Spin (Boosted Hearts Book 2) (7 page)

Rolling to her knees, she grabbed the lamp from her side table and lifted it above her head. “Move, and your brain matter will be decorating my floor.”

The guy gasped and wheezed. “Jesus Christ. What the fuck is the matter with you?”

That voice.

No.

No freaking way.

Darcey leaned over the edge of the bed and froze.

Joe Colton lay on her floor, both hands clutching the family jewels, teeth clenched and scowling up at her. “What was that for?”

She stared at him, in shock. “Why are you…what are you…you’re in my…”

“You wanna put the lamp down?”

“Huh? Oh!” She lowered her lamp, but kept hold of it, just in case. She still didn’t know why he was here. Or
how
he’d gotten into her place.

He noticed, of course, his gaze dipping to her hand and the way she still gripped it tight, and his scowl deepened.

He sat up slowly and dragged himself back so he was leaning against the wall. “Wow. Way to thank a guy for saving your reckless ass. Braining me, slamming your feet into my balls, and threatening to smash my skull in. Nice.”

She straightened. “Saved me?”

He was no longer clutching his equipment, his forearms were resting on his bent knees, inked hands hanging loose. “Really?” He shook his head. “You don’t remember? Not any of it?”

Her belly churned. “Remember what?”

“Woman, that shit is fucked up.” His gaze moved over her. “Don’t get me wrong, you have your girls with you and you’re with people you trust, do what the fuck you want, but on your own…”

“
What?
” Her voice was louder now, panicked.

“You were smashed. Completely out of it. Anything could have happened to you. I walked right up to you, and you were rubbing up on me without even knowing who I was. What if I was a bad guy, Darcey? What if someone had gotten to you before me? They could’ve hurt you.” He climbed to his feet. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

Her face heated. She knew exactly what she’d been thinking last night. Her goal had been simple—forget Joe Colton—whatever it took. She didn’t usually drink, not like last night, and she hadn’t smoked pot since she was in high school. But last night, she’d been hurting. She missed Noah. She’d screwed everything up with Joe. Instead of helping him, she’d made things worse. Her only thought had been to numb the pain, to forget. For one night, none of it existed. She was just like any other twenty-four-year-old girl out for a good time.

Carefree.

Looked like she’d screwed that up, as well.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, clutching her head when those tiny fuckers started their bongo solo again, and headed to her fridge to grab some juice and her bottle of Tylenol out of the cabinet. She wasn’t in any condition to have this conversation, and truth be told, she was feeling kind of vulnerable. Why the hell did he care, anyway?

Dammit, she was sick of being bossed around, manipulated, answering to assholes who thought they knew better. People who thought she wasn’t good enough because of her past. Not good enough to raise her brother. Not good enough for more than being some asshole’s puppet. And not good enough for the arrogant prick in front of her. She was sick of his rancor. He was no damn better than her. She’d done what she had to, and she’d do it again. She’d do anything for Noah. Anything. Yeah, Joe more than likely saved her from a bad situation, but she didn’t care, not when she was too busy feeling pissed off. Pissed that she’d put herself in that spot to begin with and pissed that she’d let a man lay her low. A man who hated her guts.

She spun to face him. “Don’t you dare stand there and judge me.” She straightened her spine. “And what I think or don’t think is none of your damn business. I didn’t ask you to save me.” Shit, or maybe she had? She was never drinking again.

Joe crossed his arms over his wide chest, his forearms flexing. “I’ve decided to make it my business.” He shook his head. “And I’m the last damn person to judge anyone.”

 
What?
This conversation was going places her addled, alcohol soaked brain wasn’t in any condition to go. Taking a couple deep breaths, she forced herself to
calm the hell down
. She wanted him to go. She
needed
him to go. He was too tempting, too gorgeous, and yummy, and sexy. It hurt to look at him. Her only option was to eat humble pie, pride be damned. If it got him to leave, it’d be more than worth it.

She leaned back, resting her hands on the small counter behind her. Joe’s gaze instantly dropped to her boobs, his nostrils flaring.

Yep, he had to go before she climbed his massive body, latched on, and never let him go. “Look, um…I don’t know that happened last night. I don’t… usually do shit like that.” God, this was humiliating, and then a horrifying thought hit. She must have hunted him down last night. She didn’t even remember leaving the club, but for him to be here, she’d obviously gone looking for him again. “I don’t know what I was thinking last night. I promised to leave you alone. So I’m sorry I crashed your good time or whatever. It won’t happen again.” She looked away, got busy pouring a glass of juice.

But he didn’t leave. No, he just stood there. She could
feel
his gaze boring into her. Her face was hot, but she forced herself to woman the hell up and look at him again. He was watching her closely, that frown front and center.

“So ah…yeah…thanks for getting me home and making sure I was okay. That was…it was real cool of you. But you can go now. I’m fine.”

She was ashamed to admit she took their last few seconds together to eat up the sight of him. Damn, he was tall, and
big
, and that sexy ink. Her belly fluttered and did this flippy thing that had her heart racing faster. She’d probably never see him again after this. The idea caused an uncomfortable sensation in the center of her chest.

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms again. “Nah, I’m not going anywhere.”

What now?
“I beg your pardon?”

“You and me, we’ve got shit to talk about. I’m not going anywhere until we do.” He aimed his brown eyes at her juice. “And I’ll have one of those, thanks.”

She sucked in a breath. “We have nothing to talk about.”

