Roni turns to look Ry over before she turns back to me. She has a little pout on her lips as she looks up at me. I go to reach for her, but stop, remembering her PDA rule.
“What?” I say gently.
“He looks like you. Your brother, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, the youngest.”
“And he doesn’t know about me.” She nods and moves to walk around me.
I reach to stop her, but Ry’s words halt me. “Excuse me, but we’re still on a job here. Thanks, by the way.” He looks between the two of us and gives me a shit-eating grin.
“Yeah, whatever,” Roni says as she keeps moving.
“Roni,” I call after her.
“Handle your business. I know where you live.”
I stare after shaking my head. What the hell just happened? Rubbing the back of my neck, I mutter to myself.
“Damn, she has some guns on her. Nice ass too,” Ry quips.
I turn to him slowly and glare. Yeah, Roni has a tight chiseled body. Not overly done, but you can see her dedication to her training. Her arms are one of her assets that draw the eyes, and that ass and those thighs are another, but I can’t help feeling possessive as Ryan’s words ring through the air. He’s my little brother, probably closer to Roni’s age than I am.
He lifts a hand up in surrender. “You ready to get out of here before someone comes out of that house or something?” Ryan says.
“Shit, yeah. Let’s go.”
Roni
I have this feeling in my gut that tells me I never should have come here. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have popped up on John the way I did, but I’m tired of him canceling on me. I wanted to come in person to see if maybe things have changed.
“Did you break into my home? How did you disarm the alarm?”
I look up to find John leaning against the wall with an amused smile on his face. He looks sexy in the bulletproof vest and cargo pants. I tried to ignore that fact when I first saw him earlier.
I don’t know. Something about his bounty badge, the cuffs, gun and other gear are a turn on. I bite my lip as I get lost in my fantasies.
He pushes off the wall and starts into the room. As if he’s a magnet, I stand and move toward him. He cups my face and looks down at me.
“You didn’t answer the questions, baby.”
“Yes, I broke in. Torque handled the alarm.”
He crushes his lips to mine almost as soon as the words are out of my mouth. I groan and lock my fingers into his hair. My period has come and gone this month.
There’s nothing stopping us from doing this this time. Not unless he doesn’t want me anymore. There is an ache in my chest as I think of how that could be a reality.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he says against my lips and the tightening in my chest loosens.
“Then why didn’t you bring me here yourself?” I say as I finger the stubble on his face.
His brows wrinkle. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”
“Could it be the same reason you didn’t tell your family about me?”
He takes a step back and folds his arms over his chest. “Babe, I haven’t seen you in months. We can fight or you can let me shower and feed you. Then we can make up for last time.”
“I’m not trying to fight. I just find it weird that you’ve never once mentioned me to your family.”
He reaches for the back of my neck and draws me into him. “I’ve talked to my dad about you. The rest of my family has had their own shit going on. Trust me, I think about you all the time.”
He plants a soft but firm kiss on my lips. “I guess I never thought to fly you in before because, again, things have been crazy, and I know you don’t like weddings.” He grins down at me. “I’ll be leaving for one in Ireland the day after tomorrow. My brother’s throwing a huge engagement party tomorrow night. I’d love for you to be my date.”
“Yeah, not going to happen.” I snort.
“You see. I knew that would be your response. I knew you wouldn’t want to get involved in any of the shit I have going on. That doesn’t mean I haven’t missed you like crazy.”
I give a little smile. “You could do better at showing it.”
His face gets serious. He bobs his head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Let me take a shower and I’ll make up for my fuck up.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, okay.”
He kisses me once more before releasing me and starting to take off his vest. His black T-shirt clings to his chest and biceps. I try not to ogle him as he goes, but I can’t help it.
“Baby, as I matter of fact, there are some menus in the drawers in the kitchen. The one next to the sink. Pick something and order. I’ll eat whatever you get,” he calls tiredly.
I chew on my lip feeling a little bad about dropping in without warning. I walk to the kitchen knowing that all the things I had planned to do and say aren’t going to happen tonight. He’s exhausted.
My thoughts turn to all the dirty talking he does over FaceTime and the phone. I’d planned to see if he would make good on it. A girl can take but so much talk.
“Ugh, fine,” I mutter to myself.
I’m not going to pounce on him tonight. Although I make no promises for tomorrow. Those kisses were as heated as I remember.
Touching my lips, I smile. I shake off the silly feelings stirring inside and go to call for some pizza. I make the call quickly, ordering a few sides in case John is extra hungry.
Now that I’m more relaxed. I move around his place, taking it in. He has so many pictures. I noticed earlier that his brother looks so much like him. Looking at the pictures around his home, it’s clear all of his brothers favor him. However, John is the pretty one of the bunch. Not that the others aren’t gorgeous. John simply has a softer face.
Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. We have some time before the food arrives. I toe off my shoes and get ready to follow in the direction I saw him go.
The ringing of the doorbell stops me in my tracks. I wrinkle my brows. That’s sort of fast to be our food.
I pad my way to the door. When I open it, there’s a girl standing on the other side. Her eyes fix on me and her lips pinch.
“Who are you? Where’s John?”
Folding my arms over my chest, I glare at her. “Who are you?”
“Missy, John’s girlfriend.”
I rock back on my heels. My father and my mother’s voices play in my head. Trust no one. Be smart.
They may be from dreams and pieces of memories, but my parents were right. The bitter truth burns right through me. This is why he never offered for me to come to see him.
Acid rises from my stomach. I’m the world’s biggest fool. Here I am chasing after some guy and he’s been playing me all along.
“Baby, what did you order? I’m starving.” John’s voice booms through the house.
Quickly, I double back for my shoes, not bothering to slip them back onto my feet. Ignoring the blonde at the door, I storm out past her. She can have him.
John
I frown when Roni doesn’t answer me. She should be able to hear me from here. Rubbing the towel through my hair, I head for the living room where I expect to find her.