American Made (Against the Tides #2) (3 page)

I open my mouth to speak but get cut off by a guy walking by the truck. I don’t take my eyes off Knox as the guy yells at him, asking if he’s going to get a drink. Never being one to turn down a beer, Knox agrees, telling him he’s right behind him before turning back to me. 

“She doesn’t blame you, Emerson,” he says and changes the subject. “Come have a drink with me and the guys. I bet you could use one.”

I nod. I could use more than one right now. “Anything’s better than goin’ home to a silent house right now.”

He tells me to follow behind him so we don’t have to come back. I climb into my truck, crank the motor, and follow him through Boston traffic. Pulling into Pier 24, I smile, remembering all the times we’ve had here as a group.

Knox meets me at my door, helping me out like a gentleman and makes me put my sling back on when he sees it on the seat. After we make it through the doors, I barely have a chance to scan the room before Envy, the tiny little blonde tending the bar, jumps over it and rushes toward me.

Knox jumps in front of me, stopping her from tackling me. “Envy,” he warns.

Resting her hands on her hips, she smirks. “Knox.”

“Do not jump, squeeze, squeal, or yell.”

Shaking my head, I push past him with a smile. I reach out and tug her into me as easily as I can.

“Ahh! Finally, two thirds of the Vagina Squad are back together.”

“Yeah, two thirds,” I mutter, noticing the obvious missing piece that is Ari.

“Were you hurt while you were over there?” she asks quietly, sneaking a peek at my sling. “Is that why he just listed all those things that I can’t do that I usually do?”

“Something like that,” I mumble, stepping back.

“Beer. You must want beer.” Her eyes drift up and down my body, scanning the sling a few times again, and I can tell she’s trying to figure out exactly what happened. Brushing her off, I nod and force a smile.

“Beer would be fabulous.”

“Boys are in the back,” Envy says to Knox, turning away from us.

“KNOX!” Rush and I yell, raising our glasses when he steps around the corner. He waves, weaving around tables before climbing onto a stool next to me.

“Seriously, you guys. We were five minutes behind you and you’re three rounds ahead of us.”

Knox bats at the empty bottles on the table before leaning back in his chair.

“It’s not our fault you’re slow,” I say, smiling as I take another drink. “Where’s your beer, man?”

“It’s comin’.”

I snort and Rush, as usual, makes the mistake to open his mouth without looking around first. “Envy delivers now?”

“I deliver for anyone but you, Rush.” Envy smirks. Flipping her head, she slaps him in the face with her hair as she puts a round of bottles down.

As I’m busy laughing, another chair gets pulled up to the table and the person occupying it when I open my eyes causes my breath to catch in my chest. 

Is that normal? It can’t be normal for someone to literally take your breath away. I try to cover up what’s going on by taking another drink but it only makes it worse because I end up choking. Knox glares at me from across the table.

“Who are you?” Rush asks.

“No,” Knox responds before the woman has a chance to say anything. His narrowed eyes never leave mine as he reaches down and drags her chair closer to his, wrapping his arm around the back of it. He’s careful not to touch the arm she has in a sling, but there is no mistaking the possession in the move.

The only person I’ve seen Knox possessive of in the past few months since I’ve met him is some Ari chick. Only I’ve never seen it because she’s never been around with him, I just hear it in the way he talks about her. This girl doesn’t look like what I expected.

Reaching around, she grabs his arm and moves it off her. After glaring at him she extends her left hand out to me to shake.

“Emerson,” she says, shaking my hand.

Fuck me.
The sound of her voice shoots straight to my cock. The grip of her fingers on my hand has me wondering what they would feel like on the rest of my body. I want to taste her. I’ve just fucking met her and I want her more than any other person I have
ever
wanted. 

“I’m Rush,” Rush jumps in, making her pull back from me.

Fucker.

She smiles politely but quickly turns her attention back to me. Running her hand through her black hair, she rests back against her chair while waiting for me to speak. 

“Gentry,” I finally answer.

Knox slides a beer in front of her, continuing to glare at me.

As Envy continues to set beer bottles, shot glasses, and a bottle of whiskey on the table, Rush makes a fool out of himself uninterrupted. I miss most of what he says because I’m too busy looking at Emerson’s throat as she swallows her drink. I watch it, imagining what it would feel like to slide my cock into her mouth.

