Wilde Edge (6 page)

Tag glanced over at
Jolena
, watching her toy with the petals on one of the
roses he’d given her. There was still a trace of pink staining her cheeks from
the kiss they’d shared, and he realized it made her skin almost the same shade
of coral pink as the roses.

Beautiful.

As long as he was around,
Jolena
wasn’t going to get away with putting herself down
anymore. He’d take great pleasure in showing her just how wrong she was about
her worthiness, one kiss at a time.

Her cell phone rang just as he was
parking the car, and her body language altered the moment she saw the caller ID
screen. Her jaw tightened, and she gripped the phone so tightly he could see
the tips of her fingers turn white. She hung up on whoever it was without
answering, and it was crystal clear that something was wrong.

“I take it that wasn’t someone you
wanted to speak to at the moment?”

“That was Greg. I’ve got nothing to
say to that waste of oxygen, now or ever.” She
answered,
her low, sultry voice strained and unhappy.

“Who is Greg?”

Jolena’s
shoulders rounded and she hunched slightly into the seat. “Someone I wish I’d
never met.”

In that instant, Tag knew exactly
who had taught
Jolena
to doubt herself. So the bastard
had a name. Now he’d know who to punch if they ever crossed paths. “Who is he,
angel? And what did he do to you?”

She gave a soft, sad little sigh,
and Tag had her seatbelt off the next second, hauling her into his lap so he
could hold her close. Fuck, he hated the idea that someone had hurt her.

“Tag, why am I in your lap?”
Jolena
asked,
squirming
a little
as she stretched her legs out across the gearbox to rest on the passenger seat.
That tiny movement drew her sweet ass across the already hard ridge of his
dick, and Tag had to bite back a groan. He could think of a dozen things he
could do to her right now, and not one of them had anything to do with their
previous conversation about Greg. Whoever the fuck that was.

Focus,
jackass. Ask her about the asshole. Find out what he did to her.

“You’re in my lap because that
seemed the fastest way to get my arms around you. I don’t like seeing you sad,
angel. Now, who is this asshole?”

She nestled against him before
lifting her head to meet his gaze. “You’re sweet, but I’m so heavy I’m probably
cutting off the circulation to your legs right—” He didn’t let her finish the
sentence.
Jolena
had put herself down again, and
there were consequences to that now.

He sealed her lips with his, one
arm holding her firmly in his lap while he raised his other hand to toy with
her silken riot of curls. He flicked his tongue across her lower lip, and a
shudder passed through her as she opened her mouth, letting him in. She tasted
sweeter than honey, and as his tongue danced with hers, he felt the subtle hum
of her moan buzz against his lips. Her soft fingers touched his cheek in a
feather-light caress, and he finally ended their kiss, lifting his head to find
her staring up at him with her big brown eyes.

“I told you that every time you put
yourself down, I was going to kiss you, remember?”

“I’m starting to realize you were
serious about that.” She laughed just a little, her fingers still resting on
his cheek.

“I was deadly serious. You
shouldn’t say that crap about yourself.”

“Greg’s the one who got me to think
that way. I threw him out of my life, but I guess I didn’t get rid of all of
him, huh?”

“He was your boyfriend?”

“My ex-husband,” she clarified and
Tag felt a stab of jealousy.
Husband?
She’d been
married? She must have caught some outward sign of what he was thinking,
because she lowered her head again and murmured, “If it’s a problem for you
that I’m divorced, then I understand. I should have told you before.”

“Why would I have a problem with
the fact you loved someone enough to commit your life to them? It’s not your
fault he turned out to be an asshole.”

“You haven’t met him. How can you
be so sure he is one?”

“Because only an asshole would put
down a beautiful woman just to make
himself
feel
better. I saw a lot of men like that when I worked the beat, attending domestic
violence calls. No woman should have to live with a man who doesn’t treasure
them.” Tag watched her face as he asked his next question. “Did this asshole
ever hit you, or did you leave before that happened?”

