Rock Chick Regret (Rock Chick #7)(147)

“Maybe you should keep talkin’,” Hector told me, not yet fully morphed into anger, not ready to break into a grin either.

“That man at the bar, who was he?”

Hector’s head cocked impatiently at my off the subject question but he answered, “Knew him. Worked with him briefly. He’s in the business.”

I nodded then I lifted my hand to the side of his face and rested it there.

“What he said to you, about me, knowing you were with me, feeling he was okay to say that… Hector, even when they were beginning, I can’t imagine anyone walking up to Lee and talking that way about Indy. Or Eddie about Jet. Or any of them. But me, Seth Townsend’s daughter.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m fair game.”

I saw an angry but understanding flare before he closed his eyes and my thumb moved to trace his bottom lip. When it did, his eyes opened again and the anger was gone.

“Sadie –”

I talked over him. “Enter Ice Princess. She was the only way to get by when people thought about me like that, talked about me like that guy. Or to me, like Jerry did this morning. I knew it happened, they never said it directly to me because of my father but I heard pieces here and there and I always knew. Until people forget, that’s not going to change, they’re going to think it’s okay –”

“It’s not f**kin’ okay. It wasn’t then and it isn’t now,” Hector broke in sharply and my hand drifted down to cup his jaw.

“No, you’re right, it wasn’t and isn’t. But they’re going to think it is and you can’t beat up every one of them.”

He didn’t say anything, he just stared at me.

So, as usual, I sallied forth.

“What Natalie said freaked me out,” I went on and his gaze darkened again but I shook my head, took my hand from his jaw and wrapped both my arms around him, squeezing his h*ps with my thighs. “Listen to me, Hector, it freaked me out because I was unprepared. I’d had a good day. I’d had a nice meal. I felt safe. I was happy. I wasn’t expecting that. It threw me. If I’d had time to think about it, which I didn’t, I would have worked through it on my own.”

Again, he didn’t respond, at least not verbally.

What he did was much better.

His head dropped and he nuzzled my neck with his nose then his mouth was there and my arms went tighter.

I turned my lips to his ear and whispered, “I won’t wear that skirt again but anything else, Hector, you have to let me be me. And the jerks can be jerks and they can think what they want but we’ll just come home and watch the game.”

Again, he didn’t answer.

Instead, his face came out of my neck and he kissed me, slow and sweet.

And, I figured, with his reaction, my instincts were right.

When his head moved away an inch, he looked in my eyes and asked softly, “Which Sadie is this?”

I felt my mouth form a little grin and I answered honestly, “I’ve no idea. I haven’t met her yet.”

He touched his forehead to mine a nanosecond. Then Smooth Move Hector did a push up, our bodies disconnected but his arm came around my lower back, he lifted me to him until my limbs wrapped tight around his body. His arm went away and he yanked down the covers under us and settled me in the bed. He joined me, snapping the covers back over us. His hands went into my camisole, he tugged it up and off and tossed it to the side of the bed. He finished by rolling us, him to his back, me tucked to his side and he settled the covers up around his stomach and under my armpit.

I put my head on chest, wrapped my arm around his belly and fell asleep watching football.

* * * * *

Hector

Hector pulled gently away from Sadie’s sleeping body, got out of bed, leaned back in and tucked the covers around her.

He walked to the bathroom, took a shower, shaved and went back to the bedroom.

He dressed with his eyes on Sadie to make sure she didn’t wake and because she looked cute when she slept, hands tucked under her cheek, her thick, soft, wild hair everywhere. Her scarred cheek was against the pillow which Hector thought was a good thing. She seemed not to notice it anymore or she’d put it somewhere in her head where she didn’t think about it. But every once in awhile the sight of it and the reason it was there crept into Hector’s consciousness and it would serve as an angry reminder. This was happening a lot less lately but when it did, it didn’t lose any of its intensity.

Once dressed, he leaned in and kissed the top of Sadie’s head.

She didn’t stir.

Then he went downstairs.

He made coffee, flipped the switch on the coffeemaker, wrote a note for Sadie and went upstairs and put it on the pillow. He was walking back downstairs when the knock came at the door.

He opened the door to see Bobby.

“Hombre,” he said, Bobby jutted out his chin and stepped in. Hector closed the door and went on, “Sadie’s sleepin’.”

“Got coffee?” Bobby asked.

Hector led the way to the kitchen, poured a mug for Bobby and a travel mug for himself. Bobby walked with him to the front door.

“Cell contact okay?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah,” Hector replied.

“You thinkin’ positive thoughts?” Bobby went on.

“No,” Hector responded.