Rebellious (18 page)

“Holy fuck, Reb,” Doc said between clenched teeth. He held a spare needle in his mouth in a totally unsanitary way. “You need to marry this one. Fast.”

“Shut the fuck up, Doc.” Reb's jaw flexed as he looked at me. “Did you personally enjoy the talents of Johnny Long Arm tonight?”

“Well, no, but that's different.”

“How?”

“Well, it was a private party, so there was only one, er, performer.” I fiddled with his pillowcase and finished in a rushed whisper. “And I hid in the back of the room, so he didn't have a chance. He was gross.”

“Baby.” Reb brushed a strand of hair away from my face and winced at the movement. “It was kinda like that for me, too. No one appealed, so I abstained. First time in my fucking life, but I think you're to blame. After a taste of your sweetness, anything else would be too bitter to handle.”

My heart melted at Reb's words. That was hands down the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me, and it'd come from my hardened biker boyfriend. Wow.

Doc snorted, reminding both of us that we weren't alone.

“You about done back there, Doc?” Reb's question was more a command than anything else.

“Last stitch. Then I gotta bandage you up. I'll be out of here in two minutes.”

“You'll be out of here now. Emily can bandage me up. Leave. Now.”

The door slammed behind Doc, leaving Reb and me alone.

I cast a quick glance at Reb's back and the barely held-together mottled flesh made me nauseous. “Reb, I really don't think I can do this.”

“It's fine, baby. I kicked him out so we could talk. I'll get him back in a minute. I just—I wanted to say…Fuck, this is harder than I thought it would be.” Reb scrubbed a hand over his head and winced.

“Maybe you shouldn't move so much and tweak your stiches. Do you need anything? A drink? Some painkillers? I think I have some ibuprofen in my purse. Crap, I think I left it in Tank's pickup. Let me go get them. Or do you want something else? A whiskey maybe?”

“Baby, stop.”

I don't know why I was rambling, but something in Reb's voice told me that what he was trying to say was important. And the Negative Nelly in me immediately went to the worst-case scenario. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what he was going to say.

So I said something to fill the sudden void, since Reb wasn't talking.

“I think I'm falling in love with you.”

Reb stared at me, at an apparent loss for words.

I rushed on. “I just wanted to get that out there. Before you say whatever you wanted to say. Tonight, the whole drive over here all I could think was how much of my life you've taken over and how much I love it. Every second I spend with you is intoxicating and magical and I don't know what I'd do without you in my life. Thank God you're okay. I was so worried. And—”

“Emily.”

That was all he needed to say to stop my rambling. I resumed my avoidance of his eyes and picked at the seam on his pillowcase.

“I'm not dumping you, baby.”

“Wha—” I looked up at him. Was I really that easy to read?

“I'm falling for you, too. You're sweet and gorgeous and too damn good for an asshole like me. But if you're willing to date down to my level, then I'm not gonna give you a chance to smarten up. You're it for me.”

All my fear melted away, along with my heart. “Oh, Reb.”

“Now get over here so I can kiss you.”

I tried not to jostle the bed as I moved to his side. But Reb didn't appear to care. He reached a hand up and pulled my face to his. His lips covered mine in a sweet promise of a kiss.

Which quickly turned dirty.

His tongue swept into my mouth, mimicking the motion I loved so much that his cock would make. Thinking about his cock got my hands in action and I rested one on his shoulder. Reb broke the kiss with a grunt of pain.

“Ouch.”

“Oh God. I'm so sorry, Reb. I forgot about your back.”

“It's fine, baby. But how about you send Doc back in here to patch me up. I don't want to bleed all over you when I'm inside you later. Kinda kills the mood.”

I rolled my eyes as I stood from the bed and walked to the door. Pausing with my hand on the door, I told him over my shoulder, “We are not having sex tonight.”

“Wanna make a bet on that?”

“Reb, you're hurt. You can't be horny when you've got stab wounds.”

“Obviously you're wrong.” Reb nodded to where the sheet was doing a poor job of hiding his erection.

“But you're hurt. We can't.”

“It's okay, baby. I'll be gentle with you. Go get Doc and we'll pick up where we left off.”

I just shook my head as I opened the door. Even though we were both horny, I knew there was only one way this night could end—with Doc doping Reb until he was unconscious. Horniness could wait until he felt better. We had a ton of time to be together.

