Sweet Ride (22 page)

Bang!

I jump back, startled,
and look up to see Jack grinning at me while sitting on a stool. My
eyes casually scan his body as he leans his forearms against the bar
top. Tonight he’s wearing dark blue low-riding jeans, with a black
long-sleeve Henley, but he has the sleeves pushed up so his tattoos
are peeking out. Like always, my body hums with energy whenever he’s
around. Seriously, why is he so hot?

“Hey, bella,” he
drawls.

“Hey handsome,” I
reply. “You want something to drink?” I offer.

“Yeah, I’ll have a
beer,” he replies.

I walk to the coolers
against the back wall of the bar, pull out a beer, open it, and slide
it over to him. Jack reaches over, encloses my wrist with one hand,
pulls me across, taking the back of my head with his other hand, and
putting his lips to mine to give me a gentle kiss that promises so
much more when I get off.

“What’s that for?”
I ask, winking and knowing full well what it means.

“So the fucks around
here looking at you know you’re taken,” he says, shrugging.
That’s my possessive alpha male. Most girls would probably hate
that, but not me. Nope, I love it!

I roll my eyes and head
out on the floor, picking up empties and wiping down tables. I spend
a few minutes chatting with a couple of the regular customers that
are still lingering until last call, before heading back into the
little kitchen area. I dump the empties in the recycling bin and
rinse the dirty glasses before placing them in the dishwasher.

As I walk back out on
the floor to collect the rest that I couldn’t fit into my arms the
first time, I can’t help but glance over to where Jack’s leaning
against the bar. I love looking at that fine piece of male specimen.
I’m literally halted in my tracks when I notice a curvy blonde
haired woman standing next to him. She looks super skanky, wearing
stilettos and an ultra-short jean mini skirt that rides so low you
can see her thong and tramp stamp. The red tube top she’s wearing
is so tight it looks like it’s painted on.

She’s being so
obvious in her attempt to hit on my man, but I can tell by his body
language and facial expression that he doesn’t think too much of
it. I stand there and observe them for a few minutes. The tramp
places her hand on Jack’s arm, leans in toward his body, and stands
up on her toes to speak into his ear because the music’s pretty
loud. Once she says what she wants, she lowers back down on her feet
and pushes her chest out a bit, pressing her huge tits against the
side of his arm.

Jack’s lips pull
tight, and I hear him say, “Bitch, the only pair of lips I want to
feel around my cock is Payton’s!” Even though I’m pissed
because that slut just offered to give him head, I can’t help but
feel happy that he basically just told her that he’s mine. She
doesn’t take the hint, though, because she starts to trace the
tattoos on his bicep with her finger. As the bitch is doing this,
Jack notices me and looks over to where I’m standing. She senses
his focus is no longer on her and turns her head to see what he’s
looking at.

No. Fucking. Way!

Macie. That bitch.

She doesn’t look like
she has double Ds anymore, more like double Fs. If she wants to
fucking keep them this time, I’m going to openly suggest to her
that she back the fuck up from my man. She turns her head back toward
Jack. I guess she didn’t notice me, so I’m going to rectify that
right now! I quickly make my way over toward them, not really knowing
exactly what I’m going to do, but knowing I’m definitely going to
do something. Jack leans in and says something to her that sounds
like, “If I were you, I’d take a hike, like right fucking now,”
and continues to watch as I’m closing in behind her. And guess
what? Jack’s wearing
that
fucking smile on his face again.

“What the fuck are
you doing?” I demand. Her back stiffens, and she turns around to
glare at me. God, I hate this bitch.

“Tryin’ to get
Diesel, umm, I mean Jack to go out in the alley with me, so I can
show him what a real woman can do,” she hisses at me, turns around,
and grabs ahold of Jack’s arm again.

My hands reach out on
their own accord, grabbing handfuls of her bleached blonde hair,
pulling her back so she goes flying past me like a ragdoll. When I
look down at my hands, I realize that I’m still holding clumps of
her hair. Oh shit, I just ripped out some of her extensions!

“Is anything on you
real?” I ask, a smile spreading across my face. Jack busts out in
deep laughter.

“You stupid bitch!”
she yells at me before lunging forward in attack mode. I throw her
hair to the floor, and shift to the side, causing her to miss me and
stumble forward, catching herself on the bar.

