Wilde Edge (7 page)

“You have no idea. My dad’s a
retired cop. Dave and Ben are on the force, and Jared runs the family pub. Nick
got all the artistic talent, and the temperament to match.”

“Nick’s mentioned the pub. Leo’s,
right? I keep meaning to go there, but I don’t get out much.”

“I’ll take you there some time. The
burgers are great, and it’s the safest place in the whole damned city.”

“Why is that?” she asked, not sure
what he meant.

“The place isn’t named for a guy
named Leo. It stands for Law Enforcement Officer. It’s usually full of off-duty
and retired cops.”

“If I ever need help, I’ll head
that way, then,” she said and was surprised when Tag growled in disapproval and
his body tensed under her hand.

“If you ever need help, you call
me
, angel. My leg may be too fucked up
to let me keep being a cop, but I’m not so pathetic I can’t protect the people
who matter to me.”

“Taggart Wilde, you did not say
that about yourself! If the rule is that I’m not allowed to put myself down,
then I think it only fair the same rules apply to you. You’re not pathetic. Not
even close. And the next time you say that I’ll…I’ll…kiss
you
senseless.”

“Don’t tempt me. I might just start
putting myself down on purpose.” He chuckled as he made the turn onto her
street. Tag found a parking spot just a few feet from her front door, but when
her hand moved to the door handle he shook his head.

“Don’t even think about it. I’m
walking you home like a gentleman should, and that includes opening the car
door.” He was out of the car before she could protest, walking through the
drizzling rain. He took her hand and helped her out, making sure that both
flowers and the newly signed paperwork came with her as he folded her hand into
his much larger one and walked her back to the house.

As they walked up the stairs, Jo
felt a pang of regret that their night was ending already. When he released her
hand, she turned to thank him for a wonderful evening and found herself pinned
against her front door. Tag’s mouth crashed down on hers, his big body holding
her firmly in place. The bouquet of roses fell from her hand, followed by the
tenancy papers as she dropped everything to hold onto him.

Her hands slid over damp leather as
his lips slanted over hers, stealing her breath and making it impossible to
think about anything else but him. She wanted to feel the warm strength of his
body, so she slipped her hands under his jacket. Her fingers curled into the
crisp fabric of his shirt, sensing the play of muscles beneath her palms. He
groaned and pushed her more firmly against the door, letting her feel the thick
rod of his cock pressing into her stomach as he took their kiss deeper still.

When he reached between their
bodies to palm one of her breasts she moaned, then gasped as he tweaked her
nipple between his fingers. Her pussy creamed as a bolt of raw, sexual heat
flowed through her. Tag nipped at her lower lip and she opened her mouth to
his. His tongue swept in to tangle with hers, and she arched her hips away from
the wall to rub up against him like a cat in heat.

They might have been like that for
a minute or an hour. Jo had no way to know. All she knew was by the time their
lips parted, both of them were panting, their breath mingling in the chilly
night air as they held onto each other.

“See? I was a gentleman. I walked
you to the door before I ravished you. My mom would be so proud.” He laughed,
and she joined him, her hands still under his jacket, enjoying their closeness.

“Good night, angel,” Tag finally
murmured in a husky voice as he brushed one last kiss against her swollen lips.
He let go of her then, smoothing her blouse back into place with a smug grin
before crouching down and gathering up everything she’d let fall when he’d
kissed her.

“Good night, Tag. It was an
incredible night. Thank you.” Incredible was one word for it. Jo was sure there
were others, but right now she was amazed she could manage to speak in full
sentences at all.

He stood, handed her everything and
then stepped back with a sigh. “I did say I was going to be a gentleman, so I’m
going to go home now. But I think you should know
,
I’m
going to be thinking about you for the rest of the night.”

She didn’t know what to say to
that, so she just smiled at him and lifted her hand to wave as he turned and
headed back down the stairs. When he reached the sidewalk, he looked up again
and grinned. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Get some sleep. You’re going to need
it for our second date.”

