Hot as Hades (20 page)

 “You aren’t going out there naked, are you?”

She held up the clothes in her hands. “These are soaked and it’s only a few steps, besides, you and I were nearly naked outside a little bit ago.”

“That’s different.” Fuck if he wanted her parading in her birthday suit by herself where any asshole could grab her.

“Cowboy, my door is exactly one foot to the left.  And, seriously, I spent years in the military with group showers.  Now, I’m working as a stripper. I don’t have much shyness left.”

He jumped off the bed and tossed her his abandoned shirt. “Here put this on.”

She smirked at him, but pulled it over her head and then left him staring at the closed door. Cowboy collapsed on the sheets, feeling like he’d been hit by a cattle prod.

What the fuck?!

Chapter Fifteen

Cowboy woke up all alone with a throbbing hard on.

He couldn’t fucking believe he’d offered to share his bed with Daisy and she’d passed on it. Waking up with a warm woman was one of life’s simple pleasures. He ranked it right up there with a brand spankin’ new pair of boots, and fresh buttermilk biscuits slathered in sweet clover honey. He hadn’t had the opportunity to sleep next to a soft, willing woman in quite a while, but he remembered the feeling all too well. And he missed it.

He briefly thought about going next door, talking his way into Daisy’s room, convince her into a morning quickie before they officially started the day. But with the way she’d run out of his room last night, he bet she wouldn’t be in the mood to indulge his cock’s whims. He might have to settle for banging this one out in the shower, all by himself.

How depressing was that shit
?

Finally, he got the motivation to shower and then hauled his ass to the diner. His mood lifted a bit as he stood out in the bright parking lot. It was a nice day, sun shining, and in the eighties. It was the perfect day to catch some wind. He hadn’t been for a long ride on his Harley since he’d crashed and he craved the asphalt. He needed to get out of Hell, before he lost his ever lovin’ mind.

As he waltzed into the diner, he found Voodoo and Daisy seated together and his momentary joy went straight into the shitter. He watched as Voo polished the last few bites of pancake on his plate while she drank coffee. They seemed to be old friends, laughing and talking, as though they did this every morning. And maybe they did? What if she spent the rest of her time with fucking Voodoo?

He
wanted to be the one sharing her meal. But she’d passed, running away from him like he terminal case of crabs or something. He pushed open the door, taking a savage sort of pleasure when it slapped against the wall with too much force, startling them both.

Voodoo glared at him. “If you break my door you’ll be owin’ me money.”

He gave his brother the finger and poured himself a cup of coffee. Took a sip of it and spit it back in the cup. Voodoo and his nasty ass, burnt-tastin’ French Roast. Coffee so strong, it’d raise blisters on a boot.

He noted there were no more pancakes left on the grill, so he decided to be pissed about that too. He grabbed a glazed doughnut from beneath the glass container on the counter. Voo usually sent a prospect to Diablo’s every morning for fresh doughnuts.

Then, he parked it next to Daisy and she frowned at him. He set his feet on a nearby booth, smiling as a couple of clods of dirt from his shitkickers fell off, onto the clean floor.

“You sleep well, Wildcat?” he asked slyly. “Must have. I know you had to be tired after last night.”

Voo raised a brow as he pretended to wipe down the counter, which didn’t have any stains or crumbs Cowboy could see.

“Um, fine,” she answered slowly. She wore a gray T-shirt with the words
Semper Fi
across the chest, a pair of battered jeans, sneakers, and her she’d tugged her hair into a loose ponytail. Despite the boyish clothes, she looked good enough to eat. If they were alone, he would have hoisted her up on the counter already, pushed into her from behind.

Speaking of…

He scowled at his brother. “Why don’t you leave?”

Voo shook his head. “You are in my house. Ain’t gotta be nowhere but here.” He tossed his empty pancake plate in the small sink and leaned against the wall, watching with avid interest, not even pretending to be busy doing something else anymore.

Cowboy seized her by the elbow and pulled her to the other side of the diner, whispering. “We need to get somethin’ straight.”

“What?”

He placed a hand under her chin, forced her to meet his gaze. “I know you had a good time. I heard the way you came for me.”

