Watch Me Fall(21)

No. No buts, no way. He wouldn’t let her talk herself out of it. “So let’s do it. Name a time and place. I’ll come get you. I don’t care if you want me to bust up in your workplace and carry you out over my shoulder, I’ll do it. In fact, I might do it anyway just to make a point.”

She laughed, such a beautiful sight, and he relaxed a bit. “Jared, I… Ugh.” Her shiny hair fell forward as she lowered her head and drew a deep breath. “Everything is so complicated.”

“So let’s figure it out.”

“It’s not that easy. You seem to wanna come in and slay my dragons, but…they’re mine. I’ve lived with them for a while now. We’re old friends.” Chuckling sadly, she looked back up at him. “I’m rambling like an idiot.”

“I’m the complication,” he said grimly.

“Yes.”

“I get it. We have baggage. Should we just lie down and let it crush us, though? I don’t know about you, but I’ve been doing that for a long damn time. After meeting you, I feel like shoving it off. If that makes any kind of sense.” Now he was rambling, and he didn’t really know where he was going, hadn’t thought much about the consequences of his words. She made some primal instinct come out in him, and maybe it was all about slaying her dragons, as she put it, but he didn’t think so.

Truth was, he was tired. So fucking tired. He’d lived for Macy, he’d lived for giving Shelly the best life he could, now he lived for his girls. And that was fine. He could keep doing that for Ashley and Mia. But what the hell was wrong with taking what he wanted for a change?

Right now, more than anything else, he wanted Starla.

“Tell me when,” he said, sliding his hands under her hair to gently lift her face. Her deep brown eyes searched his while her bottom lip trembled a little. It made him need to taste it again, but he restrained himself.

“Tomorrow.” The word tumbled instantly from her lips. He liked to think he heard an urgent promise behind it. “Seven. I can take an hour.”

Damn. Only an hour? “Pick you up at work?”

“Yes. Please don’t walk in and throw me over your shoulder, though.”

Laughing, he pulled her to him and hugged her, loving the way she seemed to melt into him as her arms went around him. “I’ll try not to.”





Chapter Ten



She tossed and turned that night. Ordinarily, she was a night owl, and since she didn’t have to be at work until two in the afternoon, she felt she had every right. After getting home from Jared’s, though, she’d been so wound up and so bored without any outlet for that nervous energy, she’d simply gone to bed. Of course, there’d also been Doug’s smirking face to avoid.

This coming week, she would begin the hunt for a new place to live. That decided, she felt better already. Too many times in her life she’d endured undue suffering for no real reason except not wanting to rock the boat.

Well, she was ready to rock it, and rock it hard. New home. Most likely, new job. New boyfriend? The possibility was like a delicious secret she was dying to share with someone, but she didn’t dare. No more oversharing. Not even Janelle would know where things went from here. Janelle knew enough of her secrets.

God help her, Jared’s mouth had been every bit as strong on her lips as she’d suspected they would be. Panty-dropping strong. No weak, mushy kisses here—how she detested those, almost as much as she detested when the guy acted like he was trying to eat her alive. So unsexy. Jared’s, though…slow, thorough, teasing, leaving her wanting more, leaving her to imagine what other devastating techniques he might master. She’d pulsed and throbbed and barely kept from embarrassing herself, from rocking her hips into him, letting him know exactly what she was thinking. Still, an unfulfilled ache lingered, a flower that had bloomed and promptly wilted at the sound of one little gleeful voice.

Man, trying to get some while kids were around was an entirely new experience. Tomorrow, though—or tonight, rather, since it was past midnight—there would be no one to stop them if it went there. They’d have only an hour or so for dinner, but nothing would stop them from meeting up after she was off for the night. She wouldn’t talk herself out of it this time. Third date was the charm.

She actually couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this excited. The first time, maybe, but what a painful letdown that had been, like expecting ice cream and getting broccoli. Backseat at a high school football game—so romantic. And then the cops had caught them. Called her parents. What a joy that night had been. They’d been praying for her soul; she’d been praying for them to shut the fuck up and let her crawl under a rock in peace.

Whatever the night held for her and Jared, she sincerely doubted it would be a letdown. No, that wasn’t her worry. Her main concern was that she wouldn’t be able to get enough. Then what? Because, despite their feelings and their plans, how could this really go anywhere? She would be screwed. Again. She would be shattered.