A dozen possible ways to take what
he’d just said tumbled through her mind as he walked away from her, each one of
them more breathtaking than the last. She stayed on the porch until he reached
the car,
then
managed to find her keys and let herself
in without dropping anything.

Barely.

Once the door was closed, she
slumped against it and blew out a long breath. “Well, that certainly went
better than I expected.” She glanced down at the flowers and the documents that
stated Tag was her new tenant. Tom was going to be very happy when he saw her
tomorrow morning. Tag really had put a smile on her face, and it went all the
way down to her toes.

Chapter Five

With all the chaos of packing and
organizing everything, Tag hadn’t been able to see
Jolena
again before moving day. He’d called and texted, but listening to her smoky
voice on the phone was a poor substitute for being in her company. Not to
mention that it didn’t do anything to ease the sexual frustration that had been
burning through him every waking moment since he’d left her at her front door.

Walking away from her that night
had been a test of his resolve. He’d known that if he’d pushed, he could have
gone further, taken her to bed and given them both a night to remember, but he
wanted to do better. He would do better, just as soon as he finished this
ongoing nightmare of cardboard and packing tape. More than once Tag had
wondered when the fuck he’d become an adult with shit that had to be wrapped in
bubble wrap and packing peanuts to be transported to a new place instead of
just wrapped in whatever towels were clean and stuffed in a garbage bag.

There was another reason he wanted
to get this move done.
Jolena’s
ex was still trying
to talk her into selling. It had taken some prompting, but she’d finally
admitted that he hadn’t stopped calling her yet. He’d told her to start making
a log of all the times the asshole called. If it didn’t stop soon, Tag had
offered to help her file a complaint, and that’s when he’d found out about the
lapsed Order of Protection.

If things had gotten that bad once,
he knew they could get that bad again. There was no way he was going to let
that son of a bitch anywhere near
Jolena
again. The
sooner Tag was moved in downstairs from her, the better. He’d feel a hell of a
lot better once that happened.
Jolena
had even
cleared out a workspace for him down at the garage, which meant he had a place
where he could work on Tiffany
and
watch out for his angel. Until then, he’d asked Nicky to keep an eye out for
trouble.

Tag was still sealing the last of
the boxes when his brothers started showing up, and they had his place cleared
out and thrown into the back of a rental truck in a matter of hours. They were
a pain in his ass most of the time, but family did have their uses. All four of
them had pitched in and made short work of things, for which Tag was deeply
grateful. As it was, late nights and long days of lifting and packing had left
him with an ache in his knee that the cold, wet weather was only making worse.

As he stood looking around the
empty apartment that had been his home for the last four years, he remembered
the day he’d moved in. He’d been on top of the world back then, newly promoted,
full of dreams and goals for the future. That future didn’t exist any longer,
and neither did the man who had dreamed of them. For better or worse, he was
gone, replaced with someone with a lot more scars and far fewer illusions about
the world.

The sky darkened outside and sleet
started to splatter against the windows as he turned and walked out of the
place for the last time. He was limping by the time he hit the lobby, but none
of his brothers said a word. They knew better.

They argued all the way back to
their cars about which route would be fastest. Tag already knew that Nick and
Jared would end up racing each other, just like always, while Ben made his own
way with Chase riding shotgun. Dave had volunteered to drive the moving van, so
all Tag needed to do was get himself over to
Jolena’s
in time to coordinate the chaos that would be the moving-in process.

****

The sleet backed off to a light
rain by the time he arrived at his new home, and Tag breathed a sigh of relief.
Moving was a big enough pain in the ass in nice weather, he didn’t need a
fucking winter storm soaking everything he owned.

He parked Tiffany in the second
stall of the two-car garage that sat behind his new home and then gritted his
teeth against the protesting aches in his knee as he jogged around to the front
just in time to help Dave park the moving van. By the time they had a ramp set
up, the others had arrived, and Tag left them arguing over who got what job
while he unlocked the front door to his new home.

