people not local to the area wonder if they’re some urban fiction tale the townies use to keep others in line.
These men are the real deal and as the days go by, I find myself relaxing around them. I know if I see a man in a leather cut with a three-headed devil dog on the back, I’m going to be safe. Even if I wasn’t linked to two of the men in the club, as a woman I’d have nothing to worry about.
“You guys planning to stick around until I lock up?”
I look from Grinch to Kincaid, unable to help the grin tugging at my own lips when I see them grinning back at me.
“Hoping you wouldn’t mind a ride back to your apartment,” Kincaid hedges, and I’m pretty certain this is the first time the man has spoken to me outside of ordering a couple of beers.
I hadn’t even considered how I was getting home tonight. I rode with Rocker to work since the police still have my car.
“That would be amazing. Thank you.”
Without my request, they begin to lift the chairs from the floor and turn them up on the tables so the cleaning crew that comes in early in the morning has an easier job as I finish at the bar.
The ride home is spent in companionable silence, Grinch driving and Kincaid watching out the passenger window. Before I can get out, Kincaid tells me Emmalyn is hoping to hear from me soon. The SUV doesn’t pull away until I’m locked back inside of the apartment. Finally alone, I press my head to the cool metal of the door and release a long sigh I feel like I’ve been holding for the last two weeks.
“You alright?” I screech, spinning around with my arms blocking my face on instinct.
“You scared the fuck out of me!” I hiss when Jinx turns on the table lamp beside the couch. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
He chuckles.
“You left with a woman. Shouldn’t you be with her?”
“Jealous?” His voice is teasing, and if my heart wasn’t trying to jump out of my chest, I could probably appreciate the levity.
“Not in the slightest.” He grins, reading the truth in my statement.
Jinx is a very attractive man, and the night we were together the sexual chemistry was through the roof, but I don’t see him as anything more than a friend. It didn’t bother me when we had the conversation in the hospital about his being there for the baby as he assured me there would be no romantic relationship between the two of us. The thought never crossed my mind.
“If you’re this hyped up about me being here, I’d avoid your room.”
“Rocker?” I guess, frowning when he nods. “Too tired tonight to wait until I fall asleep?”
He laughs, a deep rumble from his chest that quickly sets me at ease.
“I claimed the couch, so I guess he’s claimed one side of the bed. I suggested putting a bed in the spare bedroom.”
“Or you both could go back to your perfectly good rooms at the clubhouse,” I offer, but all it earns me is another laugh.
I shake my head and walk toward my room, not even bothering to look in the direction of my bed as I cross over to the bathroom for a quick shower.
Undressing is easier tonight, but not altogether comfortable. The shower is quick and efficient since I skip washing my hair, saving that lengthy task for in the morning. In my normal uniform of panties and a baggy t-shirt, I crawl into bed, resisting the urge to line my body up with Rocker’s.
He’s curled on his side, facing away from me and not once in the last week of his sleeping in here with me has he reached out to touch an inch of my skin. I wake each morning a little more disappointed in that fact. In the hospital, he pulled me to his chest and held me while I slept but hasn’t once since then offered the same comfort. Going to sleep right now would be easier if I wasn’t aware of just how comforting his arms around me felt.
When he sighs, I freeze, stiffening every muscle in my body. I was well within my right to ask him for space earlier, and despite him being less than a foot from me, it feels like there’s a million miles separating us.
Is it a power play? Is he sighing because he wants me to know that he’s agitated