Keep It Sexy (KIS Series Book 3) (7 page)

Chapter Eight

Billie

The following Tuesday, I was off. I took the opportunity to change the oil on my bike, which was way overdue. It also needed new tires, but that would have to wait a little longer until I found my own place. As I waited for the oil to drain, a familiar black ’72 Cutlass came to a stop in front of the driveway. Through the half open windows, “Toxicity” by System Of A Down poured through. I stood slowly, wiping my hands with the oil covered shop rag I had in my back pocket. I gazed at the striking black paint job as the engine turned off. Three doors opened simultaneously, producing the three henchmen, or LCD, as they liked to be called whenever they were together.

I watched as the three sauntered in my direction. Behind me, I heard the front door of the house open and close, then the dragging noise of Jade’s house slippers against the concrete. It had been almost a year since I saw my brothers and Connor. I wasn’t ready to see them then, and I wasn’t ready to see them now.

As always, Lincoln led the way. He smiled at me, but when he saw Jade his eyes lit up. Lincoln was the better looking of my brothers. Donnie was attractive too, but Linc was the type to leave a trail of broken hearts behind him. He was charming and outgoing, while Donnie was silent and observant, not to mention hot tempered. Donnie wore his hair short like a soldier and Linc had his in a trendy haircut with the sides shaved off and the front combed back like some sort of modern tamer version of a mohawk.

Lincoln was taller but Donnie had a more muscular body. We all shared the same brown hair and eyes we inherited from our mother. In between the two stood Connor, who was dodgy and cunning; it was unmistakable in his gray eyes. Connor was blond with unkempt hair that ran just below his earlobe and
no
tattoos. None, well, except for one. One that we were all forced to get. All three wore black, just like they were told to with a touch of green. Donnie wore black pants and a green fitted army jacket. Lincoln’s graphic shirt had green lettering. Connor wore a black and green flannel button-up over his black shirt.

“You’re just gonna stand there and not say hello to your family?” Lincoln scolded.

“I’m covered in oil. I wouldn’t want to ruin your colors,” I replied, gesturing to my hands and clothing. Just then the front door opened and closed, again. I watched as all three eyed Pete walking down to Jade.
Here we go.
I heard Jade whisper,
shit,
behind me.

“Lincoln, Donnie, Connor. How you been?” Pete asked. My heart began to rumble against my bones. Whenever Jade, Pete, and Lincoln were in the same space something always went down. I turned around to look at Jade and Pete.

“Hey, why don’t you give me a minute? I’ll be in soon,” I said, looking specifically at Jade.

“Yeah, okay,” she replied with a scowl. Pete jerked his head up at the guys as a way to say bye.

“Looking good, Jade,” Lincoln taunted. Jade whispered something to Pete before they went inside.

“Don’t be a dick.” I glowered. Linc just chuckled before bending down to check the oil dripping on the pan.

“Piece of shit import,” he grumbled. Both Donnie and Connor grunted in amusement. Just as I was ready to tell him off, my phone rang in my back pocket. I slung the rag over my shoulder before looking down at my screen at the unknown local number.

“Hello?” I answered, but not before getting gripes of annoyance from the threesome.

“Hey, Billie, it’s Christian.”

Instantly, my throat dried and a
nervous heat ran through my body
at the sound of his velvety rich voice. Sometimes he’d say his name with a Spanish pronunciation, like now for instance. He must do it out of habit because it was random when he did it. And it made my heart beat just a little faster.

“Hi.”

“Sorry to bother you on your day off, but Ava called off today. Do you think you can cover her shift?” I could picture him rubbing the back of his neck. That always made me smile.

“Yes, of course. Four o’clock?” I knew I was grinning too much because my cheeks were stinging, but I couldn’t help it. Christian groaned in relief and it sounded so close to sounds of pleasure. Naughty imagines flashed in my mind of Christian’s naked body on top of mine and I instantly blushed, remembering my brothers were in front of me.

“You’re the best, Billie, I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, bye,” I said giddily.

“Bye.” I could hear his smile across the phone.

“Bye.” I giggled then hung up. I felt three sets of eyes laser past my skin and through my skull.

“Who the fuck was that?” Donnie asked while crossing his arms over his chest. “Another wetback?”

