Connelly's Flame (25 page)

and curled up on it. Her eyes closed as she allowed the tears to continue to fall.

Ross ran into the shop. Charmane had been so excited when she told him that Dezarae had said they

were still working on the details about her being able to stay with her while he was gone. Panic surfaced as

he knew he hadn’t said a word to Dezarae about it yet.
What was she going to say?

Skidding to a stop, he looked around. His gray eyes moved to the Citroёn and realized he didn’t see

her under or around it. He looked about the shop; not spying her anywhere, he began to fear the worst.

Suddenly his ears picked up on a sound that broke his heart. Crying. And he knew the person

emitting it. Remembering she had said there was a bed in the back, Ross moved in that direction.

He stopped in the doorway and looked down at the woman crying on the bed. She wore a pair of

black jeans, gray shirt, and a pair of hiking boots. Her coveralls were in a ball on the floor. A hat was on the

pillow beside her, allowing her hair to be free.

“Dezarae,” he whispered.

“Go away, Mr. Connelly,” her tortured words fell.

“Let me explain, Dez,” he pled.
I never knew how much I would hurt hearing her call me Mr.

Connelly.

Sitting up, Dezarae glared at him. “There is nothing for you to explain, Mr. Connelly, I understand

everything perfectly.” She stood up, gathered her hair back under her hat, and shoved past him, picking up

her coveralls on the way. “There is nothing left for us to say.”

I am not letting it hang like this between us.
Ross grabbed her arm and stopped her. “I have

something to explain.”

Wrenching free from his grasp, she hissed, “I don’t give a damn what you have to say. I get it now.

Sleep with the stupid bitch and get her to feel sorry for my position, then maybe she will be kind enough to

watch my kid while I am gone.”

Ross closed his eyes against the unconcealed pain on her beautiful sepia face. He felt lower than a

snake’s belly.
No, no, no! It’s not like that at all, give me a chance.
“Please,” he said opening his eyes.

“I have nothing to say to you.” Her face was devoid of emotion as she stared at him, totally deadpan.

“I would, however, be more than happy to watch Charmane while you are gone.” She moved past him,

pulled on her jumpsuit, and disappeared under her car.

“Damn it!” He swore as his eyes followed her subdued motions back into the main part of her shop.

Frustrated beyond belief, he ran his hand over his face and swore again. Part of him wanted to grab her and

lock them both in a room until it was worked out but he had to let her work through this on her own. Pushing

her would only backfire.

So he did what he knew he could do, what he had been trained to do. Wait. Silently he jumped up

onto one of her worktables and focused his attention on her legs that were sticking out from under the car she

worked on.
You are in for a big surprise, Firebird, if you think I am going to give up that easily.

With a last wrench of her ratchet, Dezarae rolled herself out from the car and stood. She leaned into

the car and started the engine, listening. Totally into her work once again, she didn’t even notice the man

sitting, waiting for her to finish so he could claim her attention.

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Pressing buttons, she made sure the hydraulics were all working. Then she turned it off and patted

the hood. “Good job, Frenchie. I will work on your body more tomorrow. I have some paperwork to attend

to.”

Stripping off her coveralls, she rolled them up and carried them with her as she moved through the

shop. She needed to wash them. “I don’t want to go back to the house,” she muttered. “I will do some

paperwork out here.” With one strong throw, she heaved her dirty coveralls toward the door and walked back

to her desk.

Grabbing a bottled water along the way, she set it down on the large platform as she rolled herself in

close. She began to fill out order forms and answer letters. Her phone rang and she picked it up with a

professional, “Phoenix Restorations and Rebuilds, this is Dezarae. Can I help you?”

Ross growled low as he heard the joy in her voice as the conversation continued. “Hey, Jack, what

up?” Dezarae laughed, a deep husky laugh. “No, not yet. I am looking forward to that.”
It would take one hell

of a situation to get me to sell my Shelby.

Dezarae really enjoyed spending time with Jack. He had asked her out to his yacht for a weekend. “I

don’t know if I can get away, Jack. I have to check and see if I can. I would love to spend some time with

you on your yacht, but I have these cars to finish.”

Setting her pen down on the desktop, she smiled as she shook her head. “I am not trying to avoid

you. I have to keep my business going. Not all of us were born rich.” She laughed again, “Okay, I have to

talk to Tank and I will get back to you. Bye, Jack.” Dezarae hung up the phone.

“I’ll be damned if I let you go out with that man, Dez,” Ross snarled, materializing by her side.

Even though he scared the hell out of her, Dezarae was still full of feelings of betrayal. “You don’t

have any say whatsoever about whom I go out with, Mr. Connelly.” Her words were clipped.

“The hell I don’t,” he raged as he boldly lifted her out of the chair and tossed her over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” Dezarae screeched as her stomach connected with his shoulder blade.

“I don’t think so. I have some explaining I want to do and you
are
going to listen to me.” One strong

arm latched across the backs of her thighs, holding her prisoner. Ross strode determinedly from the shop,

across the yard, and up the steps to her house, ignoring all of Dezarae’s protesting cries. So furious was he at

the thought of her going out with Jack, he just about kicked in her door.

The front door flew open with a bang, jerking Charmane’s attention up from the book she was

currently reading. Charmane stayed silent as her father marched through the house carrying a still-struggling

Dezarae. Her brown eyes were wide as she saw her daddy ignore all the screams from the woman he held.

His own eyes were narrowed with determination and unwavering purpose.

As soon as they appeared, they were gone and she heard the slam of another door and felt extremely

nervous. When they had been married, her parents had always fought, but he had never seen that much grit

on her father’s face when he dealt with her mama.

