Hopeless (7 page)

She whistled. “Wow, some famous family.”

Jay shrugged. “They’re all just regular
people, like you and me. I basically grew up over at the McCall house. They had
horses, and I loved to ride, so Derek would take me and my brother over there a
lot.” He laughed. “J.T.’s older than us, so we idolized him. He always had his
pick of pretty girls.”

“I can’t imagine you had any trouble in
that department.”

He usually didn’t appreciate shallow
compliments about his looks. He didn’t put much stock in the reflection he saw
in the mirror and he didn’t have a lot of respect for women who did, but
knowing Victoria found him attractive was different. It made him feel good,
really good.

She cleared her throat when he didn’t
respond to the compliment. “Nikki seems really sweet and down to earth. Is
she?”

“Yeah, she’s awesome. She and J.T. are
perfect for each other.” He put his finger to his lips. “If I tell you a
secret, you promise you won’t tell anyone?”

Her eyes sparkled with amusement when she
said, “I promise.”

“They’re expectin’ their first baby. J.T.
told me last night.”

Her demeanor changed from playful to
serious with those few words. “Lucky them.”

Something told Jay to tread carefully with
her. “I think so.”

“You wanna get married and have kids
someday?”

He shrugged. “Sure, doesn’t everyone?”

She strode past him, dropping her empty cup
into a wastebasket. “I guess they do. We’d better get to work, don’t you
think?”

Jay knew they had a lot of work ahead of
them, but for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t in a rush to get to it.
He was enjoying their time together. “Can’t put it off forever, I suppose.”

She braced her hand on the glass counter
when she looked up at him. “No matter how much you might want to… you eventually
have to face all the unpleasantness life has in store for you.”  

Once again, he sensed she was talking about
more than unpacking boxes, but before he could ask her to explain, she was practically
sprinting back to the offices.

Victoria didn’t know what it was about Jay
that prompted her to say more than she should. She’d always been guarded about
her past, mainly because she loathed pity. Lots of kids had grown up in the
system. She was no different than any one of them. Well, maybe she was a little
different. She was a survivor in the truest sense of the word.

Jay walked in when she was struggling to
open a box fastened with large, industrial staples. “Here, let me.”

“Thanks.” She watched him open the box with
ease. Jay Cooper seemed like the kind of guy who made everything look
effortless. “Can I ask you to do something for me?”

He looked up, startling her with the
intensity in his light blue eyes. Wow, he had incredible eyes. The contrast
between his black hair and those eyes…

He grinned. “Did ya forget what you were
gonna say?”

She shook her head. “Forget it. We can’t
afford to waste time right now. We have work to do.” She reached for the other
side of the box, but he grabbed her hand to still it. She felt his gentle touch
seep into her skin like molten liquid, warming her.

“Whatever it is, just ask.” He smiled. “I
can pretty much guarantee the answer will be yes.”

She was getting in deeper and deeper with
this man and she felt helpless to stop it. She’d been a fool to think dating
his brother would provide a safe barrier. Nothing would protect her from the
intensity of this attraction. “When you were in Cincinnati… that form… you were
so incredible.” She licked her lips, trying to draw her eyes away from his
mouth.

“You wanna see it again? Is that what you
were gonna ask?”

Victoria felt the heat seep into her
cheeks. She felt silly. Jay would think she had a serious case of hero worship.
“Forget it.” She looked down at his jeans and her face burned brighter when she
saw the bulge behind his zipper.

He chuckled. “What can I say? You’re a gorgeous
woman.”

She gasped when he wrapped his hand around
the back of her neck and pulled her closer. “This is breakin’ every damn rule
in my book, but I can’t help it. I need to taste those lips.”

Victoria pressed her palms into his chest
as she lowered her head to avoid the temptation. “Jay, no. You were right, this
is a bad idea. We can’t…”

“Are you sayin’ you don’t want me to kiss
you right now?”

She heard herself whimper when the words of
protest wouldn’t come. “Obviously there’s something between us, but it would be
stupid to act on it. We have to work together, and you know how awkward it
would be if things don’t work out.” She was trying so hard to stare straight
into the slight V at his collar, but it wasn’t easy with his hand caught up in
her hair.

“Actually, I don’t know.” He tipped her
head back so she was forced to look at him. “I’ve never even been tempted to
date someone I work with before. But you walked into my studio yesterday, and I
was almost tempted not to hire you… that’s how badly I wanted to go out with
you.”

Victoria smiled as her hands slid up to his
shoulders. She waged an internal battle between pushing him away and pulling
him closer. So far the devil on her shoulder was shouting the angel down. “I’m
glad you decided to hire me. I really need this job.”

He closed his eyes. “And I really need to
kiss you right now, so what the hell are we gonna do?”

“Hey, boss man. I know you’re here. I saw
that badass bike parked out front. Where you at?”

Jay groaned and took a step back. “Sounds
like the painters are here.”

She knew she should be grateful for the
interruption, but with her lips still tingling from the kiss that never
happened, it was difficult to revel in her angel’s victory. “You better get out
there.”

Before Jay could make his way out front, a
big man with a black bandana wrapped around his bald head filled the doorway.
“There you are.” He winked. “Now I see why you were hidin’ out back here.” His
eyes traveled the length of Victoria’s body once, twice…

Jay snapped his fingers in front of the
man’s face. “You got a job to do. Get the hell out there and do it.”

“Aren’t you gonna introduce me to your
friend first?”

“If I do, will you get out there and quit
wastin’ my money shootin’ your big mouth off when you should be workin’?”

