SeducedByTheAntiHero (10 page)

“The site?” Once more, she found herself trying to connect
the dots in what he was saying and it took her a few seconds. “Oh, you work
construction?”

“Yeah,” he said simply as he dug his keys out of his pocket.

No further response or elaboration. While his reasons for
rushing out on her were mostly valid, there were still ways around it if he
really wanted to stay. But he clearly didn’t and didn’t want to outright say
so.

Another untruth. This one much easier to comprehend. She
would have called bullshit, and was just about to, when she remembered that he
didn’t owe her anything. Keeping their actual situation in perspective was key.
He wasn’t her boyfriend—or even her friend really—so if he wanted to keep his
business private, that was his prerogative. And if he didn’t want to become
more than sexually involved with her? Well, that was his choice too. She had to
respect it.

At least he was trying to be sensitive of her feelings. It
wasn’t like she was looking for anything more anyway. A relationship, more than
likely, wouldn’t work on so many levels so at this point she had to ask herself
why she cared so much.

That very grownup decision made, she wrapped a blanket
around her body and stood, intending to walk him to the door. This goodbye was
a little awkward, she wasn’t going to lie, but she had a sneaking suspicion
that this would be the last time they saw each other while she was in town.

Opening the door, he turned toward her and she stood on her
tiptoes to kiss him softly on the cheek. “Thank you.” She felt her face flame.
“I mean, for everything.”

That rare smile graced his entirely too handsome face and
her heart stopped.
Good Lord.
Moving past this man to “normal” men was
going to take some doing. But it was what it was.

Bending down, he kissed her lips gently. “It was definitely
my pleasure, Sugar.”

Pleasure was the right word, but it sure as hell wasn’t all
his. He had given her enough fantasies to fuel her imagination for quite some
time. For the first time in she didn’t even know how long, she was actually
looking forward to putting pen to paper to craft out a new and immensely
improved love scene between Charlie and Natalie.

But as he walked out into the night and she closed the door
behind him, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get what had just happened between
Ben and Emma out of her head. More than likely she would replay every dirty
detail over and over in her mind, trying to convert it into a scene for her
book but picturing Ben’s sexy self instead of her leading man, Charlie.

Sighing, she pushed away from the door and wondered how long
it would take to fall asleep.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect fall day if Emma had
designed it herself. The sun gave off a warm amber glow, bathing the small
forest surrounding the little lake in golden light. A cool, crisp breeze blew
over the surface of the water, ruffling the multicolored leaves on the trees. It
was a little brisk but the sweatshirt she wore kept her plenty warm.

As predicted, she hadn’t fallen asleep right away last
night. Then when she woke up this morning all the events of the past few days
bombarded her until she couldn’t sit still. Fresh air had been what she had
needed, so she had grabbed a pen and a notebook and took off in search of the
perfect spot to spark her creative juices.

That was when she happened upon this serene lake and had
spent the entire morning lost in her imagination. If her encounters with Ben
were going to play through her mind like a broken record, then she might as
well put the memories to good use. And she had been. Already her characters
seemed more three-dimensional and the prose had a more authentic quality that
had been lacking before.

In fact, she was so absorbed in the fictional world she had
created, she didn’t notice the person standing next to the bench she had
claimed upon arrival at the lake. Not until said person cleared her throat in
an obvious play for her attention.

Startled out of her creative reverie, she glanced up to see
an attractive brunette standing over her with a tentative smile.

“I’m Gina,” she said. “Sorry if I scared you.”

Politeness engrained into the fabric of Emma’s being,
automatically she smiled and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Emma.”

Smile shifting from tentative to open now that she was sure
of her welcome, Gina shook her hand. “Yeah, I know. News travels fast in a
small town. Do you mind if I sit with you for a few minutes? There’s something
I’d like to talk to you about.”

Wondering what this complete stranger could possibly need to
say to her, she nodded and gestured for her to take a seat beside her on the
bench.

“You’re in town visiting Chloe?”

Emma could feel her eyebrows quirking up toward her
hairline, she couldn’t help it. She got that this was a small town but having
some random woman approach her who knew her business was unsettling. Perhaps
she had just spent too much time in the city, where everybody ignored everybody
else, but at least the
illusion
of privacy would have been appreciated.

“Yes, that’s right. Chloe’s a friend from college.” Why she
felt the need to give this woman
more
details was beyond her, but there
it was.

