Stone: At Your Service (Carolina Bad Boys #1) (25 page)

It wouldn’t do to sit around sulking all day in my cave-o’-dicks, so I headed out to get my grime on
after
I rolled up the poster. I snuck outside to Javier’s pick-up truck and picked the lock. Unrolled over his windshield like a sun shield, the assholes faced inward. Then I returned to the office and crammed the cocks into the top two empty drawers of a filing cabinet.

Satisfied that every last dildo was out of sight, I walked outside. The buzz of traffic on 17 and the hum of work inside the open garage bays were comforting. The same old cronies sat out front. Some of them were Dad
’s friends. Some from as far back as my granddaddy’s era. They were here for nothing more than people watching, old man gossiping, and shooting the shit. I’d even provided a few tables for them, umbrellas and all. They showed every day, setting up their checker- and chessboards. I was pretty damn sure money exchanged hands, but they kept it friendly. They ate my donuts, drank my coffee, used the facilities and were so deeply ingrained in the place they were family.

Stone
’s was family.

I greeted them with respectful handshakes. They called me sonny-boy with wide smiles in return.

It almost brought tears to my eyes.

I passed the benches, not listening to the women whispering as I walked by with a simple
“how-do”. I didn’t even look at them. I wasn’t looking for anything anymore. I’d found it all in Leelee and let her slip away.

Balling my fists, I headed to the Pit, bay one. That was where we
tackled the hard cases. I joined in on the ambulance the boys had promised to get back in business in forty minutes or less. Happy to be busy, my mind turned over like a well-tuned engine for a change instead of being hung up on Leelee. We rolled that big bastard out in thirty-five minutes, complete with interior detailing and exterior wash down.

Fist bumps all around.

I got stuck into the thick of the garage for the rest of the day. I’d be up to my eyeballs in bills and paperwork come the weekend, but for now, I was up to my elbows in grease. I worked the boys double hard and busted their nuts. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, and that hadn’t happened since I’d been with Leelee our final night in my bed.

After the last customer left, the open sign turned over, I headed out back. There was a strip of grass behind the garage, a couple picnic tables, and an icebox I
’d filled with beer, soda, and Popsicles during my lunch break. Ma showed up with hotdogs, hamburgers, a giant tub of slaw, and the kid. The boneheads presided out back as I fired up the grill.

The kid was hefted into the air and tossed around like a potato sack. I turned my back, and shook my head, listening to his squeals of laughter. By the time we sat down to chow down, he was already two Popsicles too far gone. I was
going to cut sugar out of his diet. Tomorrow. Just like I was gonna cut Leelee out of mine. The detox
would be “epic”, as Felicia would say.

That
’s when it slammed into me. I’d miss them all. The Hens—including Missy—the Widows. Most of all, Leelee. I tried not to imagine her here. It didn’t work. I knew she’d love it, especially the garage. Of course I’d have to blind motherfuckers so they didn’t stare at her perfect tits, but that wouldn’t be a hardship. I still had the tire iron handy.

Ma touched the side of my face.
“You miss her.”

I struggled to put it all into balance. I was grateful as hell for what I had. This was a good life, but one huge part was gone.
“Yeah, I do.”

I stared out over my friends and family, listening to their laughter and chatter. And I wanted more. 

****

Over the next couple of weeks Stone
’s was busier than ever, and I partnered with a new automotive parts company. Being so busy I was run ragged was good.  It kept my mind off Leelee: where she was, what she was doing, and hoping to high hell she wasn’t doing anyone else. On the weekends, I added the final touches to the house, like . . . Jesus. Was I nesting? What? Just in case Leelee walked through the front gate one day out of the clear freaking blue?

It didn
’t matter. Hope wouldn’t die. The last thing I had to do—after new curtains, color-matchy cushions, candles, and new crockery—was fix the loose toilet handle in the master bathroom. The handle Dad and I were supposed to repair the day he’d died.

Saturday evening, I put down my tools. I wiped my palms and gave
the flush a go. The bowl whooshed like a charm, no jiggling required. Some of the old ache uncoiled from my chest but it still hurt like a bitch.

After a shaky breath and a swipe under my nose, I opened two bottles of beer. Clinking them
together, I flopped onto the floor. I set one of the beers across from me. “Here’s to you, Pops. I’ll always love you.”

I leaned my head back and shut my eyes. I tried to remember what it felt like to hug
him. My shoulders shook and I let it go. I didn’t hear tiny feet approaching, didn’t know the kid watched me until I took another swig and peered around.

He popped his sucking finger out of his mouth.
“Daddy, why is you sittin’ in the bathroom, drinkin’ next to the potty?”

“
Why
are
you,” I corrected on reflex.

“
Huh?” The kid scratched that goddamn adorable cowlick. His Superman cape had been traded out for Batman. “And why is you weaking again?”

I pulled him onto my lap.
“I love you. And it’s okay to cry sometimes. I was thinking about your granddaddy. I miss him.”

“
Like I missed you in ’Lana?” His mousy voice twisted my heart and put it all back together again.

“
Yeah.” I pressed my nose into the back of that downy soft neck. I blew a raspberry, laughing when he giggled. “Something like that, kid.”

****

The house felt empty even with the homey touches I’d added. Even with the kid and his nonstop chatter from dawn to dusk. I couldn’t get Leelee out of my mind, and I couldn’t get in touch with her. Since the only thing I had from her were memories and
Ride
, I wound down each night by soaking in her words that were already part of my soul.

Jase found Ave huddled over in her room, the one she hadn’t slept in for two months. Two aching, beautiful, amazing months.