Because he was falling for me, too.

S
EPTEMBER 8

Eleven days later I was counting the hours until I got off work. Reb had had his emergency custody hearing today, and I hadn't heard anything about how it'd gone. I had my fingers, toes, all my appendages crossed in the hope that the judge would see how much Tucker needed a stable parent in his life and award Reb custody. Thank God Reb could walk upright now and wouldn't have had to answer any awkward questions about an obvious injury. This morning I could see how nervous he was, even though he tried to hide it. It was in the way he tapped his coffee mug and how many times he ran a hand over his clean-shaven face.

I didn't think I'd ever seen him without the scruff on his face. It was certainly different, but I secretly hoped he would grow it back. I loved the way it felt between my thighs when he…you know.

Twenty more minutes until I could leave school. Not that it meant I was done with working for the day. I had my last shift at the bookstore tonight. So whatever the outcome of Reb's case, celebration or commiseration would have to wait until after nine o'clock.

Nineteen minutes.

I decided to busy myself by indulging my OCD quirk reshelving some books. School had been dismissed almost an hour ago and any stragglers were long gone, so it was just me, a stack of books, and a ticking clock. I could hear every second pass when it got quiet like this. Sometimes I swore the second hand went in reverse, just to screw with me.

Seventeen minutes.

I pushed my cart to the earth science section and had my hand on a copy of
Scholastic's Rocks and Minerals
when the side door to the library flew open and crashed against the opposite wall.

A huge figure filled the doorway, and I screamed. Loud. Long. And shrill.

I had a hand on my cellphone when the man stepped into the light and I relaxed. Right before I charged across the room to shove his shoulder.

“Reb! You about gave me a heart attack. Why didn't you call me? Or wait…fifteen minutes until I was off work? Well, not totally, since I still have—”

“Emily. Calm down.” Reb held on to my shoulders and his huge grin said more than any words he could've come up with, but he still tried. “Court ran long, so I came here as soon as I could. I got him, baby! Divorce is final, and Tucker is mine!” Reb picked me up and twirled us around.

I knocked over a huge stack of books, but I couldn't have cared less. Reb was finally free and Tucker was safe! I don't think we could've had better news.

Reb peppered my face with kisses when he wasn't grinning like a loon. Although the pecks were probably due to the fact that I was grinning so hugely we couldn't kiss unless Reb wanted to make out with my teeth.

When my feet were back on the ground, I beamed up at him. “We have to go out and celebrate. What kind of pizza does Tucker like? My treat. Oh, wait. I have to work.”

“Screw that job. Ditch it and come over to celebrate with me and Tucker.”

My shoulders sagged. “I can't just not show up. It's my last day. At the very least I need to pick up my paycheck. They probably won't even want me hanging around long. I'll be in and out before you know it.”

“Fine. But I want your ass in my house no later than seven o'clock. I'm having the boys over and we're partying our asses off…after Tuck goes to bed.”

My huge smile carried me all the way across town to the bookstore and my boss's office.

“I'm sorry, but we really need you tonight. We're short-staffed.” Daniel gave me his aww-shucks routine, complete with downturned eyes.

I took advantage of the moment by rolling mine. I should've listened to Reb. Dang it, why didn't I? With a huffed sigh, I muttered, “Fine.”

After leaving his office, I texted Reb:
Gotta work tonight. Can't get out of it.

Immediately my phone rang in my hand. There was a reason I texted him: I was weak; see conversation with Daniel above. And I didn't want to hear the anger in Reb's voice when I told him I wasn't coming home until after nine. But still, after taking a deep breath, I answered.

“Hey.” Then I had to hold the phone away from my ear because of Reb's volume.

“I wanna talk to your boss, now!”

“Yeah, we're not doing that, Reb.”

“Why the fuck not? I'll get you out of there with your fucking check in hand. You need to be here.”

Nothing pissed me off more than a man who thought he knew better than me. I might be falling for Reb, but that didn't mean I hit my head on the way down and lost the ability to think for myself. So I said as much. “No, I need to get a good recommendation from this job. I still have student loans and rent to make. I might be temporarily staying at your house, but that doesn't mean you decide everything for me.”