Charmane had known she had messed up by speaking out of turn to Dezarae, but she had truly

believed her father had already said something to her. The look of panic that had crossed his face told her he

hadn’t mentioned it. “I am so stupid,” she said as her hand wiped away a fearful tear that had begun to travel

down her face. “I really messed things up between them.”

Unsure of how to fix the situation, she put the book down on the coffee table and walked down the

hall to stop before Dezarae’s closed bedroom door. Sliding down the smooth wood, she sank to the floor as

her ears listened in on the angry voices that filtered through the door.

“You bastard,” Dezarae seethed, “Put me down.” Her throat hurt from all of her yelling. Not that it

had any effect, she had been yelling at him since he had tossed her over his shoulder and he had totally

ignored her the whole way.

The bedroom door shut with a harsh slam. Ross dropped her to land on her bed and he stood before

her, legs braced shoulder-width apart. Powerful arms crossed over his defined chest bringing her attention to

the distinct muscles everywhere on his body.

“You will listen to me, Dezarae,” he vowed.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say,” she screeched. “For all I know, it is just another lie

to try and get me to feel for your situation more.”

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“I wouldn’t use how I feel for you for that. EVER!” he snapped, gray eyes darkening with rage.

“Right, so how is it that suddenly you are going to ask me about watching Charmane while you are

gone? It seems pretty sudden after you got in my bed,” her accusation rang.

“I belonged in your bed a long time before I got there,” he swore. “I have been running over this in

my head for a long time, ever since I got the missive that you had her with you. I trusted you then and I trust

you now. Why wouldn’t I want my most precious possession with the woman I trust and love?” His

declaration was accompanied by gesticulation.

Girl, he just said he loved you.
“I don’t believe you,” she claimed, climbing off the bed and walking

towards the door, only to be faced once again by an immoveable Navy SEAL.

“You aren’t leaving this room, Dezarae, until we get through this,” he promised in a low voice. “And

what the hell don’t you believe?”

“What you said. Look, I already said I would be more than happy to keep Charmane with me. I

really enjoy her company. But, like I told you before, don’t treat me like an idiot and think I don’t know

when someone is lying to me.” Dezarae stomped away from him to flop down in a chair, realizing that her

leaving the room was out of the question.

Ross moved back against the door and sank to the floor. His eyes softened as he looked at the

woman who felt she had been terribly wronged. “I don’t think you are an idiot, Dez, but you are wrong. I am

not lying to you. I trust and love you more than I ever thought I would any woman ever again.”

“No!” she yelled as she jumped up from her chair.

Brows furrowed in confusion. “No, what?”

Eyes were almost black as she clomped towards him. “You don’t love me; don’t lie to me like that!”

A deaf man could have heard the pain in her voice.

Gray eyes darkened as thunderheads moved in, “Don’t tell me how I feel. I know what love is. And I

love you.”

“Whatever,” she scoffed, turning away before she saw the hurt move over his features. “I don’t

believe you, Mr. Connelly.”

Ross rose in one smooth movement and was behind her before she could blink. “If I didn’t give a

damn about you, why am I insisting we find a way to work through this?” He spun her around to face him.

“How should I know? To make sure I don’t change my mind about Charmane.”

Looking into her face, Ross knew there was no way he was going to reach her right now. She was so

wrapped up in her own pain from his betrayal that anything and everything he said would only be thought of

as a lie. Still, he had to try one more time, “I love you, Firebird. I loved you before I got my memory back

and I will love you until the day I die.”

Ross picked her up, this time scooping her up into his arms and carrying her over to the bed. She

didn’t struggle; she didn’t do anything. Dezarae just sat in his arms like a stone.

He laid them both on the bed and his grip tightened around her as he refused to let her wriggle free.

Over and over, he declared his love for her. The words were soft and spoken directly into her ear but he

never stopped telling her.

Eventually, her stiffly-held body began to relax in his embrace. Ross knew the moment she fell

asleep and, as his hand moved through her thick tresses, he closed his eyes against his own stupidity. He had

almost lost her…he still may have.

“I love you, Dezarae,” He pledged as her soft breath lulled him into a restful slumber.

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Ross woke alone. Wide awake within seconds, he was moving out of the room and up to the living

room searching for Dezarae. There was no one in the house but as he made it to the front porch, he stopped

in amazement.

Charmane and Dezarae were outside together. Dezarae was working with her, helping her to drive

better. She was coaching the child as she made turns around the front yard in Dezarae’s old Rover.

The sight of them together warmed his heart. Jogging down the steps, he moved towards the women

who made the sun shine for him. Dezarae was leaning in the driver’s window talking to his daughter as he

approached.

“So this is where you two ran off to,” Ross said as he stopped beside Dezarae.

“She is helping me drive better, Daddy,” Charmane said.

“I can see that, Baby.” He turned his gray eyes to the woman beside him and found himself looking

at someone who still felt betrayed. There was no forgiveness in her gaze as she met his eyes briefly before

putting her attention back on his child.

“That’s all, Charmane,” Dezarae interjected, “take her around when you are ready.” Then she

stepped away from Ross, needing to keep her distance.

Ross felt her wall going up as she stepped away from him. Part of him wanted to let her have time,

but most of him didn’t. He was going to fight for her all the way. “Good luck, Baby,” he whispered to his

daughter and stepped away so she could begin driving again. Then he walked over to where Dezarae stood

watching Charmane. “We aren’t done talking.”

“Like I said before, I don’t want to hear what you have to say, Mr. Connelly.” He was treated to a

very professional, unemotional voice.

“Don’t call me that.” His arms crossed over his chest as he too kept his eyes on his daughter.

“It’s that or nothing.”

“You’re pushing me, Dezarae.” Ross warned as Charmane made another turn.

“You know what? I don’t give a damn. You fucking used me,” she attacked.