“Most of the girls you are with don’t seem real, Tazen.”
He shakes his head, his eyes travelling off into the distance. “Nah, they aren’t.”
“Don’t worry,” I say lightly. “There are plenty of fish in the sea.”
He exhales on a laugh. “You’re a piece of work, angel.”
“I never denied it.”
He turns to me, and he’s got a serious, lusty look on his face. He leans in close and my breath hitches as his fingers go up and curl around the back of my neck. “I’ve met a lot of women in my time, but none of them intrigue me the way you do. Fuck, hearing you scream with joy in my car today. Made me fucking hard as hell.”
Oh. Shit.
“It’s called wanting what you can’t have,” I squeak.
“No, baby, it’s called wanting,” he leans in close so our lips are nearly touching, “what’s real.”
Oh boy.
He leans in closer and I realize he’s going to kiss me. He’s going to kiss me and I don’t have it in me to pull back, hell, I don’t want to pull back and I should. Yet here I am moving closer to him, desperate to know how he tastes. His breath tickles my lips right before heaven breaks open and something amazing happens.
He kisses me.
I haven’t been kissed for a solid five years, but no kiss, no kiss, has ever felt like this. My breath hitches and I gasp against his mouth as he pulls my body closer to his and tilts his head, deepening our kiss. His tongue touches my lips, coaxing mine open. I willingly accept and let him in. Our tongues touch and electricity shoots through my body. I close my eyes and whimper as he takes my breath away.
His hand is still around the back of my neck, massaging gently. The other one is on my leg, squeezing softly as our kiss gets deeper and more intense. His rumbly moan blends with my soft, breathy one and I practically throw myself onto his lap. Our bodies crush together and I kiss him so hard I know my lips will be full and sore after it, but I don’t care.
A throat clears behind us and we wrench apart, turning with panted breaths to see a bartender standing, looking horribly uncomfortable at our public display of affection. “Sorry,” I gasp, shoving away from Tazen and placing my fingers against my lips.
“Ah, the drinks you ordered are ready,” he says, handing our beers to us.
I take one and swallow three big mouthfuls, unable to look into Tazen’s eyes. I can’t believe we just did that. We just kissed and I’m supposed to hate him. This is bad, so bad. My cheeks burn and I keep my eyes directed away from his. A warm hand captures my jaw and he turns my face towards his, opening his mouth to speak. He doesn’t get any words out; because something launches at him and knocks him clean off the chair.
It takes me a moment to realize what’s happening. I turn quickly, confused and stunned, to see Tazen on the ground with Jace on top of him. The two are in a serious punch up, with fists flying and curses being spat. Jace drives his fist into Tazen’s face and then in a split second, Tazen has flipped Jace and is driving his fist into his face. I cry out and leap out as blood starts being shed.
What the hell?
“Stop!” I cry.
Two large bouncers appear. One lifts Tazen with one, big beefy hand and another lifts Jace. They hold them apart, but that doesn’t stop the words flying.
“You piece of shit, you lowlife piece of shit,” Jace roars. “How could you be such a heartless prick?”
Tazen snarls, baring his teeth and spits. “Fuck off, Jace.”
“You just kissed her, and she doesn’t know. You conniving pig.”
What are they talking about? I don’t understand.
“Jace,” I say softly. “What’s going on?”
Tazen turns to me and I see it … I see what I saw earlier. Guilt. I blink rapidly, trying to understand.
“Honey,” Jace says, looking to me. “I’m so sorry.”
I swallow. “Jace, what’s happened?”
He looks to Tazen, his eyes hard. “You going to tell her what sort of man you are, or am I?”
Tazen growls. “You fucker, this could have been done in a kinder way.”
“Oh.” Jace laughs bitterly. “You mean after you fucked her and had your fun?”
“Fuck you,” Tazen spits.
“Can someone just tell me what’s going on?” I scream.
Everything goes quiet, and all the people around stop talking to turn and watch.
“He bought the garage, Quinn,” Jace says gently. “I just found out and came to tell you.”
My knees wobble and my vision blurs. No, he must have it wrong.
“I…” I whisper, but my voice has retreated to the depths of darkness threatening to swallow me up.
“Your dad signed it over to him this morning. He got in contact with him, offered a good price and your dad, thinkin’ he was doing the right thing by you, sold it to him without question.”
No.
No.
God, please, no.
I shake my head, and tears burst free and run down my cheeks.
“Jace,” I rasp. “This isn’t real … tell me it’s not real?”
“I’m so sorry honey.”
My entire body starts to shake as a mass of emotions flood me. Everyone around me becomes a blur as tears explode and my eyes become fuzzy. The sounds of shuffling become louder around me and then I hear his voice, the voice I don’t ever want to hear again.
“I was going to tell you, angel.”
“Don’t call me angel,” I scream, swiping my eyes furiously. When I find him, I pin him with a glare so acidic he flinches. “How dare you! I told you what that garage meant to me, and you swept in, using me along the way, while you wrapped your grubby, disgusting hands around it and snatched it out from beneath me.”
“That isn’t—”
“Don’t!” I yell. “Don’t give me excuses. You’ve wanted it since you walked in that first day. I should have known all this,” I wave at him, “was a big, disgusting act. You were just distracting me so you could take what’s mine.”
“It wasn’t yours,” he barks, losing his cool. “And you couldn’t have saved it, you and I both know that. I did you a favor.”
“A favor?” I laugh so bitterly it hurts. “A fucking favor? How do you suppose you did me a favor? No, you did only yourself a favor. I might not have been able to save that garage, but you owed me at least the chance to try.”
“Listen, Quinn…”
“Don’t,” I cry, launching forward and shoving him so hard he’s forced to take a few steps back. “Don’t try and make yourself look better. You’re a dog, and you know it. Worse, you had the balls to kiss me and make out like you actually wanted it. Real, Tazen?” I shake my head. “You wouldn’t know real if it slapped you in the face.”
“Come on,” Jace says, wrapping an arm around me. “Let’s go.”
With tears staining my cheeks, I let him turn me.
“Angel,” Tazen calls.
I look over my shoulder at him. “This is far from finished.”
Then, I let Jace lead me away.
CHAPTER NINE
“How could you?” I cry, pacing the room.
My dad is sitting on the couch, staring up at me with a check in his hand for a hundred thousand dollars. He looks confused, like he couldn’t possibly imagine why the hell I’m sad over the loss of the garage. I understand in his fried brain, he thinks he did the right thing. That it was a simple solution, but he failed to think about what the place meant to me.
And he knows, even in his state. He knows.
“I told you I’d fix it,” he mutters.
“Fix it?” I whisper. “That was the only thing I had left. It was the only part of her,” my voice breaks, “we had left.”
My dad flinches and I know that was a low blow.
“I…” he stammers. “I was only tryin’ to fix things, Quinnie. I couldn’t stand to see you suffering anymore.”
My shoulders slump and I drop my head. I can’t be angry at him, not when he thinks that he has just fixed everything. In a way, he has. Our bills can be paid, our mortgage covered and things will ease up. But we have lost something that we can never get back, and that is making my heart ache in a way I can’t turn off.