It was as nice as remembered, and
as he walked through the rooms turning on lights and trying to figure out where
the fuck he was going to put everything, he caught sight of something that
hadn’t been there the last time. There was a box of donuts on the kitchen
counter, along with a note written in a firm but feminine hand.

Welcome
to your new home. Sorry I wasn’t here to greet you, but they needed me down at
the garage. I’ll be by later.

J.

P.S.
Enjoy the donuts.

She really was something. Tag
couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done something this thoughtful,
excluding his family of course. He popped open the box and helped himself to a
chocolate glazed confection before tucking the note into his pocket and heading
back outside. He’d find a way to repay her kindness later, with interest.

“He’s got food!” Ben yelled back
over his shoulder as he carried the first load of boxes past Tag and into the
house. “Where’s the bedroom? Apparently, that’s where this shit is going.”

“Head down the hall.
Last door on the left.
Oh, and donuts are in the kitchen.”

“When did you have time to pick up
donuts?”

“I didn’t.
Jolena
left them for us.” Tag started counting, waiting for the inevitable question
from his older brother.

One…two….three…

“Who the hell is
Jolena
?” Ben reappeared in the hallway, curiosity making
his eyes gleam.

Tag pointed up toward the ceiling.
“My landlady.
She owns the garage across from Nick’s shop.”

Ben folded his arms across his
chest and gave Tag the same look their father gave them when he was trying to
ferret out information.
“Uh huh.
You mean the garage
that Nick leases the shop from? The one that specializes in classic cars like
that gas-guzzling beast you drive?”

“Don’t insult Tiffany, bro. You
know that won’t end well for you. I don’t dis the mutt, you don’t dis my car.”

“Quit changing the subject. I want
to hear about this woman who leaves you donuts.”

“Jo left us donuts? I told you that
woman was too good for you.” Nick arrived with another armload of boxes that he
dropped in a corner, heading straight for the food.

“Who left donuts?
Where?”
Dave and Jared appeared, carrying a chair between
them and Tag threw up his hands in surrender.

“Donuts are on the table.
Jolena
left them for us. She’s my landlady.
Any other questions?”

“Yeah.
Why
is a woman leaving you donuts?” Jared asked. Tag was starting to think he was
stuck in a fucking sitcom. Before he could shut down the interrogation, Nick
threw him under the bus.

“She’s a sweet, red-headed, classic
car mechanic with her own garage, and for some reason known only to the fates,
she’s going out with our brother.”

Jared whistled low and shook his
head. “You are so fucked, bro. Maybe you and Ben can have a cute little double
wedding.”

“Shut the hell up, asshole. We’ve
been out on one date.”

“Yeah, but redheads are your personal
kryptonite. And if she likes classic cars…” Ben shook his head. “Welcome to the
dark side. It’s not so
bad,
we have cookies and
regular sex.”

Nick snorted with laughter. “I get
plenty of regular sex, thank you. It just isn’t with the same woman. I happen
to consider that a plus.”

Dave grabbed a donut out of the box
and walked away from the conversation, his expression stormy. “We’re here to
work, not talk about our sex lives like a bunch of sorority girls. I really
don’t want to hear this shit. Plus, I have to work tonight. Let’s get on with
it.”

He vanished outside and Ben sighed.
“He needs to stop assuming that every marriage is going to blow up like his
did. I think the wedding planning is really getting to him. Kelly’s stopped
talking about it when he’s around, because he always gets like that.”

“And he’s such a ray of fucking
sunshine the rest of the time,” Nick muttered between bites of his donut.

“Yeah, and you’re just full of
rainbows and unicorns, little brother. C’mon, Much as I hate to admit it,
Dave’s got a point. The sooner the job’s done, the sooner we can enjoy pizza
and beer,” Jared said and crammed the last chunk of glazed pastry into his
mouth.