Devil May Care: Boxed Set (38 page)

I felt good that she was still on my side, that she was still smiling at me and talking to me in soft, breathy tones that said she wasn’t disgusted with me. But there was the lingering voice in my head that reminded me it was because she didn’t really understand what I was talking about. How could she?

It’s not like she doesn’t know I’m in a motorcycle club,
I thought, trying to convince myself that she had to know I wasn’t completely on the up and up. Still, I could taste the lie of omission on my tongue. She didn’t know what I really did because I didn’t tell her. Knowing I was in the Renegades didn’t mean she’d also know that I made my living on the illegal side of the line. And if I made it sound like I was completely legitimate, then she believed that because she was taking my words at face value.

I’m a real piece of shit,
I thought, but it wasn’t enough to make me tell her the truth. There was the chance she might take it well, that she would be okay with it and even appreciate my honesty, but I doubted it. I’d been burned by enough foster homes, would-be lovers, and even friends to think that anyone would be okay with the shady side of my life. In my experience, if you weren’t completely straight about things, then you didn’t deserve to be a part of “good” people’s lives. And I was pretty sure that Olivia was about as good as good people got.

Olivia

The first thing I noticed about L.A. was the traffic. The never ending, one mile an hour, sweltering, angry driver traffic. We had the windows rolled down by this point, giving up on the poor little air conditioner that just couldn’t. It meant that the heat was basically wafting in one window and out the other, without bringing much relief with it, but it was better than just sitting there in a room full of used, mostly warm air. At least this was sort of fresh.

We’d gotten into the general L.A. area nearly an hour and a half ago and it felt like we hadn’t made any progress at all. Of course, we
had
, but between the never ending line of cars and our own exhaustion, we might as well have been walking. We probably would have gotten there faster.

Wherever there was.

“You do know where we’re going, right?” I asked, more to fill up the space and time it would take to get through this line of traffic than out of any real curiosity. We could be headed to some little Podunk town that didn’t have cell towers for all I cared so long as we got there. Eventually.

Rome nodded. Despite driving the entire time and with only a few pit stops for bathroom breaks and to get gas, he was in relatively good spirits. I wasn’t really sure what changed given that he’d been a real crank several hours ago, but I was grateful for it. I didn’t think it was my apology, but I suppose it could have been. At least we didn’t have to be miserable
and
fighting. Thank god for small favors.

“Yeah, I do.”

“So we’re not just wandering aimlessly?” I teased lightly. I was in better spirits, too. Despite feeling like Rome was a real pain in the ass, I generally liked to get along with people and would rather be on good terms with him than bad. Especially since we were stuck together until this whole mess was cleaned up. Oh, and we were legally married. Minor things like that.

I blushed as I found myself letting my gaze wander over his well-toned, muscled body. I had indulged in that body not so very long ago and part of me wanted to do that again. Soon. But it still felt weird feeling that way. Sure, marriage gave you a little leeway, but we really didn’t
know
each other. I knew he was a mechanic, he hated my ex, he had some trouble with a motorcycle gang, and he was dead sexy.

Not exactly the foundation to build a lasting marriage on.

Still, I wouldn’t mind basing it on wild, hungry sex. At least for a little while.

By the time Rome caught me staring at him, a blush had all but swallowed my entire body. I must have been as bright as a tomato and I didn’t think he’d believe me if I told him that it was the heat causing it, so I didn’t say anything at all.

A smooth grin slid across his features, devilish and dangerous. A reminder that there was an undercurrent of wild lying just beneath the handsome surface. I shuddered involuntarily and felt my body react to the promises his eyes made to me. Promises I knew he could keep.

“No, not aimlessly,” he finally answered me, still smiling. His eyes raked over my body and I let out a shaky breath. “In fact…we’re headed to a hotel first.”

If that didn’t make me hot, I didn’t know what would. It took everything I had not to groan at the thought of what we could do with a nice air conditioned bedroom. Or maybe not air conditioned. There was a lot to be said for starting off all hot and sweaty, letting our bodies slide against one another as we found a rhythm that worked. Maybe his hands would slide over my bare skin first, memorizing the curves and the plump parts as he weighed my breasts and cupped my ass. Or maybe he’d tell me to be still and allow his mouth to explore me first.

That thought nearly had my eyes rolling back inside my head. Oh, how I wanted him to touch me. And not just touch me, but devour me. I wanted to feel his tongue sliding across my skin, tasting parts of me that no other man had bothered to taste. I wanted kisses between my legs and to feel a hardness nestle itself between my rear cheeks. I wanted to try things I’d never tried before, to get the chance to really test what boundaries I might and might not have. I wanted to be surprised as much as I wanted to surprise myself.

And I thought Rome could help me with those things. Easily, he could.

I swallowed harshly, forcing thoughts of his hard, sculpted body—and his member, bigger and thicker than I’d expected—naked and wanting me aside. “A…a hotel?” I squeaked back, hating how high pitched my voice sounded. I was trying not to salivate over him, but it was hard to keep myself in check when he was looking at me like that.

“Yeah, I figured you’d need some rest.” There was a twinkle in his eye letting me know that he’d most definitely caught on to the lust swimming through my body. It was probably written across my face, but I was caring less and less. If it got us to the same place in that first hotel, well, I could live with a little smugness on his part, couldn’t I?

“Rest?” I repeated, and my voice was low this time, lower than expected and sultry.

He laughed at me then, but it was simultaneously deep and soft. “Yes,
rest
. You haven’t gotten much in the way of real sleep and I know it’s been a long,
hard
trip.”

I closed my eyes briefly, trying not to imagine what else was long and hard. When I opened them again, Rome was staring at me with hot, hungry eyes. “What do you mean me?” I asked, still breathy, but working hard to rein in my hormones.