He grinned and inclined his head toward
Jay. “He thinks just ‘cause we went to high school together he gets to say shit
like that to me.” He chuckled. “If it was anyone else, he’d be flat on his back
by now.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t lay me
out on your best day.” He turned toward Victoria. “Darlin’, this pain in my ass
is Kurt Griffin. Griff, this is Victoria Pierce. She’s gonna be managin’ this
place for me.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow. “Is she now?” He
brought the hand Victoria offered to his lips. “My shop’s just across the
street. I can drop by and keep you company when you’re not busy.”

Victoria smiled. She’d been on the
receiving end of enough flirtatious comments to know which were harmless and
which were loaded with warning. Besides, he was Jay’s friend, and she had a
feeling he chose his friends as carefully as he chose his lovers. “I’d like
that.”

Jay frowned. “Don’t count on it, Victoria.
I’m gonna be keepin’ you busy, real busy.”

Kurt released her hand and gestured between
the two of them. “There somethin’ goin’ on you wanna tell me about, man?”

“No, I just want you to get back to work,
so we’ll be ready for the grand opening this weekend. Think you can handle
that?”

Victoria couldn’t miss Jay’s sharp tone
when he addressed his friend. He sounded almost… jealous. “It was nice meeting
you, Kurt. I hope to see you around sometime.”

“You can count on it, sugar.”

Jay rolled his eyes as he pushed his friend
out the door, following behind him. “I’ll be back in a few, Vic.”

She smiled as she watched Jay smack his
friend in the back of the head. Kurt looked like a big, burly biker. The kind
of guy any sane man would run away from a conflict with. Any man except Jay,
who could take him down with one hand tied behind his back. Victoria sighed.
She feared this may become a habit… comparing every man she met to her new
boss. Unfortunately, she suspected they’d all come up sorely lacking. 

Jay walked into his mother’s house at
lunchtime feeling tired and frustrated. Spending the morning working alongside
Victoria, trying to resist the urge to touch her, had proved more challenging
than he thought it would be.

Ashley rounded the corner, a huge grin
splitting her face. “I thought I heard you pull up.” She peeked out the stained
glass window, spotting his bike parked in the driveway. “God, Jay, why do you
insist on riding around on that death trap? You have a perfectly good truck
parked in your—”

He held his hand up as he leaned in to
brush a kiss across her cheek. “Don’t start with me today, Ma. I’m not in the
mood.”

She frowned as she pressed her palm to his
forehead. “Are you feeling okay? You’re not coming down with something, are
you?” She pointed her finger at him. “I knew this would happen. You’ve been
working too hard…”

He loved his mother, but he did not need
this right now. “I feel fine.”

Derek poked his head out of the kitchen and
laughed. “For God’s sake, Ash, let the guy get his foot in the door before you
start badgering him.”

“I am not badgering him. He’s my son. I’m
concerned about him. What kind of mother would I be if…”

Jay laughed as he wrapped his arm around
her neck and guided her into the kitchen. “Relax, okay? Life is good.” He
inhaled. “You made chicken fajitas for lunch, didn’t you?”

She patted his chest. “I did. Go wash up,
and I’ll get it on the table.”

Jay walked over to the kitchen sink to wash
his hands. “How come you’re not workin’ today, Derek?”

“I needed a mental health day.”

Jay laughed. “Workin’ with my dumbass
brother finally gettin’ to you, huh?”

Ashley swatted her son with the tea towel.
“Don’t talk about your brother behind his back.”

He could say a lot worse, given the stunt
he pulled at Jimmy’s last night, but he wouldn’t burden his mother with his
problems. “Nothin’ I wouldn’t say to his face.”

“Seriously, you okay?” he asked Derek.

“Yeah, I’m good, man. I just needed a
little R&R today.”

“I know what you mean. I could use a little
of that myself.”

Derek leaned against the counter beside him
and folded his arms. “Been hittin’ it pretty hard lately?”

“You have no idea. Openin’ this new studio
has been even tougher than the last one.”

Derek slapped him on the back. “It’s only
gonna get harder from here on out, kid. You’ve got the fifth one planned for
early next year, right?”

Jay couldn’t even think past today. “Let me
get through this one first, will ya?”

Derek and Jay claimed their usual spots at
the kitchen table while Ashley set steaming platters of food in front of them.

“You want a beer, Jay?” Derek asked.

Ashley frowned at her husband. “Not while
he’s riding that Godforsaken motorcycle.”

Derek tried to hide his smile when he said
to Jay, “Looks like it’s iced tea for you today, son.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I wouldn’t
wanna upset the warden.”

“What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t
worry about you putting your life in jeopardy riding around on…?”

The rest of her words drifted away as Jay remembered
Victoria’s comment about risking her life. The thought of her doing something
stupid, putting her safety at risk, made him cringe. 

“Hey, looks like you got some fresh ink
since I saw you last,” Derek said, glancing at the colorful band wrapping
around Jay’s bicep.

“Oh God, not another one,” Ashley said,
claiming the seat across from her son.

Jay took a deep breath and tried hard to
rein in his frustration. “Mom, I’m thirty years old. If I wanna ride
motorcycles and get tattoos, I will.”

She narrowed her eyes and he smiled when
she bit her lip, a sure sign she was on the verge of saying something she knew
she shouldn’t.

“Lunch looks great, hon,” Derek said,
obviously trying to lighten the tense mood at the table.

They took a few minutes to load up their
plates in silence before Ashley asked, “How are things going with the new
studio? Think you’ll be ready for the grand opening this weekend?”

Jay finished chewing before he said, “Yeah,
we’ve just got a few last minute things to finish up.”

“Have you hired enough staff?” Ashley
asked, before taking a sip of her water.