Spin (Boosted Hearts Book 2) (3 page)

She ruffed up his hair some more and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Missed you, bud.”

“Missed you, too.” He didn’t wipe away her kiss, pretending to be grossed out like he usually did. He leaned back, looking her in the eye. “How long do we have?”

Her heart squeezed in her chest. This separation, longer than usual, had taken a toll on him, as well. “An hour.”

His face crumpled, but he was a tough kid—he had to be—and she watched him pull it together as quickly as the sadness had washed over his features. “You wanna play a video game?”

“Sure thing.”

Their hour went quick, too damn quick. After a couple games, they just hung out, talked, and caught up on what Noah had been doing in school, his friends, his favorite new books—but she knew it was coming, the question he asked her every time she came to see him. The question that tore her apart and left her in tatters when she was forced to walk away and leave her baby brother with these fucking assholes.

He started to fidget, biting his lip every time he glanced at the clock by his bed. Time was nearly up. Darcey lay down on his Harry Potter duvet, and Noah did the same, so he was facing her. “You have to go in a few minutes,” he whispered.

“Yeah,” she whispered back.

“You’ll come back, won’t you, Darcey?”

“Always.” She reached for him and pulled him into her arms, squeezing him tight. “Nothing can stop me.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Just…don’t make Uncle Al angry again. You gotta do what he says.” She felt her brother’s hot tear hit her arm, and it nearly destroyed her. Noah did not cry easily, but every time they had to say good-bye, it got harder and harder for both of them. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

She kissed the top of his head, and they got up. Noah was giving her one last hug when the door swung open and Len, the giant, arrogant bastard, stood in the doorway, a scowl on his face. She forced herself not to shrink back when his gaze raked her from head to toe. The last few times she’d come here, he’d done the same thing, looked at her in a way that made her skin crawl. A way that put her on edge.

Len’s eyes locked on hers. “You still here?”

“Looks like it.” Noah squeezed her hand, a silent plea for her to behave. The last thing she’d ever want to do is piss Len off then leave Noah to deal with the brunt of his anger, so she sucked up her hatred and forced a grateful smile. “I was just leaving. Thanks for letting me stop by.”

He snorted. “Save the groveling for someone that believes it.” He held the door open wider. “Go on, get the fuck gone. Time’s up.”

But he didn’t move from his spot in the doorway, taking up more than half the space. He motioned for her to leave, giving her no choice but to squeeze past. She shuddered as she slid by, quickly moving away to put some space between them.

Before she hit the stairs, she turned back to Noah. His little face was pale. He struggled to hold it together, especially in front of Len. Len didn’t like crying. “I’ll see you soon, bud.”

He gave her a small nod, and she knew he couldn’t talk, not without falling apart, so she blew him a kiss, spun away, and raced down the stairs.

Not letting her own tears flow until she was back in her car.

~ * ~

The bass beat was heavy, pounding through Darcey. The lights were low, and as always on a Saturday night, the bar was full. She liked that. It helped her blend in. It didn’t matter that she was on her own. She could be anonymous. No one knew she was Al’s puppet or Len’s stepdaughter—or a giant screw-up that had failed her baby brother. She was just another girl in the crowd.

She looked down at herself. A girl in her work uniform.

Crap. She quickly zipped up her jacket to cover her T-shirt. She hadn’t made it home after her visit with Noah. Why she’d ignored good sense and indulged the overwhelming urge to come here first, she wasn’t entirely sure.

Yeah, right. You know exactly why you’re here, and Joe hates your guts, you idiot.

Yeah, okay. Maybe she did know. And maybe she knew what a damn fool idea it was, but still, she wasn’t moving from this spot, not yet.

After she’d left Noah with that asshole, she’d gotten into her car and had driven around blindly.

Until she’d wound up here.

But after the look on her brother’s face when she’d left him behind
again
, she’d needed to be near…shit, someone. It was pathetic, but Joe was the first person she’d thought of. She didn’t really have anyone else. After her mother died and Al had turned her into his minion, her only option had been to separate herself from everyone close to her. How could she have friends when she was living this life? Yeah, there was Jacob, her boss. The man had been like a surrogate father to her over the years, but no way would she involve him in her mess. She couldn’t risk Al using the people she cared about against her—like he was doing with Noah.

She’d been on her own for the last twelve months for that reason.

Now she just needed…to be close to someone. To Joe. Even if he didn’t know she was in the same room. Even if he hated her guts. He was it. After he’d saved her ass, despite his reasons—she felt safe when he was near. Protected somehow. Her feelings for the man made no sense. A man she didn’t know—not really.

Dumb, so dumb.

But right now, she needed to be near him—needed it more than anything. She just had to wait for him to show up. No, she couldn’t walk up to him and have him wrap those big inked arms around her and hold her close. But this was the next best thing—the only thing she
could
have from him. Watching him from afar like the sad, desperate fool she was.

She took a sip of her beer and hunkered down—in a dark corner where no one would bother her. Joe usually turned up around ten thirty. She still had an hour to kill.

She didn’t have to wait that long, though.

Just after ten, Joe strode in, all tall and tattooed and sexily rough around the edges. He had on his usual jeans, the kind that were soft from wear, the denim hugging his ass and heavy thighs in a way that made her mouth dry. His T-shirt was black with something—something silly, no doubt—written in white lettering on the front and tight enough it showed off his wide chest and lickable biceps. He seemed to have a fondness for funny or sarcastic slogans.

He wasn’t alone. He had his friend Adam with him. They came together occasionally, but Adam never stayed long. He usually found someone to leave within the first thirty minutes of arriving. An hour if he was having an off night. Tonight wasn’t going to be one of those nights. A leggy redhead walked up to him almost as soon as he’d ordered his drink. Joe turned to his friend, shook his head, then went back to sipping his beer.

