Rastor (Lawton Rastor Book 2) (6 page)

Chloe was looking at me like I'd lost my mind. Had I? Probably.

I shoved a hand through my hair. "Yeah, but–" I gave Brittney a hard look. "It was supposed to go a lot better."

For one thing, it wasn't supposed to include naked nipples and shaved privates.

Brittney threw back the blanket, and tapped her bare foot against the tile floor. The tapping made her boobs jiggle like jelly-filled balloons on a bumpy carnival ride. One bearded lady, and the freak show would be complete.

I glanced down at Brittney's crotch. No beard. Even my freak show was too freaky to be normal. Damn it.

Brittney stopped tapping long enough to give Chloe a half-hearted look. "So you do accept my apology or what?"

"Hell no," Chloe said. "That was the worst apology, ever."

"Hey, it was my first one," Brittney said. "I thought I did pretty good." She turned to me and asked, "Didn't I?"

I crossed my arms. "No."

Chloe was staring Brittney with narrowed eyes. "Just how long have you been here, anyway?"

Brittney turned to give me a long look, filled with sin and sex. "Hard to say," she purred. "We kind of lost track."

My fingers flexed. I wanted to choke the truth out of her and then toss her out on her nearly naked ass. "That's it," I told her. "Get out."

She shrank back. "But I'm not dressed!"

Like I cared. "Whatever. Keep the blanket. Just get out."

"But I don't have my car," she whined.

I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my cell phone. I texted the driver, who'd been on standby for hours now. Almost instantly, there was a knock at the door. I flung it open. And there he was, the driver, dressed in his company uniform.

"Take her wherever," I said.

The driver glanced to Chloe and said, "Yes sir."

I stifled a curse. "Not
her
." I pointed to Brittney. "
Her
."

It's not like I blamed the guy. Brittney, was, after all, mostly naked, and it wasn't exactly normal to send a naked girl packing.

The driver looked to Brittney. "Of course."

Brittney was sputtering now. "But I'm not even dressed!"

"Not my problem," I said.

She turned pleading eyes on the driver. "Can you believe this?"

I'd paid the guy in advance, along with a generous tip. With what I was paying him, he'd believe exactly I wanted him to believe.

Sure enough, he stepped aside and held open the front door. "Right this way, ma'am."

Brittney was glaring at him. "Ma'am? Did you just seriously call me 'ma'am'?"

"Yes ma'am." He held open the door wider. "Right this way, please."

Brittney tossed back her hair. "Oh," she said, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "well aren't
you
just so polite?"

I stepped toward her and said, "Listen, gripe all you want. But you
are
leaving. By car, or by foot. Your choice."

She gave me a pleading look. "You can't be serious."

I lowered my voice. "I can be a lot of things. And trust me, you don't want to find out."

She jerked back. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you've got one minute. Go with him. Or walk."

"Oh, fine," she muttered, clutching the blanket tighter. "But I'm keeping the blanket."

I glanced down at the thing. "Like I'd want it back."

Finally, complaining all the way, Brittney stalked barefoot out the front door, and finally allowed the driver to guide her into the waiting SUV. A moment later, they were gone.

I turned to Chloe. Finally, we were alone.

Or not – because damn it, Bishop called out from somewhere upstairs. "Well, that went good."

I looked up. Sure enough, there he was, lounging against the bannister in sweatpants and no shirt. His look said it all.
I told you so.

Yeah, whatever. I turned back to Chloe.

She was glaring up at Bishop. "Eavesdropping again?" she said.

"No," he said. "Trying to sleep. For all the good it did."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm soooo sorry if we ruined your beauty sleep."

I hollered up to him. "This is a private conversation."

"Private, your ass," Bishop said. "Bet half the neighborhood heard."

Like I cared. The only neighbor I cared about was the girl standing next to me. "Oh, fuck off," I told him, and then, remembering Chloe, I gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry."

She said nothing and looked toward the front door. It was shut. I wanted it to stay shut. I wanted Chloe to stay here with me, not just tonight, but forever.

Looking at her now, my heart ached. She looked small and tired, and I knew the reasons why. She'd had a shitty night, mostly thanks to me. Somehow, I'd make it up to her. I'd make everything up to her. I just needed the chance.