She nodded. “Yeah, and?”

“Why did you run out on me? I was getting ready for round two. I had plans to keep you up all night.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “I didn’t run. I just wanted some shut eye.”

 
“Don’t dip it in sugar, Wildcat. I’m a grown man. I can take it.” He steeled himself, waiting for her to tell him she’d had her fun and now she’d be moving on to the next dickhead she found. For all he knew, she’d made plans to screw Voodoo.

She refused to meet his eyes. “I like you.” She said it as though she’d admitted to something terrible, as if having a fondness for a man she screwed was somethin’ downright kinky.

He chuckled. “Yeah, I got that effect on people.”

She frowned. “No, you don’t get it. I don’t
like
men. I have sex with them and its fun, but then I move on.” She glanced up at him. “I’m seriously screwed up when it comes to relationships. It’s why I bailed last night.”

God damn.
And he thought
he
carried a truckload of baggage. Apparently, Daisy had a U-Haul the size of Texas behind her, stuffed full. He released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Okay then. Don’t push me away again and I won’t ask you for more than you give. Deal?”

Her eyes were still wary, but she dipped her head. “Deal.”

“Good. Let’s go for a ride,” he suggested. “I’m stir crazy. We’ve both been cooped up, might do us some good to get out of this place for a while. We could take in the view. Maybe get a bite.”

She hesitated.

“We could stop at a gun store,” he bribed. “I know how you love those. He felt the need for alone time with Daisy. Away from the strip club, away from Hell, and most definitely away from Voodoo.

 “Okay.” Not exactly eager, but he’d gotten his way, so he’d call it a win.

He gave Voo a shit eating grin over his shoulder. “We’re going out. Don’t wait up, brother.”

His brother shrugged.

 “Okay. I got a few road rules for you,” Cowboy informed her. “Wear your helmet at all times. Hold on to me tight, keep your mouth closed or a bug will fly in.” He grinned at the horror on her face. “Oh, and the club has a tradition. Girls pay a toll to ride on the bike.”’

 “What sort of toll?”

“Your panties.”

She gaped at him. “You must be joking.”

“Nope. Chicks don’t ride for free. We take your panties and they get added to a clothesline at Perdition.”

“When Duke took me home, he didn’t ask for my panties,” she protested.

“That’s because he knows I would have decked him,” Cowboy said smugly. “So, come on, show me what you got.”

Women usually hemmed and hawed, put up a protest. But not
his
girl.

“You want my panties? Fine.” She smirked at him and undid her jeans, letting them drop to the ground in front of God and country.

Voodoo watched with curious eyes and Cowboy jumped in front of her, so his brother didn’t get a free show.

“Holy shit. I didn’t mean here. She could be fucking fearless at times.

 “Told you, no shyness left.” She hooked her thumbs in the black underwear and slid them down her legs, then quickly hitched her britches up once more.

With a wicked grin, she tossed the panties at him, hitting him square in the face. He noted the white skulls printed on the cotton fabric, absolutely fuckin’ adorable. No way, was he handing these over to his brothers. They’d be coming home with him.

He smacked her little ass, and deposited her on the bike.

***

Ten minutes into the bike ride, Daisy decided she needed to buy a motorcycle. This was so much better than the ride with Duke! She’d never felt so free in her life, the wind rippling over her skin, the way the bike hugged the road. She leaned into the curves, as he drove, her body moving along with the machine, almost like a dance.

She found it hard to keep her hands from wandering over Cowboy, exploring his body as he drove. She didn’t even care where they were going exactly and it felt good to be free for a bit, to let her cares fall by the wayside for just an hour or two, if only to keep her own sanity. She’d been wound up for months, maybe years, and stress seemed to leech out at the worst possible moment.

She leaned back, and let out a whoop, making him laugh. They rode for a couple of more hours, stopping to see the sites along the way, a park, a gun store where they both looked, but didn’t buy anything, and even stopped at a Harley shop where he ogled all of the bikes.

Finally, they stopped at a roadside area with a Mexican cantina to grab a bite and stretch their legs a bit. He ordered a beef burrito and she got some guacamole with chips, and an apple empanada for dessert.

