Secrets Behind Those Eyes (5 page)

Why is she working at a place like
this? I see men watching her like a damn fox in a hen house. She
hasn’t realized I’m here and I’d really like to keep it that way.
Well, until I see that drunk asshole putting his hands on
her.

I make my way over and I hear her
diffuse the situation by telling him she’s in a relationship. So
I’m gonna stay back. Then the guy grabs her ass again. I’m close
enough to hear what he’s saying now.

“You sure you won’t cheat on that
boyfriend of yours?”

I step up behind Scarlet without
letting her know. “I don’t think her boyfriend would like that.”
She spins around and I wink. I almost see relief wash across her
face. “Hey, Scarlet, baby. Is your shift about over?”

She smiles. “No, hon, I have a couple
of hours left.”

“Okay, well, I’ll be over there
waiting on you.”

I hear the drunk as I’m walking off.
“Damn lucky son of a bitch. Hey, if you ever want a real man let me
know.”

I have to smile when I hear her say,
“Yeah. Thanks but no thanks.”

I walk back over to the corner I was
standing in and watch. Soon she makes her way over to me.
“Hey.”

I nod. “Hey,” I say,
trying to ignore the uncomfortableness
in my
pants.

“Thanks for your help over there. I
really don’t want to punch someone and lose my job on my first
night.”

“No problem. I’ll be over here when
you’re ready to go. You know, to keep up appearances.”

She looks back over her shoulder and
smiles. “Oh yeah. Thanks.”

I’d only planned on being
here for a beer or two but I can’t leave her. Just watching her
does something to me. I can’t seem to shake her from my mind. Why
do I care if guys hit on her? Why did I want to rip that guy’s head
off for groping her? Why am I still standing here waiting for her
to get off? I watched that asshole’s friends carry him out of here
over an hour ago. But I have to stay and talk to her which watching
her take off her apron tells me it’ll be soon.

Never mind I need to go. I
gotta get out of here. I start making my way to the door. I make it
out the door and almost to my jeep when I hear my name.

“Hey, Ryder.”

Shit. I turn around. “Hey.”

“Thanks for helping with that guy
tonight.”

“Yeah. You definitely need to be
careful working in places like this.”

“Well, it’s only temporary until I
find something else. It shouldn’t worry you anyway. I could’ve
taken that guy. I just didn’t want to get fired on my first
night.”

“Bullshit, sweetie. You were nervous
with that guy and it showed.”

“No. I. Wasn’t.”

I move toward her. “Oh, so
when he grabbed your ass like this,
it didn’t make you nervous?”
Oh fuck! Her ass. I gotta stop thinking or my dick is never
going to recover.

She looks up at me, full of piss and
vinegar. “No, it pissed me off! There is a difference. Why? Does it
make you nervous when I grab your ass like that?”

Sure enough, she grabs my ass and I
know she feels the bulge in my pants pushing against her stomach.
She’s going to be the death of me. “No, it doesn’t make me
nervous.” I lean down by her ear. “But it does make me hard as hell
and it make me want to do this.” I push her back against my jeep
and slam my mouth down on hers.

I have one hand on the side of her
face. I run the hand that’s on her ass down her leg and grab behind
the knee, lifting it. She automatically brings her other leg up
around my waist, tangling her fingers in my hair. I can feel the
heat radiating between her thighs, and my dick feels like it’s
about to explode. I start working my lips and tongue down her neck.
A small moan escapes her lips and suddenly, I know I have to hear
that noise again, preferably with my name following it.

Running my hand from her
face down her stomach and then up her shirt, I pull the cups of her
bra down and feel her nipples tightly pebbled against my fingers. I
slide one hand back down to her legs and slide back up, rubbing
against the crotch of her shorts

I hear a gasp. “Oh, Ryder.”

I quickly open the door of my jeep and
sit her on the passenger seat. Her calling my name will be my
undoing. I take no time working the button and zipper of her
shorts, sliding them and her panties down just enough to get my
fingers into her wetness. I hear another gasp escape her mouth as
soon as I slide my fingers into her.

“Oh, shit, Ryder.”

“Fuck, Scarlet, you feel so
good.”

I feel her hand brushing against my
jeans while she fiddles with my zipper. Her hand reaches my
throbbing cock right as she comes apart in my hands. I feel like a
fucking teenager when I come right in her hand because I’ve been
hard as hell for the past three hours watching her. I lie across
her on my seat. “Shit, Scarlet. That was fucking amazing. I think
that is probably the quickest I’ve come without actually having
sex.”

“Why?”

“Well, because you are so fucking hot,
that’s why. Plus those little noises you make…”

“No, I mean, why me? Why do you want
me? I mean, we normally can’t stand each other. What the hell was
that?” she asks.

“It’s called sexual
frustration.”

She pushes me up off her and starts
pulling her shorts and panties up. “Fuck. I can’t believe I just
did that. I’ve never done anything like that in my
life.”

I tuck myself back in my pants.
“You’ve never gotten caught up in the heat of the moment and had
awesome foreplay? Most of the time, it leads to awesome
sex.”

She adjusts her shirt. “No. Never. I
mean, when I was with my ex, we played around, but it never got too
far. I’ve never...” She fiddles with her shirt some more, looking
more nervous than I’ve ever seen her.

I pull her chin up to look at me.
“Scarlet, are you telling me you’ve never had sex
before?”

She looks down, shaking her head.
“No.”

Crap, my dick just started getting
hard again. “Hey, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s probably
the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard someone say. Also, I know all of
my suspicions about that douche you dated were correct. If he
couldn’t appreciate this.” I run my hand down her body. “Then he’s
just plain damn stupid.”