“I’m only going to
tell you this once: stay away from Jack, or you’re going to be less
another titty. And that’s a promise you
know
I can
keep,” I warn her. She ignores my warning and moves forward to
shove me hard in the chest, making me fall back. I gain my balance,
and all I see is red.

Bitch smack down mode
has commenced, AGAIN!

I rear back and deck
her in the face, sending her flying to the floor, then jump on her
and start punching anything that I can hit with my fists as she’s
trying to deflect and return punches, but not doing a very good job
at it.

Two arms wrap around me
like steel bands, hauling me back. I can tell by the arms that it
isn’t Jack, so I continue with my thrashing when I hear Juan say,
“Jesus Christ, Kojak! Stop laughing and get a handle on Rocky here.
The last thing I need now is a fucking lawsuit on my hands!”

“Let me the fuck go,”
I yell, “This bitch has got to learn to stay away from other
women’s men. He’s mine; get your fucking own!” I growl at her.
I’m not going to let it go like Ella did for so long. I’m going
to nip it in the bud right now.

Juan releases me and
pushes me over toward Jack, who catches me in his arms. “Calm down,
baby. I think she got your point,” Jack whispers with a trace of
laughter.

“Fine,” I say.

“We’re closing in
another twenty minutes, so you’re done for the night, Rocky. Go
home,” Juan tells me sternly, walking a red-faced Macie toward his
office.

“Okay, I’ll see you
tomorrow night. Oh, and Macie, I meant what I said. Stay the fuck away
from Jack,” I say, pinning her with what I think is my death glare.

“Whatever, bitch.
He’ll come lookin’ for me when he’s sick of your shit, and I’ll
be here willin’ and waitin’.”

“Don’t hold your
breath, honey, because you won’t survive,” Jack says and then
turns with me still in his arms and walks us out. His hot breath
blows down my neck as he speaks against my ear in a growl, “That
was so fuckin’ hot; I’m going to make you scream when we get
home.”

“Is that a promise?”
I ask teasingly.

“Oh yeah,” he says.

When we get back to his
condo, we just barely make it through the door when Jack roughly
pushes me against the wall in the entryway, his forehead pressing
against mine, and his lips bruising my mouth. “What’s this about
me
being
yours
?” he asks. His breath hitches as he
speaks.

Shit! I was so pumped
full of adrenaline during the whole Macie confrontation that I forgot
that I even said that. What am I going to tell him?

“Umm … yeah. About
that. It was just a slip of the tongue. I mean … I know you’re
not
really
mine. It’s just that she was being a bitch I had
to say something to make her back off,” I explain to him.

“I’m yours. Don’t
doubt that for a fucking second,” he tells me.

“Umm … okay,” I
mumble against his lips.

“And you’re mine,
baby,” he softly says, his tongue darting out and licking my bottom
lip.

“Now, how about I
give you a slip of my tongue,” he adds, his tongue dipping into my
mouth, mating with my own. I groan as I wrap my arms around his neck,
jump up against his body, and lock my legs around his waist. Jack’s
hands cup my ass as he backs away from the wall with our mouths still
connected. He walks us up to his bedroom.

And let me tell you
something, Jack’s a freaking expert with his tongue, and he
really
knows how to keep a promise.

It’s been a little
over a two weeks since Jack brought me to his mother’s house to
meet his family. It feels like I’m becoming a permanent fixture in
Jack’s apartment—seems like I spend all my free time here, but
with company like him, can you really blame me?

Jack had to work last
night, but he should be home soon. It’s almost eight thirty, and he
told me he’d be home sometime after ten. Knowing this, I decide to
laze around in bed and wait for him. I have the day off and I plan on
taking full advantage of it.

Snuggling into his
pillow, I pull in a deep breath and inhale his scent from the fabric.
A smile slowly creeps across my face. God, I’m pretty sure I’m
falling in love with this man! My whole body’s warm and super
relaxed and just as I’m getting into a comfortable position for a
quick nap, Jack’s house phone starts ringing. I eye the phone and
battle with the decision of whether I should answer it or not? I
decide to answer it. Huge fucking mistake!

“Hello,” I say into
the phone.

