“Why am I not surprised?” he muttered.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“So she ran a business, cooked and cleaned and all that good stuff? Like a real mom?”
That made her laugh again. “Yeah, like a real mom. God, I miss her.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to stir that up.”
She reached out, touched his cheek for a second. “Don’t be. It’s a nice memory. I grew up watching Mom kick some serious butt, verbally and physically.”
“And you learned that shit well.”
“Knew it would come in handy one day.” She paused. “She would’ve really liked you.”
“Maybe. I have a feeling she would’ve kicked my ass from here to the bayou, though.” He ate some of his rice and then asked, “How’d she get into bounty-hunting to begin with?”
“She inherited the business from her parents, who inherited it from their parents. All on my mom’s side.”
“Makes sense why she’d be drawn to Darius.”
“See, and I always thought the opposite. She should’ve known enough to stay away from the bad boy.”
He gave a short laugh. “You haven’t figured out by now that she liked bounty-hunting because it involved bad boys? Come on, now, Avery. Why do you think you took to all of this so easily?”
She wanted to say survival, but he was right. There was more to it than that.
Chapter Thirteen
Gunner took a drink from a longneck, letting the taste of the bitter beer mix with the home cooking. Two perfect flavors that went together. He watched her enjoying her food, tried to picture her working bounties, counseling criminals.
“Do you think you’d still be doing it, if none of this had happened?”
She stabbed a bite of steak, put it in her mouth and hummed around it. Held up a finger like he was interrupting a religious experience.
Yeah, he so totally fucking loved her. Had from day one. There was no backing out. He knew better. He could no more have walked away from Josie. It wasn’t something to think about. It just was.
And he’d never thought it could happen again. But it had. And if he’d learned anything from Josie, and he had, it was that you didn’t walk away from a gift. Especially one that chased your ass down.
She’d actually started in on his steak. “What? You’re just sitting there all ‘thinking.’” She waved the fork in a circular motion in front of his face. “And I need sustenance.”
“Don’t let me stand in your way.”
“You won’t,” she assured him. “Mmmm, so good.”
He knew what she meant. He’d been wandering and eating, of course, but not really enjoying food. It had been fuel. Now, in a calm place, back where he belonged, things had begun to have taste again.
But the worst wasn’t over.
“You’ve got that thinking of bad things face,” she told him.
“I don’t have a face like that.”
“You definitely do.” She speared more of his steak on his fork. “Okay, to answer your question, if none of this had happened, I would’ve gone into the bounty business in the town I was born in. Exciting maybe five percent of the time and the rest was paperwork. Talking. Making connections.”
She paused. “Of course, I would’ve taken that life for things not to have taken the turn they did. Horrible things shouldn’t be the only things that force us into action.”
He wanted to agree, but most people got and stayed comfortable, if not happy. And although he’d been through hell, being trapped and unhappy was something he didn’t want.
“You know, sometimes I’m angry with Mom,” she continued. “It’s like she’d hidden a huge part of me from me.”
“You don’t think that part would’ve come out eventually?”
“It was always there, Gunner. Knowing that the way I felt was normal for whose kid I was. That made all the difference. Meeting Dare and learning about Darius made everything make sense.”
He stared at her as her words sank in. “Right. You’re born into something and you can’t escape what you’ve become.”
Her knife and fork clattered to her plate. “Gunner, Christ, that’s not what I meant.”
“It might not be what you meant, but it’s what you said.”
“You listen to me—you were born to two operatives. You have espionage in your blood. You’re a warrior. Whether you use those traits to tip yourself toward the good side or the bad side is your own business. Your own choice.”
Gunner pushed his plate away. “Not always.”
“I can’t say anything right today, can I?” she asked.
“You’re just talking truth, Avery. No right or wrong in that.”
“I know you did what you did for me,” she said. “I would’ve done the same thing for you.”
He saw the truth of that in her gaze. Her cheeks flushed and she looked so serious.
“I should never have let you leave that hotel room. I’m responsible for that. If I’d begged you to stay . . .”
“I want to say I would’ve, but that’s easier to say than to do,” he admitted.
“I wish we could forget our pasts, but that’s what makes us who we are. You know that, Gunner. And even though you say you don’t know who you are, I know. Mike and Andy know. Josie did too. Jem, Dare, Key and Grace. Are we all easily fooled? Are we all that wrong?”
“I don’t want you to be,” Gunner said.
Avery moved closer. Stood. Took Gunner’s hand. “I’m done telling you. I’m going to show you.”
She unbuttoned her shirt and let it drop off her shoulders as she waited in front of him. The tattoo he’d given her . . . from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, he’d pictured those flowers on her, a beauty that belied strength.
Now he ran his palms over his handiwork as she watched him.
“Why do you still believe in me?” he asked.
“Because if roles were reversed, you’d never stop believing in me.”
He traced the tattoos he’d inked onto her skin, a perfect blossoming that trailed along her side, licking her rib cage, teasing her breast.
“If we’d been alone that night . . .”
She smiled at the memory. “For a while, we were. And now it’s like you’re always with me. No matter if you push me away, you’re still here.”
“Damn you,” he whispered.
“You were the one who did it. And don’t tell me you didn’t know what you were doing.”
He’d known. From the second he’d hand-drawn the flowers on her skin, he’d known. “I was a fool to try to give you up.”
“Yes, you were. Promise you’ll never do it again, no matter what.”
“How about I show instead of tell?” He stood, grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. “Bedroom’s too far.”
“So impatient,” she chided.
“For you, yes.” He got her onto the soft leather couch, crawled over her. “Need you naked.”
She raised her arms so he could pull off the T-shirt. He did, then immediately locked his mouth onto a nipple, rolling it between his teeth and tongue until she arched and called out his name.
His hand slid down her belly, into the wet heat between her thighs.
“I’m not going to last,” she warned.
“Good. Planning on making you come several times,” he assured her.
She was tugging at his jeans, helping him out of them, telling him she needed him inside her.
“I’ve got to get—”
“Forget it. I’m on the pill. And I’ve only been with you,” she told him.
“You’re the first in a long time, Avery. Before I left and after.”
She spread her legs around him and took him inside her. He shuddered as he went deep and she raked her nails lightly down his arms. He locked his gaze with her as their movements got frantic, until she was coming hard with him inside her.