Fire & Ice (The Locklaine Boys #1) (17 page)

He sucked down the last of his coffee and placed the cup in the sink before turning propping both hands on the counter and leaning in slightly. “I needed to be wherever you were when you finally woke up.”

“Why?”

“Because I think it’s pretty goddamned clear, after yesterday that we need to talk.”

I let out a sigh and looked down at the ginger cat in my lap, running my fingers through its hair to give my eyes something other than Griffin to focus on.

“Will you put the cat down, please?”

“But she’s comfy,” I argued, giving it a little squeeze and earning a loud purr. “We can talk with me holding the cat.”

“No we can’t,” he shot back.

I looked at him in bewilderment. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Am not,” he objected with a glare in the cat’s direction, like a big, ridiculous baby.

“What’s your problem with the cat? It’s
your
damn cat.”

“Because,” he answers vaguely, turning his head away, and uncomfortable expression on his face.

I lifted one brow high. “Because why?”

He pretended to wipe his mouth and mumbled something behind his hand before taking my coffee mug. “Need a refill?”

“Oh, no you don’t.” I hopped off the stool with the cat in my arms and followed after him as he hurried away. “What did you just say?”

“I’m scared of her, okay?!” I he practically shouted as he threw his hands in the air. There was no stopping it. I burst into laughter so loud the cat in my arms jumped, emitted an annoyed warning meow then settled back in.

“You’re
scared
of your own cat?!”

“Now who’d being an asshole?” he grumbled and he crossed his arms over his sexy, bare chest. “It’s not that damn funny. She was a rescue, all right? I found her in a dumpster on one of the scenes I was working. She was hurt and nearly starved to death. I felt bad so I took her to the vet and then brought her home with me when the vet couldn’t find a home for her.”

“Awww,” I cooed, because that was just too damn adorable. “That’s so sweet, Griffin! How could you be scared of cats after taking such good care of this one?”

“I’m not scared of
all
cats,” he replied with agitation. “I’m scared of
that
one. She’s an evil devil cat who hates me and gets a kick out of clawing the living fuck out of every human being she comes in contact with. Except you, apparently,” he finished with a disgruntled huff.

“She can’t be that bad,” I teased, bringing her close for a hug. “She’s so soft and cuddly. Looks like she hit every branch on the ugly tree as she fell out of it, but she’s sweet. I’m sure she doesn’t hate you.”

“Oh, it’s not just me she hates. She’s an equal opportunity hater of our entire species.”

I wrapped my arms around her fat belly and held her out. “Here. Pet her.”

“No,” Griffin answered as he took a step back.

“Come on,” I coaxed as I tried my hardest not to laugh. “Just pet her. I swear, she’s not going to hurt you.”

I spoke to soon. Obviously trusting me at my word, Griffin slowly extended his hand in the cat’s direction. He was just inches away when she let out the most feral sound I’d ever heard from a housecat before hissing and rapidly batting at him like she hoped to take a few fingers off.

“Holy shit!” I shouted, dropping the pissed-off feline on the floor. She took off to parts of the house unknown as I stared after her in shock. “What a bitch!”

“Told you so!” Griffin declared.

“Oh my God,” I whispered. “Why do you keep her?”

He simply shrugged like it was nothing. “Honestly, I’m scared if I tried to get rid of her I’d wake up in the middle of the night and find her there, ready to kill me in my sleep. I’ve had her about a year and I think we’ve finally come to an understanding. I feed her and clean her litter box and she doesn’t slit my throat with her wolverine claws.”

I snorted at the hilarity of the entire situation. Griffin Locklaine was a big ‘ole softy who rescued a cat that hated him and couldn’t bring himself to get rid of her. That. Was. Awesome. “So what’s her name?”

Griffin’s discomfort suddenly returned as he answered, “PJ.”

“PJ?” I asked, my brows furrowing. “What’s that stand for?”

“Pepper Julianne,” he admitted sheepishly.

Once I picked my jaw up off the floor I was able to ask—well, screech, really, “You named your bitch cat after
me
?!”

His arms came up in exasperation again. “Well, can you really blame me? You’re both redheads who hate my guts and thrive on torturing me! It seemed fitting at the time!”

“I don’t hate you,” I told him, feeling some of my anger deflate just a little bit. “At least not all the time.” I gave him a small smile.

He smiled back and stepped closer, brushing a piece of my disheveled hair behind my ear. It wasn’t until that very moment I realized just how little clothing I was wearing and how haggard I must have looked. My cheeks heated with embarrassment as I tried to break eye contact. He had other plans, taking light hold of my chin so I couldn’t look away.

He stared at me reverently. “How are you so beautiful all the fucking time?” I didn’t have an answer, but he wasn’t expecting one. “We still need to talk, sweetness. But you should know the only outcome from that talk is you spending the rest of the day in my bed with my cock buried deep inside you.”

My entire body heated, my nipples growing hard beneath my shirt. “You seem awfully confident,” I blustered.

“One thing you have to learn about me, Pepper. When I want something there’s nothing I won’t do to get it.”

MY ATTEMPT AT GETTING
space by claiming I needed to go home to shower and brush my teeth was derailed when Griffin pulled a spare, packaged toothbrush out of his medicine cabinet and gave me a pair of his boxers and an oversized t-shirt to wear.

He was adamant that we
talk
. Of course I’d be attracted to the only man in earth who didn’t break out in hives at the very idea. It was just my luck that the man I desperately wanted to sleep with wanted to discuss our ugly past before putting out.

