Seeking Vengeance: Callaghan Brothers, Book 4 (12 page)

Her thoughtful gaze raked him from head to toe as she considered his offer.  He fought the urge to preen, though he couldn’t help but stand a little taller and puff out his chest just a little. 

“You buying?”

His grin grew.  Oh yeah.  She didn’t like it, but she felt just as compelled to be near him as he did her.  He could see the struggle in her liquid eyes, in the way she fought her body’s natural angling toward his.  The feeling of not being alone was so heady he wanted to throw a fist pump into the air.

“Yep.”

Seconds ticked by as she warred with herself; it felt like an hour.  Sean knew he’d won when she took a deep breath and her posture sagged slightly, as if she was either unable or unwilling to continue to fight it.  “Alright.”

––––––––

H
alf an hour later they were seated in the back corner booth at O’Leary’s diner in Birch Falls.

“Why this place?” she asked.  She’d expected them to hit the local IHOP just down the street from his garage.  When he’d ushered her into the sleek black Shelby – now meticulously restored to perfect condition - and passed the city limits, she felt a shiver of excitement.

“Best cinnamon rolls ever,” he replied with a smile.  Not to mention he had an ulterior motive.  He was not above stacking the deck in his favor, not for something he really wanted.

Nicki watched with mixed horror and fascination as Sean put away a half-pound burger, thick cut fries, coleslaw, three cokes, and two of the largest cinnamon rolls she’d ever seen.  Only after the last plate had been cleared away and the waitress brought a carafe and two mugs did he sit back and regard her with those icy blue eyes. 

“You’re a hell of a mechanic, but you’re too much of a distraction.  I can’t offer you the full-time mechanics position, but I have something else in mind that will benefit us both.”

Her features, relatively relaxed up to this point, hardened and her eyes flashed, reminding him of steel blades.  “You had to bring me all the way out here to fire me?” she hissed, her voice low.  She reached into her pocket and drew out a five to cover the unsweetened tea and bowl of vegetable soup she’d had, slapping it onto the table. 

“You think it’s okay as long as you buy me lunch?  Fuck you, Callaghan.”

God, he loved the fire in her.  He just wished it was channeled into something more pleasurable.

“You’re not listening, sweetheart,” he said calmly, pushing the five back toward her.  “Close that sweet little mouth before I shove something in it and just listen, will you?  Dayshift won’t work, we’ve already established that.  But evenings will.”

That shut her up.  But not for long.  “Evenings?”

“Yeah.  You’ll have the place practically to yourself.”

Nicki’s eyes narrowed, thinking about the “something else” he’d mentioned.  “Why?  So you can attack me
without
witnesses?  No, thanks.  I’ll take the pervs at
Angels
any day.  Oh, wait.  That would be you, too, wouldn’t it?”

His groin pulsed.  “Don’t kid yourself, baby.  You came for me, both times.  And I mean that quite literally.  You wanted it every bit as bad as I did.” 

Nicki scowled; white flames danced in those beautiful, pissed-off eyes.  She wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t.  Triumph raced through his body, but it was short-lived.

“I’ll pass.  Besides, I’ve already got a job working nights.”

Sean withheld his growl, but just barely.  Declining his offer was simply not acceptable.  He wanted her near him and away from every other male on the planet, even if that meant doing something insane. 

“What if I promise not to do anything unless you ask me to?” he whispered.  “No touching.  No kissing.  No accidental brush-by’s.  You have my word.”

She snorted derisively.  “Yeah, right.  What do I have to do?  Put on some skimpy little outfit while you watch me work and jerk off in the corner?”

“No.”  Hell, if he thought that might alleviate some of the ache he felt around her he’d be tempted to try it, but he already knew damn well from the past few days of experience that nothing done at his own hand would help.  “Though I might consider it if that would get
you
off.” 

She averted her eyes, but not before Sean caught a glimpse of the guilt in them.  Nor did he fail to notice the crimson flush across her cheeks.  The same one that sent a shooting pain up through his groin as he realized that she had at least thought of something along those lines.  A vision of him standing over her and doing wicked things while she watched had his cock throbbing painfully.

