Chapter 6

CHAPTERSIX

Davis walked out first which was good since my mind was still spiraling from what he’d told me.

Homeless.

With all the dysfunction and filth I’d grown up around I’d never been worried about where I was going to sleep. I’d never had to forgo showers because someone was complaining about the water bill. No, when I skipped a shower it was either because I didn’t have time to clean it before I got in—which was a necessity when you had an older brother who was always covered in dirt and grease and didn’t care when he left the remnants of that all over the shower—or it was because one or more club sluts had spent the night and used the shower and there was no way I was chancing getting in and catching a skin-eating fugus from one of them.

My brother was dirty.

Club sluts were altogether a different kind of dirty that would require cream and antibiotics to get rid of their filth.

I was still silently lost in my head when Davis led us to the stairs. I still hadn’t sorted myself as we descended then pushed through the door to the lobby. I was just getting my bearings as we approached the exit.

Then suddenly, without warning my back was against the wall, Davis’s face was inching closer to mine, then his lips were on mine.

His lips…

On mine…

Closed mouth and hard.

Any wits I’d managed to get under control fled.

I was now lost in a new mind-bending way with his hard body pressing against me and his scent surrounding me. My eyes closed, my brain forgot we didn’t like him, and my body came alive. All of this happened in a matter of seconds, so fast I couldn’t stop the tingling that started at my neck and traveled down my chest until my breasts felt heavy and my nipples hardened.

Not good.

Really, really not good.

It took a turn for the worse when Davis lifted his hand and cupped my jaw.

Oh, yeah, this was way, way worse now that his calloused palm held me captive, deterring any chance I had to pull myself together.

I wanted to push him away or pull him closer or open my mouth and take the kiss someplace else or knee him between his legs for being such a prick. The problem was my mind was a jumbled mess of lust and dislike and I couldn’t make up my mind which one I wanted to do more.

Lust was quickly winning out when Davis pulled back just a fraction and whispered, “Just go with it.”

“Go with what?” I managed to ask before his mouth hit mine, this time taking it in a scorching open-mouth kiss.

Holy…

Fucking…

Shit.

Davis didn’t start off slow like most men I’d kissed. He didn’t bother with tentative first touches of tongues—the get-to-know-you part of the kiss if you will. Nope. Not Davis. He was too self-assured for all that. He just went for it. Confident. Bold. Commanding. He left me no choice but to follow his lead. Any further questions or protests—I really should’ve been protesting—were impeded by the moan that had worked its way up from my belly and spilled into his mouth. Davis heard it and took the kiss deeper.

Oh. My. God.

The man was good. Given enough time, he could probably make me orgasm from his kiss alone.

Not good.

The worst.

I needed this to stop before I did something insane like rub up against him or worse, hop up and wrap my legs around his waist and beg him to take me back up to my room and show me if he was good with his tongue on other places of my body.

Fortunately he broke the kiss before that could happen.

Unfortunately I mewled in disappointment.

My eyes came open and I saw Davis’s head was turned to the side, eyes scanning the lobby.

Right. Shit, we were in public.

Without a word he stepped away from me, grabbed my hand, and gave it a tug.

We were out of the building like it was on fire and we’d been told to evacuate.

Next thing I knew he was hoisting me into the passenger seat of a topless, doorless Jeep Wrangler. It was cool as hell and I wondered why I hadn’t rented a kickass beach Jeep instead of the boring sedan.

Because you always play it safe, the good-girl angel on my shoulder reminded me.

Safe is boring. We need to have some fun, the not-so-good-girl angel on my other shoulder complained.

“Buckle up,” Davis said, ending the imaginary conversation I was having with my conscience.

I did as told and watched Davis round the hood. His gaze was on the front of the hotel, expression unreadable, long legs moving at a fast clip.

He was in a hurry. No surprise, seeing as my hotel room had been invaded.

Before he got in, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and tossed it to me. I barely caught it before it bounced off my lap, then the next thing I knew Davis was backing out of the parking spot. It’s worth noting, he didn’t bother with his seatbelt. He just hopped in, fired up the Jeep, and went.

We were out of the parking lot when he said, “Pull up the text from Wilson and look up the address he sent.”

“Are you going to buckle up?” I asked as I swiped the screen of his phone.

“Jane—”

“We’re in a Jeep with no roof or doors.” I told him something he very well knew as I found the text.

“Address,” he barked.

I didn’t like that—like at all.

One of the many promises I’d made to myself when I’d escaped my father and his club was I would never again allow a man to bark orders at me. Or make me feel that because I had a vagina I was somehow less than, or more to the point—subservient.

Fuck that noise.

“You either ask nicely or I throw your phone out the…” There was no window so I quickly amended, “out of the Jeep.”

Davis took his eyes off the road to skewer me with a stare.

I was immune. All my life, men bigger than him, scarier than him, meaner, nastier, stared me down or gave me dirty looks as they ordered me around.

Davis Wright was a pussy cat compared to what I was used to.

“If you’re going to look at me and not where you’re going you really should have on your seat belt so when you crash you don’t fly out of the vehicle and die. Your boss already hates me; I don’t need him hating me more if you die because of your irresponsibility,” I yelled over the wind.

“Has anyone ever told you you’re a pain in the ass?”

