Seeking Nirvana (9 page)

Along the left side were rails of my clothing.

I browsed and browsed for an eternity, nothing on those rails had the wow factor for a night out. Blouses with linen pants, suits, pencil skirts, evening gowns that looked more like funeral attire––
none
of the items had any wow factor. Actually, the only flesh that would be exposed by any of the items on those rails, were my legs, from knee down, and my hands.

I
was sitting in the middle of the closet, my legs pulled in to my chest. Walker’s shirt hitched its way up my body, and it was only then did I become aware of the silver round markings on my thighs all over again. A part of me forgot they were that noticeable. I glanced back to the rail. Maybe I felt comfortable in pants because at least then, I knew the scars were concealed, and the stripes on my upper arms were obviously concealed by the long sleeved blouses.

Although I didn’t truly want it to, I guess it made sense. I was clearly embarrassed by them…I just needed to figure out how I got them.

I had just stepped out of the shower when the doorbell sounded.

I hastily wrapped a towel around my body and stepped into my slippers.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered with every step I dashed down, hoping that I wouldn’t fall and break my neck in the process.

Pulling the door open,
I was greeted by the middle-aged, red-haired nosey neighbor.

“Hello, Mrs. Steinbeck,” I smiled politely.

“Good evening, Kady. I hope you don’t mind me calling, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” She peered over my right shoulder as I held the door open.

I
pouted. “Yes, of course everything’s fine, why shouldn’t it be?”

“Well,
I told Liam I’d keep an eye out just in case you needed any help. I saw you last night with a strange man, and I didn’t see him leave until this morning.”

Keeping tabs was she? I nodded once.
“Ah, I see. Yes, Mrs. Steinbeck, everything is fine. I ran into a little trouble last night, the man you saw…” I trailed off, and even the old busy-body craned her head around, when a black and silver pick-up truck pulled into my driveway behind the Mercedes.

Oh, fuck…
great timing, Walker. Could this get any worse?

He unfolded himself from the truck, a
knapsack in hand. I gaped as he approached my steps in his black workpants covered with dust and paint, a tight white T-shirt that emphasized his muscles and his tattoos, and sandy-colored heavy boots. Fuck me, he was a fucking man’s man, and I was a sexually unsatisfied woman…you do the math.

He flashed me a quizzical look
which had me faintly, although desperately, shaking my head.

“Mrs. Steinbeck, this is my
…” I faltered as I thought on my feet. Think of something, Kady, “Cousin…” I glared at the man as he climbed my front steps with a deep frown scored in his brow. Now a name, think of a name, “Jack, this is my cousin, Jack. Jack, this is Mrs. Steinbeck, Liam has asked her to keep vigil.”

He towered over her stumpy form. “Oh, nice to meet you, Mrs. Steinbeck,” he muttered, and offered her his hand. She looked down her nose
less than impressed at the gesture, before gingerly accepting.

She looked at me
pointedly with a faux grin. “You never said anything about an Irish cousin, Kady.”

“We…” I glanced at Walker
, silently pleading for him to help me as he ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.

“’Aye, we were never really that c
lose, but since the accident,” He shook his head and sucked in a purifying gasp. “We could have lost her, Mrs. Steinbeck, and I would never have forgiven myself, see.”

She sniffed and bounced her football helmet of a hairdo up with the palm of her hand. “Yes, well, I will leave you be. Kady, my dear, if you need anything I am only a few paces
away.” She glared at Walker as he stepped over the threshold, dropped his bag to the polished flooring and removed his boots.

“Thank you, Mrs. Steinbeck. I’ll keep that in mind.”

With an arched brow, she nodded, turned and sauntered down the front steps.

I waited until she was safely down the
flight of stairs before shutting the door. Exasperated, I pressed my back against the wood and tipped my head back. “I cannot believe Liam has got the nosey parker of next-door to keep a fucking eye on me.”

“Never mind that, darlin’, Irish cousin?” His stupefied expression had me throwing my face into my hands as I succum
bed to another bout of disbelieving giggles.

“I was attempting to think on my feet,” I chuckled
through my covering.

Next thing I knew,
a pair of warm, rough hands was encased around my own, lowering them from my face, and my giggles were replaced with silent weighted desire. My wet, practically naked body was pinned against the door. Water beads fell from the tips of my loose hair and trickled down my flesh, leaving my skin raised with goose bumps as Walker’s warm breath fused with the moisture. I peeked up under my lashes. If it wasn’t for his body pinning me to the door, his intense stare alone, would have. Unable to stop my chest from heaving, my breathing caught, and my body trembled, while nerve endings screamed in torturous delight at his proximity. He was so rugged and dirty in his work clothes, he smelled musky, masculine––it was so different from Liam’s immaculate getup, and was such a heady combination.

My fingers stirred against his calloused hands and I unconsciously licked my lips as he dashed his tongue across his.

“The um…” I forced a swallow, my lips twitched as I fought my body’s response toward him. “The showers free,” I eventually gasped.

He dipped his head, his eyes remain
ing boring into me. My legs lost the will to bear my weight any longer, and soon, the small of my back was subtly slipping down the polished surface of the front door.

My voice was scarcely a whisper
as his fingers moved lightly against my own. “There’s…um…” I swear my heart was going to bruise with the assault it was burdening on my ribs. Unabashed I halted my words and drew in a lungful of air through my nose and released it from my mouth as I regained my composure, or lack of it. “There are towels on the side in the bathroom. You’ll find everything you need. If you can’t then just call.”

A smile kissed his pale, molded lips, his eyes darkened as he freed my hands, yet his body moved in closer. I felt the heat under his T-shirt. Each heave of my chest was about
an inch away from making contact with his torso. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, Kady. Get yourself dressed.”

