Stare Me Down (Stare Down) (24 page)

“You are bad.” She relaxed for a moment and then went full on serious again.

“Now what?”

“I was just thinking we could switch things up a little. How about you come on me?”

His heart pounded.

“We’ll be in the shower.”

His pulse raced when she pressed her lips against his ear and whispered, “I think I’d like it. Wouldn’t you?”

“Oh yeah. I know for sure I’d love that.”

A few hours later at the bowling alley he and Jaxx were tied one-all with Dan and Marsha. While Jaxx was striving for a spare to pull ahead, Aries was distracted, still thinking about how good his cock had felt pressed between her breasts. How she’d pushed the rounded globes together, making some serious cleavage as she slid the soapy sides up and down his length. Angling occasionally to tease his balls with her hardened nipples and making him—

“Okay, big guy, now that I nailed the spare we need either another one to move forward for sudden death or give me a strike and they’ll be toast. No offense.” She shot that last sentence out of the corner of her mouth to Marsha when she sat down next to her.

“Well I’ll be damned, Aries. You finally found a woman who can rival you in the competitive department,” Marsha laughed and shook her head.

“Could spell trouble.” Dan patted his wife’s shoulder and looked over at Jaxx, “You don’t happen to play golf, do you?”

Aries didn’t like the way Jaxx crossed her arms, resting them on the table before she smiled and leaned in. It was as if she were warming up to the subject and, being that the subject was golf, he wasn’t sure he was going to like what he heard.

“Why yes I do. I play that better than I bowl.”

Dan gave out a low whistle while Aries tried to keep his expression unreadable. The last thing he wanted was for Jaxx to find out he had this thing about his golf game. Yeah, she could beat him at anything. Everything. He’d even help to make that happen, but when it came to that particular game? It was sacred. Indian burial ground sacred.

He stared at Dan and Dan stared at him while he saw Jaxx out of the corner of his eye splitting her attention between them.

“Gee, did I say something wrong?”

Marsha burst out laughing. “I want to be a fly on the cart when you guys play your first game. Please, please, please.”

Aries ignored her and focused in on Jaxx. When she turned to look up him he felt like an ass. She was adorable with her hat on backward‌—‌well, it wasn’t a hat per se, it was one of those fancy French cap things. A beret, he thought they called it. It was grey and looked totally awesome on her. Yeah, with the band that was supposed to be in the back, cleanly stretched across her forehead and beautifully framing her face, her eyes appeared to be twice the size they usually were. The sight made him forget all about his golf fixation for the moment.

“Wrong? No.” He shook his head. “It’s all good. So we need a strike do we?”

“I can taste that mint chocolate ice cream already.”

“You know what I taste?” he asked as he scooped up a ball and got set. “I taste victory.”

He winked and she blushed. God, he loved that. It gave him just the boost he needed to hurl that ball dead center down the lane to take down every last pin.

“Yaaaay!”

He spun around knowing he was grinning like a fool, but one look at Jaxx beaming as she clapped and he didn’t give a shit what he looked like. He just opened his arms wide and caught her up high when she launched herself into them. Turning around with her as she laughingly chimed, “We won. We won. We’re so good, we won.”

“What do you mean no rematch?” Jaxx was teasing Dan he ate his sundae a half hour later at The Slab. She was having so much fun she didn’t think anything could spoil her good mood until…

“Is there a problem?” This was the third time she’d asked Aries in the last fifteen minutes. She’d just finished her cone and, if she didn’t misread his body language, Aries already had one foot out the door. And, damn it all to hell, she knew why.

“No. I just think it’s time I drop you home.”

“I thought you were coming back to my place?” She wasn’t going to say more than that, although she wanted to. From the moment he got his “urgent text,” she was suspicious. She’d heard him tell Marsha it was Sharon, but when she’d asked him about it, he just said it was work. Yeah, right. He’d already told her his club wasn’t open on the holiday. Clearly he’d forgotten that fact.

No wonder Maggie’s words began to echo repeatedly in her mind almost deafening her. Then when Aries excused himself and went outside to make another “private” call she saw red. She barely heard what Marsha was saying but when Dan spoke up she paid attention.