Women watched Joe, but they didn’t make a move straight away. Adam was hot in a more approachable way. He oozed that whole Ladies’ Man vibe. Joe, on the other hand, had an air about him that screamed rough, demanding, and dominant. Even removing the facial piercings he used to have hadn’t softened him any. Only the kinds of women that thought they could handle what he had to offer went near him.

That part of him sang to Darcey like a siren’s song. She could totally handle it.
Him
. She scanned the room, searching. A woman stood not far from him, eyeing Joe, closely. And Darcey watched as the brunette gathered her courage and made her way toward him, sidling up beside him. His head swiveled on his thick neck, and he looked down at the petite brunette. She was cute. Long hair. A nice, curvy body. Joe liked curves.

Darcey shivered, remembering the way he praised hers, the way his hard body had felt pressed against her. His big, sexy, manly hands on her ass as he’d hitched her higher against the brick wall behind the bar…

Joe and the woman started chatting. It wasn’t long before he had her laughing. Joe had a way about him. He obviously knew his height, his ink—the whole damn package—could be intimidating, so he used humor to disarm people. Women. God, some of the things he’d said to Darcey that night had been goofy as hell. It had eased her nerves and made him even more appealing in her eyes. The man could be extremely charming when he chose to be.

 
She didn’t know why she stayed there torturing herself, but she couldn’t make herself leave. Desperate enough for a glimpse of him, to be near him, after the afternoon she’d had that she would put herself through this.

They talked for a while then his new friend edged up to his side. Joe turned into her, inviting her to come closer.

Darcey’s stomach churned. She actually felt physically ill seeing him with someone else. She was insane. There was no other explanation.
Leave. Just get up, walk the hell out of here, and never come back.

But she couldn’t. Her ass felt nailed to the stool under her—that is until his new friend touched his arm, lifting up onto her tip-toes. Joe leaned in, and she said something in his ear. He grinned down at the woman, and then…his eyes slid to Darcey.

What? No.

She froze. No, not at her, right? Shit, she could have sworn he’d looked directly at her. But that couldn’t be, or he’d be over here in a flash, tearing her a new one.

Just to be safe, she sunk lower into her jacket.

The brunette spun around and flounced away in the direction of the bathrooms. Probably a pee stop before they left together and a chance to fix her makeup. Getting under normal lighting after a night of drinking and dancing without a bathroom check first was never a good idea. Every girl knew this. They also only gave a crap if they had someone to impress. If they planned on being under bright lights with a hottie like Joe.

Yep. She was on the verge of hurling.

Darcey was up and out of her seat before she fully knew what she was doing, weaving her way through the crowd. She hit the short hall to the ladies’ room and shoved the door open before she could stop herself.
Bingo
. Joe’s friend wasn’t in one of the stalls, she was at the mirror, cleaning up the mascara smudges under her eyes while she pouted and pursed her newly glossed lips. Lips that would soon be attached to Joe’s.

Darcey wanted to yank those lips right off her face.

It made no logical sense. This woman was probably a really great person, and who could blame her for wanting a piece of Joe Colton? Not Darcey. She understood completely. The pretty brunette didn’t have a chance once she entered his gravitational pull. But that didn’t make Darcey despise her any less. It didn’t stop the jealousy from pounding through her until she was close to exploding out of her clothes and Hulking out in the restroom.

“Can I help you?”

Darcey blinked, realizing she’d been staring at the other woman for a good long while. She opened her mouth then shut it.

Those pouty lips thinned, eyes raking her from head to toe. “Sorry, I don’t have any spare change.”

Darcey straightened. “What?”

“Or whatever the hell you want. You’re giving me the creeps staring at me like that. Get lost, or I’ll have security throw you out.” She turned away and fluffed her hair. “Trash belongs out on the street.”

That’s when Darcey made a decision—not a wise one, hell no, but a decision all the same. Maybe if this woman hadn’t been such a nasty cow, she could have forced herself to turn the other way and get gone. Unfortunately for all concerned, that wasn’t what happened.

In three small steps, Darcey was in front of her. “Joe is mine. You go near him, I’ll break both your arms and slap you around with your own hands, understand?”

The woman blinked down at her. “Joe?”

She didn’t even know his name? “The guy you’ve been hanging off. He’s mine, so back the fuck up.”

Joe’s new friend narrowed her eyes. “He didn’t mention you when he asked me to go home with him.”

Darcey’s blood pressure spiked. She was acting crazy. She was also fully aware of that, but right then, she didn’t give one crap. Instead, she discretely slid her mother’s wedding ring—the one her dad had given her mom—off her middle finger and onto her ring finger. She lifted her hand and pointed to it. Anger, and so many other ugly emotions, crowded her mind, jostling for stage time. There was no way of stopping this runaway freight train, not now. “Did he happen to mention he was married? What about our kids? Did he mention them?”

The brunette jerked back. “Kids?”

Darcey stared at her.

“He didn’t say, he… Sorry, I had no idea.”

Hitching her purse over her shoulder, the other woman stormed past Darcey and out the door. And she looked
really
pissed off.

She wouldn’t, would she?

Crap
. Spinning on her boots, Darcey raced after her, watching in horror as the other woman stormed through the crowd and up to Joe.

She would.

Joe’s sexy grin slipped when he looked down at his new friend—only now she wasn’t looking so…ah, friendly. Darcey could see her mouth moving rapidly. Joe frowned and started to shake his head as she reared back and slapped him across the face. Then without a backward glance, she stormed out. Joe stood there, stunned, and Adam, who was back beside him, bust out laughing.

Darcey stood frozen, shocked at what she’d just done. At how fucked up it was. She’d lost her goddamn mind.