Jolena’s
silence told him everything he needed to know. When she did finally answer him,
Tag had already vowed to kill the son of a bitch if he ever came near his angel
again.

“He hit me once, and that was the
night I left him. It was just a black eye, but I knew that if I stayed, it
would only get worse. When he came to my dad’s place the next day to try and
get me to come home, my dad went after him with a tire iron. Ran him off the
property and threatened to cave his head in if he came around again.”

“I think I would have liked your
dad.”

She was quiet for a moment, then
looked up and gifted him with another of her sweet smiles. “He would have liked
you too.” That smile fired his blood and made his heart skip a beat or two.
Right then, Tag knew he was in a shitload of trouble, the forever kind of
trouble that came with words like
commitment
and
cohabitation
. It didn’t matter
that he had only met her a few short hours ago. There was something about
Jolena
that made everything else irrelevant.

Son
of a bitch, what the fuck did Nicky put in that tattoo ink today, wishing dust?

He’d gotten the phoenix to cover
his scars and to represent putting the past behind him, and since then he’d
found a new place to live, and a woman he didn’t just want to take to bed, but
wake up with in the morning.

“Tag?”
Jolena’s
husky voice flowed over him like a caress, calling
him back from his thoughts.

“Yeah, angel?”

“Are we going inside to eat, or
does this place have curbside service?” She laughed as he kissed her cheek and
then lifted her back to her side of the car.

“Yes, smartass, we’re going inside
to eat.” He grinned at her, pleased to see the light in her eyes again. Seeing
her brown eyes shadowed by dark memories and sadness was something he never
wanted to see again.

He’d just have to make sure his
angel was happy.

****

Jo had planned on just ordering a
salad and maybe nibbling on a bit of garlic toast, but Tag had made everything
sound so good that she’d agreed to let him order for her. That had been a good call,
and she marveled at the incredible dishes brought to their candle-lit corner
table: Olives marinated in some amazing blend of booze and seasonings to start,
and then a plate of handmade cheese ravioli with a subtle bite of lemon. The
food was delicious, and the cozy atmosphere made it seem as if they were the
only two people in the place.

It had been a perfect evening, or
nearly perfect. Greg’s constant calls threatened to put a damper on the
evening, so she turned her phone to vibrate after the first one, and after the
third one she turned it off completely. Even still, she knew that he’d be
filling up her voice mail with messages. He would start off reasonable enough,
but she knew damned well that as the night went on, the tone of the messages
would get angrier. That had always been the pattern with him, and she doubted
anything would ever change.

Tag walked her back to the car,
opened the door for her and even helped her into the passenger seat before
closing her in and walking around to his side. While Tag was out of the car she
took her phone out of her purse to check her message count.
Nine
new voicemails.

Damn.

Greg was really pushing it tonight.
That meant he was probably drinking. She dropped the phone back into her purse
and tightened her grip on the soft leather in an attempt to hide the fact her
hands were shaking. It didn’t work.

“How many times did he call over
dinner?” Tag asked, reaching out to cover her hands with his.

“Too many,” she said and tried to
act as if it didn’t bother her. Jo knew it shouldn’t. She was long since free
of Greg and his vicious temper, but the habits of another lifetime were hard to
forget.

“I know it’s none of my business,
but I’m going to ask anyway. Why is he bothering you?”

“He wants me to sell my business to
some new business associates of his. He came by the garage today after you
left. He’d emailed me earlier and I’d told him I wasn’t interested, but he
isn’t taking no for an answer. The guys he lied to aren’t really happy about
things either and they would like me to sell. My ex is a charming, two-faced
liar, and it seems this time his lies have caught up to him. Now he’s
desperate, and I’m sure he’s trying to make this all my fault.”

Tag blew out a harsh breath and
squeezed her hand. “If he comes back to the garage again, call me. Hell, call
Nick too. I don’t like the idea that he still thinks he can even
talk
to you, never mind drag you into
his life and his problems. Before we head home, do you want to listen to the
messages he left you, to make sure there’s nothing you need to deal with?”

