Paxton's Promise (Gloves Off #3)(27)

Paxton chuckled and laid back down beside me, his grin wide. “Oh yeah, it’s nothing serious. My uncle’s truck broke down, and apparently, he’s trying to fix it. The last time he tried to work on a vehicle, he f*cked it up beyond repair. I guess you can say I didn’t learn my mechanic skills from him.”

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

He shrugged. “A couple of hours. Do you want to come with me? You might get a little bored.”

Kicking the covers off, I stretched and arched my back, making my breasts perk up as they hit the air. Paxton growled deep in his chest. “Actually, I think I’ll stay here and work out. But if you call me when you’re on the way home, I’ll be sure to be ready for you.”

Grabbing a breast, he flicked his tongue over a nipple and bit down. My body jerked in response and I gasped. He circled his tongue around the bite marks and smirked up at me. “I look forward to it.”

I moaned. “Go already, so you can get back.”

Quickly kissing me on the lips, he jumped out of bed and disappeared into his room. A few short minutes later, he emerged wearing a pair of old, holey jeans and a faded red T-shirt. I liked that look on him. He was down to earth, unlike some of the other metrosexual guys I’d dated. Paxton could wear the old jeans and worn shirts and completely pull it off. That was who he truly was, and what killed me was that I had been so close to losing him because of my assumptions.

After the door shut downstairs, I heard his motorcycle roar to life and the sound faded off in the distance. My stomach growled, but I decided to rinse off in the shower before fixing something to eat. As soon as I dried off, I pulled out some running shorts and a sports bra and threw my hair up into a ponytail.

Now that Paxton was gone, I walked across the hall to his room and looked around. His walls were a dark gray and his large bed was covered in a similar shade of gray with silver bed sheets and black pillows. It was very masculine and modern.

On one of his dressers there were framed pictures lined with him in various times and places. There was one with him as a child, beaming at the camera with a man and woman on each side of him. Judging by the resemblance in appearances I’d have to say it was his parents. They looked so happy together. I didn’t have any pictures like that.

Next, I recognized the picture with his aunt Jackie and who I assumed was his uncle Jack. And next to that was a group picture with Paxton and two other people. They were teenagers, but it didn’t take much to recognize them as Kacey and Kyle Andrews. Kacey had her hair in braids with braces on her teeth and she was standing in the middle between Pax and Kyle. They all three looked so innocent with their beaming smiles, including Kyle. How he got to be so f*cked up in the head was beyond me. People could change and thankfully Paxton figured that out before it was too late.

Not wanting to invade his privacy anymore, I made my way down the stairs and fixed a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. There was nothing exciting on the news, but I watched it while I ate. I never had much time to watch TV these days. When Ashleigh still lived with me I did, but that was because we loved watching our favorites. I couldn’t exactly picture Paxton watching Pitch Perfect or the Vampire Diaries.

Once out to his garage, I turned on his stereo system and wasn’t surprised to hear Avenged Sevenfold playing over the speakers. It was the same band he listened to every day he worked on his cars. The music was pretty good to exercise to as well.

I don’t know how long I worked out for, but I was drenched in sweat and my muscles ached by the time I was done. Lying on the floor, I stared up at the ceiling to catch my breath but my heart sped back up when my phone rang. Hopefully, it was Paxton saying he was on his way back. If so, I needed to jump in the shower.

When I looked down at my phone, it wasn’t him . . . it was Cliff. Dread overcame any sense of excitement I just had. “Hey,” I answered. “Please tell me I don’t have a new message waiting on me.”

“I wish I could, but I can’t.”

Immediately, I jumped to my feet and started out of the garage. What the hell was this person doing?

“I know we don’t really know each other, but I don’t like this at all. I think you should go to the station. I’ll follow you there if you want.”

Then it hit me. I told Paxton I wouldn’t go to my apartment without him. Fuck! “I can’t come there right now, not without Paxton. I told him I wouldn’t.”

Cliff snorted. “Are you afraid I can’t protect you? I think I’m insulted. If anything, I could kick his ass. Besides, it’s daylight outside and there are people everywhere. I would be more worried at night, when people can hide.”

Paxton was going to get pissed when he found out, but it was time I did something about it. “All right, I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

“I’ll wait by your door.”





Cliff did as he said and was waiting on me by my door when I parked and glanced up. He waved as I got out of the car. Taking the stairs two at a time, I raced up them until I got to the top. He held the flowers out to me with a grim expression on his face. There were four flowers this time, all black with a note attached.

“Did you read it?” I asked, opening it up.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s not good.”

When I opened it up, my stomach twisted into agonizing knots. The message was the worst one of all.