Revved (Axle Alley Vipers)(28)
These people were family to him. He’d never brought a woman here before and decided not to think about his reasons for bringing Rusty tonight, what it might mean.
“And who is your lovely date?” Connie asked, a smile on her soft, round face.
“This is Rusty. I thought she should try some of your world-famous pizza.”
Connie beamed. “Always the charmer.” She turned to Rusty, who was still clutching his hand. “Rusty? This is a nickname, yes?”
“Ah, yes.”
“What is your given name?”
He felt Rusty stiffen slightly at his side, then she mumbled, “Jane.”
Jesus. The name couldn’t be more wrong for her. The woman was no plain Jane, not at all.
Connie screwed up her face. “Okay, I’ll call you Rusty.”
Rusty made a little snorting sound and squeezed his hand. He could feel her body shaking against his. “I’d like that,” she said, laughter in her voice.
Connie headed across the restaurant, showing them to their table in the back. She took their order, brought them wine, and bustled to the kitchen.
He took a sip of the tart liquid, smooth on his tongue. He rarely drank, his introduction to alcohol, and more importantly what happened to some people when they drank it, had put him off the stuff for life. He only made an exception when there was a special occasion.
He looked across the table. Like tonight.
Rusty was playing with her napkin, smiling over at him. “This place is great.”
“I spent a lot of time here as a kid. The place is owned by Law’s family.”
“You’ve known him a long time?”
“Yeah. I guess you could say they’re like my family as well.”
She fidgeted with the napkin some more. “And your family. Where are they?”
“My folks split. I’m close with my mother. My father…we don’t talk.”
“Oh.” She looked a little surprised, but then nodded. “I know what that’s like. After my parents split, my mother vanished. She chose her new man over her kids.” She shrugged. “Some people just aren’t cut out to be parents, I guess.”
Wasn’t that the truth—or married in his father’s case. “That had to be hard, growing up without her.”
“I had Dad. I also had Piper and then Alex, and an overprotective big brother who watched over me. I did okay.”
“Your brother, he get in a lot of fights?”
She frowned. “Yeah, nearly every week. Why?”
“A wild guess.”
She snorted. “They usually started because he was protecting Alex’s honor.”
“Babe, I’m guessing he spent a lot of time protecting yours as well. What you’ve got going on didn’t happen overnight. You’re gorgeous. The boys at your school would’ve been following you around by their dicks as soon as they were old enough to notice.”
The humor making her eyes sparkle, dimmed. She seemed to close off before his eyes, then glanced down at her hands, shoulders stiff.
He reached over and took her hand. “What just happened, Rusty?”
She lifted her head, and goddammit, the wall was up. “There’s more to me than the way I look. I stupidly thought you already knew that.”
The pizza arrived, and he waited until their waiter left before he spoke. He’d worked out for himself she didn’t trust guys, that she got uncomfortable when they paid her too much attention. But he wasn’t just any guy. He didn’t know the reason for it, but he did plan on finding out what had caused it. “Foxy.” She was back to looking at her hands, posture stiff. He was sure she’d bolt any minute. “Look at me, Rusty.”
Finally, she lifted her head, no fire in her eyes, no light.
“I’m not stupid. I can see there’s an issue. Someone did you wrong, and it left a scar. But I’m not gonna bullshit you. You’re fucking stunning. I’m not gonna lie and say that isn’t one of the reasons I started chasing you. And I don’t chase women. Ever.”
She narrowed her eyes, dropped her napkin to the table, and started to stand, no doubt ready to storm from the restaurant. He kept hold of her hand, tightening his grip, not enough to hurt but enough to let her know she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Let me finish?”
She scowled but planted her ass on her chair, still not looking thrilled by his honesty.
“Like I said, I’m not stupid, so it took me zero-point-three-seconds to work out there’s a hell of a lot more to you than the way you look. I saw that the first time you aimed those eyes on me. You’ve got a head on your shoulders, and you’re extremely talented at what you do. You’ve also got good, loyal friends, and that says a lot about you, too. Beyond that? Well, I’m hoping you’ll give me a shot and show me.”