* * *

H
is eyes bore into hers, leaving her feeling penetrated and breathless.  How could he do that?  It was like he was fucking her with his eyes.  She could actually feel him inside of her and it felt way too good.

Nicki blinked and swallowed hard imagining him pinning her with that icy-hot gaze while he fisted himself.  Had he known that she’d imagined him doing exactly that?  That only last night she had dreamed of working in the garage alone at night, looking up to discover that he’d been palming himself as he watched her, only to stalk across the floor and finish in her?  That it had been the most recent in a series of vivid, erotic fantasies that had plagued her each night when she closed her eyes since the first night she’d met him?

Just sitting here with him was sending her hormones into overdrive.  Even from across the table she could feel the heat, the strength simply radiating off of him in waves, battering her defenses as if they were made of tissue paper.  God help her, she was getting wet again.  She clenched her thighs with determination and summoned every last bit of resistance she could muster.

“Yeah, well, don’t hold your breath.”  She edged her voice with steel to mask the slight tremble beneath it.  His lips curled.  Apparently she hadn’t masked it enough.

She felt his eyes on her, knew he was watching her closely. 
Damn
.  Still, she couldn’t shake the image of him coming to her, hard and heavy in his own hand, looking to her for relief.  She shook her head. 
Hard.
 

When she amassed enough courage to look at him again, the fiery glow in his eyes had calmed, leaving them that perfect, deep blue that she wanted to lose herself in.  His patient, waiting expression gave away nothing.

“Quit your job at
Angels
.  Work for me.”

“You’re serious.”

He nodded.  “I never say anything I don’t mean, Nicki.”

Her mind tried to process his words while her traitorous body angled toward him like a freaking magnet.  She forced herself back rather abruptly, earning herself another quirk from those full male lips.  To his credit, he refrained from commenting.  She probably wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from slapping that arrogant smirk off of his face otherwise. 

“You want me to leave
Angels
and work evenings alone in your garage, no strings attached.”  It simply sounded too good to be true.  Nothing ever came for free.  The question was – what did he want?  “What’s in it for you?”

“Not alone,” he clarified.  “Make no mistake, I will be there.  No one works alone in my garage.  It’s a safety policy,” he added when he saw the disbelieving scowl, “and it applies to everyone.”

“What about Nick?  He could work with me,” she suggested, blurting out the words before she could stop herself.  She couldn’t possibly be considering this, could she?  True, she’d accomplished what she wanted to at
Angels
, and was thinking of quitting soon anyway.  As it turned out, the information she’d gleaned from keeping her ears open at the garage was proving to be more useful than what she was hearing at the club these days, but he didn’t know that.  If she worked evenings, she could follow up on some of the more promising leads during the day.

Sean shook his head.  “He’s my best mechanic.  I need him on days.” 

She gave a barely perceptible nod.  She hadn’t expected him to go for it, but it was worth a shot.

“And as for what’s in it for me?” he continued, his eyes luminous.  “I get a day crew that can concentrate on something besides the constant ache in their balls thanks to you.  Not to mention a skilled mechanic and the pleasure of your delightful company every evening.  Do we have an agreement?”

Her mind reached frantically for something,
anything
that would give her a valid reason to say no.  She had nothing.  Her lips tightened.  Sean Callaghan was trouble with a capital “T”, and she was insane for even being within a mile radius of him.  Willingly placing herself in his hands like this was beyond stupid. 

But the cold hard truth was that he was getting her through each day.  He gave her something to think about besides her shit life.  And for a few hours each day, she needed that.  He was her escape from reality, and without even realizing it, he was keeping her marginally sane - at least until she could accomplish what she had come to Pine Ridge for.

She did like working on engines, too.  It was a gift she and Nick had shared from the beginning.  Maybe, when this was all over and she had her own little place somewhere, she’d build a little shop and tinker when she was between jobs.  Pick stuff up from a junkyard at random and see what she could do with it.  Yeah.  That sounded nice.

But that was later, and this was now.  The real question, she realized, was whether or not she could be in the same space with this man, alone, night after night and retain her sanity.  He promised he’d keep his distance, but could she?

Finally, after exhausting every other possible option as not viable, she nodded.