For a moment he didn’t answer me. In fact, he looked away and stayed silent long enough for us to move several feet in traffic, which was saying a lot. When he spoke again, it nearly startled me. “I’m going to meet my guy,” he admitted slowly, choosing his words carefully, making me wonder what he was trying
not
to say. “I…I don’t think you should be there. It might be a little risky and I’d rather not be responsible for anything else happening to you.”

I felt a sobering pang of guilt hit me hard in the gut. So my earlier words had gotten to him. Though I’d felt guilty even at the time I’d said them, I had been determined to use anything and everything to attack him with. Now I wished sincerely that I hadn’t.

“That really wasn’t your fault, Rome,” I said, his name sliding across my tongue like a sweet, sweet silk. Like devil’s food. “I never should have said that.”

He shook his head. “You had every right to. It
was
my fault and if I could take it back…”

He broke off and I felt a little weird about what he hadn’t said. Did he mean that if he could take back what had happened in the alley, he would? Or did he mean something else? Did he mean that he wished he’d never met me at all?

That didn’t sit well with me. Although we were in a lot of trouble, I couldn’t deny that there was something about him that made me glad I was a part of all of this. Well, maybe not the getting shot at, but the other stuff. The letting my guard down a little bit. The trying new things and getting thrown into an adventure. Letting someone else explore my body in enticing, incredible ways.

It was hard to regret that, and I didn’t want him to regret that either.

Biting my lower lip, I thought about it, then said, “I wouldn’t take it back.”

There was a startled silence that filled the cab. Rome looked over at me, shock written across his features. For a moment, he didn’t look as though he could say anything at all. He tried for a long moment, but couldn’t seem to find his words. It was a little amusing actually, given how smug and cocky he was most of the time. It was nice to know that I’d finally caught him off guard.

“Olivia…” he began, but he didn’t seem to know where to take this conversation beyond my name. He looked torn, like he was both desperate to tell me something and desperate to leave things as they were. It made me want to know what he was thinking so hard about, but I let it go and didn’t push. I’d meant what I said and though things were crazy, I believed that whatever came out of this, I would walk away a better person.

At least, I hoped so.

“Don’t get me wrong,” I continued, doing my best to keep things lighthearted. “I don’t much care for the whole being shot at thing, and I could definitely do without the…” I faltered, unable to say
rape
out loud, but I didn’t need to. The angry gleam in his eye told me that he knew exactly what I was talking about. Hurriedly, I continued, glossing over that. “But it hasn’t been all bad. I get an impromptu vacation in California. I get to see L.A. for the first time—the traffic’s terrible. And…” I was going to say, “And I got married,” but I wasn’t sure what to do with that yet, so I left it out.

I may not have regretted meeting Rome, but I wasn’t sure yet how I felt about being married to him. That would be an impression that would come with time, and we just hadn’t had enough together yet.

I wasn’t naïve enough to think it was going to last.
Was I?

“There are things you don’t know about me, Olivia,” Rome said finally, his tone soft but serious.

“There are things you don’t know about me, too,” I said in response, still keep my tone light and a little teasing. “You may not know this, but secretly I like to binge on Netflix until two in the morning on weeknights. I know, I live on the edge.”

My sort of joke worked and earned me the desired result: a smile on Rome’s full lips. He didn’t quite laugh, but I could see that it was with effort. He did, however, relax and nod his head.

“We’ve got some time to learn about each other,” I told him, wondering just how much time that really was. Things felt both like they were moving incredibly fast
and
incredibly slow..

“A little bit, anyway,” he murmured. His eyes went to me, searching my face—and my body, because I didn’t think he could help it—before adding, “I hope more than I anticipate.”

I offered him a smile. “I do, too. Maybe after we clear all this up we could…” I wasn’t sure what I was saying, but I thought it was about pursuing whatever this was between us to see where it might go. I wasn’t stupid. Relationships couldn’t be based on intense situations and hope that they worked out in the end, because
love
. That only happened in the movies, and the reason it lasted was because there was never a sequel. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t work out a relationship after the fact if you found you both had enough in common…right?

I didn’t know, but the longer we spent together, the more I wanted to try it out.
Can’t be worse than Tom,
I found myself thinking.

“Dinner, maybe?” Rome filled in for me, his lips tugging at a smile. It was cocky once more, but I didn’t mind. Dinner sounded perfect. “Maybe a movie? Dancing? Moonlit skinny dipping?”

I laughed out loud at that last one and slapped him playfully in the arm, even as I secretly thought,
I think I might try just about anything if you were doing it naked.

***

We did just as Rome said we would. Most of the day was over and night was crashing onto us pretty quickly when we finally made it far enough through traffic to reach our exit. I was exhausted and more relieved than I thought possible when we pulled into the parking lot of a hotel. The place wasn’t as seedy as the last, though it definitely wasn’t the Ritz. Still, it looked like it was a decent motel and even had a pool. I didn’t know if we’d be there long enough to take a dip and I knew I hadn’t packed my bathing suit, but it would be nice if we got some free time to laze about.

I let Rome check in and stayed in the car as it idled. There were palm trees lined in perfect rows outside of the stucco buildings that peachy color you see in the Southwest, reminding me of the perkier parts of Arizona. The lot wasn’t full, but it wasn’t far from it either. I saw that there were mostly couples or groups of friends milling about the parking lot, but I did see a few families. I guessed this wasn’t close enough to a real touristy place to have very many family vacationers staying here.

Guess that means we’re not that close to the beach,
I thought, mildly disappointed. Still, my spirits were up when Rome came back to the car with two of those room keys that were cards with magnetic strips. They had palm trees on them to match the outside scenery, but these were in several shades of neon colors: pink, purple, blue, and greenish-blue. Pretty, but a little…tacky.