“That’s my ass, Rush,” Envy yells. She grabs her tray from the table, smacks him in the shoulder with it, and runs around to Emerson’s side.

“What the hell are you hidin’ behind her for?” Rush asks with a laugh.

“Because I know she’ll protect me.”

Emerson smiles slightly but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she pats Envy’s hand and starts peeling the label on her bottle. Beside me Rush puffs up his chest, probably upset that Envy thinks a woman would be a challenge for him.

“Doubtful,” he snorts. “How the hell is a chick in a sling gonna protect you?”

The corner of Emerson’s mouth perks up but she stays quiet. Knox on the other hand speaks up for her, shocking me with what he says.

“I’d watch it, Rush. She just got home from deployment and I’m afraid she might have a happy trigger finger.”

“I need a shot!” Emerson exclaims, cutting them off from talking about her deployment anymore. “One that doesn’t come from a gun,” she mumbles when she thinks no one is paying attention.

Envy grabs the glasses and lines them up on the edge of the table before doing what she does best. Usually I watch the way she spins the bottle and the tricks she does, but this time, I can’t. As soon as the glasses are filled, Emerson grabs them one-by-one and downs the contents.

“So,” Emerson says after another two rounds of shot stealing. “Who’re you guys, and why is Knox mutterin’ threats under his breath?”

“They’re both whores and I will make them disappear if they touch you.”

Rush gasps, feigning shock. “How dare you, sir!”

“Oh shut the fuck up, manwhore,” Envy laughs, picking up the empty bottles off the table. “We all know better.”

“Baby, you’re so short I don’t even have to wait for you to get on your knees. Speaking of…” Reaching down, Rush adjusts his dick and winks at Envy. “While you’re down there.”

Shaking my head, I turn my attention back to Emerson. “I’m not a whore, I work with Knox and he’s just jealous that I’m better at my job than he is.”

“Competitive Knox?” she says after pulling her attention from the argument between Rush and Envy. She laughs and shakes her head. “I just can’t see that.”

“Pussies,” Rush mumbles. “Fuckin’ pussies is all you are.”

“If jumpin’ out of helicopters into the ocean to save people makes them pussies, what exactly do you do, Hush?” I stifle my laughter when she messes up his name. “I’m bettin’ it’s something dangerous like askin’ if someone wants fries with their order at McDonald’s in the bad part of the city.”

Everyone at the table bursts out laughing. Oddly enough, that includes Rush. Usually when someone screws up his name it upsets him. I figured with this screw up and the fact that she just made fun of him after only meeting him a few minutes ago, he’d be pissed off. After finally catching his breath, Rush tips his shot back and swallows before slamming his hand down against the table.

“First off, my name is Rush.”

“Like rush hour traffic? Does that mean you’re super slow? Like a sloth?” Lifting her arm, Emerson moves in slow motion, mimicking a sloth.

“Oh holy shit,” Knox laughs, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I haven’t seen Emerson this drunk in years.

“Cat-like reflexes, but I have always wanted a pet sloth.” Rush gets sidetracked for a minute before realizing that he was talking about something. “Woman! Stop drunk steerin’ this conversation. You asked a question, I’m tryin’ to answer it.”

Climbing onto her knees on the stool, she leans across the table. It gives me the perfect view of her tits as they get pushed up because of the sling on her arm. She flinches before remembering that she’s hurt and shifts her weight.

“Tell me more, Catwoman.”

He shakes his head and as much as I want to get her attention and have her talk to me, this is too entertaining to stop. Emerson grabs a shot, sipping it while never breaking eye contact with him.

“I’m part of team one with the SRU.” Rush smugly crosses his arms over his chest.

“What the hell is that? A school union?” she asks looking around the table. Stopping at me, she grins for a second before turning her attention back to him.

“Strategic Response Unit. We handle things that the police can’t. Hostage situations, bomb threats. We do stuff so they don’t have to call in SWAT. There’s only a few of these teams in the country right now.”

“Ooo…rain,” Emerson mutters, seeming to ignore everything that Rush just said. Sliding out of her chair, she stumbles, ignoring Knox as he yells after her. He grabs his beer and follows her so I do the same thing, leaving Rush to head to the bar to hit on Envy some more. She hits the door and rushes out onto the pier with her beer bottle dangling between her fingers.

