Freeing Tuesday (9 page)

“You think that what you said the other night was ok? It’s not! Especially after I walked in on you screwing some chick at the shop a few hours before. You don’t get to choose what I do or who I do it with.
Ever
. You have no say over what I wear, what I do or who I do it with!”

I interrupt her rant, “He’s just trying to get in your pants, Tuesday.”

“Sounds familiar doesn’t it!” she snaps, putting me in my place.

She’s right. I’m no better than him and I just hit him because of it. Spinning on her heels she tells me to fuck off and heads back inside. I try to tell her to stop. To wait so I could explain myself, but I don’t. I just let her walk away without resolving anything, leaving me to stew in the fact that Tuesday officially thinks I’m an asshole again.

Tuesday

“I find it funny that it’s your first day on the job and you have to apologize to an artist already for getting him beat up," Abby laughs as we leave her home office and head out toward the studio to meet up with the Shaft boys. I’m headed to apologize to Hunter for his beat down by Evan last night and Abby is headed to tell the rest of them to get their shit together and quit fighting.

I guess the fight that happened while I was bitching out Evan was between Aiden and one of the guys one of their managers brought. They aren’t off to such a hot start with the no bad publicity clause in their contract.

“Yeah, well isn’t it a bit hypocritical to be telling these boys that fighting is bad? I mean, weren’t you the one that started a brawl at a biker bar?”

“Shut. Up. That contract point was put in
because
of me. So I kind of have to make sure it’s being followed,” Abby snaps back at me with a grimace.

I laugh until she elbows me in the gut and leaves me while she heads out to grab everyone, leaving me to figure out what I’m going to say to Hunter. I watch Gray and Henry walk in followed by the two battered boys, Aiden and Hunter. Neither one will even meet my eyes when they try to walk by.

“Hunter,” I call out just before he reaches the door. His feet shuffle to a stop. “Can I have a second before you guys get started?”

He grunts and turns toward me, stopping a few feet away. Closing the distance I reach up, grip his chin and turn his face so I can get a better look at the mess Evan made. The entire right side of his face is a bruise and he grimaces when I press my fingers against his cheek.

“I’m sorry, Hunter,” I whisper and drop my hand back down by my side.

The side of his mouth tips up, “Nothing to be sorry about, Kitten. You didn’t punch me in the face or kick me when I was down. Although, I do remember a knee to the junk that came from you. Maybe you should kiss it and make it better.”

“Mr. Chesterfield!” I scowl and shake my head, “Just when I think you’re an adult...I will let the Kitten shit slide, but next time you tell me to do anything to you below the waistline, Evan will be the least of your worries. I
am
sorry that he did this to you because of me.”

It takes every ounce of restraint I have left in me to keep me from getting in my car and showing up at Evan’s shop to give him a piece of my mind.

“No worries, Kitten, I’ve been worse off.” The words come out with a laugh but the look in his eyes makes me wonder just how much worse he’s been before. “My bruises should tell you something though.”

“If you say anything about needing a sponge bath right now I will hurt you even more," I laugh but stop short when I see his expression.

“Good thought, but no… It should tell you that no matter how hard you push
him
away, he isn’t letting go and nobody is getting near his woman.”

“I’m not...” I begin, but he cuts me off by pressing his fingers against my lips.

“Yes, you are, even if you don’t see it. Sooner or later he’ll wear down that sexy ass.”

With that I watch him walk off holding his hand against his stomach before I can even think a single thought. He disappears through the heavy door that leads to the studio.

Jameson passes baby Sophia off to me when I walk by and I head toward Daisy and their new manager Cam who are playing with Izzy. Instead of spending my day at the office like I thought I would be, I’m spending it watching the girls and figuring out how to keep these guys in line.

By the end of the day I have six messages from Evan, all begging me to call him but I can’t yet. I can’t because I am terrified of what Hunter said to me, but I know I probably won’t make it through tonight without getting back to him. As much as I want to stay mad at him I know it won’t last long, it never has. He’s relentless and just like Hunter said; sooner or later he’ll wear me down.

                              
***

“Tuesday…” My shoulder shakes as Jameson whispers my name. I hear Izzy groan against my chest where she is sleeping. My eyes snap open when I realize I had fallen asleep after she begged me to lay down with her.

“Yeah?” I rub my eyes with my free hand and whisper so I don’t wake her up.

“You left your phone on the coffee table when you came up. It keeps beeping.”

I grab the phone out of his hand and squint at the bright screen as I flip through

Evan’s numerous text messages. “Damn it, Evan,” I groan and motion for Jameson to lift Izzy off my chest so I can slide out from under her.

“What has he done now?” he chuckles and follows me down the hall.

Sighing, I roll my eyes, “No clue. He’s a whore so…” I say it out loud mainly to remind myself of the fact. Evan isn’t into long term. No matter what it looks like or what Hunter said earlier, that’s not Evan.

“Yeah, I don’t need to know. I can’t believe you’re going to help him after last night.” He stops me by grabbing the back of my shirt and I take a deep breath so I don’t freak out. I hate being handled and he should know this by now. “You know you don’t have to save him every time, right?”

