Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2) (13 page)

Just like her pushing me toward Vessa, I figured it out almost immediately. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. I just wanted the ki
d to not be damaged because he’s got a daddy that doesn’t give a damn.”

“So, it had nothing to do with trying to get me to open up?” She was a clever woman, with apparent tricks up her sleeve.

“Why? Is that what’s happening?” She was acting all dumb about it.

I shook my head, knowing that I was caught in another one of her plans. “For someone that doesn’t pry, you sure seem to be involved in my actions, more than ever.”

“I know a broken man when I see one. It doesn’t take a genius to know that you’ve been through something. I’d never ask what it was. I’m not that type of woman. You need to know that all broken men can be fixed.”

“You can’t fix me, Sue. Nobody can fix me.” Not when I wished that I had died in that car with my family. I was dead to society and didn’t want to be apart of it anymore.

“You keep telling yourself that. Mark my word, Ramsey. Things are about to change for you. You’ll see.”

I shook my head, getting exactly what she was saying. “You need to stop trying to push us together. It’s never going to happen with your niece, Sue.”

“I saw you dropped her off last night. Looks like you’ve been spending time together, if you asked me. Everyone needs friends, you know. The best ones come into your life when you aren’t looking for them.”

I was tired of hearing it from her, but my parents brought me up to respect my elders, so I kept my mouth shut. It was a good thing, because Logan came running outside in clean clothes. “I’m ready. Can we turn on the siren?”

Sue had already picked back up on hanging her clothes. “I’ll bring him back in a little while.”

“Take your time. I’m sure Vessa would love for you to stay for dinner.”

She had to give her two cents again. I walked close to her so that the kid couldn’t hear me. “I drove Vessa home because she’d been drinking, and as a police officer, I couldn’t allow her to do that. Nothing is going to happen between the two of us. I can be cordial to your niece, but nothing has changed. I don’t need friends like you think. I manage just fine!”

Without hearing what she said back to me, I walked away from her and headed to the truck, where Logan waited patiently. Spending the day fishing with the kid was one thing, but being set up with someone that I was determined to avoid was not.

Chapter 12

Vessa

The day shift was busy.
It kept me from thinking about my intimate moments with Ramsey the night before. Since alcohol was involved, I couldn’t be too sure how he was going to react to it all. My luck, he’d stay away and not talk to me for months.

By the time my shift was over, all I wanted to do was lay around with the kids and relax. My hangover was kicking my ass. You can imagine what it was like when my aunt pulled up to switch places with me and one of my kids wasn’t in the car. “Where’s Logan?”

I could tell she was up to something. My aunt and my mother shared several qualities. This was one of them. “He’s with the sheriff.”

I put my hands on my hips and looked over at her. “What are you talking about? Why is he with him? What happened?”

“Just go home and have a nice night, Vessa. Logan is fine, in fact, I assure you he is better than fine.”

I didn’t ask her what she did. I just wanted to get home and see my son. Being on my own for the first time made me nervous. If something bad happened, I was scared that Gavin could take custody of them, whether he wanted them or not. He would do it to spite me.

Asha didn’t say much. She was in the backseat with her headphones on her ears. Not that she would have cared where her brother was, anyway. She looked forward to him being away from her.

When we pulled up at the house, I didn’t see Ramsey’s truck. It made me nervous. I rushed into the kitchen and found his number on the
refrigerator. It rang four times and went to voicemail. I tried two more times, before hearing a truck pulling into the driveway.

The frustration of not knowing had already taken over, and by the time that Ramsey stepped out of his truck, I was already at it, screaming. “How could you just take my kid without my permission?”

“It wasn’t a big deal, Vessa. Your aunt knew all about it.”

I don’t care about my aunt. When it comes to my kids, you ask me, not her!”

He looked over at the passenger side of the truck; I could see that Logan was still buckled in the seat. “Look, the kid had a good day. Can’t you just be happy without blowing this whole thing out of proportion? I was doing you a damn favor.”

“I didn’t ask for a favor! My God, you’ve probably been drinking.” My hands were still on my hips.

“I knew this was a bad idea.” He shook his head and walked away from me.

I could see him getting Logan unhooked. Sure enough, my little guy came running from around the other side of the truck. “Mommy! Mommy, the
sheriff took me fishing. We caught lots of big ones. Then he took me to get ice cream, just like dad was going to. Can the sheriff eat dinner with us?”

At the same time, Ramsey and me both yelled, “No!”

My son’s bottom lip came out. “But why not?”

I leaned down to look at him. “Go get all that ice cream washed off of your face. I’ll be inside in a minute.”

Before I could even understand what was happening, Logan ran over to Ramsey and hugged him at the waist. “Thanks for the best day ever. Sorry my mom is being a meanie.” Then he ran into the house.

I threw my hands into the air. “Great! Now I’m the bad guy.”

Ramsey leaned against his truck. He pulled off his hat and ran his hands through his thick hair. “Listen, I think it’s best if I just head home. I get why you’re mad, Vessa, but you need to know that I would never put a child in harms way. I’m pissed that you think I would be drinking.”

I covered my face. “I’m sorry. I know I am overreacting. I just didn’t know and with Gavin being such a
bastard, I have to be careful.”

“Look, I was going to suggest that we stop what’s been going on anyway. I told you from the beginning that I wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted to be friends with. It’s obvious that this isn’t going to work. You have problems and I’m not the man that every
one thinks I am. It’s for the best.” Ramsey turned to climb into his truck.

My heart began beating out of my chest. I don’t know what it was, but I began to sob. This wasn’t me playing games with him to get him to open up. This was me desperately trying to not lose whatever I was feeling for this man. I rushed up next to him and put myself between him and the truck. He backed away and held up his hands. “I’m sorry. Don’t be like this, Ramsey. I don’t want you to go.”