She looks at me
weird
. “Um,
thanks, I guess.”

“I’m serious.”

“I’m serious, too. What is going on
here? You hung out here even after those guys left; you keep saying
the sweetest things to me. I’m just not sure I can handle another
rich boy. That day I met you, I wasn’t kidding.”

I pull her to me. “I don’t know what
this is, either. Trust me, relationships and sweet words aren’t
usually my game. I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t get
you out of my head.”

“So what now?” she asks.

“Well, I haven’t taken a girl out on
an actual date in a very long time, but how about I take you out
one night? Just casual and we’ll see how it goes from
there.”

She nods. “Okay. I guess that
works.”

Chapter 7

Scarlet

“Wow. That is some crazy shit,
Scarlet.”

I look over at Annabelle
from the lounge chairs we are in beside her pool
. “I know,
right?”

“So, what did you do then?”

“I just kinda said, ‘sure’ and gave
him my number. It was weird. I mean I’m normally so in control. How
could I let that shit happen?”

“Hey, you got all hot and bothered
with a smokin’ guy. That’s normal. You don’t have to be in control
every moment of your life. Just because your mom is,” Annabelle
says.

“It’s not just about my mom. I mean, I
don’t want him to think I’m easy. Plus, I mean, most of the time we
can’t stand each other,” I remind her.

“Oh, come on! He knows you
aren’t easy and hell, Judd
and I have both been saying that you two are one
good argument away from tearing each other’s clothes off
anyway.”

“You and Judd have talks about me and
Ryder?” I ask.

“Yeah. We still talk. Well, we Skype
and text anyway.”

“So, are you guys like penpal lovers
now?”

“No. He’s a nice guy we had a great
night, but we both know it can’t work. We’re just friends.” She
looks away. “And, if we happen to have sex a few times when he’s in
town, then great.”

“I’m guessing he’s gone? I didn’t ask
Ryder.”

“Yeah, he left last week. He’s made it
to his ‘destination’ and they have internet, so that’s
cool.”

“Sooooo. You guys are just friends?” I
tease.

“Yes. We had an awesome time, but we
both have too much going on for anything else. He’s cool, though,
and I don’t mind talking to him.”

I shrug. “Okay.” I can
tell she’s not interested in talking about this anymore.
Annabelle’s never been one to talk emotions or feelings.
She’ll shut down if I don’t
stop. “Should I go out with him if he calls or not?”

Her face lights up. “Hell, yes. See if
we can finally turn in that v-card of yours.”

“Seriously? Annabelle, is that all you
can think about?”

“Hey, you got further the other night
than you ever have. Maybe you just needed that chemistry. There was
more than Dustin’s sexual preference that held you
back.”

“Oh, my God. I can’t believe I’m even
thinking about this.”

“Why not?” she asks.

“It’s just... Ryder is so much to take
in.”

Her eyes get as big as dinner plates.
“He’s that big?”

I shake my head. “What the fuck? Get
your mind out of his pants. I’m saying personality wise, he’s a lot
to take in.”

“I was just wondering. You did have
your hand on his dick.”

I burst out laughing.
“Well, I guess he is pretty big, but that’s not what I was talking
about, you girl perv.” I lie back on the chai,r still giggling. “I
do have a serious question, though.”

She smiles. “Okay.”

“Since you went to school with all of
them... do you know what happened between Ryder, Dustin, and
Brandon? They hate Ryder and he hates them. All Ryder would say is
that it was a long time ago.”

“I don’t really know. I
know they were all best friends until we were like fourteen or
so.”

“Fourteen? That long ago?”

“Yeah. I was gone most of that summer
to North Carolina and, when we got back, Ryder was absent the first
couple of days of school. He was at a juvenile center. After that,
they weren’t friends anymore. I just figured that Brandon and
Dustin’s parents said they couldn’t be around Ryder anymore.
Especially since, after that, Ryder started hanging out with older
kids. Drinking all the time. Becoming Sir Douchebag and fucking
anything that walked by him.”

“Did you and he ever…?” I
ask.

She shakes her head.
“Hell, no. I went out with a few of the older guys he was friends
with. You know my rule about guys my own age.”

My alarm goes off on my
phone
. “Shit, I’ve gotta
go home and get ready for work.”

“All right, be careful and have fun.
Oh.., and when he calls, say yes.”

~*~*~

A couple of hours into my shift, I
realize that I really have to find another job. This place is so
much more disgusting than I’d ever thought possible. I knew it was
a dive bar and not the greatest, but the deals I’ve seen going on
in the back room freaked me the fuck out. Earlier, Danny and the
guy who grabbed my ass the other night were out there, snorting a
few lines of cocaine. I just acted as if I didn’t see anything; I
got what I went in there for and walked back out, although my heart
was pounding like it was going to explode. Gable would have an
absolute shit fit if he knew.

Once Danny and that guy
return from the back room the guy keeps watching me. It just feels
creepy. After another hour, I tell Lana
I’m stepping out for my break.
Stepping outside, the air still feels like summer and the humidity
hits me in the face.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I discover missed calls and
texts. I scroll through them; they’re all from Ryder.

Are you at work
tonight?

Since you haven’t answered
me back, I’m hoping you are and that you aren’t just trying to
avoid me. ;)

I text him back.
No, not avoiding you. I’m at work. There you go
again, thinking everything is about you. ;)

I get a chime back
immediately.

Whoa, I’m wounded. Do you
mean it’s not? Well, since you’re at work, I’ll leave you be for
tonight. But I still want to go out on a date. Be careful, pretty
girl. I really hope you find something different soon.

I reply again.
Since you asked so nicely, I’m off tomorrow
night. I’m always careful and trust me, I want out of this place
faster than anyone else.