, and I’ll probably refuse to watch it ever again, but I did watch.

She noticed over her sniffling that the front door had opened. She didn’t have to turn to know who that was. She could feel his gravitational force, pulling at her. And that sexy scent of his inebriating her.

Jack sat behind her on the stairs, engulfing her with his warm body and planting a kiss on the top of her head. “What are you doing out here?”

Elle shrugged. She’d started reading the e-mails in the living room, but soon she realized the waterworks were unavoidable, and not wanting to wake Jack up, she’d escaped outside.

“You’re crying. They’re that bad?”

“No, of course not, Borg,” she said, irate. “They are wonderful. You wrote to me every day.”

“Yes. I think there are several occasions when I wrote twice in the same day. I didn’t know what to do with myself without you.”

They stayed together on those stairs for a long while, hugging. Going through the e-mails together.

“I love you, pet,” he whispered.

Elle kissed him softly. “Love you too. Your morning-after skills have improved, Borg.”

Jack chuckled. “So it seems.”

“I told you I didn’t need all those niceties to let you fuck me and I meant it. I still do.”

“I know, but you deserve them. I won’t start calling you princess or doll or anything like that though. You are and always will be my pet.”

Fair enough.

“Now what?” Elle asked finally. It was his move. This was the proverbial morning after.

He answered right away. “Now we move in together.”

“You at my place? Mrs. Copernicus will be thrilled to get someone like you for her neighborhood-watch group, but I don’t see you in suburbia.”

Jack shrugged. “I can deal with that; it doesn’t bother me.”

“What if I say I’m not ready to shack up with you?”

“Get ready pretty soon, because I’m waking up to you every day from now on. Every fucking day. Your choice where. You could move to my apartment.”

“The one you only allowed me to go to while I was in shock so I would forget where it was afterward?”

He reached into the pocket of his jeans and handed her a key. “This is for you, pet.” The key ring attached was engraved.
To Elle.

She cocked her eyebrow but took it. “Pretty sure you were going to win me back, weren’t you?”

“I wasn’t going to let the best thing that has ever happened to me slip through my fingers.”

Elle cupped his face. “I love you like crazy, Borg, but you know I will never bake you bread, right?”

Jack laughed. “I know. I’ll survive.”

“Or sew you underwear.”

“We’ll make do with Target.”

“And I will always be a smart-ass.”

He brushed his lips against hers. “I’m totally counting on that.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“You are in so much shit, dude,” James said with a snort to Jack as they watched Elle and Ronnie laugh and twirl on the dance floor.

“Brother-in-law to you, asshole,” Jack corrected with a grunt.

James turned to him, looking surprised. “You marrying her?”

“Damn right I am. Why? Didn’t you think I would?”

“What do I think? That you’re so far gone for her you can’t see which way is up. Another thing is, how the hell are you going to get her to agree to marry you?”

True. He wasn’t that big of a prize. Still, he wasn’t letting go of her. Couldn’t.

“Although you’ve been shacking up for a while now and so far you aren’t missing important body parts,” James continued. “None that I can see, anyways. You might have a shot there.”

They’d been living together for a couple of months, moving back and forth from his place to hers, mainly because they couldn’t decide where to settle. That is,
she
couldn’t decide where to settle. He’d live in a fucking cardboard box as long as she was with him.

“Did you give any thought to my offer?” James asked.

“I’m not the easiest of employees.”

James snorted. “Hell of an understatement. Besides, your calendar is wide open, right?”

Jack nodded.

“I heard Exxum had a mishap,” James added. “Had a weird allergic reaction to some exotic berry and kicked the bucket.”

“Yeah, I heard that too.” The police had gotten involved with the kidnapping, but it had looked like he was going to get away with it. After all, he hadn’t been at the club and he’d made sure his bodyguard lawyered up right away.

“I thought you wanted to send him to jail,” James reprimanded him. “Do it the standard way.”

“That was before he dared to go after Elle. I gave the police a shot. It didn’t work.”

“Any news about Nico?”

Jack shook his head. “Last I heard, Mullen had been told by his superior that Nico had interceded for us, showing proof of Maldonado’s involvement in Aalto’s death and the trail of murders after his.” According to his contacts, Nico was running the Cali cartel.

“Who is he working for?”