Bishop's voice cut into my thoughts. "Told you that was a bad idea. But women, what do you expect?"

What the hell? Was he
trying
to be a dick about it?

Chloe made a sound of annoyance. "That's it. I'm outta here."

"Hey," Bishop said, "don't leave on my account. I'm heading back to bed."

I turned to glare at him. "Yeah, you do that." Struggling to keep my cool, I reached up to rub the back of my neck. Everything felt too tight. A lot was riding on the next few minutes, and so far, it wasn't going great.

Next to me, Chloe hollered up to Bishop. "I hope you sleep like crap!"

Any other time, I would've laughed. But I couldn’t. Because I was losing her. Or maybe I already had. Sure enough, she turned toward the door.

Something like panic seized my heart. "Chloe." I reached out for her. "Don't leave."

She ignored me and flung the door wide open.

"You're not walking," I said.

She turned to glare at me. "We already had this discussion."

Okay, so maybe I couldn’t keep her here. But I
could
make sure she got home safely. "At least let me drive you."

"No."

"Alright, then I'm walking with you."

"No, you're not." She strode through the open door and didn't look back.

So I did the only thing I could.

I followed after her.

I was maybe five steps behind her when she reached the front gate. And then, as if sensing someone following her, she turned around. When she spotted me, she stopped.

Trying not to crowd her, I stopped, too.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you get home okay."

With a huff, she turned back around and started walking again. Again, I followed after her. It was still dark, and there was no way I was letting her walk home alone

After a block or so, she stopped and turned around again. Her gaze narrowed. "You don't need to do this."

The hell I didn't. "Yes. I do."

There was a lot of weirdness going on. And the thing with Brittney had me thinking. If she had the nerve to apologize naked, what else did she have planned? Did she have another pair of guys waiting in the wings to jump Chloe a second time?

The odds were slim, but not so slim that I'd risk it.

Chloe was still standing there, watching me. "But it's creeping me out."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I don't like someone walking behind me."

"Then I'll walk with you. But you're not walking back alone."

Chloe glanced around, as trying to make a point. Yeah, I got it. It was a nice neighborhood, with street lights and everything. But the trees were tall, and the sidewalk was cast in shadows.

Chloe could be pissed all she wanted, but it wasn't going to change my mind. Yeah, I wanted her to forgive me for what I'd done. And yeah, I wanted her to take me back. But more than anything, I wanted her to be safe – because I'd rather lose her honestly than see anything bad happen to her.

"Fine," Chloe muttered. "Whatever. But it doesn't change anything."

I strode forward, joining her on the quiet sidewalk. For a couple of minutes, we walked in silence. The wind picked up, and she gave a shiver. Just like before, I hated to see it.

If I were wearing a jacket, I would've gladly handed it over. But I wasn't. And the way it looked, she sure as hell didn't want me warming her with my own body.

I glanced toward her house. In ten minutes, we'd be at her front door. If I were smart, I'd make those minutes count. I spoke up. "I want to tell you something."

She didn't even look. "What?"

"I know you don't want to hear it, but I do love you, and I'm so fucking sorry."

Her steps faltered, and she blinked hard. Was that bad? Or good?

Either way, I took a deep breath and kept on talking. "Which is why you deserve to know why I flipped out on you."

She was still walking, faster now. But she deserved to hear this, for her own peace-of-mind, if nothing else.

Whether she and I worked things out or not, she lived on just the other side of my fence. We were neighbors, and I didn't want her to be afraid of me. I didn't want her to be worried that I'd jump the fence and drag her away like the animal she thought I was.

So I took a deep breath and continued. "A few years ago, right after that first fight video went viral, I met this girl. It was before that reality series."

Chloe, like anyone else in the world, knew which series I meant. It was the one that had made me a household name. I felt a bitter smile cross my lips. Well, that and the sex tape.

I ignored the bitterness and kept on going. "But I was starting to make a name for myself. Then there was the money. Growing up, I never had any, you know? But it was starting to roll in. Lots of it. At least compared to what I had before."