Running a hand through her hair, Gina sighed. “Look, I know
you don’t know me from anyone and typically I’m not this intrusive. But you’re
not from here and I wanted to give you a fair warning. Chloe’s too close to be
able to see the situation clearly.”

As Emma started to piece together where the woman was
headed, she felt tension begin to tighten her muscles. This
really
wasn’t anyone’s business and having some stranger take it upon herself to
“warn” Emma off had her hackles rising. But just to be clear, she wanted Gina
to spell it out. “I’m sorry, what are you talking about?”

The look that question apparently warranted was full of incredulity
and Gina gave a slow response as though she were speaking to someone of lower
intelligence. “I’m talking about Ben.” There was a thoughtful pause and then,
“How much do you know about him?”

Admittedly, not much, but this conversation was just so
invasive that Emma longed to be able to tell her that she knew his entire life
story and was just fine and dandy with it.

But before she could get out any sort of answer, Gina was
already speaking.

“You’re probably like most women and got snared by how hot
he is.” She gave a rueful smirk. “Hell, all the brothers are. Most of the women
in this town would kill to be with one of them. But Ben is different. He
doesn’t just look like the devil himself, Emma. He’s genuinely dangerous. You’d
be doing yourself a huge favor if you steered clear of him.”

If that wasn’t a vague and cryptic comment, Emma didn’t know
what was. Granted, her involvement with Ben had more than likely ended the
previous evening, but she didn’t appreciate this overly invasive advice. Besides,
she didn’t spook easily and wasn’t about to write Ben off on hearsay.

“He’s dangerous exactly how?” If doubt and suspicion dripped
from her tone? Yeah, there was nothing she could do about that.

Gina shook her head. “The particulars aren’t important. But
just know that he has some very bad associations with some formidable people.” Her
eyes took on a faraway cast as she wrapped her arms around her middle. “And he
doesn’t treat women so good.”

Now that last statement came as a surprise. Obviously, the
man had commitment issues. The way he kept to himself and then disappeared from
any sort of social situation suggested he had intimacy issues that far
outreached just the romantic aspect of his personal life. And he sure as hell
was no Prince Charming. But to say that he treated women badly? No, she didn’t
buy it.

Ben had been straight with her from the get-go. She had
known exactly what their arrangement was when they started and he had never
tried to deceive her into believing it was or could develop into anything more.
If he had meant to hurt her, he would have by now. As it was, his attention had
been far from painful.

A self-deprecating laugh from Gina plucked her out of her
thoughts and back into the here and now. “I can see the shock written all over
your face but I speak from personal experience. Trust me when I say that he’s
not worthy of you.”

Emma had never had any issues reading other women. The
writer in her was always picking up on clues that the average person might
miss. She was willing to bet that Gina’s experience with Ben was what Adam had
warned Emma about. It was actually a pretty common tale.

A gorgeous bad boy, typically aloof and withdrawn, shows
some sexual interest in a woman. Said woman develops feelings for said bad boy
because that’s what women do. They feel their way through just about every
situation. Then the woman mistakenly believes that her love will change the bad
boy and ends up getting burned in the end. Because men don’t change unless they
damn well feel like it. Not because a needy woman badgers them into it. Especially
not a man like Ben. She had seen it a thousand times if she had seen it once.

Emma was also willing to bet that Ben had let Gina know the
score from the start. So now the only thing Emma was wondering was, what did
Gina hope to gain by warning her off? Was it a case of “if I can’t have him no
one can”? Or did she genuinely think Ben was a dog and mean to save Emma some
heartache?

Either way, the choice was Emma’s and she wasn’t about to
take relationship advice from a scorned lover.

“Well, I appreciate your taking the time to warn me. I’m
sure it comes from a good place,” she said giving Gina a level look. When the
other woman had trouble meeting her eyes, Emma knew this was more about
scenario number one than about any altruistic desire to save her pain. “But I’m
sure I can handle myself around Ben. And don’t worry, I’ll be gone before he
can do any irreparable damage.”

Closing her notebook, she shoved it and her pen into her bag
and stood. “It was nice to meet you, Gina. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

With a drawn smile, Gina rumbled some insincere pleasantries
and the two women went their separate ways.

It was a good thing she had been finishing up the scene she
had been working on just as Gina had approached her. That unexpected
conversation had put her off and she was now no longer in the mood to write. Despite
herself, Gina’s interference was bothering her.

