Rock Chick Reckoning Read online

  Man, he had great eyes.

  I slid my fingers into the back of his hair, lifted my head and pressed my open mouth against his, my other hand going to his jaw. The moment I touched his face, he lost control and groaned against my lips.

  For some reason, that was even more beautiful.

  We were still both breathing heavily, coming down but he rolled immediately after he was done, taking me with him, resting me on my unwounded side, my leg curved around his waist.

  I pressed my face in his throat and held onto him tightly while his hands moved lightly across my back and I made intermittent post-Mace-made-orgasm “mms” in the back of my throat. I never did “the purr” for anyone else, but then no one had given me an earth shattering orgasm like Mace did.

  We caught our breath and I tried to catch a thought and found I couldn’t. All I wanted was for time to stop and me and Mace to be there, on Daisy’s pull out couch, locked together forever.

  Before I had a chance to recover, a chance to remember this was wrong and more importantly, why, his hand slid down my side to my waist, over my hip and then gently pulled my leg from around him. He moved away, sliding down the bed and coming up on his forearm.

  I laid there, head on the bed, arms cocked and resting in front of me, staring unseeing as I felt his fingers carefully pull the dressing away from my wound. I kept my head to the bed but I tilted my chin down to watch him. My eyes focused on Mace and I watched as he looked at the wound, his jaw getting tight.

  Then…

  No joke.

  He gently replaced the dressing, pressing down the tape at is edges.

  His head bent to it.

  And, light as a whisper, he kissed me there.

  I stopped breathing.

  Effing, effing, hell, hell, hell.

  He came back to me, his arms moving around me, one hand sliding over my bottom, the other arm wrapping around my waist.

  He looked me in the eyes and said softly, “I’m guessin’ this doesn’t mean I’ve won.”

  My sanity instantly returned, just as quickly as it fled.

  I retorted, all bitchy (seriously, in my defense, I mean, hello, he broke my heart once already, temporary insanity was one thing but taking him back was just plain loco), “This doesn’t mean anything. As far as I’m concerned, this didn’t even happen.”

  For some unhinged reason this made him grin like he found this a fortunate turn of events.

  His mouth came to mine, lips still turned up in a sexy smile, eyes open, gaze soft as it locked on mine.

  I found I was holding my breath when he murmured, “That’s what I thought.” He touched my lips with his, pulled his head back a fraction and, still smiling, he finished, “Good to know you’re not gonna take the fun out of it, babe.”

  Now what the hell did that mean?

  No, no. I didn’t want to know.

  Chapter Five

  I Get It

  Indy

  “Come back to bed,” Lee said.

  I looked away from the window to see Lee on his side, head in hand, in bed, the sheet down to his waist. I knew he was naked under the sheet and I knew what that naked looked like.

  At the thought of it, I started to feel warm all over.

  Hmm.

  I walked to the bed and sat on the side.

  “I don’t like it,” I told him.

  “I don’t care. It’s decided,” he replied.

  Boy, he was bossy. After all our time together, nearly a year, I hadn’t been able to get the bossy out of him. It was likely I never would. It was also likely I would never stop trying.

  I made another attempt. “Maybe we should talk –”

  He moved. Quickly.

  Hands at my waist, he twisted, taking me over his body, rolling us both to the other side and I ended up on my back, Lee mostly on top of me.

  “It’s decided,” he repeated.

  “You didn’t ask –” I started.

  “Listen to me, honey,” he said softly but his voice was determined. “I got the choice of puttin’ on a fuckin’ suit in a coupla weeks in order to meet you at the end of an aisle or maybe puttin’ on a suit to stand by your coffin. I pick the first.”

  Okay, he had a point there. I picked the first too.

  “How do the other boys feel about this decision?” I asked.

  “Ecstatic. None of us particularly enjoyed the shot at, kidnapped, beat up portions of the Rock Chick Experience the first time around. We’re not fired up for a repeat performance.”

  Okay, he had a point there too.

  “All right,” I said.

  At my unusually easy capitulation, he smiled at me. I stared.

  He had a great smile. After a lifetime of witnessing that smile (which I had, his parents were best friends with my parents, I’d known him since I was born) I was still ready for another lifetime.