Having Tag with her, holding her
hand and supporting her, made the decision easy. “You know what? I don’t need
to listen to them at all.” She reached into her purse, fished out her phone and
dialed into her voicemail, deleting all the messages without listening to a
single one. When she was done, she was grinning.

“Feel better?”

“Much. Thank you.” And she did too.
Surrounded by the scent of roses and a hint of Tag’s aftershave, sitting in the
near darkness of a classic car with a handsome, caring man who actually wanted
to spend time with her, she felt happier than she had since her father had
passed away.

“You’re very welcome, angel.” He
squeezed her hand once more and then let go of her to start the car.

“You’re really going to be moving
in this weekend?”

He nodded as they pulled out into
the street. “That’s the plan. I’m going to draft my brothers, so if you see a
swarm of guys wandering around your front yard, don’t worry. They’re all
completely harmless. Oh, yeah, uh, you’re not afraid of dogs, are you?”

“Four-legged or two-legged?” she
asked and he snickered.

“Four. My brothers are all dogs
too, but I know you’ll let them down easy. After all, you’re dating the best of
them already.”

“We’re dating?”

The look he shot her was hot enough
she nearly melted onto the spot. “Fuck yes, we’re dating. That’s what this was,
a date. The moment I’m moved in, we’re going out again. And between then and
now, I’m going to be thinking about you, calling you, texting you, and wondering
how long it’s going to be until I get to kiss you again.”

Holy shit, the man was even sexy
when he was being utterly arrogant and bossy. For a tiny second Jo contemplated
arguing with him, but what was the point? His kisses left her weak in the
knees, and her panties were soaked through with the evidence of just how deeply
he affected her. God, she ached in places she’d never felt
so
much as a tingle before. He was kind, sexy, caring, and hands down the hottest
man she’d ever seen. Why would she deny herself the chance to know him better?
“Okay. I was just checking.”

Good. Glad we got that cleared up.”
His hand left the gearshift to slowly stroke up her thigh. “You’re mine, angel.
It’s as simple as that.”

His confident words should have had
her spitting mad, but instead of irritation, she was overcome with a sense of
pure happiness. She tried to speak, but her throat had tightened to the point
she wasn’t sure how she was still breathing. The heat of his fingers on her
thigh was nearly enough to scorch flesh. Her breasts felt full and heavy, and
she could feel a fresh flood of cream drenching her pussy.

“Don’t you think it’s a little
early for declarations of possession?” she finally got the words past the lump
in her throat and was amazed by how flirtatious she sounded.

“No, I don’t. I’m not saying this
is forever. I’m not making you promises of undying devotion. I’m just telling
you how it’s going to be. You’re mine. I’m not going to be seeing anyone else,
and neither are you. I want to get to know you, angel, and I don’t share.”

She lifted her hand from her lap
slowly, taking a moment to find her courage before reaching out to set her hand
on his thigh. “I don’t expect undying devotion, and I don’t know you well
enough to even guess if I’d want forever with you. But I want to get to know
you too.”

He was silent for a long second,
but his fingers moved in slow circles, stroking her thigh the whole time. She
mirrored his actions, intently aware of the muscle that lay beneath her
fingers. She also noticed the thick line of his cock where it was pressing
against his fly, and it made her stomach flutter to know that she affected him
the same way he was getting to her. Whatever was going on between them, it was
definitely not platonic.

More
like atomic.
Kaboom
!

“You never told me if you had any
problems with dogs. The four-legged kind,” he finally said.

“I like dogs. Never had one as a
pet, but they don’t bother me. Why do you want to know?”

“My brother, Ben, usually brings
his canine partner with him everywhere he goes. They’re more or less attached
at the leash. If you had a problem with them, I’d tell him to leave Chase at
home.”

“Your brother’s a cop too? Nick
really is a bit of a rebel, I guess.”