It was a massive understatement. Growing up, I'd been dirt poor. I'd known hunger and fear firsthand. These days, I ate at the best restaurants whenever I wanted. I had a housekeeper, a gourmet kitchen, and a private chef any time I wanted, which come to think of it, was pretty much never.

About the fear, well, that was a funny thing, too. I'd outgrown it years ago. Or more likely, any fear had been beat out of me by kids who were twice my size and ten times as vicious. By the time I hit thirteen, I was taking them on every day – and winning.

And now, only one thing scared me – really scared me – and that was the thought of losing only girl I'd ever loved.

And because I loved her, I had to share the ugly story of a different girl, a girl I
didn't
love – and that was putting it mildly.

I fucking hated her.

I shook off the anger and kept on talking. "But this girl, she worked as a cocktail waitress at this club I used to go to. She seemed nice. You know, working her way through college and all that. I don't remember what her major was supposed to be, but she was studying all the time, brought her books to the bar, always talked about what she was gonna do when she graduated."

I blew out a breath. "Wait. I remember. A veterinarian." I thought of Brandy, with her stacks of books that were mostly for show. "Yeah. An animal doctor. She was gonna take care of puppies and kittens, and nurse them back to health and all that shit."

Chloe gave me a sideways glance. "Shit?"

Chloe loved animals. I did, too. But that had nothing to do with this. "You know what I mean."

"Actually," she said, not sounding too happy about it, "I don't."

Maybe she didn't get it
now
. But she would by the time I finished. So I kept on going. "Anyway, I used to hang out at the club sometimes. And we got friendly."

Chloe snorted. "Yeah, I just bet."

I felt my jaw tense. Yeah, I had a bad reputation. And yeah, I'd done a lot to earn that reputation. But the thing with Brandy was different, because it was the thing that got me started on the road to quick fucks with girls whose names I couldn’t remember, mostly because I didn't care enough to make the effort.

But Chloe didn't know this. Not yet. But she would. So I shoved aside the irritation and went on. "Not that way. Not at first."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because I liked her." I thought of Brandy, remembering the girl she'd pretended to be. "In some ways, she was a lot like you. Or at least, I thought she was. Which is why I didn't want us to… you know."

For some reason, I didn't want to say it. But it was true. I'd kept Brandy out of my bed for two reasons. One was simple, and one was a lot more complicated.

"So let me get this straight," Chloe said. "You
didn't
want to have sex with her, and somehow she reminds you of me." Her voice grew sarcastic. "Gee, thanks."

I tried again. "It's not that I didn't
want
to. I mean, she was–" Looking back, it wasn't funny, but I had to laugh. "I mean, like I said, she was a lot like you. One minute, she'd be sweet and funny. And then the next minute? She'd be cussing like a truck driver, surprised the crap out of me. And she was–" I cleared my throat "– attractive."

And she
was
attractive. I recalled her sun-kissed hair and wide blue eyes. And her body, well, there was nothing to complain about there.

Next to me, Chloe muttered, "How nice for you."

Nice? No. There was nothing nice about this story. I plowed forward, eager to get it over with. "But things were so crazy back then. I had girls throwing themselves at me everywhere I went."

"Like
that's
changed," Chloe said.

"Maybe," I said. "I dunno. But back then, it was all so new, I didn't handle it that good." I shoved a hand through my hair. "I dunno. But this girl I liked. We were friends, maybe something more someday. I didn't know. But I wasn't gonna mess it up."

In my life, I'd messed up a lot of things. Even before Brandy, it wasn't like I'd been a saint. But there was something about Brandy, and now, I knew exactly what that something was.

She'd reminded me of Chloe, not that I knew Chloe's name at the time.

"I get it," Chloe said. "You liked her. So?"

"So you know who I'm talking about, right?"

She shrugged.

"Brandy Blue." Just the name set my teeth on edge. "The girl from, you know, that video."

Chloe gave me a sideways glance. "I didn't know Brandy went to college."

"That's because she didn't."

Chloe stopped walking, and so did I. She turned to face me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," I said, "it was all a sham. Everything. The nice girl act, the college thing, the books. It was just one big crock."