He pushed away from the wall and walked right up to her. He took her juice from her hand, tipped his head back, his throat working in an intriguing way as he downed the whole glass. Then he put it on the counter behind her, but didn’t step back—he stayed right where he was. Close. Too damn close. She could feel the heat of his body, see the contours of his six-pack through his snug T-shirt. Her breathing went a little funny.

“How about we start with an easy one? Why did you help me with the Porsche?”

She crossed her arms, anything to create a barrier between them. He was staring at her again, those brown eyes penetrating her retinas, trying force entry, to uncover all her secrets.

“I told you, I felt bad for what I did. I wanted to make amends—at least in some small way—for getting you into this mess. I wanted to help you.” She had to fight not to cringe. She hated exposing herself like this.

“Why would you go against your own family, your uncle, for me? Why, Darcey? Or did you just suddenly grow a conscience?”

There was a slight growl to his voice, like he was trying to keep a lid on his anger. Well, she was sick of his accusations, warranted or not.

Her own temper flared. “I can go against Al because I hate him with everything in me. He’s not my family. My mother married his brother seven years ago, that’s where the connection begins and ends.”

“He forced you to mess with us.” It wasn’t a question.

God
. Did he actually believe her? She nodded. That’s all she could manage right then.

His eyes flared. “What does he have over you?”

She slid along the counter, getting the distance she needed, and moved to the other side of the room. “Again, not your business.”

His gaze went hard, then his brows lifted, like a freaking light bulb went off in his head. “You’ve been taking my back.”

Shit.
She forced a snort. “You’re crazy.”

He shook his head. “You’ve been trying to help me, and not just with the Porsche. Isn’t that right?”

“This conversation is over.”

He started across the room toward her.

She backed up. “You need to go.”

“That’s why you’re always there when I’m boosting, in the shadows. You’ve been watching out for me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Why you’re always there every damn time I turn my head.”

“No…”

He closed the gap between them, and her back hit the wall. “But it’s not just that, is it, Darcey? You said it yourself…everything you’ve done since setting us up was on you.”

She shook her head.

“Your words, baby.”

Her hands had somehow found their way to his chest. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You came to me in that bar. You flirted, made me laugh when nothing had made me laugh in fucking weeks. Made me so fucking hard I could barely think straight…then you led me down that alley.”

He was unraveling her word by word, exposing her in a way she didn’t know how to deal with. She tried to push him back, but he was an unmovable object. “Stop…”

“You kissed me, Darcey.”

“Joe…”

“And it was all you.” His nostrils flared. “It had nothing to do with Al, nothing to do with the job he had you doing. It was all you. You wanted to kiss me, and, baby, the way you were grinding on me, you wanted a fuck of a lot more than that.”

“Please…”

“Why’d you run? Why did you pull away from me?” One of his hands went to the wall by her head, the other to her hip, his strong fingers fisting the shirt at her waist. “I need to know. It’s been messing with me for weeks. Late at night, lying in the dark, it plays in my head. It’s all I can fucking think about.”

Oh God.

“Tell me…”

“No…I…”

“Tell. Me.”

“Joe…”

“Now. Darcey.”

“There was too much at stake!” The words exploded from her mouth.

He stilled. “What was at stake, sweetheart?”

“Too much to risk on a night with you.” She stared up at him, her heart hammering. “Yes, I’ve been trying to help you. Yes, I’ve been losing sleep over destroying your life…and yes…I wanted you. But it was a mistake. Taking you behind that bar—”

She didn’t get to finish, not that she knew what else she could say, because his mouth came down on hers, hard and demanding. She considered shoving him off for all of two seconds, but she couldn't do it. His lips felt so good. He
tasted
so damn good, and instead, she just—melted. Dissolved into a goddamn puddle when his mouth opened over hers and his tongue swept inside. She started shaking when he hauled her closer, when he lifted her off the floor, spun around, and planted her on the bed.

Tell him to stop. Say the damn words.

But then she wrapped her arms around his neck instead and clung tighter, absorbing every groan and dirty sound he made as he devoured her.

Just once.

Just this once.

Chapter Six

J
esus, Darcey felt good under him.

Her arms were locked around Joe’s neck, tits smashed against his chest. Her mouth soft, yielding to his. Fuck, he couldn’t get enough of her. One of her hands slid to the side of his neck, her warm fingers gripping him tighter. The other drifted across his head, nails grazing his scalp, setting off tingles like she wanted to fist some hair. For the first time since he’d started buzzing it, he wished he had some. Instead, she gripped the back of his head and held on like she was afraid he’d stop.

Like fuck.

He’d wanted her, wanted this, since that night behind the bar. Since she’d worked him up to a full-on frenzy then left him burning alive. No one since had made him feel this way—this desperate, this hungry. Hell, he hadn’t actually been with anyone else since that night. He’d tried, but they weren’t Darcey. The woman she’d scared off, pretending to be his wife—he’d already changed his mind about going home with her before she’d even come back and slapped him. All because of the hot-one-minute, cold-the-next, kick-ass, vulnerable enigma beneath him. She’d gotten under his skin in a way that made, literally, no sense. In a way he had no hope of rationalizing.

He didn’t know what was happening between them, he just knew he didn’t want it to stop and now that she’d given him some of the answers he’d been desperate for, he was determined to get the rest. He needed to know everything about this woman. All her secrets.

Stay with me, Joe. Don’t wanna be by myself anymore.

Her words from last night wouldn’t let up. Yeah, she’d been shit-faced when she’d said them, and anyone else would write them off as drunk talk, but he couldn’t. He’d fucking felt her words, her plea. He was staying right where he was. Planned on finding out what caused the darkness behind her midnight-blue eyes. What Al fucking Ramirez held over her.