“It’s nice Aries has found himself a normal gal for a change.”

“Dan!”

Dan tossed his napkin into the waste basket and said, “What? It’s the truth.” He looked at Jaxx and asked, “You have any tattoos?”

“No.” Jaxx grinned and shook her head because she was pretty sure Marsha was going to brain him.

“Dan Vancello. Normal women have tattoos.”

“Not all over their arms, neck and God knows where else.”

The look on Marsha’s face was comical. Her expression went from shocked to completely mortified. “It’s okay, Marsha, I won’t judge you the way I’m judging him right now.” Jaxx grinned so they’d both know she was kidding, well…‌sort of.

“What?” Dan blinked. “What did I say?”

Marsha smacked him and Jaxx laughed, “Although I’m not a big fan of tattoos for me, I’ve seen some beautiful ones on other women.”

He made a “So there!” face at his wife and said, “See? Normal.” Then he turned and leaned forward to loudly whisper, “We’d almost given up on him.”

Jaxx should have been pleased that they approved of her. She should have said something, but Marsha’s rebuttal stopped her.

“What the hell is wrong with you today? That’s not a nice thing to say either.” To Jaxx she said, “Dan shouldn’t be speaking about other women that Aries—” she turned and smacked her husband on the arm again, “—you’re such a jackass.”

“It’s okay.”

“What’s okay?” Aries came and slid in beside Jaxx, but before she could answer him big mouth Dan did.

“Jaxx was just saying how much she hates tattoos.”

“I was n—”

“And I was telling her how great that was as the last girl you brought bowling looked like a walking atlas.”

Aries stood as if they weren’t in the middle of a conversation. In fact his face was so expressionless, Jaxx kept a speculative eye on him. Interesting. Was this another one of his weaknesses? Girls with tattoos?

“We have to go.”

“Listen man,” Dan stood and held up a hand, “I was only yanking your chain. It was a joke. Shar was great.”

Shar? He’d brought her bowling too? Probably on a rained out golf day as well. Had they spent a lazy morning in bed fucking their brains out? What if they had?

Those thoughts made her swallow hard.

Now Maggie’s warning was gaining power until it haunted her so badly that by the time they left and she got into the car with Aries, she was now convinced he was going to see wild Shar, probably his ex-girlfriend, instead of coming to her place like he promised. She might not be all that wild but she’d taken steps, done things and said things all because she believed in him and now?

“Is this a family matter?”

“No. Business. Did you have fun?”

“Yes.” The polite thing to do would be for her expand her answer or be a little more enthusiastic as she’d had a blast right up until he got that mysterious text, but she was feeling like shit and she wanted him to know it. If she had the guts she should come right out and asked him, but she was too afraid to hear his answer.

“You’re a good bowler.”

She didn’t say anything to that. She just stared out the window.

“Did you like the ice cream?”

“It was okay.” Which wasn’t true at all. It was the best. Here again, she didn’t feel like saying anything was enjoyable at the moment.

“Do you always sulk when things don’t go your way?”

Now she turned to glare. “No I only sulk when a man breaks his promise to me.” She didn’t add ‘and ditches me for the rest of the day to be with another woman’.

“Ah,” was all he said and she wasn’t going to press him further.

He’d had plenty of opportunity to tell her who the woman was and to tell her truthfully where he was going. Clearly he didn’t want to.

And she had plenty of time to think about that as things remained quiet between them until she couldn’t take it anymore. “I was really looking forward to that spanking. You remember about the promise you made this morning, don’t you? Maybe we can reschedule that when you’re not so busy.”

“It’s not that I’m too busy. I told you, I have to deal with something at the club.”

She bit back the bitchy retort that came to her of “the club isn’t even open today” and offered, “Well, if it’s that important, drop me off at the nearest bus stop. Look, there’s one now.” She pointed.

“Jaxx.”