  His mouth went to my neck. A shiver ran across my skin.

  “I still can’t believe you’re gonna give up,” I whispered and I couldn’t believe it because it was unbelievable. Lee Nightingale was not a man who gave up.

  “It’s not givin’ up,” he murmured against my neck, his mouth moving up to my jaw. “What it is, is assessing priorities and not takin’ any chances.”

  I had to admit, it was nice to know I was “a priority”.

  Still.

  “But –”

  His mouth came to mine. “Shut up.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me to shut up.”

  His chocolate brown eyes got melty and I saw smile crinkles form at their sides.

  “All right,” he agreed.

  Then he kissed me and I shut up.

  * * * * *

  Lee and I walked into Daisy’s big room. There were several boxes of LaMar’s donuts open and waiting, Smithie sitting in a chair eating a jelly donut and talking to Jules who was drinking coffee and looking pale.

  “Morning sickness?” I asked Jules.

  “I’m in my fourth month and it’s sticking with me,” she replied on a grimace. “Can’t keep anything down until at least noon. Daisy’s breakfast yesterday… not fun re-experiencing that.”

  “Fuck! Don’t talk about pukin’ while I’m eatin’ a jelly donut,” Smithie snapped.

  “Sorry Smithie,” Jules returned on a small smile.

  “Where is everyone? We’re supposed to have a morning meeting.” Lee selected a chocolate-covered donut while I poured coffee.

  I looked at Lee. He was ready to get this done. He had other, not so pleasant things on his agenda that day, like sitting down and giving into the threats of a very, very bad guy.

  “Well, I heard Roxie and Hank fighting on my way down. Then I heard Eddie and Jet fighting. Didn’t hear anything from Luke and Ava. Vance is taking a shower. Daisy’s pouting because Smithie brought donuts,” Jules answered. “She made coffee, put out the cups, cream and sugar and stomped off.”

  “Fighting?” Lee asked on an eyebrow raise, completely unconcerned about Daisy pouting, which, given my vast experience with Daisy, I thought took precedence.

  I decided not to share this nugget of information. Lee had enough to worry about.

  “The girls are not fond of you boys fuckin’ throwin’ in the towel,” Smithie replied. “They like their action. Crazy bitches.”

  Lee shook his head, clearly agreeing with Smithie.

  I glared at him. He stared at me calmly. I gave up the glare and chose an old-fashioned donut.

  “I don’t want to talk about it. In fact, I don’t want to talk to you,” Jet snapped as she entered the room. She was angry but this didn’t stop Eddie from having her in what Jet called an “Eddie’s Woman Hold”, arm wrapped tight around her neck, Jet tucked deep into his side.

  Eddie seemed oblivious to Jet’s rant, then again, Eddie always seemed oblivious to Jet’s rants which were not frequent but not unheard of.

  “Who brought the donuts?” Eddie asked.

  Jet rolled her eyes at me. I smiled at
her in understanding and took a bite of my donut which I chased with coffee.

  Eddie disengaged and grabbed a glazed cinnamon roll.

  “What’s up?” I asked as Jet got close. “You pissed that the Hot Bunch are giving up?”

  “Yes,” she snapped. “Eddie’s been working that case for a year, even before he knew me. He’s never given up on anything. But we had an Eddie Chat while in bed and you know what that means.”

  I knew what that meant, Eddie talked her around. Then Eddie muddled her head by giving her an orgasm. Or vice versa.

  It had to be said, the Hot Bunch liked their morning piece of ass and they weren’t afraid to capitalize on the time-saving measure of using sex as a weapon in a disagreement.

  “Honestly, I understand he doesn’t want to go through this business again. Who does?” Jet continued. “We got over that but now we’re fighting about the wedding. I want something small, in a park or something like that. Blanca wants a full Mass. A full Mass! I’m not even Catholic! And Eddie refuses to referee between me and his Mom,” she shared.

  “Men don’t do weddings,” I advised, full of knowledge on that subject since mine was just under two weeks away. Lee hadn’t lifted a finger except to have Shirleen, his now-receptionist, call a travel agent and arrange our honeymoon. A honeymoon Shirleen wouldn’t tell me word one about under threat of retribution from Lee which even Shirleen took seriously and Shirleen wasn’t afraid of anyone.

