Slow Ride (19 page)

In her daze she could hear yelling around her, and Kyla winced as she opened her eyes.
All she could see were legs and sneakers before her eyes closed again.

She flinched and tried to squirm away, groaning at the pain pulsing through her body,
as hands and fingers skated over her extremities.

“It’s just me and Tommy, Kyla.” The sound of Cooper’s voice and his reassurance made
her relax, but even that hurt. “Everyone get the fuck back! Someone get some ice.
Jesus, Tommy, tell me she is going to be okay.”

“I’m fine,” she mumbled. She tried to lift her head but it felt like it was the weight
of a bowling ball. “Holy crap, that hurt. Was that a good score though? My feet hit
the ground before I was hit.”

“Yes it counted, Kyla. Now, don’t move until Tommy checks you out, you hear?” Cooper
moved away while Tommy crouched next to her. She watched Cooper stalk—
yes stalk—
over to Phil, Sheena, and others who were yelling at Marla. Odd how Marla just stood
there, her expression blank except for the few times her gaze shifted to Kyla. Marla’s
face went soft when Cooper approached before it turned blank. Before Cooper got to
Marla though, the woman screeched something unintelligible, turned and ran for the
front of house, leaving everyone staring after her.

“Hey, Kyla, let’s make sure you don’t have any broken bones okay? Now tell me what
hurts.”

She peeked out from behind the arm covering her eyes to look at Tommy, catching his
for a moment before she covered them back up. She had learned from Cooper earlier
that Tommy was an EMT with the fire department. “The better question is what doesn’t
hurt. And the answer would be my pinkie.” She moved her pinkie. “Nope, that hurts
too. But it’s fine. I’ve taken harder hits. I just need to catch my breath.” She was
putting on a brave face, of course, but she had no other choice.

“I’d imagine everything hurts,” Tommy replied, but he continued the examination. “No
broken ribs but some bruising probably.” His eyes met hers for a moment. “You’ve made
an enemy, Kyla. You need to be careful. She might be a moron, but she grew up here,
and Cooper and Marla . . .” He sighed. “They have a history.”

She held up a hand, blinking rapidly. She heard what Tommy was saying. She closed
her eyes, her head turning to the side as she tried to get her breathing back to normal.

He moved away as Cooper stalked back, this time alone, to help her up. She let him
help her, but once she tested out her feet and could stand on her own, she put some
distance between them and ignored his questioning look.

“Well, this is embarrassing,” she mumbled to no one in particular as she took the
ice someone offered. She applied one to her face and flinched as Cooper slid the other
discreetly under her tank top, holding it against her ribs gently.

He bent his head to her ear. “Let me take you home.”

She shook her head, her eyes focused on the rest of the players, who had all started
moving toward the backyard. She dropped her head, her voice quiet. “No, it’s fine.
I can go, you stay here. They are going to do the fireworks and I don’t want to take
you away from the party. These are your friends and family, Cooper.”

He looked confused. “I have no idea what that means, Kyla. I am not staying here and
letting you go back to the motel alone after the hit you took ‘cause some bitch can’t
get it through her head I am not hers.” He turned her toward him, tipping her chin
up to look at him. “I’m taking you home.”

She started to smile but even that turned into a wince. “Fine, let’s go then before
my legs give out.” She cursed softly as she tried to take a step, but before her other
foot hit the ground, Cooper scooped her up in his arms. Edith and Sheena were staked
out by the side of the house holding Kyla’s purse and a bag of leftovers Edith had
packed.

“Make sure she gets some rest, Cooper, though I think she should see a doctor,” Sheena
insisted.

Kyla shook her head. “No, it’s okay. Tommy looked me over, I’ll be fine. Especially
since Mr. Caveman here won’t let my feet touch the ground.”

Cooper was grinning. “I’ll call you later, Edith. Sheena, you might want to check
on Phil. He’s pissed.”

Sheena nodded and peeled off to find her man while Cooper deposited Kyla near a truck.
“What about the bike?” she asked.

“Phil will bring it back later and get his truck.”

The ride home was silent, but it wasn’t tense. Cooper held her hand the entire time,
his thumb making small circles on the back of her hand. She was almost asleep by the
time the fifteen-minute drive was over. “Tommy says I have to wake you up often to
make sure you’re all right. You sure you don’t want to head to the hospital?” he asked.

