Forbidden Love(5)

I exhaled long and shaky breaths before I got to filling out the papers in my hand. Before I knew it, Trip was walking in the front door. I quickly and as discreetly as possible scanned him for signs of being in a fight with Jude and allowed the relief to wash over me when I found no bruises, red marks or cuts. They would have traded words and left it at that. I hoped.



“Car’ll be ready in an hour,” he grumbled at me. My defenses instantly went up. I hated when he spoke to me like that. And I wasn’t going to take it… not this time.



“Speak to me like that again and we’ll be having a big problem, Javerio.” I glared and slapped the pen down on the table. I knew using his real name would get his back up and make him take notice. It only took a beat before his glare came down on me. I wasn’t going to shrink back through. I was an adult and he’d damn well better start treating me like one.



“Pardon fucking me?” He stood stock-still, intimidating Trip on display. Almost like a disgruntled peacock or something. It was practically ridiculous.



“Unpuff your chest and speak to me like I’m a human being not a child. You’re being rude and entirely assy.” I crossed my arms over my chest and held my ground. Trip did a double take and looked like he was going to stomp his foot before making a scene of heading to the back break room. Scarlett sat in her station all out laughing as he passed. His mumbled words only made her laugh harder before she looked at me with something like pride shining in her eyes. It was something I’d not really encountered before unless from Ma. Foreign and oddly satisfying, I took it and smiled at her, then placed my paperwork on the front counter.



“See you at 9 am,” she called out. I nodded and waved as I walked out the front door and headed to the coffee shop across the road feeling quite good about myself.



Things just might work out for me after all. Thanks largely to Scarlett’s words of encouragement, I had a little hope.





Jude





I walked back into the garage and punched one of the big metal tool cabinets on my way past. I sucked up the pain like a drug I couldn’t cope without. Why was she here? There was something about her that was just so alluring. I couldn’t see her without wanting to fall to my goddamn knees and worship her like she was a queen amongst peasants.



Suck it up, you pussy! When did you acquire feelings?



Pushing away from the doorframe at the back of the shop, I trudged outside in my heavy boots, kicking rocks as I went. I cut off my emotions as soon as I was able. I struggled to handle these kinds of feelings; they messed with my head and left me making bad decisions. Decisions that screwed with friendships, families and futures. I couldn’t have a future with her; it just wouldn’t be good for anyone.



Sitting at the bar stool, I pulled Haven between my legs and moved my hands to run up her silky legs, stopping at the bottom of her tight black skirt. Her arms came up and circled my neck as her head came down to my face. My fingers teased the skin at the edge of her skirt as she pulled my bottom lip into her mouth and sucked, tearing a growl from my throat. My fingers stopped their progress and dug into the skin of her legs, pulling her tighter to me and deepening the torturous kiss.



In response, her hands dropped to my shoulders, her nails close to breaking the skin through my t-shirt while my fingertips ghosted over the curve where her legs met her luscious ass. The tightly wound restraint I had been keeping snapped, and I swiftly stood, picking her up. Her legs instantly wrapped around my waist and I took a few long strides to the edge of my workbench where I set her down, then pressed hard against her core and ground my hips. Haven’s hands tugged at my shirt ripping it over my head as I ran my rough hands higher and higher up her soft thighs until I hit the sweet spot. She moaned just as my mouth came down, devouring her like the starving man I was. She was my drug of choice. Her taste, touch and smell I just couldn’t get enough of it. I couldn’t get enough of her, and I didn’t need it either. Haven would always be exactly what I craved.



“Dude, snap out of it.” The voice broke me out of my reverie and yanked me back to the present. Goddamn it, I did it again. I’d been slipping into memories of Haven for weeks. I just couldn’t get her out of my head. It was fucked up, messy and it left me in a piss-ass mood for the rest of the day.



Why’d I have to fall for a girl I can’t have? That’s how it always worked though, right? The guy loved the girl he couldn’t have. Then the poor bastard pined for her for all eternity and was unable love anyone like he loved her. He’d end up miserable and alone, simply because a relationship would be selfish and do more harm than good to the people they both loved. Scrubbing my hand down my face in an effort to wipe her from my thoughts, I knew something had to give. I didn’t know how much more I could take.