“Great,” he said.  The grin he gave her turned her insides to something fluid and warm, like melted chocolate.  And what she wouldn’t give to have him dip into her...  She shook her head, dispelling the notion.  That was
not
going to happen.  Not in her waking moments, anyway. 

* * *

S
ean withheld his fist pump and the great big
hooyah
burning to break free, but just barely.  “You start tomorrow.  Be at the garage at six.  Everyone else is usually gone by then.”

She nodded, suddenly looking very tired again.

“Now,” he said, “are you ready for your signing bonus?”

The weariness was gone instantly.  Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  “Signing bonus?”

“Yeah, come on.”  He stood and held out his hand for her.  When she made no move to join him, he dropped his voice even lower and leaned in farther.  “Don’t you trust me, Nicki?  Or is it yourself that you don’t trust?”

He felt her tense, felt the air around her electrify with his soft-spoken challenge.  She stood, crowding him when he refused to take a step back.  Tilting her head to look up into his face, she said, “You do not scare me.”

He laughed then, a low rumble deep in his throat.  “Then you’re the first, baby.”

She was so close he could now feel her heat, smell the honeyed vanilla of her hair, and realized his plan was beginning to backfire as his own control was severely threatened.  He stepped back enough to allow her to exit the booth, but placed his hand possessively on her lower back as he guided her toward the exit.

He nodded to an older man seated at the counter.  “
Daideo
,” Sean said, nodding.  Conlan O’Leary, Sean’s maternal grandfather, was the owner of the small diner.  The man smiled and nodded in return.  Then he looked at Nicki and winked knowingly.

“Do you know him?” Nicki asked as they emerged into the sunlight.

“Yeah,” Sean confirmed, but didn’t expand on that.  She’d probably suspect a conspiracy if he explained it to her.

“Where are we going?” Nicki asked, trying hard to hide her curious interest and failing.

“You’ll see,” was all he would say.

Within minutes they pulled into the parking lot of Big Mo’s, the custom cycle shop where his cousin-in-law Kyle McCullough worked.  Kyle was nationally known for his genius in creating custom machines, and was currently married to Sean’s cousin, Lina.  Anyone with Nicki’s penchant for mechanics and bikes would know Kyle; it was like a basketball fanatic getting to spend an afternoon with LeBron James. 

Sean felt no guilt whatsoever in using his family connections to gain a few points in his favor.

“A cycle shop?” Nicki asked, bemused but clearly interested.

“Not just any cycle shop,” Sean told her as he nodded to Mo and led the way into the Employees Only back room.  He kept her moving, afraid that if he had to endure the lusty glances Mo was shooting Nicki’s way he might do some damage.

“Sean!” a feminine voice shrieked only seconds before a mass of blonde wrapped him in an affectionate hug.  “It’s so good to see you!”

“Hey, Lina,” Sean chuckled, returning her embrace.  He was more than a little pleased to see the flash of a scowl across Nicki’s face before she could hide it.  Nicki was jealous!  There was no reason for her to be, but he’d take it. 

“I’d like you to meet someone.  Lina, this is Nicki, the one I was telling you about.  Nicki, meet my cousin, Lina.”

Nicki nodded in greeting, but her confusion was as obvious as her relief.

“Hi, Nicki!” Lina said cheerfully.  “Come on back.  Kyle’s waiting for you.”

Nicki looked questioningly at Sean, but he just smiled and indicated that Nicki should follow Lina.  “Is she always so cheerful?” Nicki murmured out of the side of her mouth so only Sean could hear.

“Yes,” he grinned.  “Perpetual sunshine, that one.  But don’t be fooled.  She’s every bit as tough as a Callaghan, even though she’s technically from the Connelly side of the family.”  His grin grew as he leaned closer.  “And her tat’s a lot bigger than yours.” 

The area right around Nicki darkened considerably.  She turned to see what – or rather who – had cast her in shadow.  Sean bit back a smile as she looked up – and up – into the face of the very large man standing there.  Even he had to admit Kyle cut an imposing figure.  He was dressed in black jeans with a black T-shirt stretched taut across a massive chest, with long black hair and black shades, despite the fact that they were indoors.  Her lips parted in shock.