Kyla nodded and carefully climbed down from the truck before Cooper made it around.
She chuckled at his annoyed look, hobbling next to him as they made their way to the
stairs. “I’m fine. I’m sore, not paralyzed.”

“Everything all right over there?”

They stopped at the edge of the stairs near her room. Morris was standing at the base,
his eyes on Kyla. He looked greasier than ever and his smile revealed the fact that
he likely hadn’t brushed his teeth in ten years, if not longer. She shivered and pressed
closer into Cooper’s side. Morris wiped his grubby hands on his overalls. “Didn’t
think you beat your women, Cooper, but I guess we all gotta keep ‘em in line somehow.”

Kyla sucked in a breath too quickly, and that added to the pain in her ribs. She loosened
the grip on the ice bag at her side and felt Cooper crowding closer to her. “I don’t
beat women, Morris, but I got nothing against throwing a man around. Now get the fuck
out of my way.”

The hotel clerk laughed, a sneering, high-pitched noise that didn’t fit who he was.
It made the man go from gross to scary in about one second flat. “Don’t worry, Cooper.
Your secret is safe with me. Damn whores never listen and sometimes they deserve it.”

She felt Cooper start to move and grabbed onto his shirt. Not only was she in need
of some ibuprofen, but she also did not want Cooper to pay for some shit this creep
was mumbling about. “Cooper, please, I need to get inside. I hurt everywhere and I
can’t deal with any more chaos tonight. That includes trying to get your ass out of
jail for beating the pulp out of this guy.” Her fists clenched the fabric beneath
her fingers. “Please, Cooper,” she said, her words a whispered plea only he could
hear.

He grunted, then shot a final glare at Morris as he sidestepped the man and carried
her up the stairs to her room. There, he set her in the bathroom to change into something
more comfortable while he made a few calls. She took a shower, and as she dressed
she heard Jack in the other room. Pulling on shorts and a t-shirt, she hobbled out
into the living room. Both he and Cooper turned and looked her over.

“Jesus,” Cooper breathed and was at her side. “You’re black and blue.” His hands skimmed
her arms.

Kyla shrugged. “I’ve always bruised easy. Jack, what are you doing here?”

“Fixing the lock. I was just about to leave. Get some sleep, all right?”

“You left the party for this?”

Jack shook his head. “Nah, I got a date so I was leaving anyway and wanted to get
this done before that. Might be tied up for the weekend.” He winked as Cooper barked
out a laugh. Kyla merely wrinkled her nose.

After he left, Cooper sat on the couch and pulled her onto his lap. “How you feeling,
baby?”

She shrugged. “The shower helped. This helps, too.” She ran her palm over his shirt.
“I was hoping tonight would end differently.”

“Yeah? How did you want it to end?”

She glanced up, her eyes feeling heavier than usual for six o’clock. “With you, and
I wearing a lot less clothes. Naked would have been preferable.”

Cooper’s lips pressed into her temple before he trailed soft kisses on her cheek,
jaw, chin, and then up to her mouth. He was careful as his hands and fingers roamed
her body, testing how she felt. “When I take you, I don’t want to be afraid of hurting
you. But I won’t be leaving tonight, Kyla, so we can definitely get rid of the clothes,
or most of them.”

She tucked her face into his neck and sighed, happy despite the hit she took from
Marla. “Sounds good to me.” Her voice sounded sleepy even to her. “I didn’t like taking
that tackle from that bitch, but I am glad I went to the picnic. And even more glad
I was with you.”

She felt Cooper relax underneath her and this made her body melt even further into
him. “I’m glad too, baby. Now go to sleep. I’ll wake you up to check on you in a bit.”

“All right, honey.” And with those words Kyla let sleep wash over her.

She woke up the next morning and felt hard heat pressed against her back. She remembered
Cooper waking her up several times. For a while she been tucked between his solid
body and the back of the couch, a blanket tucked around her. He had been watching
some old movie on television. Later she awoke as he carried her to the bedroom. She
was awake enough that time to strip off her shorts and slide under the covers. Kyla
had watched as Cooper stripped out of his shirt and jeans, leaving only his boxers.