As usual, her bedroom was
tits-up, end-over-end. His lips twitched as he held in a laugh. “Watcha doin’?”

The night had fucked him over from start to finish, but not as much as her jerking shoulders while she struggled to pull together a
. . . a canvas bag full of clothes?

His amusement from moments before curdled on his tongue.
He tried again, this time sterner. “What the hell are you doing, Ave?”

Long brown
hair clung to her damp cheeks when she snapped her head around. “Are you still doing it?”

His confusion turned to coldness.
Fear ran through him like sharp shards of icicles injected into his veins. “Doing what exactly?”

“
You left your phone, I answered it.” The bag closed, she turned and stood. “Doing
them
. PS. You’re two hours late for your date with someone called M Delesseleine.”

Colder than fear, worse than shock, the instant loss of Avery immobilized him.

“Are you still whoring yourself out for money, sugah?”

Getting i
n her face because he’d rather deal with her fury than the grueling pain if she left him, he roared, “YES! Damn you, yes!”

Ave shrank back.

“You think I like it? Fucking those women? Getting bankrolled and bed-rolled by broads I couldn’t give a shit about? Do you think I wouldn’t rather be here, with you?” His fists clenched, released, clenched. “Who else is gonna pay the bills, huh? How else will I make this much, this fast, so I can still have time to study and finally get what I want!”

“
How can you slut around every night with a new . . . what? What am I supposed to call them, Jase?” She sent a ringing slap to his cheek when he didn’t answer. “How can you fuck them when you’ve never made love to me?”

“
I can’t be with you, Ave. I’m dirty inside.” His head bent, his whole body did too until he kneeled on the floor in front of her. Eyes shaded with loss, longing—the world of emotion inside them—found hers. “I’m too dirty for you.”

I put down my beer, inspected my hands. Oil stains were embedded beneath my short nails, turning the lines of my knuckles dark. Maybe I wasn’t good enough for Leelee. I wasn’t the smooth-talking Stone she’d met. I was just a car mechanic, a single dad . . . a lonely man.

“Have you forgotten I’m broken too? I’m broken without you.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “What do you want?”

“
I want you, Ave. Only you, always you . . .” He crawled closer.

She strained away
from him. “Is that where you were tonight? Did you double book? Lose your calendar?”

“
No.” His laugh held no mirth. Lifting his hands, he blew across bloodied, cracked knuckles. “I was kicking Duncan Locke’s ass, like I swore I would.” His heart found a new rhythm when she lifted his hand, kissing the swollen mess.

“
You’re hurt.”

He hooked his
discolored fingers under her chin. “Not as hurt as you. I’m sorry.”

“
Did Duncan apologize?”

“
Yeah, after he screamed like a girl. I only broke a couple ribs.” With his boots. Jase grinned, remembering the crunch of bones. “And his nose.”

“
Why?”

“
Because he took what wasn’t his. Because he tried to break you.” Jase’s throat closed tight and he wanted more of Ave’s hands, her embrace. He needed it to erase the image of her being fucked against her will. “Because you are a treasure. No one has that right. Fucking no one.”

“
I’m whole with you, Jase.”

A thick choking sound preceded him crushing her to him.

I got up from bed and opened a window. The curtains flipped against my bare legs.
Emotions similar to Jase’s spun through me until I crouched on the floor.

“You are so . . .” Ave’s words ran out for once.

“
Stupid?”

She
pressed small kisses all over his face, lastly to his lips. “So honorable.”

His gut clenched.
All those women. Night after night. Premeditated fucks. Dollar signs and decimals instead of names and phone numbers was what they added up to. “I’m not. Those women, they’re jobs. I don’t have fun. I fuck and get off ’em, get out.”

Ave
winced but stayed wrapped around him.

“
I’ll stop. It’s just you, it’s only ever been you, Ave. Just forgive me, forgive me, please.”

“
Yes. Always yes, Jase.” On her feet, she extended her hand. “Let’s clean you up, bruiser.”

After she
’d cleansed his hands, she unbuttoned his shirt. He shivered when she traced the muscled mass of his pecs, a lone finger trailing through the line of brown hair that bisected his abs.

Ave breathed a laugh
when his stomach muscles contracted under her touch. Half-lidded and heavy, that blue gaze found his. “Will you?”

“
Stop? Yeah, I said I would.” He shuddered through a long groan as she pushed the shirt from his shoulders.

She stood back in her white s
hirt, which was his white shirt. Dropping her hands from him, she removed her pants and panties. His ears hummed, blood rushed to his groin, engorging him. Heavy, round breasts filled out his shirt in a way that made the masculine cut insanely fucking sexy.

Ave touched the buttons of his jeans, beneath which his cock
stretched the faded fabric. “No, I meant, will you make love to me tonight, Jase?”

Avery popped the top button free, and this time her hands were sure.

****

He
picked her up, which was good because her knees gave out. In the bedroom—their bedroom
—
he sat on the edge of the bed. “Finish what you started.”

A moan skipped from
her throat. She knelt between his wide-open thighs and thumbed the last three buttons free.

Sounding harsh, Jase said,
“Take my cock out, Ave.”

Oh God, this was what she
’d wanted. Opening the jeans, her hand burrowed inside. He didn’t lift his hips or shift a muscle, he wouldn’t help her, she realized. Anticipation tightened her nipples into hard points and curled inside her belly. He groaned when she made contact, circling her fingers around his base, fingertips not meeting around that thick shaft. Lying on his belly, his cock was irresistible. The backs of her fingers glided up and then down while Jase watched, lips parted, breaths ragged.