Starla slept in fits and starts, seeing every hour on the clock until five a.m. or so when she finally settled down into a deep sleep until eleven, when a slice of sunlight hit her dead in the eyes.

For once, she didn’t absolutely dread the day ahead.



***



Dressing for a real date was a new experience for her too. “Dating” wasn’t something she normally did. Hanging out, hooking up, or just plain fucking… Those were her terms. She wondered if she should actually wear a dress or some shit like that. Where the hell was he taking her? Because she couldn’t very well wear a dress to work—everyone would know she’d finally lost her mind.

Jeans and a T-shirt it was, then. Only she’d wear her nicest jeans and a cute blingy T-shirt and hope she wouldn’t get ink all over herself. Occupational hazard.

When she arrived at Dermamania that afternoon, paranoia set in. As irrational as it was, she felt as if everyone knew somehow. Ghost barely paid her any attention; Janelle was chipper as usual. Nothing weird on either account there. Brian came in looking tired and said Candace was staying home with Lyric because he’d kept them up most of the night. They all urged him to go back home too, but he had an appointment coming in, and since it should be pretty quick, he said, he didn’t want to cancel. “He’d better show up, though,” he grumbled, chugging coffee. “He already ditched on me once, and I’ll be pissed if I dragged my dead ass up here for nothing.”

Despite everything, it was nice having Brian with them again. He kept morale up just by his presence, and he kept Ghost from being such a twat waffle. Mostly. No, it wasn’t too awful a day for a change. Just long. Jesus. The time crept by so slowly, Starla kept checking her watch to make sure the clock at her station wasn’t slow. It wasn’t. She listened to her clients, made idle chat when they seemed to need it, asked appropriate questions. She tried not to think about tonight at all. Don’t get your hopes up; you won’t be disappointed.

She finished a tattoo around five, repressed a squeal at the awesome tip the guy slipped her, then stepped outside for a smoke. Staring up at the sky, she didn’t pay attention to the black car zipping into the side parking lot until it careened madly toward her and screeched to a halt mere feet from her toes.

“What the fuck!” she shrieked, leaping sideways and losing the remnants of her cigarette in the process. “Max! Are you out of your mind? Stupid motherfucker!” Before he could even get out of the car, she kicked the shit out of the grill, and would’ve kept on, but he threw the door open and bailed out.

“The fuck you been, huh? I send you a dozen fucking roses and can’t even get a thank-you out of your stuck-up ass?” He advanced on her, a look in his icy blue eyes that had her sidling away, afraid not for the first time that he might hit her. She yanked her arm back when he tried to grab it.

“Don’t touch me. You make me sick. Were you watching me?”

“I’ve been sitting across the street for two hours. Didn’t think you could go that long without your nicotine fix.”

She scoffed and pulled another cigarette from her pack, lit it, and blew smoke in his face. “Fuck right off.”

“So it’s like that.”

“Yeah, it’s like that. Leave me alone.”

“Why? You got someone else giving it to you now? I know you can’t go without it. I always had a feeling you were fucking one of those clowns in there.” He slammed his palm hard onto the door to punctuate his words.

“Max. Get in your car. Drive away. Forget my name, forget my number. I don’t give a fuck how many flowers you send—you threaten to kill us driving off a bridge and throw me out of the car? I’m done. You hear me? Done.”

He opened his mouth and took another step forward, but the side door he’d just hit flew out in his face. He had to wheel backward to keep it from smacking him. Starla repressed a chuckle, but when Brian Ross charged out and grabbed Max by both sides of his ratty jacket, she nearly screamed. Oh no, don’t get involved!

“Listen to me, you useless sack of shit,” Brian growled, jerking Max until he was almost nose to nose with him. With no small amount of glee, she noticed he had to talk down to him, but the vicious edge in his voice drowned out any pleasure she felt at the sight and raised the hair at her nape. “If you don’t get in your car and get off this property right now, I’ll drive that piece of shit straight up your ass, you got me?” He gave him a hard shove. Max staggered backward, splaying across the hood of his car, glowering at Brian with murder in his eyes. “Mess with her again, motherfucker. I dare you. I don’t care if she’s on my time or not. I will fuck you up.”