I knew he was telling me goodbye. Not the kind of goodbye, like I would be seeing him around. He was closing the doors back up. “You need to know that you’re a beautiful woman. If things were different, maybe I could have showed you the way you deserve to be treated.”

I kept shaking my head as the tears fell down my face. “I know what you’re doing. Don’t shut m
e out, Ramsey. I want to be your friend.”

He looked away, perhaps to think of what to say without having to hurt my feelings so much. I closed my eyes, realizing that I was in no control of what his decision was going to be. I felt his hand brush across my face and wipe away the tears. “Don’t cry on my account. I’ll never hurt you again. Just tell the kid that I got a call. He’ll think it was cool and let you off the hook about it.” He moved me out of the way and finally got into his truck. With the ignition started, he turned and looked down at me. “I’ll never be what you want me to be, Vessa. I’m broken and there is no way to be fixed.”

He backed out of the driveway and left before I could say anything else to him. I didn’t understand what had gotten into me. He was just a man. I barely knew him. Sure, I knew more than he thought, but was it really enough to get myself all worked up about? Was I crying because I failed at being his supportive friend?

Maybe he hated me for asking him to kiss to me.

For someone that wanted to avoid men, I’d gone and gotten myself infatuated with one.

After the devastation wore off, I was left standing in my driveway alone. I ran into the house and called the bar.

She must have recognized the number as her house.

If you’re calling to yell at me, save it. I’m too busy right now.

Why did you let Ramsey take Logan today without my permission? I knew I shouldn’t have told him about Gavin last night. I need to keep my mouth shut.

I really hope you weren’t too hard on him. I had to really beg him to take the child this morning. He was completely against the idea.

What do you mean? It wasn’t his idea?

Of course it wasn’t. Think about who were are talking about here. Ramsey Towers doesn’t volunteer to be sociable, well, not unless
it means he gets a meal out of it.

Oh no!

What do you mean, oh no?

I have to go. I’ll see you tonight.

I didn’t wait for her to ask for details. My aunt, who also thought she was a matchmaker, had been the one to set everything up, not Ramsey. I’d chewed him out and accused him of being drunk when he’d been doing something out of the kindness of his heart. It was no wonder that he wanted nothing more to do with me. I was so ashamed.

Of course, I couldn’t leave the children unattended and Ramsey finding out that I knew where he lived wasn’t going to go over well. After running down the street, I managed to talk the teenager two doors down to babysit
for me. Her family attended our local church and she had volunteered her services when I first moved in. I gave her my cell phone number, kissed the kids, ordered a pizza and ran out the door.

I don’t even remember driving to Ramsey’s cabin, but as I pulled in, I realized that I had no idea what to say to the man. As soon as I climbed out of my car, I heard his porch door opening and saw him coming out of his house. His shirt was unbuttoned, but from the look in his eyes, I knew he didn’t care. “Vessa, what are you doing here? How did you find where I lived?”

I played with the keys in my hand, afraid to look him in the eyes.

He walked right up to me. “Nobody knows where I live. Tell me how you found me.”

I refused once more to look at him. He took his hand and reached for my chin, forcing me to look at him. “A couple nights ago you came into the bar in bad shape.”

“What are you talking about?”

This was it. I had to tell him the truth. I couldn’t keep it from him anymore. “Can we go inside and talk?”

He hesitated before waving his hand in the direction of the porch. Once inside, I sat dow
n on the couch. He stood over me, like a pissed off dad when you broke curfew. “Vessa, you need to start explaining how in the hell you found me and I don’t want some made up story.”

I put my hands on my knees and looked down at the floor, while taking a few deep breaths. It wasn’t like we were vested in a relationship. Ramsey had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. I had nothing to lose. “You came into the bar already intoxicated.
We were slow that night and I couldn’t let you drive yourself home. I managed to take your keys and eventually you were able to show me where you lived. Once we arrived here, I got you situated in your bed and straightened up for you. Then I had my aunt pick me up so you wouldn’t be mad at me and accuse me of prying. I swear I was just trying to help you. You were in no shape to drive.”

He took his hat off and threw it on the chair beside us. “You know don’t you?”

I caught him glancing at the stack of papers that had been in his truck. He looked back at me and I was sure all the color left my face. “Yes. I saw them in your truck that night.”

Ramsey put his head down. There was no expression on his face. It was like he was dead. “You need to leave.”

I stood up and walked toward the door. With my hand on the doorknob, I turned around and saw him standing in the same position. “Did you think that I would act different if I knew the truth?”

“Vessa, don’t do this. I appreciate you taking me home, but we can’t be friends, not now, not ever.”

I pushed the door shut and walked back toward him. “What are you so afraid of? I just want to help.”

“You can’t help me. No one can. Don’t you get it? Nothing can change what happened. Nothing can bring them back.” He picked up a wooden duck and threw it against a wall.

It terrified me, but for some reason, I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me. For probably what was the first time, he was letting his feelings out. “I’m not leaving!” I plopped back down on the couch and watched him giving me a dirty look.

When he wouldn’t look at me
anymore, I picked up one of the papers and started rereading the article. He walked over and grabbed it out of my hand like it was sacred. “Please just leave, Vessa.”

I stood up and
approached him from behind, reaching my arms around him. He stood there still and when he tried to pull away, I held him tighter. Try as he may, I continued to hold him. Finally, sensing my intentions, I felt his hands covering over mine. Quiet sniffles filled the room, and his body began to shake. I knew what was happening, so I stayed still, letting my head rest on his back as he let out what he’d been hiding from the whole world. For a few minutes he would play with my fingers and then he’d keep them still for a few more.