Fire & Ice (The Locklaine Boys #1) (22 page)

“MORNING, PRINCESS!” TOMAS CHIRPED
as he walked through the door of Fire & Ice. “And how are we feeling this morning?”

“Tired,” I answered as I sucked down the last of my venti Macchiato. I could tell by his disappointed look that he was expecting me to be severely hungover this morning, but that wasn’t the case. I was pretty sure I had the hangover thoroughly fucked out of me last night at Griffin’s place. He spent hours “punishing me” after we left Rowan’s, and I was woman enough to admit I liked it so much I was already planning another night out with Navie just to make sure it happened again.

He made good on his word. My ass was definitely still feeling the effects of his handiwork. It wasn’t so painful that I couldn’t sit down, but I was able to feel him with every step I took as tiny twinges stung my butt cheeks whenever I moved. I’d been at the boutique for all of an hour and I was already drenched just from feeling that.

Tomas’s eyes narrowed as he scanned as much of me as he could, considering I was sitting behind the counter, chin in hand, trying not to fall asleep. “You dirty, dirty slut!”

“What?! What?!” I yelped, sitting up straight and looking around for what, I had no damn clue.

“You spent all last night getting punish-fucked, didn’t you?” His tone was a strange combination of admiration, shock, and accusation.

“Is that even a thing?”

He joined me behind the counter. “You know damn good and well it is, considering that’s what you spent all night doing!”

My cheeks heated and I could feel the flush creeping up my neck as I scanned the shop to make sure there as no one that could have overheard. “Will you shut up?” I whisper-yelled. “And how could you possibly know that?”

“It’s a gift,” he shrugged. “Some people can read auras, I’m able to see people’s sexuality.”

All I could do for several seconds was stare. “You know, sometimes you’re too gay for your own good.”

“Bitch, that’s what makes me
fabulous
.” He sang the last word as he snapped his fingers.

“Uh huh,” I grumbled as I stood from behind the counter. “You just keep being fabulous then. I’m going to the break room to get more coffee.”

I was about ten feet away when Tomas called out, “Don’t think you want to do that, sugar plum.”

I turned to face him. “And why’s that?”

With an evil smile and a point toward the door, he replied, “Because this is gonna be too much fun.” One second later Dex pushed through the door, followed closely by Griffin. It was the first time I’d been around my brother and him
together
since we started sleeping together, and if the devilish smirk on Griffin’s face was any indication, he was blatantly aware of my sudden discomfort.

“Shit,” I whispered to myself as I shuffled back behind the counter next to Tomas, trying my best to school my features and appear unaffected. “Hey guys. What brings you by?”
That sounded casual. I can totally pull this off.

“Well, I wanted to stop by to check on you since I wasn’t able to get to the station last night,” my brother answered. “I’ll spare you the lecture since I already know Rowan tore into you guys last night…” That wasn’t even
half
of my punishment from the night before. But he didn’t need to know that.

I ignored the choked laughter that came from Tomas. “Oh, well… thanks. As you can see, I’m all good.”

Griffin’s smirk grew into a brilliant smile as he thrust the paper coffee cup in his hand in my direction. “I brought you a little pick-me-up. I figured you’d be exhausted
this morning. You know, from being ripped into last night,” he added suggestively.

I didn’t ignore Tomas’s choked snort that time. Oh no. Instead, I stomped on his foot with the four inch heel of my black, patent leather Mary-Janes as I tried to melt Griffin’s face off with my eyes.

“Thanks,” I ground out, not sounding at all thankful. The jerk lived to push my buttons, whether we were sleeping together or not. Taking the coffee from him, I took a much needed sip, my earlier agitation quickly melting away when I realized he’d gotten me the very same coffee I order every time. Damn it. I hated when he did something sweet while I wanted to be pissed at him.

“How are Wendy and Ivy feeling?” I asked Dex in an attempt to ignore the way my body was beginning to react to being so near Griffin. Even when I was annoyed, his presence did something to me. Heat pooled low in my belly, a tingle began to build between my thighs, my breathing grew labored, and I swear, I could feel his eyes trailing along my skin like a gentle caress. All he was doing was standing still and grinning and it was almost too much.

“They’re getting better,” my brother answered, pulling me out of the hazy of lust I’d been momentarily tangled in. “Speaking of, I should probably call to check up on them. Gimme just a sec.” Stepping away, my brother tapped on his phone screen and held it to his ear. Using Dex’s distraction to his advantage, Griffin discreetly took hold of my elbow and guided me away from the register toward the dressing rooms at the back.

“What are you doing?” I whispered as he pulled me into a vacant room and shut the door. “He could have seen us.”

Griffin’s deep, rich voice rolled over me like a warm blanket. “Just relax. He didn’t see us. You know how your brother gets when he’s on the phone with Wendy. The man’s still got tunnel vision for that woman. Besides…” he leaned in close, the scent of his cologne going straight to my head. “I need a quick taste of you. It’ll get me through the day.”

I didn’t have time to respond before his mouth came down on mine in an intensely erotic kiss. His tongue forced its way past my lips to tangle with mine in a show of dominance that had my panties growing wetter with every passing second. His own deep growl mingled with the moan that travelled up my throat as we devoured each other. His rapid heartbeat pounded against my chest, matching my own. In just seconds I was lost to everything except Griffin. His touch, his taste, the delicious sounds building up from his chest. It was sensory overload.

