Hammer's Fall (The Breakers' Bad Boys)(51)

“Yes…and no,” Kalista replied after she thought about it.

“I understand,” Nikita said. “If a guy loves you and bothers asking you to move in with him, why not just go the distance and ask you to marry him?”

Kalista looked at the other woman, unsurprised that she had so accurately vocalized what had been bothering her. It was always unnerving how well Nikita seemed to be able to read all of them, but with her training, whatever that was, it almost seemed normal. Becca and Nikita Nuria were twins, with midnight black hair and unusual violet eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Although their faces were identical, Becca had a sweetness to her that shone out of her eyes, while Nikita had a hard edge to her that made most people wary. After they graduated high school, Becca had gone off to culinary school, while Nikita had joined the Army, becoming an interpreter since she was fluent in Arabic, Farsi, and Russian.

Nikita had fallen off of everyone’s radar until about five years ago when she had moved back to Breakers and opened her tattoo shop, Ink This. The tattoo parlor was a few doors down from where Kalista’s bakery was located and was very popular among both the locals and tourists. Nikita was a quiet woman who kept to herself. There was something extremely dangerous about her, and Kalista knew that the heavily tattooed woman would have never even looked at her twice if she hadn’t become close with her twin. Luckily enough, since she and Becca were so close, Nikita also counted her as a friend.

“Okay, I get what you’re saying. You love him, he loves you…so, why the middle step?” Zoe asked.

Kalista sighed. “Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I want it all with him.”

“I don’t think it’s selfish. It’s not wrong to want the man you love to make that final commitment to you,” Becca said as she rubbed Kalista’s arm to give comfort.

Nikita gestured in the air with her fork. “I don’t know why you’d want to get married anyway. You have the best set-up right now…regular sex whenever you want it and your own apartment to retreat to when you’re done with him.”

“My sister, the romantic,” Becca said dryly.

Nikita raised a brow. “I don’t need romance. All I need is a guy with a big cock who doesn’t annoy me.”

Becca rolled her eyes. “Well, with that kind of list how could you go wrong?”

“I’m with Niki,” Zoe said as she held up her fist. Nikita reached out and tapped it with her own.

Some of the weight lifted off of Kalista’s chest as she laughed. “You guys say that, but I’m going to enjoy watching you two fall in love.”

Nikita and Zoe looked at each other before they glared at Kalista and Becca, making both women laugh harder. “Laugh it up, bitches,” Zoe all but growled at them.

“I don’t plan on falling in love. I don’t think there is a man out there that I wouldn’t end up wanting to kill,” Nikita said.

Kalista silently agreed, the woman did have quite a temper. She took another peek out the window, and her heart fluttered as she saw Jared coming out of the front door with a tall, beautiful older woman and the man she had met in the yard. She set her napkin down on the table and stood up as Jared started across the street with his normal ground-eating strides.

She excused herself, then hurried outside to meet him, somehow knowing that he was coming over to see her. When she walked out of the door, she saw a frown settle over his face.

“What are you doing out here? It’s too cold for you to be outside without a jacket.”

Before she could tell him she was fine, he unzipped his hoodie and put it around her shoulders, surrounding her with his warmth. She liked the way he used the material to pull her close to him, but her stomach knotted as he spoke.

“So, I have to go out of town for a few days. Rhino and his wife need me to do something for them on Wednesday afternoon in Vegas. It’s for the CFL and the company has been very good to me throughout my career, so I couldn’t say no.”

“Oh, of course,” Kalista said, not knowing what else to say.

“I’ll be back late Wednesday night. Don’t worry, I told them I can’t miss the adoption event at the rescue center on Friday.”

It was a struggle, but she managed to smile up at him. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you on Wednesday or Thursday then. Have a safe trip.”

“I will. We have some stuff to talk about when I get back.”

“We do,” she agreed. Her heart broke a little when he kissed her lightly. “Here.” She took off his hoodie and handed it back to him so he could put it on. She was glad that he was going to be back in time for the event, but what did it say about their relationship that he didn’t even mention Valentine’s Day?