  Vance walked in wearing a shit-eating grin which he had trained on Jules. He preceded Luke and Ava who were holding hands. If you told me two months ago I’d see Luke Stark holding hands with anyone, I would have laughed in your face. But with Ava, anyone could see it came naturally. Ava looked a bit dreamy which meant Ava got herself some.

  I smiled to myself. This gave new meaning to the words “Love Shack”. This went on any longer, The Castle was going to have to be re-christened.

  They were followed by Daisy carrying a fresh pot of coffee.

  “I made coffee,” Daisy announced. “Anyone need coffee?”

  “Actually, I could use a Diet Coke,” Ava answered.

  “I need coffee,” Jules threw in quickly when Daisy’s face darkened.

  “Smithie brought donuts. I was going to make pancakes but Smithie brought donuts. I could still make pancakes. You want pancakes?” Daisy asked Luke hopefully.

  He shook his head and grabbed a bear claw missing Jules nodding her head at him frantically in silent communication.

  “Stella makes fancy-ass salmon and potatoes and everyone’s in tears of delight. What? I can’t even make pancakes in my own damn house?” Daisy burst out.

  Uh-oh.

  “What kind of salmon did she make?” Vance asked the wrong question, grabbing a Bavarian cream and sitting on the arm of Jules’s chair.

  “It was buttered and herbed and in this light as air pastry,” Ava rhapsodized even though Jules was now frantically shaking her head at Ava (who also didn’t notice) and Daisy’s face was getting pink. Ava went on, “And the potatoes were creamy and cheesy, sliced so thin, it was amazing.”

  Daisy glared at Ava, plonked down the coffee and stormed out.

  “What’d I say?” Ava asked, glancing around in confusion and Jules smiled at her and mouthed, “Later.”

  “Let me get this straight. Mace gets the girl who can cook?” Vance put in.

  Jules turned from Ava and punched Vance in the arm then she covered her mouth, made a gagging noise, shot out of her chair and ran from the room.

  “Fuck,” Smithie had been reaching for another donut but after Jules’s gag-and-run, he sat back instead.

  “I’ll go home, to Brownsburg. Stay with Mom and Dad,” Roxie said to Hank, both of them walking into the room.

  “No,” Hank replied.

  “I’ll go to Mexico,” Roxie continued.

  “Roxanne, I said no,” Hank returned.

  “I’ll go to Siberia!” Roxie snapped.

  Hank looked at Lee and shook his head.

  “Do not shake your head at your brother, Hank Nightingale,” Roxie bit off.

  “Fucking great. Donuts. Finally, my day has brightened,” Hank ignored Roxie.

  One side of Luke’s lips curled up in a sexy half-grin. Vance’s shit-eating grin made a reappearance. Eddie bit his lip to stop from grinning. Lee chuckled straight out.

  I was guessing Hank and Roxie hadn’t participated in the nookie-a-thon like the rest of us. Then again, maybe they did and the extreme circumstances took the glow off early.

  “Do you believe they’re giving up?” Roxie asked me on a huff.

  “Nope,” I replied then took another bite of my donut.

  “I don’t either,” she flopped down on a couch, gave a good glare to Hank then pulled out a chocolate-covered, custard-filled and bit into it so hard the custard splodged out the side.

  “Babe, pour me a cup of coffee,” Luke said to Ava.

  “Please?” Ava said back.

  “Beautiful Ava, please pour me a cup of coffee,” Luke replied in a soft voice, with a soft look on his face and absolutely no embarrassment whatsoever.

  I stared at him. He looked so hot, his voice so sweet, his face unguarded, my heart stopped beating, I quit breathing and I felt a quiver somewhere only Lee was allowed to make quiver.

  My eyes flitted to Roxie who was staring at Luke mouth open, then to Jet who was staring at Luke mouth open, then to Ava who was pouring Luke a cup of coffee.

  “Indy, honey,” Lee called.

  My head snapped around to see he was standing close to my side. His head dipped in and I saw his eyes were amused.

  “Quit drooling,” he whispered.