That’s it
. I was a very,
very
patient person, but there was only some much that I could take from them. Calmly, with an indifferent face, I backed away and made my way to the garage. I unhooked a rusty tire iron from where it hung next to the other tools. While the old cold metal pressed against my palm I wrapped my fingers around it and walked to the Cutlass. The penetrating eyes soon turned into confused ones. By the time they realized what my intentions were, it was too late. With the iron pulled back over my shoulders, I swung it, shattering the front window.

“What the fuck, Billie!” all three yelled, but stood still in shock.

“That’s for being ignorant,” I said, pointing at Donnie, then lifted my arm back again, smashing the front headlights. “And that’s for coming up here and disrespecting Pete in front of his own home.”

“You’re such a fucking bitch! You know how much that’s going to cost me?” Lincoln yelled as he lunged himself in my direction, but Connor stopped him by gripping onto the front of his shirt.

“Oh, please, like you don’t have the money. Get out of here before I smash the back window.” I walked right past them. Lincoln muttered more swear words before stalking to his car, Donnie following behind him.

“Your da wants you home for dinner,” Connor said as he gently wrapped his fingers around my arm to stop me.

“Yeah, well, I can’t stomach his…
food
anymore,” I replied, pulling my arm out of his hold. Connor looked at me as if he was just finding out I wanted nothing to do with him, Don, or the life they led.

“So, it’s like that?” His accent was thicker; I could barely understand the words.

“Yeah. It’s like that,” I whispered coolly as I walked back into the garage.

Chapter Nine

Christian

Tuesdays were the slowest day of the week. I didn’t need to be here, but with Ava’s call off and Billie still being fairly new I didn’t want to leave her alone, so I stayed and worked. I was distantly watching a repeat of the Broncos kicking the Oakland Raiders asses on TV when Billie walked into the bar from the kitchen doors. She always wore her short hair in curls but today it was straight with half of it pinned in the back. My stare travelled from her pretty face down her shoes and I was surprised to see her wearing white jeans that stopped mid-calf. Today she rocked black Vans.

“Sorry,” she said, stopping in front of me with her backpack over her shoulder. “Since it was my day off, I washed my uniform and the load that was dry only had my shirts and not my skirts.”

My lips curved up into a pleased grin. How could I be mad at her when she looked so sexy in white pants? I wondered how she was able to keep her pants clean from driving on her bike, then remembered her coming out of the bathroom the other night with her black leather bodysuit over her legs. It was zipped up to her waist and the rest fell behind her. It was one of the sexiest things I had ever seen.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re doing me a favor by coming in. Honestly, it looks
really
good on you.”

Billie smiled as she glanced down before looking back up.

“Thanks.”

My grin widened when I saw the small pink stains on her cheeks.

“I’m going to cash in,” she said, biting down on her bottom lip so she could suppress her smile.

“Okay.” After a small wave came and went, Billie and I were standing across from each other behind the bar. I’d turned off the TV and turned on some music. I pressed play on the song she sang a few days ago. Instantly, Billie smiled and blushed.

“Sing for me?” I asked while I laid my phone on the bar. Billie bit down on her thumbnail; I could see it in her eyes she was fighting it and giving in.

“Just once,” she said. I laughed and nodded.

Billie grabbed my phone and restarted the song. As she sang, she said the words like they clearly meant more to her. Like the song was written especially for her. She closed her eyes and her face had an effortless air to it. She was at peace; it was nothing like I had ever seen before.

I stepped closer to her as if there was this gravitational pull inside of her that forced me to. When the song ended I was so close to her I could smell the softness of her skin and the strawberry scent of her shampoo. I knew what I was doing was inappropriate. She was my employee and this was a huge mistake, but I physically could not help myself.

Billie’s breath grew shallow as she could feel my body almost pressed against her. I wanted to pick her up and have my way with her on top of my bar, so every time I came in here I could remember her perfect naked body and my hips rolling into her. At the thought, my hands balled into fists as I fought with every fiber in my body to step back.

“You have an amazing voice,” I said, clearing my throat. Billie drew in a deep breath before opening her eyes.

“Thanks.” She smiled sweetly. “I’m going to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” She didn’t wait for my reply before she moved past me and around the bar. I quickly poured a shot of Maker’s Mark and tossed it back. I wasn’t much of a drinker so the liquid burned down my throat and into the shallow part of my stomach.

“Get it together, Christian,” I said to myself before wiping the whisky off my lips with the back of my hand. I needed to chill the fuck out.