“Hey, Pep!” The sound of my brother yelling my name yanked us both out of the moment so quickly I felt myself physically stumble against him as he pulled his mouth from mine.

“
Fuck
,” he breathed. “Sorry, sweetness. Got a little carried away.” He gently ran his fingers through my hair, smoothing down the disarray he caused in the heat of passion while I wiped at my lips, making sure the long-wear red hadn’t smudged. “I’ll go first,” I spoke softly as I reached up to caress his stubbly jaw. I just couldn’t help but to touch him. “I’ll tell him I was showing you where the bathroom was. Wait a couple minutes before you come out.” I planted one last kiss on his slightly swollen lips and ducked out of the dressing room.

“You bellowed?” I asked sarcastically once I made it back to Dex.

“Where’d you disappear to? And where’s Griff? You didn’t finally kill him did you?”

“Ha ha,” I glared. “I was just showing him where the bathroom was.”

One of Dex’s eyebrows went up. “Promise you didn’t drown him?”

I raised my own brow, mirroring my big brother’s expression. Just as I opened my mouth to issue a smartass response I felt Griffin’s presence return to the room and looked over my shoulder to see him sauntering our way. “See? Alive and well.”

“Hey,” Dex raised his hands in a placating gesture, “just had to make sure my boy was safe. Can you blame me?”

Griffin chuckled from behind me and I was seconds away from punching the both of them in the throat when Tomas’s excited voice cut in.

“Oh, Pepper,” he sing-songed. All three of our heads turned in his direction to find him waving my cellphone in the air. “Your phone just pinged with a text from Chance Hoffman.” Suddenly, the air around me grew dangerously thick. I could practically feel the negative vibe burning into my back as it radiated off of Griffin. I watched in fascinated horror as Tomas brought my phone down, flicked his thumb across the screen, and began the process of invading my privacy. I was going to murder the little flamer!

“He wants you to know he’s sorry for taking so long to reach out, but the case he’d been working on was a time suck. He also wants you to know that he’d be more than happy to grovel if it would get him a date with you on Friday.” Yep, Tomas was
so
dead. After I killed him I’d probably take the time to resurrect him just to kill him a second time.

That text couldn’t have come at a more inopportune moment. Honestly, I’d forgotten all about Chance until that very moment. Things with Griffin had been such a whirlwind that I’d concentrated on little else.

“Who’s Chance Hoffman?” Dex asked in a tone I’d been hearing since I turned thirteen, that over-protective-big-brother tone that made me roll my eye every time. That moment was no exception. With Griffin behind me and Dex in front, I was suddenly drowning in testosterone. And Tomas was determined to make the situation worse.

“He’s the
gorgeous
attorney who came in a while back. You should have seen how hot he was for our little Pepper here.” As he spoke—every fucking word an exaggeration of what had actually happened—his gaze bounced to Griffin. The little shit wasn’t just poking the bear. He was jabbing it with a goddamned tree trunk. And
I
was going to be the one dealing with the consequences.

“Are you gonna go out with this guy, sis?” Dex asked, completely ignorant to the fact that it felt like a bomb was about to go off any second.

“Uh…” I muttered uncomfortably. I had no intention of going on a date with Chance, but my tongue refused to cooperate and wouldn’t form actual words.

When Tomas chimed in with, “She already said yes,” I started planning my eulogy. Just in case I got away with his murder, I needed to put on an act that I was grieving the loss.

“Is that right?” Griffin’s menacing voice sent a shiver down my spine, and not in a good way.

“No! That’s not right,” I shot daggers at my soon-to-be-ex employee. “How could I have said yes to a date? I haven’t even heard from the guy until now!”

“What do you even know about this guy?” Dex cut in. “What kind of lawyer is he? How old is he? How do you know he’s not a serial killer?”

“Oh my God!” I shouted. “Just stop! I’m not going out with the guy, okay?”

My brother didn’t look convinced, but it wasn’t him I was worried about convincing. “Well, if you do decide to go out with him, tell me his last name so I can run a background check.”

“Yeah… I’m so not doing that,” I bit out.

He opened his mouth to respond just as his phone rang. Looking down at the screen, he muttered, “Shit,” before connecting the call. As he mumbled a few
yeah
s and
uh huh
s, I looked over my shoulder to try and gauge Griffin’s mood. Sure, he was smiling, but that smile did
not
promise good things. I swallowed audibly as Dex ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

“We gotta go, but this conversation isn’t over, sis.”

“It really, really is,” I replied as they headed for the door.

“Is not,” he argued over his shoulder.

“Is to or I’m gonna tell Wendy and Mom you’re nosing in my business!”

The two men left Fire & Ice with Dex grumbling how lucky Griffin was that he didn’t have a little sister.

Turning my attention to Tomas, I narrowed my eyes on him. “If I were you, I’d try my hardest not to fall asleep tonight,” I threatened in a quiet voice.

I snatched my phone away from him and stomped back to my sewing room, slamming the door shut just as my phone pinged with an incoming message.

Griffin: Be at my place by the time I get home. And don’t even think of bailing. I’ll hunt ur ass down and make last night look like nothing.

For the first time since he gave it to me a few days ago, I was expected to use the key to Griffin’s house. A key that, despite my nonchalant demeanor when he’d handed it over, made me jump and squeal inside like a teenage girl.

Another shiver trickled down my spine. This one
much
more enjoyable than the last. As I reread the message I couldn’t decide which would feel better, following the rules or breaking them.