Ben was going to be hard enough to get out of her head as it
was. The random pieces of information on him, real or fabricated, were
compounding the enigma that she knew him to be. Now more than ever, she wanted
to separate truth from fiction when it came to him.

Gina had made it seem as though he were part of some
extremely shady dealings where all of his nearest and dearest were thugs and
mobsters. That version of the truth wasn’t very likely but for all she knew,
his intense privacy and penchant for secrecy covered up the fact that he was
actually a serial killer who only murdered out-of-towners.

And that was the problem right there. She just didn’t know. Ignorance
in this situation was far from bliss but—unless some sort of miracle took place
in which Ben opened up to her—she was just going to have to accept it.

Just as she reached her car, her cell phone blew up. Checking
the caller ID, she found that her dear, meddlesome friend Chloe was calling. Thinking
she could use the distraction from her thoughts, she answered.

“Hey girl, whatcha doin’ tonight?” Chloe asked, in a much
more chipper mood than Emma was feeling.

“Um, let me see. Writing, writing and, oh yeah, got some
more writing to do.”

“I thought you came to visit to break yourself out of your
normal patterns. Don’t you have to go out and experience life in order to write
about it?”

Emma chuckled as she opened her car door and slid inside. “I’m
sensing a sales pitch coming on. What would you like to do this evening,
Chloe?”

The wide grin on Chloe’s face was audible through the phone
line. “I’m so glad you asked, sweetie. Tonight, you’re about to have your first
encounter with the illicit world of underground boxing.”

“What’s taking so long?” Chloe’s whine was crystal clear
through the wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom of Emma’s motel room.
“Good God, girl. It’s a boxing match, not a friggin’ beauty pageant.”

Emma rolled her eyes at her reflection as she put the
finishing touches on her lipstick. She knew her primping might be overkill but
you never knew who you were going to meet when you walked out your front door. One
didn’t plan out bumping into the man of one’s dreams. Those kinds of things
happened by chance. And…Ben might be there. The rush of giddiness that thought
inspired brought with it a blush she could feel staining her cheeks.

Oh for crying out loud
. She was acting like a
teenager. The realization had her once again rolling her eyes at her reflection
before she shut off the light and exited the bathroom.

“Hey, I told you it was going to take me a minute to get
ready. It’s your own fault for not giving me a heads up sooner about the fight
tonight.” Emma grabbed her jacket off the only chair in the room and pulled it
on.

“I guess you have me there,” Chloe said with a fond sigh. “I
love you anyway. Even if it does take you a thousand years to pick out a pair
of shoes.”

Emma glanced down at her black bumps with a smirk. “You’re
just pissed because my shoes are cuter than yours.”

“Only in your dreams,” Chloe sing-songed, tossing a wink
over her shoulder as she exited the room with Emma close behind.

As Chloe navigated the car closer to their destination, Emma
rolled through her smart phone, hoping for a nonchalant appearance. “So do
strangers typically accost you in public to give you dating advice around
here?” she asked in an offhand way she didn’t feel. Gina’s words still had her
a little ruffled.

Chloe slid her a sideways glance. “First of all, in this
town no one is a stranger. Unless
you
are the stranger. Second of all,
I’m guessing this random question pertains to something that happened to you
today?”

“Ah, you caught me.” Emma smiled playfully. “Some girl named
Gina approached me at the lake today, for all intents and purposes, to warn me
away from Ben.”

A disgusted snort left Chloe as she made a right turn. “Oh,
I’m sure she did. What reasons did she give you?”

“She said Ben was dangerous and that he mistreated women. Basically
said that he was unworthy of me. I have my suspicions, but care to shed some
light as to what might have motivated her?”

A kind of bitterness contorted Chloe’s features as her
knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “Jealousy. Pure and simple. She
and Ben had a thing a few months ago. Nothing more than a casual few nights but
Gina wanted more. Ben didn’t. She’s been lurking around him ever since. Obviously,
she’s not too happy that you hooked up with ‘her man’.”

“Yeah, that part I get. Why add in the threat of Ben being a
dangerous man, though? Why not just tell me he’s a player, or outright stake
her claim?”

“She’s just perpetuating a rumor. I guess I should warn you
before we get inside the gym with all the Serano groupies. I didn’t tell you
before because it’s such bullshit but I should have known you’d get some
blowback if you two hooked up.” Chloe irritably ran her fingers through her
long blonde hair before propping her elbow up against the car window. “Ben has
a bit of a reputation. Some of it he’s earned, but most of it he hasn’t. People
in small towns just love their gossip. They like to take any small grain of
truth and blow it entirely out of proportion solely for the sake of
entertainment value. And a lot of those assholes don’t care who they hurt in
the process.”