Nodding, I head towards the door again, knowing that when Evan says jump, I will. I can’t help myself. “I know, I know. He’s my friend though, angry or not, he needs me. Plus, sooner or later, I’ll probably need his help with something.”

Evan

I have been at the bar for a little over an hour trying to get the thought of Tuesday still being mad at me out of my head. Just thinking about the look on her face after she saw what I did to Hunter last night kills me. I know she talked to him this morning and that's probably why she won’t answer my messages. Even worse than that though, is the fact that she doesn’t want the same thing with me that I want with her.

So, I found a pretty little blonde named Liz that I plan on burying myself in until I forget for the night. That was until my ex, Hailey, showed up and fucked all my plans straight to hell. She just waltzed over and pushed her way between Liz and I, planting her lips on mine before I even knew what was happening.

I pushed her away, but since then she has been talking nonstop about how she misses me and wants to get back together.

I think she has to be straight up stalker crazy. We didn’t date for more than three weeks before I booted her ass to the curb. That was back before Jameson got married, so yeah, it’s been over a year, almost two and she’s still hung up on me. I know I’m good, but you would think my dick was a fucking magic wand or some shit.

I thought about leaving more than once since she pushed her way in but I know that if I do she will just follow me home, so I text Tuesday a few times to come help me. I know she’s still mad at me so I don’t get my hopes up of her saving me but I can wish right? If anyone can get me out of this it’s Tuesday. That girl scares even some of my Marine buddies.

I down the rest of my beer and order another. Remembering how messed up I was the last time I was here with the band keeps me from ordering anything harder. Fucking Hunter. Why’d he have to go and mess with her? If he had just kept his hands to himself she wouldn’t be mad at me.

I hadn’t planned on having more than one drink tonight but Hailey’s voice is digging into my brain and I want to drown it out. So I keep drinking and pray that Tuesday doesn’t hate me all that much and won’t beat me for texting her at eleven at night to come save my ass.

                              
***

I know she’s here before I even see her, looking up just as she walks through the door and into the dimly lit bar.
Holy shit.
I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing her walking towards me. It’s so much better than watching her walk away.

I can’t even pinpoint what I like most about her. I could be a dick and say that it’s her tits or ass but I know I’d be lying. I love her eyes, her smile and the way that she scares the hell out of me. No woman has ever done that. They usually just fawn all over me and tell me what they think I want to hear.

Tuesday is different. She tells it like it is. No holds barred. She’s hit me and I don’t mean a little slap across the face because I got out of line. Nope, she full out punched me in the face the night Abby and Jameson got married. Sometimes I think I can still feel the bruise she left on my eye.

I can’t blame her though, she warned me. I kept bugging her about her being married, and her tits. Man she has some amazing tits.

I watch as Tuesday’s eyes scan the room before finally landing on me and I can’t help the look of joy that spreads across my face. She might be mad at me but she still came to save me. How she doesn’t get that we would be good together is beyond me.

Giving me a slight smile she waves and lets her hands drift down her sides. For the first time since she walked in I notice what she is wearing and every shitty thing I said to her last night hits me again full force. The tight black dress falls to the middle of her thighs and the only jewelry she has on is the clover necklace I never see her without.

I can see why it took her so long to get here. Unless she was out on a date. Shit, I hope she wasn’t out with someone else.

She strides toward me and my eyes drift to the floor where her black heels are clicking against the tile. They skim up her toned, tanned legs, over her hips and the curve of her cleavage to her slender neck and straight to her eyes.

Her gaze burns into me, eyebrow cocked and I know she caught me checking her out.

I give her a cocky grin and she laughs at me; letting me know that for right now, we’re ok. I know Hailey’s mouth is still running but I can barely hear it over Warrant's
Cherry Pie
playing and the pounding of my pulse in my ears.

When she’s close enough I look over at Hailey, who is
still talking
. I don’t think I have responded to her in the past forty-five minutes, that hasn’t seemed to stop her though. Her body is facing me but she is staring at something across the room. I catch Tuesday’s eye again and she winks at me while I silently plead with her to save me.

She teases the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth and I can tell she is trying to decide on something. Her head tilts toward Hailey in question and I nod rapidly.

Tuesday mimics the move that Hailey pulled earlier in the night, sliding herself between us. The space between the stools is small enough that my knee brushes against her pelvis and her ass brushes against Hailey’s legs as she situates herself between my thighs.

“Hey baby, sorry I’m late,” Tuesday says loud enough that the people around us can hear as she kisses my cheek. I’m trying to pay attention to what she is saying, I really am, but her hands are on my thighs; her stomach against the bulge in my jeans that I pray doesn’t get any bigger. The warmth of her hands seeps through my jeans and it takes everything in me not to pull her closer to me.

“Excuse me!” Hailey yanks Tuesday’s shoulder back. “Did you not see that I was talking to him?”

Tuesday’s eyes widen and she clamps her jaw shut. She doesn’t like to be touched unless she says it’s alright and I feel her body tense against mine. “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I missed you there,” she forces a sweet smile as she talks.

“You practically sat on my lap! How the hell do you miss that?”

“Sorry…,” Tuesday shrugs and turns back to me.