AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You keep staring at me like that and I won't let you leave my apartment anytime soon.”
A smile quirked my lip into a smirk. I tapped a pec and laughed when it bounced. “As good as that sounds, I have a bookstore to finish.”
He nodded. “Let’s get you home then. When you’re ready, give me a call and I’ll come to pick you up. We can have Italian tonight. I’m cooking. Then maybe we can talk.”
“Wow, two nights in a row.” I took the helmet he extended to me and loved how my body molds around his as I climbed up on his Harley. I linked my fingers together and rested my chin on his shoulder. Something I was fast learning about my new lover—he liked cooking and taking care of me.
Ten minutes later, he pulled the Harley to a stop outside my bookstore. The sun rose an hour ago and the air had a dewiness to it that felt amazing against my skin. The rumble of the motor between my legs left me vibrating in ways that tempted me to ask Diesel in for coffee and other surprises. As soon as he killed the motor, I opened my mouth but slammed it shut just as quickly.
My brother crossed the parking lot, his face an angry shade of furious red.
“Is this what I think it is? Did you screw my sister when I told you to stay away from her?”
Diesel helped me down and placed a hand on my thigh, pushing me behind him with an instinct to protect, though it was not like my brother would hurt me. From the looks of it, his rage all aimed at him, not me.
I stepped out from behind Diesel. “Back off, Caleb. This has nothing to do with you.” He looked like he wanted to bury his fist in the other man’s gut but if I had the power to stop this before it got started, I damn well would.
My brother didn’t get the message, however. If anything, his face became redder.
“What? Is your head too thick to understand? I told you five years ago to stay away from her. I was right.” He jabbed a finger into Diesel’s chest, and I saw the ire rising. His eyes narrowed.
“Fuck off, Caleb. That’s what I should have told you five years ago. Mind your own fucking business. Your sister can make up her mind for herself.”
It was happening all over again. Why did I have to be so stupid? Start something that would cause a problem not even a month out from arriving home.
“Really?” my brother spat out, and this pained expression morphed his face. “Did you tell her where you’ve been for the last five years? Or, were you waiting till you got her pregnant before you broke her heart, man? Come on. You’re better than that. At least I thought you were.”
Diesel raised his chin, his face dark. Solemn. “It’s true. I did time. But I don’t owe you the explanation.” He turned to me. “I’m sorry.”
It dawned on me what he said this morning. “Is this what you wanted to talk about tonight? After dinner?”
Diesel gave a single nod. “I had hoped. I paid my dues, Kaila, and now I’m home to stay. Please believe me when I say I will explain it all to you. Honest. I wasn’t planning on keeping anything from you.”
It was my turn to nod. I believed him, and I couldn’t be mad for him not blurting out the truth to me the second he saw me walk into his shop. He didn’t do anything to me that I didn’t want.
He turned back to my brother. “I no longer take orders from any man. Especially not you. I was good enough to be buddies with for years, but the second I showed an ounce of emotion for your sister I was what? Trash?”
“Hell no. It’s not that, man. Damn it.” Caleb scrubbed both hands down his face and paced a few steps away. He turned back. “But you didn’t help your case when you went away. The first time it was because you were too damn old for her. Still are, but now...”
His words trailed off to thin air.
My eyes darted to Diesel, then back to my brother. “What exactly did you do to be sent to prison, Diesel?”
The shift in Diesel, between passive to outright ready to kick ass, was immediate. Diesel stood half a head taller than my brother. Both played football in their high school days and kept the bulky mass. If it came down to a fistfight, I didn’t know who would come out on top. All I knew was, I refused to stand around and watch.
“Loverboy here spent five years in prison for armed robbery.”
“You don’t know the whole story. Stop spouting lies, Caleb. For once let me find a piece of happiness,” he growled.
I saw the anger in my brother ebb as he considered his one-time best friend’s plea.
“I get why you’re mad. I do. Let me talk with her. But ultimately, it’s her decision.”
Caleb didn’t say anything for a long minute. War battled on behind those eyes as blue as mine.
Enough already. This needed to end. Before long we would have an audience and like hell that would happen. “You’re the one who told me to go to him in the first place. Now that I did, you want to get mad? No, Caleb. You need to leave. Come back when you’re more levelheaded.”
His gaze scanned over us, taking in how I held Diesel’s hand.