By this time, Chloe had parked the car outside the gym. Unbuckling
her seatbelt, she turned to face Emma. “You’re probably going to hear some
people talking shit on Ben tonight. Especially the airheaded amazons that
frequent the fights. But you have to remember that most of what you hear isn’t
true. A lot of those women know about you and Ben and are going to lash out in
jealousy. Pay them no attention.”

That had to have been the least amount of information Chloe
had ever given when it came to telling a story or offering an explanation. She
had warned Emma without getting into the meat of what the warning was for. That
alone told Emma that whatever had happened in Ben’s past was serious enough
that Chloe wouldn’t overstep her bounds. Though Chloe was spritely and free
spirited, Emma had always trusted her judgment, so she decided to square her
shoulders and let whatever comments came her way tonight roll off her back.

It looked like any other gym when they walked into the
building. Rows of machines took up the majority of the floor with a section at
the other end of the room blocked off for free weights. It was all innocuous
looking and legit until Chloe led her to a narrow stairwell and down two
floors.

The first fight had already begun when they had reached the
bottom of the stairs. The room was packed with people chattering and drinking
beer from red plastic cups. Some stood, some sat in the metal folding chairs lining
the walls. All eyes were on the action up in the giant ring taking up residence
in the center of the room.

The fighters were stripped to the waist and wore gloves but
no mouth guards. It seemed that the rules of the fight weren’t exactly strict,
other than the standard no hitting below the belt. She watched in fascination
as these two musclebound grown men went at each other. The testosterone levels
in the room were astronomical and it attracted no shortage of female attention.

Tearing her gaze away from the fighting, Emma looked around
the room to find various groups of the scantily clad women Chloe had dubbed
“the amazons”.
Some of these women seriously have no shame,
she thought
with a shake of her head before turning back to the fight.

As the evening progressed, they met up with Mina and slowly
worked their way up closer to the ring until they were standing ringside for
the main fight. Emma was impressed with the way Chloe and Mina could work the
crowd to wiggle their way up front. Probably didn’t hurt that the main fight
was Mina’s man and everyone in the room knew it. So, of course, she would be up
front for that.

Emma had to admit, as Tyler took the ring and the main fight
began, that he was a force to be reckoned with. Men were all about the challenge,
she recognized that, but there wasn’t enough money in the world to have Emma
going even half a round with him. The guy was a beast and his victory was
imminent. Which was more than likely why Mina could watch the fight at all
without tearing her hair out or biting her lip off in anxiety.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one pondering Tyler’s
ferociousness. A group of amazons had floated up behind them to watch the fight
and every once in a while, despite the noise in the room, Emma caught a piece
of their conversation.

“All that focus Tyler has. I bet he’s even more intense in
bed,” one of them said, giggling at her own naughty joke.

One of them, it seemed, had some decency because she snapped
at her friend, “Will you shut up? His woman is right in front of us.”

“Calm down, I know I can’t have him, but it’s fun to
fantasize.”

“What about one of his brothers?” Another one piped up. “The
twins are hot as hell and neither of them are taken.”

Emma felt her ears twitch and suddenly she was more focused
on the conversation going on behind her than the brutal beat down taking place
right in front of her. Technically they were right. Ben wasn’t taken; he didn’t
belong to her. But it didn’t stop her desire to turn around and stake her
claim, let them all know he was off limits. Even though, really, he wasn’t.

“Oh yeah, they’re both delicious, aren’t they?” The first
one was saying. “But of the two of them, I’d take Adam. Ben’s more trouble than
he’s worth.”

“I know, right? He’d only be good for a quick lay, anyway,
because you know he’s probably going to end up dead or in prison.”

Emma’s blood pressure began to rise and her whole body was
shaking with anger. What the hell did these women know? Had they ever actually
spoken
to Ben? True, she didn’t know him that well, but she saw how hard he
worked at so many things. For fuck’s sake, the man had at least three jobs that
she knew of. She was pretty sure he didn’t have
time
to get into
trouble. And the way he had been with her? No, he definitely wasn’t Mr. Perfect
but he was a good man with a good heart. She knew that bone-deep.