His deep tone sent those familiar warning sirens blaring in her head. Crossing her arms over her chest, she sank back in the seat and fumed. She had absolutely no idea why she was behaving this way.
Yes, you do. You were looking forward to spending the evening with him and now he’s cancelling on you to see another woman. Just like he’d done that last time after the football game. You knew this was too good to be true. A guy like him interested in a woman like you. Maggie was right. You’re going to be hurt. Bad.
She took a deep breath in an attempt to ignore that little voice inside screaming,
You’re not important to him, but wild Shar is
, and looked out the window. They’d be to her place soon. Maybe she should do the grown-up thing and apologize despite how awful she was feeling. He wasn’t to blame for all the personal shit she carried.
He’s contributing to it though.

“Why are you turning here? My place is three streets up.”

“I know.”

A shiver ran through her at his husky tone. She recognized it. It was the one he’d used in the shower that night.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

When he pulled into Monroe Park, her pulse rushed into high gear and she couldn’t help herself. “I thought you had to deal with something important at your club?”

He parked and then turned off the car before he eyed her. “I have to deal with something important here first.”

She couldn’t breathe. Too late, it occurred to her that she’d just behaved like a child starving for attention. Even the bad kind. One look at him as he walked around the front of the car, and she decide to analyze that thought later. Right now she needed to have all her wits about her when he opened her door.

The second he did she blurted, “Who’s wild Shar?”

He scowled and stepped back. “I don’t like this, Jaxx.” He looked away and ran his hand through his hair, staring off in the distance while he probably plotted a way to end things with her.

“I’m sorry.” She turned and scooted toward him in the seat but didn’t get out. “I had no right to ask that. It’s just that…”

He looked down at her. “What?”

“What are you doing with me? Really? Even Dan and—”

“I’m going to forget you asked me that as you should know the answer already. You need to have more faith. In yourself and your choices. You need to have faith in me. No man wants a woman who questions her own judgment. A real man wants a woman who knows her worth.”

“I trust my judgment.”

“If you did, you wouldn’t keep asking my why I’m with you. It’s as if you’re two people. You’re a confident, adventurous and sassy woman when I give you my attention, but the moment I step back you go into yourself and start doubting. Be careful, Jaxx. You have people in your life who like the self-doubter in you. That side of you makes them feel all-powerful.”

“You mean Maggie? I’ve dealt with her over this already.”

“I mean anyone who lets you behave the way you just did without calling you on it. I’m not one of those people, so I’m definitely calling you on it.”

“You’re calling me on it? I’m not the one at fault here. You’re the one who’s breaking plans.”

“For business. It can’t be helped. You know I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to.”

She snorted.

“Jaxx.”

That sent a shiver right through her and she figured it was time to come clean with what was really bothering her. “I can’t help it. I’m jealous of wild Shar.”

“Wild Shar, huh? I gather you got that nickname from Aaron? He’s the only one who calls her that.” He took off her cap, brushed her bangs to one side and tossed the hat on the dash. “Now out you get.” He held the door opened for her and when she exited, she suddenly felt shy and excited at the same time. Maybe he was right about when he gave her his attention. Good or bad. Here she was excited on some level and if his demeanor was any indication to the attention she was going to receive from him, it was going to be all bad for her.

Yes, he was so calm and purposeful, tight-lipped too, because he still hadn’t shared who wild Shar was.
Right.

“Are you going to tell me who she is?”

“No.”

So she remained quiet as they walked until the silence got to her again. She hated it. “It’s secluded and still around here.”

“Yes, it’s very private at the best of times and with the earlier rain it’s even more so. That’s why I brought you. I never understood why they built this children’s playground. It’s surrounded by three separate retirement communities. No kids ever come to play. Not unless someone brings them.”

He led them over to the merry-go-round and stopped. The dreary afternoon shadows made it seem later than it was but there was plenty enough light to see the free-standing squared-off bars that dotted the platform of the ride. The bars were bright yellow, while the base was Bubblegum pink.

“Get on.”

She didn’t move. “Why?”

“Look at me.”

She really didn’t want to as she knew his expression would heat her up or piss her off.

“Jaxx.”

Own the moment.
“Yes?”

“I don’t want you to ask me why anymore. You can form a full question when something bothers you, but don’t ask why. It’s wearing on me. You never ask it at the appropriate time.”