York held out his hand. "York Arnold, ma'am."
"Fallon, please," she said, taking his hand in both of hers. "It's very nice to meet you personally, York."
"This is my brother, Kern."
Kern gently took her hand. "Obviously Marcus has excellent taste."
Surprising Marcus, Fallon leaned against his shoulder in an affectionate way. "Thank you."
"I saw you at the MMA venue," Kern said, as if he'd just remembered it. "Excuse me, but I thought you were with that fighter, Justice Wallington."
Giving a rueful grimace, Fallon nodded. "I found out that Justice isn't quite done with the sport. It's a commitment leaving little time for relationships."
"Surely no man would neglect you," York said.
"It doesn't really matter because Marcus won me back." In a teasing stage whisper, she confessed, "I made him work for it."
The brothers actually looked captivated.
"And I," Marcus said, "used your generous donation as a good excuse to get her to talk with me again."
"It worked," she said with a laugh.
Suddenly Tom shoved back his chair. "I need to get going."
Kern stepped toward him. "But-"
"I'll let you know this afternoon what I've decided." Tom paused. "Either way, thanks for the offer."
Nice way to leave them wondering. Marcus watched Tom go, only half listening as Fallon picked up the conversation, keeping Kern and York from following.
After adequate time, Marcus reclaimed the room. "York, Kern, the reason I asked you to stop by is because we're creating a plaque to honor you for your lavish financial gesture. The plaque will hang in a prominent location in the new library. Now, thanks to you, at-risk children will have easy access to books."
York grinned. "I'm glad we could help."
"Let's celebrate over lunch," Kern said. "We can talk MMA, and maybe, Fallon, you can share a few tips on how to get Justice Wallington back in the cage for a rematch."
"I would love to help out," Fallon said with a laugh. "Unfortunately I already have another appointment for today." With Leese, who would ensure she got home safely while Justice kept an eye on the brothers.
Marcus's heart raced as he stood and walked her to the door. He looked down at her, wondering if she'd kiss him goodbye to seal the deal-but no, she patted his cheek, waved to the brothers and left.
Chagrined, despite the fact none of it was real, Marcus turned back to York and Kern. "Now, what was all that with Tom?"
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IN THE STOREROOM of Rowdy's bar, away from prying eyes, Justice pulled Fallon close and kissed her, first the tip of her nose, then her chin, her cheek, and finally he settled his mouth on hers. Her soft lips parted and he felt the touch of her damp tongue.
Groaning, Justice crushed her closer, taking her mouth in uncontrolled need, stroking deeply with his tongue, wanting to consume her.
"Excuse me." Avery, Rowdy's wife, laughed as she bumped her way past them, jarring Justice back to reality.
He lifted his head and saw Avery's long red ponytail swish as she reached high on a shelf behind them for a massive jar of pickles.
Justice easily stretched past her. "Let me." He fetched it down for her.
"Thank you." Hugging the jar to her body, Avery said, "Carry on!" A second later, they were alone again.
Fallon, trying to stifle a laugh, covered her heated cheeks. "Busted," she whispered.
Justice gathered her close and touched a finger to her now swollen mouth. God, he loved the taste of her, the way she fit against him. He pressed his forehead to hers and groaned again. His need was a live thing, always pushing at him.
Fallon smoothed a hand over his chest, then curled her fingers against his shoulder. "I missed you."
"Love hearing that." For only a few days they'd been playing this stupid but necessary game, yet it felt like an eternity. Damn it, he liked sleeping with her at night, waking with her in the morning. He'd grown used to her small body snug against his during the night, just as he'd grown used to regular sex, the hottest sex he'd ever had.
"Marcus has been nice," she said. "I thought I would be more uncomfortable with him, maybe even bitter, you know? But I'm not."
"Should I be jealous?" Stupid question; he already was.
She tucked her face against his throat. "Before you, I saw Marcus only as the man who'd rejected me."
"He's regretting that, I'm sure." The putz.