“What are you doin’?” I yell from the cover of the awning. Standing alone in the middle of the pier, she tips her head back, letting the rain soak her.

“Don’t get between the girl and her water,” Knox warns, staring at her with a smile on his lips.

“What?”

“Over seven months with no rain,” she sighs, snapping her head up to look at me with a drunk little grin. “I need the moistness on my skin.”

It’s infectious and I can’t help but smile back. I feel Knox glaring at me again but I ignore him because I can’t take my eyes off Emerson. She wanders back until she hits the railing and leans against it, her eyes never leaving mine. Even when the rain starts pouring down harder she doesn’t move. With every drop the smile on her face widens.

“Fuck it.” I shrug, tipping the bottle to my lips as I wander out into the rain with her. It doesn’t take long before my clothes are soaked through but I don’t care. I slide onto the top rail and shift so I’m facing her. “So…”

“So.” Emerson grins, turning toward me. “I take it since Knox is growlin’ like a bear that he really doesn’t like you talkin’ to me.”

“Seems he’s a little overprotective.”

She laughs, wiping the water off her face. “A little? You missed the Secret Service swoop when Envy rushed me.”

I shrug. “He’s fun to irritate.”

“I agree.” Pushing off the railing, Emerson slides between my knees and rests her hand on my thigh.

“What are you doin’?”

“Proving a point,” she whispers. Running her hand up my chest, she wraps it around the back of my neck. “You gonna help me?”

“That depends. What point are we provin’?”

“That I’m not a damsel in distress. I don’t need to be saved like he thinks I do.”

Thank God.
“What can I do?”

“He lookin’?” I pull my eyes away from where she’s chewing on her lip only long enough to see that Knox is seething under the cover of the building.

“Sure is.” I laugh.

“Good.” She smiles. “Kiss me.”

I know she’s drunk and I know I shouldn’t take advantage of that, but all I want to do is kiss her. Something inside of me is screaming at me to do it anyway. 

“Back up,” I whisper. Trying my hardest not to laugh at the confused look on her face, I push her back until I have enough room to fit between her and the railing.

“Why?”

“Because,” I say, sliding down until my feet hit the ground. “If you want me to kiss you for show, we’re gonna do it my way.”

I grab her, spinning her so I can press her body into the railing with mine. Skimming my hand up her side, I slip my fingers into her hair and pull her toward me. I slide my lips over hers and don’t try to take it farther than that, but the second she opens her mouth and runs her tongue over my lips, I give in. She moans against my lips, driving me to kiss her harder. The taste of her is addictive and the longer her tongue is touching mine, I find myself wanting more.

Emerson doesn’t pull back until we hear Knox growl from behind us and slam his way back into the bar. When she looks up at me there’s something in her eyes that catches me off-guard, sobering me instantly. It’s dark, full of secrets, and part of me thinks I’m the only person she’s let see it in a long time. Part of me hopes that, anyway. I reach up, slide my fingers over her forehead to move her hair. Her eyes close as I touch her and when she opens them again, whatever the look that was there is gone, replaced by the drunk one she started with.

“So, how ‘bout you tell me what happened?”

Her eyes shift to her sling and back to me. “I don’t even know you, why would I tell you what happened?”

“Well,” I mumble. “You did just force me to kiss you.”

“Force you?” She throws her head back and laughs. Watching her—with her hair soaked and stuck to her skin—has my dick pounding against the inside of my jeans. “I seem to be the one that’s wedged between the railing and your rock-hard body.”

I smirk, leaning closer to her. “Rock-hard body, huh?”

“I want McDonald’s. I need children nuggets.”

“Children nuggets? What the fuck?” The sudden change of subject makes my head spin and when she pushes me away so she can stumble back into the bar, I miss having her body against mine.

What the hell is wrong with me? I don’t do this. Women don’t get to me like this. I’m the one they beg to have touch them, not the other way around.

I shake my head, trying to knock myself out of whatever trance this chick has me in. I wander back inside, squeezing some of the water out of my shirt on the way. When I get back to the table, Knox is scowling at me harder than ever and Emerson is downing another shot while trying to grab her bag with her bad arm. After she swallows, she turns to me.