Silence reigned on the other end of the line. I think Reb got that I was pissed.

Finally, after a moment, he said quietly, “Tank is watching out for you tonight. Try not to lose him.”

And then he ended the call without saying anything else.

I stared at my phone in disbelief for a few seconds. He couldn't even bother to say good night? I was tempted to text him how I really felt at the moment, but I was afraid of what I'd say. Instead I'd wait until I got home so I could say it to his face.

I spent the next few hours stewing over his high-handedness. Thinking of all the things I should've said, and all the things I would say when I saw him later.

After restocking some shelves in the mystery section—and avoiding eye contact with Tank—I returned to the back and broke down more boxes. I must've been really into my job because I didn't hear Daniel come up behind me.

“It's dead tonight. I think you can go on home. We'll be fine.”

I swung around. “Did he call you?”

“What? Who?” There seemed to be genuine confusion in Daniel's eyes.

I sighed. “Nothing. Sorry. I mean thank you.”

“Your final check will be deposited in your account at the end of the week.”

“But—”

“I have no control over payroll. That's just how it is. We'll miss you around here. You made things…interesting.”

“Yeah. I guess.” I looked around the back room and didn't feel even a tinge of regret. I'd never been remotely attached to any of my part-time jobs, but this one—being able to work with books—had been the one I was most excited about. At first. I guess between Michael's shenanigans and Reb's overbearing protection, the shine had quickly fallen off this job. Still, I wanted to finish it. Because I was stubborn like that. “I'll just run these boxes out to the Dumpster.”

“I can get—”

“It's fine. Really, it will only take me a minute.”

Daniel nodded, his brow wrinkled in confusion. No doubt he'd expected me to run for the doors the second he gave me a reprieve. But I wasn't running, because I wasn't all that eager to fight with Reb at home.

Between my morose thoughts, the crashing sound of the boxes hitting the Dumpster, and my physical exertion, I didn't hear anything until it was too late.

Something bashed into the back of my head and knocked me off balance. I fell to the ground. “Oomph.”

I didn't even have time to put my hand to my smarting head. A huge boot smashed into my side, and I curled into a ball, trying desperately to protect myself. I opened my mouth to scream, but it cut off when something crashed into my head again.

Oh God. I was being attacked. The blows kept coming. My back. My side. My head. I wanted to look to see who, but I was too busy protecting my head. Pain exploded with every hit.

I was going to die in a parking lot and no one would know. Oh God. Reb still thought I was mad at him. Tucker would never know how much I loved him.

That was the last thought I had before everything went dark.

Tank had a really bad feeling. Emily had been in the back for way too long. Usually she just disappeared back there for a minute or two, twenty at most, but it'd been more like an hour. He knew it was her last day—Reb had said as much when he put Tank on babysitting detail. So there was a possibility she could've gone home early. But she wouldn't have ducked out on him with all the shit raining down on everyone lately. Would she?

With a muttered curse, Tank pushed away from his table at the small coffee shop and headed to the back of the store. He didn't even pause when he hit the door marked “Personnel Only.” He plowed right through and found her boss hacking away at cardboard boxes.

“Where the fuck is Emily?”

The guy jumped a foot in the air. “Shit, you scared me.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh, this space is for employees only.”

“Call a fucking cop. Where's Emily.”

“She left thirty minutes ago.” Her boss went back to hacking at the boxes. “But seriously, you can't be back here. Leave or I will call a fucking cop.”

Tank narrowed his eyes. More than anything he'd love to teach the asshole a lesson in respect, but he had to find Emily first. She better not have left. Reb would have his ass if she disappeared on him.

But when Tank reached the parking lot, her blue Audi was still in the same spot she'd parked it in a few hours ago.

His bad feeling multiplied. The last time he'd felt like this, three men in his unit had died when a sniper popped up out of nowhere.

Either her boss lied—doubtful, since people tended to tell Tank what he wanted to hear—or Emily was in trouble. He walked toward her car, then cursed when he got close enough to see the damage.

The whole driver's side of her car had been keyed. And the message left behind wasn't a pretty one. Someone had gouged “WHORE” in huge letters.

“Fuck!” Tank pulled out his phone and made a call as he jogged to his bike.

Reb picked up on the first ring. “Yeah.”

“We've got a problem…”