"Since meeting you, Marcus is just someone I know, someone I can think of as a friend." She tipped her face up to look at him with those big, soulful eyes. "His reaction to my scars was an eye-opener, but also real. I can't fault him for how he feels, but I'm glad I found out before we got any more involved."
"My reaction is real too, honey." He put his lips to her ear and whispered, "Seeing any part of you makes me hard."
She laughed. "That's the main reason I can now accept Marcus as an acquaintance, a friend and nothing more."
Marcus was no longer the man who hurt her. Justice only hoped that made him more irrelevant. "You're saying I helped you get over the bad memory?"
"You obliterated the bad memory, and I love you for it."
Justice's heart plummeted to his knees, then shot up into his throat. Love. Jesus, he almost felt dizzy.
The urge to swing her up, twirl her in a circle and tell her that he loved her, too, surged through him.
He held back only because she hadn't said it in a romantic way. She hadn't said, Justice, I love you.
Words he wanted to hear.
She'd only expressed her gratitude for the way he'd gotten her past her insecurity. This was too important to misunderstand; he wouldn't embarrass her by pouncing on such a simple statement.
Her gaze stayed with his, her smile in place, and Justice knew he had to say something.
Straight from the heart, he decided. "You're the most special person I've ever known, Fallon. I love everything about you." Watching the confusion flit over her expression, he smiled to himself and kissed her again.
Soon she'd understand, but damn, the storeroom of Rowdy's bar was hardly the place for declarations.
Hardly the place for him to be getting a boner either, yet after hearing that four-letter word, love, thrown around, he knew he was almost there.
He broke off the kiss and cupped her face in his hands. "Everything should be settled today." Then he'd get her back where she belonged-with him.
"God, I hope so." Her smile teased. So did her fingers on his chest. "I miss your house, Justice."
A hint? She'd been staying with Leese and Catalina for the last few nights. No way did Justice want to risk her being home alone in her parents' mansion, and he sure as hell didn't want to tempt fate by pushing her at Marcus.
It amused Justice that his house could fit into the garage of her parents' mansion, but Fallon never looked at it that way. Even her dad had assured him how little she cared for the pampered life.
He had to taste her again. If Fallon was close, she drew him in, sharpening every physical need. "I miss having you there," he admitted against her lips. "A lot."
"That apartment I wanted to look at is gone."
Justice froze. Good. He didn't want her in an apartment.
Unsure why she'd mentioned it, he tried for a neutral tone. "Still determined to go that way, huh?"
"I'd like for each of us to have options."
He didn't want options; he wanted Fallon. This time, though, with him, her needs had to come first. He smoothed his thumb over her downy cheek, knowing he'd do damn near anything for her. "Soon as we get this settled, we'll talk about it more, okay?"
She nodded, her dark eyes staring up at him. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Hope so." Taking her hand, he led her over to a stack of boxes to sit. It sucked, having to sneak around to see her, but the alternative, not seeing her, would be far worse. "The bastard brothers now believe you're with Marcus, so hopefully you're not on their radar anymore." That had been his number-one goal. He'd hated thinking she might be a target used to twist him into lashing out.
"It's not me I'm worried about."
"Don't worry about me either. You know I can take care of myself."
"Yes, but those men-"
He shushed her, saying gently, "Tom talked with Kern and said he'd do his best to convince me to take the fight. They seemed to think that with you out of the picture, I'd have less reason to want to be a bodyguard, plus I'd have a lot of anger to unleash."
"It's all so idiotic."
"They accomplished one thing." Justice shared a grim smile. "I'm furious, but then, so is Tom. Only we're not directing it at each other."
Fallon leaned against him, her voice low. "Tom's still disappointed."
"Yeah, but he'll get over it." Tom had a nice future ahead of him; he didn't need a stupid rematch. "If things go off as planned, he'll be in the headlines a lot. That should guarantee him a good fight. The powers that be never miss an opportunity."
"I'm glad."
Justice rubbed the back of his neck. "The problem is that I don't want your name brought into it. Somehow I have to bust them without you being mentioned."