Whisky State of Mind (14 page)

Sky straightened. “I believe them when they say they’re not mixed up in any of the crap they used to make money from. My father did his time for that—paid his dues. I believe him.”

“Then you better prepare to be disappointed. If it’s one thing I
do
know from working the streets it’s—once a criminal—always a criminal.”

She hoped he was wrong, but a tiny part of Sky wondered if maybe, there wasn’t some kind of truth in his statement. What would she do if he were right?

Chapter
11

Sky didn’t have to go into the bar until the late shift tonight, so she spent the morning moping around and feeling sorry for herself. She couldn’t face the coffee shop, so instead she went farther down the street to a small café, deciding to indulge in some pancakes.

Her phone rang while she was waiting and she picked up the phone with a half-hearted glance at the caller ID.

“Hey, Bell.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”

“You’re such a liar. Spill.”

“It’s been a weird few days, that’s all.”

When only silence greeted her on the other end of the line, Sky gave an exasperated huff and knew Bell would be like a dog with a bone until she found out every last detail.

“Sawyer is driving me nuts. He messes with my head. I don’t know why, but I lost it for a minute the other night and suddenly there we were making out in his car, then he lets it slip that he’s been watching me,  for almost a
year!
Well, Dad actually sent him to keep an eye on me, but still…despite the fact it’s actually creepy as hell, it totally blows my theory that I’ve been independent all this time. Then, to top it all off, last night I went and opened my big mouth and told Caleb about Dad, and he freaked out. Talk about a mood killer.”

Silence greeted her and for a moment, she thought the call may have been disconnected, until Bella answered slowly. “So let me get this straight…you made out with Sawyer
and
the hot cop? You trashy ho-bag…I’m so proud!”

Sky shut her eyes briefly as she sat in the café holding the phone. “That’s not even funny.
I feel like a ho-bag,
” she whispered, mindful of the few tables nearby.  “But I didn’t do it intentionally. Sawyer was a mistake.”

Bella chuckled on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, I hate when that happens—accidently making out with a guy.”

“Look, it just happened, okay?”

“Hey I’m not judging you. I’m your best friend, not to mention I have no social life and so I’m forced to live
vicariously through you.  Rock it sista’.”

“Shut up,” Sky groaned. “You’re not helping.”

“Okay, well from what I can gather from that long-winded rendition of
Days of Our Lives
, you have a few separate issues going on,” Bell stated, getting in her Dr. Phil mode with what sounded like extreme relish. “I have no idea why the cop would freak…unless he knows something about your dad…did you ask him?”

“Yeah, he back tracked and denied anything, but he left pretty quick after.”

“Hmm, well maybe you need to take that up with your dad?”

“What’s the point? He’ll only tell me the club’s clean, like he’s been saying all along. I just don’t know if I can trust him, Bell. I want to, but I
just don’t know
. I get the feeling there’s something he isn’t telling me, something big, but he’s good at keeping his mouth shut. Look at how he’s managed to keep tabs on me all this time and I had no idea. I feel like an idiot.”

“Why would you feel like an idiot? He only said he’s been keeping tabs on you.”

“Because I thought I’d been so clever handling everything on my own.”

“Who got you your job at the diner?” Bella asked.

“Me.”

“And who paid all your bills?”

Sky gave a long drawn out sigh. “Me.”

“Who made sure they showed up at work each day, who fed and clothed herself? See where I’m going with this?” Bella drawled.

“Okay, yes, I get it,” she muttered. “It just freaked me out that I had no idea.”

“Maybe it just proves that he never really walked away from you completely. He wanted to make sure you were okay…it’s kinda
’ cool when you think about it. Almost like your own private guardian angel.”

“Trust you to take something creepy and give it a romantic spin,” Sky scoffed.

Bella ignored her. “Of course, that still leaves one big problem,” Bella warmed with an overly pessimistic tone. “The hot biker. You need to deal with this. There’s obviously some kind of thing going on between you two that you’re going to have to work out. You’re gonna’ have to pick one or the other.”

“It’s so not even like that,” she protested.

“Right. So accidently making out with the guy in his car is not going to worry your cop at all if he finds out?”

Sky closed her eyes once more and bit back another groan of shame. “It’s complicated.”

“No shit!”

“Bell…I just…I know who I need in my life and it’s not a guy with ties to a damn biker club. I want stability and someone responsible…someone like Caleb.”

“Then why does it sound like you’re trying to convince yourself?”

“Because for some unknown reason I can’t think straight when Sawyer’s around.”

“Well, it’s gonna’ be hard not to be around the guy when you’re working for him.”

“Tell me about it. I’ll just have to look harder for a new job. It’s not like the bar was permanent. I’ll find a new job and then I can leave and everything will be fine.”

She didn’t want to interpret her friend’s unconvinced silence on the other end of the phone. Her pancakes came out then, so she said goodbye to Bella and pushed away all her doubts.

Distance would fix this thing, whatever it was, between her and Sawyer. It had to. She knew what she
didn’t
want in her life…trouble and a sexy biker topped the list.

****

Sawyer sat on his bike, looking out over the city below. He looked up as a set of headlights washed across him and waited for the driver to get out. Circumstances were forcing his hand on a lot of things lately. The last person he wanted to be makin’ deals with was the cop who was tryin’ to get into Whisky’s pants.  

“You’re late,” Sawyer said, staring the other man down. He already hated the guy. He hated the way he dressed like he was steppin’ out of some men’s fashion magazine—not a hair outta
’ place. Wouldn’t last a day doing a real job like slaving over an engine bay or pullin’ a bike motor apart. Hell even pullin’ a beer behind the bar would probably be out of this guy’s realm of possibility.