  I snapped my mouth shut, gave him a look and shoved in the last bite of my donut.

  Jules came back and sat down in her chair again.

  “Princess?” Vance asked so quietly you could almost not hear him.

  “I’m okay,” she murmured.

  His hand went to her face, fingers trailing down her hairline and he tucked her hair behind her ear.

  Something hit me, sliding all over me like relaxing in a bath of hot water that smelled really good.

  I turned back to Lee.

  “I get it,” I whispered.

  “What?” Lee asked, his eyes coming to me.

  My gaze did a sweep of the room and came back to him.

  “I get it,” I repeated and his eyes warmed. He knew what I was saying.

  “Good,” he replied softly.

  “I love you.” I kept whispering.

  “That’s good too,” he said on a grin.

  I was about to lean up and kiss him when I heard Ally call out, “I’m gonna have pancakes. I can’t wait to have pancakes.”

  I turned around to look and saw Ally was walking into the room, her eyes huge, she was looking at me with what could only be described as a “Help me!” look, Daisy by her side.

  “I bet most everyone has room for pancakes. Nobody really likes donuts anyway, they aren’t very filling,” Ally declared, going a little over the top but the determined look on Daisy’s face spoke volumes.

  Daisy marched right up to Smithie and planted her hands on her slim hips.

  “See there, Smithie. Ally wants pancakes. Let that be a lesson to you, do not ever bring donuts into a Southern woman’s home. Southern women feed their guests and not with donuts. Comprende?” she snapped.

  “Fuck, woman. You got a screw loose or what?” was Smithie’s unwise response.

  Before Daisy could retort, we all heard shouted from the other room, “How dare you come between me and my band!”

  Everyone went completely silent.

  Then we heard the creaking of a pull out bed. Not the telltale creaking of morning Hot Boy on Rock Chick action but creaking like World War III had just started in Daisy’s Den.

  “Uh-oh,” Roxie breathed.

  “Sounds like the Hawaiian has his hands full,” Smithie muttered.

  “Everyone out,” Lee order
ed, his voice low but there was no mistaking he meant to be obeyed, and now.

  When the women hesitated, Hank grabbed Roxie’s hand, pulling her off the couch saying, “Out.”

  The bed kept creaking, louder and scarier.

  “Let’s go,” Eddie was guiding Jet out.

  “I’ll get the coffeepot,” Daisy whispered, grabbing both nearly empty pots of coffee.

  As quietly as we could, we exited the room and went to the kitchen, leaving the donuts behind.

  Upon entering the kitchen, Luke closed the door.

  “No one leaves this room until one of those two leaves theirs,” Luke announced.

  Denied our donuts, Daisy was forced to make pancakes.

  * * * * *

  “What?” Shirleen shouted.

  Lee had just announced that they were giving up, why they were giving up and that he was going to have a sit down with Sid and it was pretty clear Shirleen wasn’t happy about it.

  We were all sitting in Daisy’s big room.

  Shirleen, Hector, Darius (Lee’s other best friend, his now employee and Shirleen’s nephew) and Ike had arrived in time for pancakes, making great strides in improving Daisy’s mood. Bobby and Matt were taking care of business. Lee was bleeding money on this venture and someone had to help pay for the wedding.

  About half an hour into our kitchen incarceration, Jules had to break Luke’s rule because she had to run to the bathroom to hurl.

  When she came back to the room, she announced, “Um, they’re done. I saw Stella in the hall. Mace too.”

  “Thank Christ,” Lee muttered.

  Then Jules gathered a Rock Chick huddle.

  “Whatever you do, do not compliment Stella on her outfit,” she advised.

  “Why?” Ava asked.

  “Because it’s cute,” Jules replied.

  “And why wouldn’t we tell her it’s cute?” Roxie asked.

  “Because Mace packed it for her,” Jules explained.

  “Ah,” Jet nodded.

  “And he packed her underwear,” Jules went on.

  “I see,” Daisy muttered.

  “And it’s very sexy. She told me it’s the only sexy set she owns,” Jules continued.

  “Welp, there you go,” Ally remarked with complete understanding.

  “And he kind of bought it for her when they were together,” Jules said.