Rowdy (Marked Men #5)(29)
CHAPTER 7
Rowdy
NOW THAT THE TABLES had turned and Salem was the one avoiding me, giving me sidelong looks and running the other way when I crowded her, I saw just how annoying and frustrating it must have been when I was the one doing it to her. I took every opportunity that presented itself to touch her, to be near her, to crowd her and press in on her. I was the one treating her like prey and she was looking back at me like a deer caught in the headlights with those deep, dark eyes.
I knew something was going to have to happen one way or another between the two of us. Either she was going to get over all that nonsense in her head about Poppy and let me take her to bed, or she was going to decide it was all too much and not meant to be and cut and run like she apparently had been doing all her life. I wasn’t sure which outcome I was gunning for since both had pros and cons.
On one hand I wanted to get na**d with her, tangle myself all up with her in all the raunchiest and dirtiest ways I could think of, but I didn’t want to have sex with her and then have her pull up stakes and leave me hanging. I had a feeling if I ever ended up in bed with Salem, it would mean an end to my hit-it-and-quit bedroom habits. There was no quitting with her, not considering how strongly I still reacted to her after a decade of no contact between the two of us. As a result I think subconsciously I was pushing her, trying to make her run because I knew all along that’s what she was more than likely going to do. It was her pattern. I was just trying to speed the process up before I could get any more invested in her and the fact I wanted her so bad I could taste it. The thing was, no matter how hard I pushed her, how close I got to her physically, she never told me to back off. She just gave me a knowing look, like she knew all the plays before they were called out and already had a defensive strategy in mind to counteract them.
It was Friday afternoon and I had been at the Marked, but my last appointment canceled due to an emergency, so I had a couple hours free. It was Rule’s day to be down at the Saints of Denver, so I knew he was going to give me a load of shit for lurking around the new shop when I should be working, but I didn’t care. When I pushed open the door I was surprised to see his spiky head behind the counter and not Salem’s. He was on the phone and just rolled his eyes at me when I propped myself up on the opposite side.
“Let me call you back, Rome. Rowdy just got here.” He paused and then grinned. “Yeah, thanks . . . I’m scared shitless but I’ll figure it out.”
I lifted an eyebrow at him and he did the same back at me, only his had metal in it.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just thought I would stop by. What’s up with you? Why are you scared shitless?”
Rule shrugged. “Things just keep changing. It’s hard to keep up sometimes. Rome was just telling me it’s all payback for being such an ass**le for so long.”
“What’s he talking about? You’re still an ass**le most of the time.”
He laughed and leaned back in the chair with his arms up behind his head. “True. You wanna be straight with me and tell me the real reason you’re here instead of being where you’re supposed to be? Because I’m pretty f**king sure it has something to do with our pretty new shop manager.”
“I don’t want to tell you shit.”
He snorted and told me, “She had a meeting with the screen printer. She should be back in an hour or so. Those designs you mocked up were killer, dude.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Still waiting on you and Nash to give me something I can give to her.”
He let his arms fall and rose to his feet as the front door opened. “My mind has been on other things lately. I’ll get to it soon. Promise.”
He greeted a client and I turned to go up the stairs. He stopped me by calling out my name.
“The girls are all up there. You might want to steer clear for a minute or two.”
I just waved him off. I was used to Cora’s attitude and Ayden’s sass. Shaw was the sweetest thing in the world, and whatever they were up there discussing couldn’t be anything that would send me running for the hills. Besides, maybe I could pick their collective lady minds and figure out what Salem’s deal really was. There were just too many secrets and unknowns lurking behind those dark eyes.
When I hit the top of the steps I immediately knew I should have heeded Rule’s warning. The girls were huddled in a tight circle and they were all making whimpering sounds like they were crying. All three of them had their heads bent close together like they were in a huddle before a major play and I felt all my protective instincts fire up. I wanted to hurt whoever it was that was responsible for making these fantastic, important women cry and then I realized they were probably all just overreacting about Ayden’s news that she was moving.
The all broke apart when my boots clattered on the top step and three pairs of watery eyes shifted in my direction. I smiled at them, my instinct to try and make the situation better.
“Don’t worry, girls, Austin isn’t that far away. Jet will bring our girl back on the regular. I’ll make sure of it.”
I saw Ayden’s eyes get huge in her face as Shaw and Cora both turned on her with furious scowls.
“What?” Shaw snapped the question and Cora followed quickly behind.
“Yeah, what?”
Ayden held her hands up in front of her and glared at me.