Relief got the best of me
as he pulled away and turned around. I raptly observed how his black workpants tightened over his ass as he bent down to collect his knapsack, how his muscles and shoulders worked as he flipped the bag over his shoulder, how each step he graced induced my aching hunger as his shoulder blades and hips worked and flexed.

In less than five minutes, he was going to be in my shower, all wet and na
ked while I was in the next room.

Fuck!

Hanging my head in defeat, I sluggishly made my way up behind him while focusing raptly on trying to recite the alphabet backwards.

While he was in the shower, I dried my hair and let it fall
to my shoulders in a wild, shaggy mess. I always preferred it that way, it showed off my layers and with my heavy eye makeup, it always worked in my favor.

I was just
about to step out from the closet in my dark skinny jeans, a mint green silk blouse and matching green heeled pumps, when Walker surfaced from the bathroom. He was strolling to the end of the bed, his dark jeans resting low on his hips. Against the doorway of the closet, I rested my shoulder, completely entranced by the panther tattoo prowling down the length of his golden back. I blatantly stared as he shoved his arms through the sleeves of a black T-shirt, the panther moving and writhing as his muscles and shoulder blades shifted.

“Nice tattoo,” I finally managed to find my voice.

Silently cursing to the cosmos as he straightened the material over his torso before he turned, he smirked and tapered his eyes. “Have you been ogling me, darlin’?”

Gazing at the freshly showered guy in my bedroom, I wiggled my eyebrows, shrugged
a noncommittal shoulder, and stepped from the closet, flipping the light switch as I did so.

“Kady Jenson,” he gasped, dipping his hands into his front pockets.

“Don’t be full of yourself, Walker. I didn’t say yes.”

“’Aye, that you didn’t.
But you didn’t deny it either.”

I strolled toward the marble-like dressing table
by the window to fetch my green clutch purse. “What can I say,” I murmured shooting him a glare. “I have a good eye for detail, and that wild cat you have spread over your back, is some very fancy detail.”

He held the door of his truck open for me,
allowing me to slip into the bench seat. I was locking my seatbelt into place when he slipped into the driver’s side, tossed his leather jacket to the side and started the ignition.

“So where are we going darlin’?” he asked
, stretching the belt over his torso.

I gazed to my left, the bottom half of the large Celtic-styled cross on his bu
lging bicep was peeking out from under the sleeve of his T-shirt. “Have you heard of Ecstasy?”

“Have I heard of…” he trailed of
f shaking his head and ran his hand through his damp hair, “Of course I have, Kady. I’m not a hermit you know.” He pulled out of the driveway, muttering to himself. The occasional sniggering coming from behind the wheel, made it blatantly obvious that he was finding his one person conversation highly entertaining.

Darkness was already gaining b
y the time we were halfway to the most hip club in town. The streetlamps flickered as orange-glows lit the way down the slightly dilapidated streets, certain secluded areas were enclosed by tall fences with barbed wire coiled around the top.

I pulled my focus from the passing b
uildings plastered with graffiti, peeked over at Walker and asked him a question which I have been giving myself a headache over for the prior two weeks. “Why is there such animosity between you and Liam?”

Offering me a brief glance, h
e pulled his gaze from the road ahead. “Me and Liam?”

I nodded and licked my lips. “It’s hard to misread that kind of atmosphere.”

Silence suffused for a moment before he muttered, “We had a…misunderstanding––”

“What about?
” The words came from me naturally. “It must have been a pretty big misunderstanding to bring forth the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse whenever you two are in the same room.”

He sniggered
, seemingly unbothered. “Yeah, it was pretty fucking big, but no need to worry your pretty little head, darlin’.” He pulled up and shut off the ignition. Red and white lights streamed from the double glass doors, ‘Ecstasy’ was lit up in Diablo-red over the awning in cursive lettering. “Let’s just have a good night.”

I nodded my acquiescence, unclipped my seatbelt and
dropped out of the truck.

Security nodded us in, and w
ith my Irish bodyguard at my side I was ushered into the nightclub with a firm hand pressed at the base of my back. I turned to look at him the moment I felt his warm, sturdy hand on my body. Even though my silk blouse was a barrier between us, to me, I might as well have been nude, because the effect he had on my body made no difference regardless of if I was clothed or butt naked. He smiled as he flexed his fingers against me. He knew what he was doing, the bastard.

A piercing voice calling, “Chick,” had me perusing the area
. Within moments, my eyes fell upon Liv, her brunette hair all big, long and 1980’s styled with a metallic red headband that matched the metallic red tight mini-dress, which barely contained her tits and covered her female surprises.

You could
tell she was a fucking stripper and proud of it.

She pushed herself from the red curved plush bench as I made my way toward the kinky devil. “
Hey, Liv,”––I wrapped my arms around her neck––“Sorry we’re a little late.”

“No worries, you’re here now.”
Holding my upper arms, she pulled away and her eyes deviated to Walker who was standing at my side with his hands buried in his front pants pockets. I swear I heard her growl when she let her hands fall and skirted me. “And who’s this then, I don’t think I have had the pleasure.” She held out her hand.

“Walker, meet Liv, Liv, meet Walker,
one of Liam’s employees.”

There was no doubt about it; Liv wa
s in flirt mode, because when their hands fell away from one another, she began fumbling with her overly large silver hoop earring. “Well, Walker, I’m surprised I haven’t heard anything about you.” She lowered herself back into the seat, crossed her amazing set of bronzed legs, and tapped the vacant spot next to her, “Come.”

He
reflected her smile and skirted the low round table to take his seat.