“You’re lucky I turned up at all. What do you want, Riley? ”

“Good, so you know who I am then?”

“Course I know who you are. You think I’d turn up like this if I didn’t do some diggin’ around first?”

At least he wasn’t a complete tool.
Sawyer shrugged, scanning the area lazily. “Some cops aren’t that smart; I had no idea what you’d do.”

“What do you want?”

“We need to get a few things straight.”

He watched as the cop walked around the front of his car and leaned against the hood, folding his arms across his chest as he stared at Sawyer with a belligerent frown. “I suppose by that you mean Sky?”

“I don’t want her gettin’ hurt.”

“Then you should back the hell off. If anyone here is going to hurt her, it’d be you.”

Sawyer gripped the handlebars of his bike tightly, before relaxing. He was not gonna’ let this prick get under his skin. This was for Whisky. “You need to keep an eye on her over the next few days.”

“And why would I
need
to do that, exactly?”

“The
why
is none of your business. I’m goin’ outta town for a few days and I need you to make sure she’s okay. I got her covered while she’s at the club. I need you to make sure she gets home okay.”

“If there’s trouble, you need to tell me about it.”

“It’s nothin’ that concerns you.”

“If it’s breaking the law, it concerns me…and it’ll concern Sky too, I’d imagine. Can’t say she’d be too happy to find out her daddy and his boys was getting mixed up in something illegal again…considering she seems to be buyin’ this line of shit that you’re legit
these days.”

“Why, Detective, of course we’re legit. We’re taxpaying, upright citizens,” Sawyer said with mock sincerity. He tilted his head a little as he eyed the cop. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were worried Sky’s gonna’ give you the flick.”

“I’m not worried at all. All I have to do is sit back and wait. Your type always ends up showin’ your true colors, sooner or later.”

“And what’s
my
type?”

“Criminals…white trash, scum who think they’re above the law,” he grated.

Sawyer chuckled as he squinted across at the detective. “Come on, Santiago, you and I both know there’s good and bad on both sides of the law. I’d be careful about who you were callin’ a criminal. Things have a nasty way of comin’ back and bitin’ you on the ass.”

“Is that some kind of threat?”

“Nope.” Sawyer started his bike. “It’s a warning. If I were you, I’d take a closer look at your department before you go castin’ stones at the rest of us.” He pushed his bike back, walking it with his heavy leather boots in the dust, to turn around. “You keep her safe, cop. Or the next visit won’t be a friendly one.”

Chapter
12

It had been a relief to discover Sawyer was away. He’d tried to talk to her about the whole car-make-out-session thing, but she’d cut him off with a cold look that seemed to have convinced him to drop it.  She’d avoided him as much as possible, but it was stressful always knowing he was hovering in the background.

The upside had been that Caleb had asked if he could pick her up from work one evening. They’d managed to avoid any more conversations that involved her family or the bar, but she’d caught his tight features as she’d climbed into his car that first night. She saw him taking in the bikes and the loud music and the absence of anyone dressed in suit or cocktail attire, as was the usual dress code for places he liked to frequent. He didn’t actually comment though and for that she was grateful—the last thing she felt like after a long night was an argument.

“You didn’t have to pick me up from work—I can take the bus,” she said as they pulled up in front of her apartment.

“I don’t like you using the bus at night.”

“But it’s a long drive for you.”

“I wanted to see you. It’s getting hard for us to catch up now you work nights and I work days. I missed you,” he said after they’d pulled up outside her apartment.

“I missed you too. I’m sorry about…last time,” she said with an awkward shrug of her shoulders. “Look, I totally get why you could see it’s a bad idea…knowing who my father is and all. I don’t blame you for staying away…I’d hate anything to harm your career…you know, if it got out who I was related to.”

“You kinda
’ caught me by surprise,” he admitted, moving his hands around the steering wheel idly as he spoke. The streetlight cast a gentle glow inside the car and shadows caught his profile.  “I don’t want to stop seeing you, Sky. I think I’m in too far for that,” he said simply, turning to face her.

Her heart fluttered at the words. His lips touched hers gently and she shut her eyes, blocking out he voices in her head that were all clambering to give her good advice.

Caleb pulled away slightly. “Can I come up tonight?” he whispered.

God help her, she was only human.

She managed a jerky nod, and melted a little at the smile he sent her. As they walked upstairs, he held her hand tightly, slipping his arms around her waist and rubbing his face against the back of her neck as she unlocked the door.

“I need a shower, I smell like beer,” she said, breaking their embrace with a smile.

“Good idea,” he grinned, following her into the bathroom, and pulling his shirt off. Sky could only stare at his perfectly sculptured abs and smooth chest.  As her gaze moved up to meet his she felt a wave of heat move up her neck when she realized he was watching her checking him out in great detail. He seemed to enjoy it, judging by the large smirk on his face.

Sky hadn’t disrobed in front of that many men before. Usually it was a heated frenzy of tugging off clothing while in the
throes of passion, and she’d never really paid much attention to the act before.

“Here, let me help,” Caleb said, taking a step closer to her. 

She stood still as he slowly pulled her t-shirt with The Black Mustangs Bar and Grill emblazed across the front over her head and threw it on the floor. Next he reached for the clasp on her bra, sliding his hands behind her back and deftly unclasping it. She eased her arms out and let it fall to the ground. Keeping her eyes on his, she undid the button of her jeans and kicked them away. Standing before him in only her underwear, she felt slightly vulnerable, but he slid from his own clothing and closed the distance between them, pressing his body against hers. The touch of his body, hot and hard against her own, erased the last of her reservations and she gave herself up to his gentle brand of loving.