When Cooper came back from the bathroom, he tugged the covers over the two of them
and Kyla turned and curled into his front. His hand feathered down the thin fabric
of her tee, stopping on her hip.

“You always just wear a t-shirt and panties to bed? I figured you’d have some fancy
nightie from that bag of yours.”

“You don’t approve?” She arched a brow. “My nighties are in the drawer. This was in
the laundry basket. Pulling open a drawer wasn’t going to happen.”

She saw him press his lips together. “It’s okay, Cooper. I’m okay. I’ve had to deal
with worse from . . .” She stopped, refusing to say his name. “Honey, after a couple
days I’ll be good as new.”

This didn’t seem to make him feel any better, but his arms loosened.

“Go to sleep, Kyla. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Kyla nodded and tucked herself against him. “Night, Cooper.” It didn’t take long for
sleep to find her as his heat enveloped her.

And Kyla awoke in that same position, too, her eyes open and focused on Cooper’s chest.

“Morning. How you feeling?”

Kyla didn’t move. She couldn’t. “I hurt. Everything hurts. It all freaking hurts.”

His hands roamed gently over her and kneaded the tense muscles at her shoulders, but
he didn’t say anything.

“Maybe I was a bit too open and honest there.”

“No, you weren’t. I want your honesty, Kyla, especially about how you’re feeling and
what’s going on inside your head. I wanted to have my way with you this morning and
had you not told me that, I could have hurt you. You didn’t do anything wrong except
make a play that will likely go down in July 4th football history. You might hurt
like hell right now, but just know, you’re already a legend around town.”

She sighed, “Well, that makes it a little better at least.” Her eyes flicked to the
clock, “You have to go to work. I can get up. I don’t need help.”

Cooper sighed and lifted her chin. “Yeah, you do. And it doesn’t make you weak to
need it either. Not asking for it makes you stubborn though.”

“You sound like my brother.”

“He must be a pretty smart guy, too.”

She scowled and swatted at his shoulder but didn’t try to stop the smile on her face.

“We’ll work together on making it easier for you to ask for help.” He didn’t wait
for a response, instead kissing her nose and then her lips before pulling back. “I
have to get home to change. You have the day off, boss’s orders. You need to rest.
Garage will be slow today anyway. I’ll bring some lunch over.”

“I have a ton of leftovers.”

“All right, we’ll have that then. You need me to stop and get something, you let me
know.”

His eyes heated with something she couldn’t quite identify and she was too caught
up in trying to figure out what that was to respond with anything other than a nod.
He kissed her, his lips moving slowly over hers, drawing out her reaction until she
was arching her sore back against him.

“Cooper. . .” She was panting when he finally pulled back.

“Not today, Kyla. I don’t want to hurt you. Get some sleep.”

Before he even shut the door Kyla fell back into a dreamless sleep.

• • •

Cooper had his hands inside the guts of a car. The garage was busy today. Phil and
Jack were each working on vehicles in two of the other bays, and two of his other
guys were busy with some detailing jobs. It was near lunch and he’d asked Kyla, who
was feeling much better after taking a couple days to recoup from the football game,
to run to the bank and then grab some pizza for everyone since none of them would
likely get their normal lunch break.

“Yo, Cooper. We got company.”

He looked up at Jack’s voice and saw three cop cars pulling through the gate. Cooper
wiped his hands on a rag. “Shut it down, guys. Close the bay doors. They aren’t getting
in without a warrant.” He walked through the office and out into the lot, meeting
Jackson, two other officers, and the chief of police, Martin Saybrook.

“What can I do for you, Jackson?”

Cooper intentionally directed his greeting to Jackson, blatantly ignoring the so-called
head of the department. He ignored Jackson’s glare and waited.

It was Saybrook who spoke though. He pushed forward, his arms crossed over his chest.
He was dressed in his uniform, his black hair slicked back with too much product.
“Mr. Moretto, we got word there’s been some illegal chop shop activity going on. We
need to look around, check out the books and the garage itself.”

“You got a warrant?”

Saybrook grunted. “We don’t need a piece of paper to let us in, Cooper. Now we can
do this the easy way, or the hard way. You tell me how this is going to play out.”

By now Phil and Jack were at his back. A glance behind him confirmed the bay doors
had been closed and locked like he’d told the guys to do. His could see his other
two employees were in the office.