I lost track of how long I stood beneath the spray in Griffin’s shower, letting the water wash away the last remnants of my hangover. After that, I stayed under the water in an effort to avoid the uncomfortable
talk
I knew was coming. It wasn’t until the water ran cold that I was forced to climb out or risk freezing to death.

I pulled on the too-big clothes, having to roll the boxers at the waist to keep them up, and tossed my damp hair into a loose bun on the crown of my head. “You don’t have a hair dryer,” I stated as I walked into the living room where he was sprawled out on the couch, eyes on the TV.

“Seeing as this is my place, I’m already aware I don’t have a hair dryer,” he replied with a cheeky smirk, his eyes on the television the entire time.

“What normal person doesn’t own a friggin’ hair dryer?” I argued for the sake of arguing. As he sat up, his abs bunched in a way that made goose bumps break out across my skin. I silently counted the ridges of his abdomen and my eyes grew wide when I counted eight.
Eight
! Apparently a six-pack wasn’t good enough for Griffin Locklaine. Oh no, the man needed a freaking eight-pack.

His baritone voice snapped me from my haze and pulled my attention back to his face. “A person who doesn’t have enough hair on his head to warrant spending money on a useless appliance. Why spare the cash on a dryer when I take exactly enough time in the mornings to towel dry my hair before heading out the door?”

Son of a bitch
, I thought.
Of course he just walks out the door looking that good every day
! It made me want to hate him just a little bit. That was, until he continued.

“But seeing as it seems important to you, and I don’t want you to have another excuse not to come over, I’ll pick one up during work tomorrow.” Shit. That was really sweet. I didn’t want to think about just how sweet that was. He propped his crossed ankles onto the coffee table and crossed his arms. “Now, are you done finding pointless things to argue about in the hopes of distracting me from our talk, or are you ready to get it over with so we can go back to my room and fuck each other stupid?”

Ignoring the burn his lewd words ignited inside of me, I glared at him as I took a seat in the chair across from him. “Fine. Talk,” I told him petulantly. “But I’ve got news for you. Nothing’s changed since I told you I needed space. I was drunk last night, Griffin.”

“My mom always told me a drunk mouth speaks sober truths,” he replied.

“Yeah, well here’s another age old adage for you. A horny woman who imbibes too much will get naked for just about anyone.”

He stared at me for just a second before moving. In the blink of an eye he shot forward, wrapping his strong hands around my waist and hauling me out of the chair and into his lap faster than I could let out a startled gasp. “What the hell, Griffin?!”

He ignored me and settled back, relaxing into the sofa. “And who were you horny for, sweetness?”
Damn it
! The son of a bitch knew me too well. His deep chuckle resonated through my body when I refused to answer or make eye contact. “Thought so.”

My head snapped his way at that. “You don’t have to be an asshole, you know.” As I straddled the massive hunk of man, I had no doubt I looked like a bratty child, sitting with my arms crossed and a sour expression.

Griffin heaved a heavy sigh, lifting his hands and scrubbing at his face before dropping them to my waist in a soft hold. “Look, I don’t want to argue with you, okay? All we’ve been doing for the past four years is arguing—”

“And whose fault is that?” I asked indignantly.

“You think I don’t know it’s my fault?” he asked sharply as his fingers dug into my skin. “I know it’s my fucking fault, okay? And if you’d just quit arguing for one
goddamned second
maybe I’d have a chance to explain that when I left your apartment that morning, I did it with every intention of coming back.”

“That’s such—wait, what?” I tripped over my words, having geared up to shoot down his bullshit excuses. I most certainly hadn’t imagined he would say something like
that
.

“I got called out to work and didn’t want to wake you, so I left a note. I planned on coming back.”

My brows tipped as my face fell into a frown. “But you didn’t,” I whispered, unable to mask the hurt in my soft voice.

“I know,” he responded just as softly.

“You didn’t even call,” I continued, my voice growing stronger along with my indignation. “You left a shitty note and I never heard a word from you. Then a week later I see you on a date with some woman like I meant less than nothing.” I tried my hardest to keep the tears from brimming over my eyes, but it was pointless. One fell anyway.

Griffin reached up to brush it away, his lips parting to speak, but I wasn’t finished. “I get that you didn’t want to be with me.
Believe me
, after that morning, I got it loud and clear, but did you have so little respect for me that you couldn’t even be bothered to shoot me a fucking text? For Christ’s sake, I’ve known you since I was twelve! I know we hardly ever talked, but I thought the fact that my brother was your best friend would mean
something
!”

By the time I finished my rant, my chest was heaving with each breath. I hadn’t even realized I’d been so worked up. Griffin’s entire body was frozen solid as he stared up at me in his lap, his expression a mask of guilt and regret. “I did want you,” he said adamantly.

“Bullshit!”

“I did! I swear to God, I did!” His hands flexed, his fingers pressing even harder into my hips.

“Then what happened, huh? Why’d you turn into a total fucking prick and blow me off?” My tone was angry and full of incredulity.

“I got called out that morning. The whole way there I was trying to come up with a way to tell Dex about us. I didn’t have a fucking clue what I was doing, but I knew that whatever was happening between us was something I wanted to explore further. And I couldn’t do that without talking to your brother.”

“Was he against it?”

He paused, the war waging inside of him written all over his face. “I didn’t even get the chance to tell him. Somehow, the conversation turned to setting you up with someone he knew and he all but laughed in my face at the suggestion. He basically said none of his friends were worthy of being with you and he’d shoot any one of them who tried. After that I just… I couldn’t do it.”