Quickly, I put the bottle back in its home then bent down to grab a rag from the bucket of sanitizer water we kept on the floor. Wringing out the excess water, I jumped over the bar to wipe down some tables. Distracting myself from this girl was going to be an issue. Luckily, I had an entire bar to clean and keep me busy.

I heard the latch of the bar lift and shut. She was back, but I didn’t look up. I stayed busy cleaning the tables and chairs. Focused on a black spot on one of the tables, I almost missed the change in music and a very familiar song followed by Billie’s throaty laugh. She’d gotten into my Spanish music playlist. I was stunned. I wasn’t embarrassed by her knowing I listened to this sort of music, but was shocked out of my mind when she pressed one hand against her stomach and the other one bent at the elbow, and she started to dance. Well, she
tried
to dance.

“Ooh,” she mouthed as she pranced in circles with raised eyebrows and an amused look. I finally cracked when she did a little turn, laughing with my hands rested on my waist. I caught my breath when she finally stopped dancing and turned down the music.

“I love that you listen to that,” she said breathlessly. I walked near the bar as I wiped a tear from my eye.

“I loved what you just did. You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”

She playfully scowled. “Hey! Don’t dis on my awesome dancing skills, okay? I don’t bust them out for just anyone. You should be honored.”

“I’m offended, actually.” I laughed. Billie’s face pinched again before she threw a slice of lemon at my head. I moved just in time. “Come here.” I gestured for her to round the bar. “I’m going to show you how to dance.”

“A Mexican man who knows how to dance? Let me get my surprised face.” She deadpanned. I smirked; she was a ball buster, and I liked it.

“Oh, you got jokes?” I chuckled. “Come here, whitey, let me show you the things hips can do. It’s not part of your genetic makeup, but I’ve been known to work miracles.” Billie tried to hide her grin while she jumped over the bar. “Oh, no comeback?” I asked.

“Are you going to teach me or not?”

I grabbed my phone and pressed the shuffle button on my Spanish music playlist. The song that played wasn’t one from the same genre as the song Billie danced to. This type of music wasn’t even from Mexico, but luckily for me I still knew how to dance to it.

Slowly, I walked back to her. I felt her resistance before she spoke.

“I don’t know how to dance to this,” she whispered. Damn, she was cute. I stopped in front of her with her hands in mine.

“Come on, you’re from Harden. There had to be at least one
quinceañera
that you were invited to where you at least learned the basics to music like this?” I grinned when she frowned, and those wrinkles I liked so much appeared in between her eyebrows.

“No, I wasn’t popular in high school.” She lowered her head, embarrassed, but I wasn’t going to have that. With my finger under her chin, I lifted her head so I could look directly into her big brown eyes. I shook my head before guiding my index finger down her wrinkled brow.

“Well then, this just means were going to have to dance all night until you learn.” I smiled when she giggled.

“Teach away, Mr. Rodriguez.”

I grinned mischievously as I heard the words to “Propuesta Indecente”
by Romeo Santos.

“
Bachata
is danced side by side.” I pulled back so she could see my movements. “One, two, tap. One, two, tap.”

She nodded as she kept her head down, making sure to follow my movements. Once she started to mimic my moves, I gripped her hips with my hands and as she moved I swayed her hips in an imaginary eight movement.

“Girls are supposed to move their hips more,” I explained when she smiled and narrowed her eyes at me. I removed my hands when she swung her hips on her own. Then I stepped closer with one hand planted on her upper back, and I scooped her arm so it was resting on top of mine. She instinctively gripped my bicep while I held her other hand up with my free one. I couldn’t help but look down her shirt; it was the perfect angle.

“There is
still
nothing in there for you,” she said again, but this time there was a softness and huskiness to her tone. Looking in her eyes this time, I smirked.

“You sure about that?”

She looked down again as her cheeks burned with the slightest shade of pink. When she looked back up and her tongue darted to lick her lips, I felt my steps falter.

“What’s he saying?” she whispered, nodding toward the speakers, and I knew she was asking about the song. She was getting the hang of the dance and I was caught up in the moment as we began to really move, feeling the song and its sensual rhythm. As fate would have it, the perfect part of the chorus played.

“If I lift up your skirt, would you give me permission?”

Billie’s face stilled, but her body kept moving. Her stare flickered from my eyes to my lips as she processed the words I’d translated.

“The song is called “Indecent Proposal,”” I said.