“My whole life,” I answered honestly. “Actually those might’ve been my father’s first words to me.”

Davis’s frown softened. Actually it didn’t just soften, pity infused.

Fuck that, too.

I didn’t need or want anyone’s pity.

It was not my upbringing. I was not some scared, scarred woman who needed someone to tell me how sorry they were I’d been treated like dog shit my whole childhood.

It might’ve taken me years, but I was well beyond that shit.

“Put your seatbelt on, Davis, and I’ll give you the damn address.”

Much to my surprise his gaze went back to the road and he buckled up.

It was then I rattled off the address.

Then I remained silent the rest of the ride with my eyes glued to the road in front of us trying to get my thoughts in order.

I needed to ask him about that kiss and tell him he was never to do it again. After that, I needed to figure out what I was going to do.

Now more than ever I had to get away from Davis and his wicked tongue.

* * *

I’d never seenthe inside of a private jet which obviously meant I’d never stepped foot inside of one. And I wished I still never had, seeing as all future commercial flights would seem like I was being stuffed into a cattle trailer.

I didn’t have a fancy bone in my body. I drove an average car, I lived in a small two-bedroom average condo, my work clothes were decent but came from secondhand consignment shops, my regular kickabout clothes were just that—comfortable and not stylish. I owned no jewelry, save a ring I found that belonged to my mother. But I never wore it, not only because it was the only thing I had of her and was afraid I’d lose it but also because turquoise and silver wasn’t my jam.

Fancy or not, I couldn’t deny flying in a private jet was awe-inspiring. No shuffling to get down the aisle, no waiting for other passengers to board, no cramming your bag in the overhead compartment, and no fighting for a window seat.

I waited until we’d taken off and the plane was gaining altitude before I asked, “Why’d you kiss me back at the hotel?”

“Chopper was in the lobby, walking to the elevators.”

“So you kissed me?”

“Seemed like the best way to hide you from him.”

I was attempting to shove the disappointment to the side while at the same time trying to figure out if it was fear or gratitude I was feeling.

“I thought you saw him,” Davis continued.

Now, that was a reality check. I hadn’t seen the man who was trying to abduct me in order to bring me to my father so he could trade me for a debt because I was too lost in my head. Another reason to get away from Davis as soon as possible. He threw me off my game. I knew better than to walk around like a mindless twit.

“I missed him,” I admitted.

Davis was staring at me like he was expecting me to say more. I would never offer up the reason why I’d been so careless. I’d never tell him that my heart had cracked when he told me he and his mother were homeless. The man was already a jerk, God knows what he’d be like if he knew I was so distracted by what he’d told me I’d missed something important.

“What?” I prompted.

“Nothing.”

Davis’s eyes went to the tiny window and he stared out, thus ending our conversation.

I was grateful.

No, I wasn’t. I was disappointed he hadn’t scolded me, which would’ve served as a reminder he didn’t like me. It was easy to forget when he unnecessarily helped me up the stairs of the plane with his hand on my lower back. It was easy to forget when he allowed me to pick my seat first then asked the attendant to get me a bottle of water as if sensing I was dying of thirst. It was especially easy to forget when Davis’s mouth was on mine and he’d given me the best kiss of my life. Though I’d never tell him that.

“Where are we going?”

I saw his lips twitch but he quelled his smile before it formed.

“Lanai.”

“And that’s funny because?”

“Not funny,” he started. “Amusing that you’re just now asking where we’re going.”

Gah.

He had a point.

I should’ve asked back in the hotel room.

“I had other things on my mind.”

“Such as?”

Damn, he was maddening.

“Such as you taking me against my will,” I lamely retorted.

“If you say so.”

This was perfect. This was exactly what I needed to wipe that kiss from my memory.

“And don’t ever kiss me again.”

I watched in horror as a full-blown, cocky smile tipped up Davis’s perfect lips. A smile so full of arrogance that I knew I’d shown him my hand. He knew I enjoyed that kiss and more he knew it was still on my mind since I’d now mentioned it twice.

“Right,” he muttered through his smile.

I really wanted to ask him about his sarcastic answer but instead I peeled my gaze from his and watched as we climbed higher and higher above the ocean. It was the smart thing to do, retreat to my corner and stop giving him ammunition to push my buttons.

I seriously had to regroup. I had to get myself and my situation under control and be smart.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” Davis mumbled.

“What is?” I asked the window.

“I didn’t take you for a woman who backed down,” he provoked.

Two could play this game.

“I see you’re still jumping to conclusions about me. Did it occur to you that maybe I’m just done with the conversation and would rather not talk to you?”

“Nope, that’s not why.”

Cocky bastard.

I lasted three seconds before my curiosity got the better of me.

“Say I was backing down—which I’m not—why would that be disappointing?”

Davis was silent.

This went on so long it began to irritate me. I turned my gaze back to him to find him intently studying me in a way that made me want to squirm in the plush leather seat.

“Davis?” I prompted.

He blinked, pulling out of his perusal, and shook his head as if he were trying to knock some vision loose.

“Just is.”

“Now who’s backing down?” I commented.

He didn’t rise to the bait. He didn’t make a single comment, snarky or otherwise.

His face went perfectly blank when he looked back out the window.

I should’ve been happy.

What I was, was disappointed and I wasn’t sure what that said about me.