They found a picnic table in the shade and she’d barely started in on her chips, when he asked her a question.

“So why haven’t you ever slept beside someone?” he asked, and then casually took a sip of his iced tea, acting like he hadn’t just sucker punched her with a personal question.

She didn’t really want to delve into her relationship baggage at the moment. She had more than enough to worry about without slogging through emotional crap she couldn’t deal with.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “My teenage years were a mess, with the foster home situation. Then, I went into the military, and off to a war zone. Not like it lent itself to dating.”

 “Oh?”

Oh, Jesus
. She sighed. “I was stationed overseas in Afghanistan, going through some really stressful shit on a daily basis. We were all lonely, far from home and sometimes we comforted each other.”

He slouched down in his seat, didn’t meet her eyes. “Oh, I bet they lined up to offer you comfort alright.” She thought she heard him mutter
dickheads
under his breath.

There hadn’t been
that
many. For God sake, she had a war to fight, it’s not like she spent all her time on her back. Her memory of Afghanistan seemed disjointed anyway, surreal in a way. Even the sex she’d had. She hadn’t had any feelings for the guys. Not that she’d ever been particularly attached to the boys in high school either.

 She’d tossed away her virginity like a discarding an empty candy bar wrapper. Her date, Mark, had been in her English lit class and they’d gotten along pretty well. They’d gone for a burger once or twice after school, but it hadn’t been any big romance. As a rule, she didn’t get close to people, other than Rose and their mother before she died. She’d even held Nancy at a distance.

There was probably some big psychological syndrome for it, but after her mom’s death, she’d simply just didn’t want to go through the pain again. If you need people, let them in, you eventually end up alone and lost. You’re much better off, to keep people at a distance. Sunny had stupidly fallen in love with her pimp, and it ended up killing her in the end. She’d never let a man make her so weak.

“I might be the only person on the planet who thinks this way, but love is a curse, not a blessing,” she said finally. “When you lose it, you’re hurt and vulnerable. And when you do have it, it leads you to make
terrible
decisions. I’m better off without it. Love makes you weak, foolish.”

“I think you’re wrong about that,” he said softly.

She didn’t believe a word of it, but she didn’t argue with him. She cleared her throat. “My point is, I’ve had sex with men, but I don’t date. It helped me cope in Afghanistan. It allowed me to escape the madness.” She shuddered.

 “I’m not really explaining it well. I’m pretty sure only another Marine can really understand me. We’ve had the same experiences, been through the same crap together.”

“You think I don’t understand you?” he asked.

She looked past him, studied families sitting at picnic tables with chubby-cheeked children, munching away on food. It all seemed so blissfully normal. She’d made it back, but sometimes, she felt like a small part of her had stayed behind in the desert. Sometimes, if she lingered on memories from those days, she went right back there again, standing on the burning sand, the smell of smoke in the air. Daisy usually tried not to think about it.

 “I don’t even know why we are talking about this.” No sense in poking at old wounds.

“But you wouldn’t even consider dating me, right? If we were in a different situation and you actually had the urge to go out with someone? I’m not a Marine and for some reason, you think they are better than other men.”

 “I wouldn’t say better, just different,” she hedged. Truthfully, she couldn’t make a value judgment, but she did see a difference between military and civilians. She served with amazing men and women,
selfless
people who sacrificed their lives for their country.

“Tell it to me straight, Wildcat. No bullshit.”

 “There are civilians and then there are Marines. We are a breed apart.” She made a face. Impossible, but she felt claustrophobic at a picnic table in the middle of a wide open field.

“Are you tryin’ to tell me we’re apples and oranges?” he mocked.

She shook her head. “Not even close. More like apples and avocados,” she said, staring at her food. “Not alike at all, in any way, shape or form.”

“I see and you just love avocados,” he said, pointed to her guacamole.

She raised a brow. Wasn’t this supposed to be a fun outing? “Actually,
you
are the avocado.”

He frowned, eyebrows drawing. “No, I’m the apple. Marines wear a lot of green, like avocados.”