“I don’t know,” Jack admitted, and then changed the subject, handing his friend an envelope. “Got something for you.”

“What is it?”

“Your sister.”

James froze. “Fuck, man. You found her?”

Jack nodded. Unsealing closed adoption records was a bit tricky, what with having to go to court and all that shit. Not to mention that the judges tended to agree only if the adopted child made the petition; so he’d gone another route and now owed Mullen and his contacts a huge debt, but whatever.

James was still, staring at the envelope.

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

“I’ll get Cole and Max first. Thank you,” he said.

“Don’t mention it. Just keep it in mind when I’m being difficult on the job.”

James clapped him on his back, and taking the envelope, headed to where Cole and Max were sitting.

Leaning on the counter, Jack watched as Elle navigated her way through the crowd toward him and was intercepted by a guy who had been looking at her while she was dancing.

He came closer to say something in her ear, placing his hand on her arm. She smiled but took a step back, pulling herself away from his touch, shaking her head, keeping her distance.

Jack felt like rushing to her and flooring the mofo, but he forced himself to remain still.

Soon enough Elle got rid of the asshole and approached, hooking her finger through his belt loop and pulling. “Come dance with me, Borg.”

The music had changed into a ballad. He didn’t budge and she frowned, turning back to him. Fuck, she was so cute. And he loved her so much. Jack cupped her neck and brought her to him for a long, wet kiss.

“Please?” she whispered against his lips.

This time, when she pulled the belt loop, he trailed after her to the dance floor. There was nothing he could deny her. Absolutely nothing. Whatever she wanted, he’d give it to her. Fucking horrifying, yet he couldn’t stop smiling. Nuts.

He engulfed her in his arms, her body melting into his.

“Having fun?” he asked into her ear as they danced.

“I’ll still party with the girls and go out occasionally.”

He knew. But he could take it.

Elle cupped his face and looked him straight in the eye. “I will always come home to you and I will never cheat on you.”

“I know. I trust you.”

And he did. Totally.

The music stopped and Jack looked at his watch: 00:00

“Happy birthday, pet,” he whispered into her ear. “Enjoy your present.”

THE PLACE WASN’T too full, but she didn’t realize a group of people dressed in long trench coats and covering their faces with hats had appeared until they were all over the place.
What the hell?

Suddenly she heard “
Well, this car could be systematic.” Boom
and the bunch that had situated themselves around the dance floor shucked off their coats.

“Hydromatic,”
came from the speakers.
Boom
and the hats went flying, their faces down.

“Automatic.”

Boom
, and the group lifted their arms and their heads.

Oh God, it was her flash mob. Dressed in black and leather. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Why, it could be greased lightning!”

Elle couldn’t stop laughing. That was her song, the one she always wanted to dance to but she always got outvoted.

The one she knew the steps to by heart.

Without thinking twice, she joined them while everyone cheered and sang.

She caught on very fast and in no time she was dancing and laughing, throwing her arm up and pointing from left to right, her only regret that she didn’t have leather pants on.

By the end of the song everyone was applauding and whistling.

Elle hugged the flash mobbers closest to her and then searched for Jack. The moment she spotted him, she threw herself into his arms.

“Thank you so much,” she said, showering him with kisses while he chuckled. “Who would have guessed you actually listen to me when I talk.”

“I always listen, pet.”

“How did you get them to agree to this?”

He shrugged, sheepishly. “I just asked. Believe it or not, people have trouble saying no to me. I intimidate them.”

She burst into laughter. “You don’t say.”

* * * *

“I think Max has a point about the Jacuzzi, don’t you think?” Elle said, standing on the porch of the cabin.

Jack came out and leaned against the doorjamb, his arms crossed over his chest. “You mean for fishing shrimp?”

Elle laughed. “Don’t know about that, but a hot, bubbly Jacuzzi out on the deck facing the forest and the lake, right there,” she said, pointing ahead, “would be so relaxing.”

“Since when are you into relaxing?”

“Since my boyfriend fucks me blind every night and I get more cardio than the Duracell bunny.”

Jack barked out a laugh.

She’d made huge progress on her promise to slow down. He wouldn’t say she was Zen-like, but she was much better. Able to sit down and enjoy doing nothing, just watching nature, which was great news for the state’s reforestation. And she was talking more about her brother and father. Had taken him to visit their graves. Marlene’s too.