Golden Trail (The 'Burg #3)(85)
Her head shifted, her arm tightened around him and she slid up so her lips were against the underside of his jaw.
“You need to wake me up, baby, I need to get to work,” she whispered.
* * * * *
Layne’s eyes opened and he saw dark.
But what he felt was Rocky’s warmth pressed against him, her head on his chest, her arm heavy on his stomach, her knee resting on his thigh – pinning him to his back in the bed.
Layne stared into the darkness and let the smell of her, the feel of her, the warmth, the softness, Rocky pressed close, pinning him to the bed for the first time in eighteen years, penetrate.
He closed his eyes and focused on those sensations and the golden trail they left.
Then he opened his eyes and smiled.
* * * * *
The night before, after Layne sat outside brooding in the dark through his second cigarette and to the end of his beer, he entered the house to find Jasper and Keira preparing to leave and Rocky and Tripp in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on cleaning it.
Layne’s eyes went to his watch and he saw that Jas had half an hour before Keira’s curfew and Keira lived at most a ten minute drive away so either his son was trying to ingratiate himself with Cal and Violet by taking her safely home with time to spare or he was going to take Keira somewhere so he could make out with her.
Layne was guessing the latter.
“Be back, Dad,” Jasper called from the front door, his hand in Keira’s.
“Thanks for dinner, Mr. Layne,” Keira called after Jasper was done.
“Any time, Keira,” Layne called back and they disappeared.
Layne looked at Devin who was standing at the front of the couch, already had his arms stretched over his head and was faking a huge yawn.
Then he heard Rocky announce in a firm, school teacher voice, “Layne, I need to talk to you.”
Surprised at her tone, his eyes cut to her, she gave him a look and then strutted to the steps and up them, still wearing her heels, her ass swaying with every step.
Layne stood there and watched because he liked the show but also because she was heading up the stairs and he hadn’t had to make a complicated play to get her up there.
He heard Devin chuckle and he looked to his friend, saw his eyes shining and Layne grinned at him.
“Got some homework to do, Dad,” Tripp informed him and Layne’s gaze went to his son.
“Do me a favor and do it down here,” Layne replied, Tripp’s eyes went in the direction of the stairs he couldn’t see from his place in the kitchen then they came back to his old man, he grinned then he nodded.
Layne headed up the stairs.
The light over the desk was on when he got there but Rocky was standing in the middle of the set up, her head moving slowly, her eyes taking in the exercise equipment. When he arrived, they shot to him and he knew something was up. Rocky was not happy.
Jesus, how long was he outside?
She glanced at the open double doors to his room then back at him.
“Private,” she said in a low voice, turned on her high heel and strutted into his room.
Layne stared after her a second then dropped his head and grinned at his boots while he followed her. He walked in, closed the door, wiped the grin off his face and looked at Raquel standing in his room.
Melody had come out after Layne had closed on the house. Melody had also chosen every stick of furniture and most of the homewares in that house. This included Layne’s bedroom furniture, burgundy sheets and dark gray comforter. This also meant all of it was expensive, masculine, in good taste and of excellent quality. She’d bought him (using his money) three sets of sheets because she knew his aversion to laundry. Layne hadn’t changed the sheets Rocky had slept in for over a week because it took that long for him not to smell her perfume. This could have been his imagination but he didn’t f**king care.
“Do you work out?” Rocky asked, taking him out of his thoughts and his eyes sliced to her because her tone was angry and, from her question, he couldn’t fathom why.
“Come again?” he asked.
She jabbed a finger at the doors behind him. “Do you work out?”
“Uh… yeah,” he answered.
She threw up both hands. “Layne, you got shot two months ago.”
It was then, he got it.
He took two steps into the room, cautiously saying, “Yeah, sweetcheeks, I remember, I was there.”
She crossed her arms on her chest. “You shouldn’t be working out.”
“Why not?” he asked.
She leaned toward him and hissed, “You were shot two months ago!”
Layne crossed his arms on his chest as well and replied softly, “Yeah, baby, I was shot, but it was over two months ago.”
“You aren’t recovered enough to work out,” she declared.
“You in on my doctor’s appointments?” Layne returned.
“No,” Rocky snapped then glared at him.
Layne studied her, wondering how to play this, especially knowing what he now knew about Raquel Merrick.
Then he asked quietly, “You called me up here to tell me I shouldn’t be working out?”
She kept glaring at him, trying to slip into a stare down but he started toward her and she dropped her head, turning it slightly to the side to look at the floor as well as hide from him.