Before she could turn around and start a fight, she felt
Chloe grab onto her wrist. She slid a glance to her friend and found her
shaking her head. Emma nodded and took a deep breath, trying to get her anger
under control, remembering what Chloe had said in the car. These women didn’t
really know Ben. They only knew what they had heard about him. Really, it was
their loss for believing what other people said without taking the time to find
out for themselves.

Deciding it was healthier to just focus on the fight, she
blocked out the women behind her and made her best attempt to forget they were
even standing there.

That plan had been successful until after the fight when a
different amazon approached her as she was walking with Chloe to find Brian. This
time, the woman didn’t even bother to introduce herself; she just came right
out with it.

“I’ve heard from various people that you’ve been hooking up
with Ben Serano. Let me give you a piece of friendly advice. Walk away. He’s
not gonna give you anything but a broken heart and possibly a criminal record.”

This time it was nearly impossible to quell her rage. She
spun on the woman, completely uncaring of the fact that the brunette had about
four inches on her. More than likely, it was just added height from her hooker
heels, anyway.

“Why is it you people feel like you’re entitled to force
yourself and your opinions into my business? You don’t know me. And, from the
sound of things, you don’t know Ben all that well, either.” She narrowed her
eyes and ran her tongue over her teeth. “What happened, honey? Did you throw
yourself at him and he turned you down?”

Here she paused, in case the amazon had something to say. But
when the woman just gaped at her, she continued. “That’s what I thought. Just
because he doesn’t want you, or got bored with you, or whatever, it doesn’t
give you the right to give me advice or talk shit on him to a complete
stranger. ’Cause, let me tell you a little secret. This shit right here?” She
shook her head. “Not gonna endear yourself to him, babe. I suggest you quit
wasting everyone’s time and go find a man who actually wants you.”

Then, before the amazon could respond, Emma turned and
walked away. The anger vibrating through her body made it difficult to
concentrate on where exactly she was storming off to. She just needed to get
away. So really, she shouldn’t have been so surprised when her forward momentum
was stopped dead by a hard body blocking her path.

She felt herself teeter off balance and would have fallen on
her ass if strong hands hadn’t snapped out to grab her arms and steady her. Looking
up, she found that her obstacle and her rescuer was Ben. Probably the last
person on the planet it should have been.

This was the second time they had plowed into each other and
it was getting ridiculous. Rather than spilling out her usual polite apology
for running him over, or at least bouncing right off him, she said the first
thing that came to mind. What she had been thinking as she had ended her rant
on the amazon.

“Just how many women in this town have you slept with?” she
spat once she found her balance and pulled away from him.

She knew that this was none of her business. The parameters
of their acquaintance didn’t allow for such details to be shared. But his
reaction to her thoughtless question spun her out and pissed her off all at
once.

He grinned at her. An actual, honest to God, grin.

If it weren’t for the situation and all the adrenaline
coursing through her from her anger, she might have swooned.

“Why? You jealous, Sugar?”

That
question didn’t even deserve a response. Instead,
she cocked her hip, quirked an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest. Then
waited.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he clenched his jaw and his mouth
formed a grim line. “Not as many as you’d think,” he said, eyes drifting back
to where the amazon had been standing moments before.

“Oooooh, girl.” Chloe was suddenly beside her, throwing an
arm over her shoulders with Brian right behind her. “You told that bitch what
time it was.”

Just like that, Emma became acutely aware of the fact that
she had just told off someone in a crowd full of people. Now all that
adrenaline turned inward and she felt somewhat ashamed. Not for her words, she
had meant every one of them, but that a good many people had obviously heard
them.

Well, bright side. Maybe now all these women would leave her
and her involvement with Ben—whatever that was—alone.

Forcing her gaze away from Ben, she looked at Chloe. “I just
wish these women would mind their own business,” she muttered.

Brian laughed. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem
from now on.”

Emma felt her face heat but Chloe was already talking again.
“C’mon, we’re all going out to celebrate Tyler’s win.”

“Even though Tyler always wins,” Brian interjected.

Chloe shot him a sly smile. “All the more reason for us to
keep going out to celebrate. It’s a tradition now. Gotta keep up the winning
streak.”

As Chloe and Brian spoke, Emma could feel the heated weight
of Ben’s gaze trained on her. Her eyes flashed to him and stayed there. Chloe
and Brian faded into the background. The sounds of the noisy crowd chattering
and moving around ceased to penetrate her awareness. Her whole word narrowed
down to the gorgeous amber eyes holding her own.