“Where’s my
brother?” is the response I get. Shit, it’s Jack’s sister,
Isabelle. Cocksucking motherfucker! Why did I answer the damn phone?
This girl clearly still hates my guts.

“He’s at work,” I
answer, biting my tongue so I don’t say something to give her an
excuse to hate me even more.

“Good. We need to
talk,” she says, sounding serious as shit.

“I really don’t
think we have anything to say to each other,” I return.

“Look, it’s
important. It concerns Jack.”

“All right, when can
I expect you?” I ask her. I’m so not looking forward to this, but
if it concerns my man, I want to know what she’s got to say to me.

“I’ll be there in
thirty minutes, so don’t go anywhere.”

“Okay, I’ll be
here.” My first instinct is to run far, far away, but I’m kind of
curious as to what she needs to talk to me about.

My stomach starts to
get nervous butterflies as I get up out of bed and head for the
bathroom. Before getting in the shower, I quickly text Jack letting
him know that his sister’s coming over to talk to me. I then take a
quick shower and change into my comfiest pair of yoga pants and
purple racer back tank top. I’m certainly not going to dress up for
her. She already despises me, so nothing I do will impress her.

Shortly after, I hear
the front door opening and Isabelle calling my name. I look at my
watch; she’s ten minutes early. Goddamn it! Let’s get this over
with. I walk down into the open living space from the upstairs loft
and come face-to-face with my arch nemesis, Isabelle De Luca. She
looks super casual today: wearing her hair in a braid to the side,
designer jeans, a worn black Beatles t-shirt, and a pair of black
flats. And wouldn’t you know it, she still looks fucking gorgeous.
This girl has some seriously good genes, but then again, look at
Jack.

“Sit,” she orders,
motioning to the sofa seat next to her.

“Nice to see you too,
Izzy,” I say, using Jack’s nickname for her.

“Listen Payton, I’m
not here to socialize with you. We’ve got some serious things to
discuss.” Well, that doesn’t sound promising.

“Okay, hit me with
it.” I sit down, wanting to get this over with as quickly as
possible.

“I want you to end
things with Jack,” she says. Wow, this girl doesn’t beat around
the bush. She really gets down to business.

“Come again?” I
ask, wanting her to repeat what she just said. I want to make sure I
didn’t just imagine it.

“I want you to end
things with Jack.” Yep, she totally fucking said what I thought she
said.

“That’s what I
thought you said. I’m telling you right now, that’s not going to
happen, Isabelle,” I tell her flat out.

“I was afraid you
were going to say that.”

“Why do you hate me
so much? I mean yes, I acted like a crazy, jealous bitch when I saw
you guys at the restaurant, but I’ve apologized for that. It can’t
be just because of that.” I need to know the real reason why she
dislikes me so much.

“I don’t hate you,
but you’re not good for him.”

“What the fuck?”
Okay, now I’m starting to get pissed off at her. “You don’t
know a thing about me. How can you say that I’m not good enough for
him? I think Jack’s a pretty good judge of character, and he seems
to think I’m more than good enough.”

“Jack doesn’t need
to be with another girl that’ll end up ruining him,” she tells
me, like I should know what she’s talking about.

“I’m not following
you,” I return, totally confused now.

“Did he ever tell you
about Julie?” she asks.

“Julie? No, he
didn’t,” I answer, unease slithering up my spine. She better tell
me something soon because I’m starting to freak the fuck out here.

“Jack said it was
love at first sight. Julie was new to town. They met during their
senior year of high school, and he asked her out the minute he saw
her. He proposed to her during their prom, even though they’d only
know each other for nine months. She said yes. They were
head-over-heels in love with each other and excited about their
engagement and upcoming marriage. Because they were so young, Mom and
Julie’s parents finally managed to talk them in to waiting until
after they graduated college to get married. They reluctantly agreed.

Both of them attended
San Francisco State University together where he studied Criminal
Justice, and she studied Nursing. They rented a little apartment off
campus, and life was good for them for the first two years. During
his studies, Jack became obsessed with our father’s murder. The
detectives on the case said that it was just a random drive by, but
that didn’t sit well with him. He was convinced that things didn’t
add up about the shooting and started looking further into the case.
One evening, while Jack was here in Del Mar looking at evidence in
the cold case file, someone broke into their apartment. Julie came
home …”