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  She tossed her head back and laughed. “I didn’t have to stay up late to hear them.”

  Aiden leaned against the desk and studied her. He hadn’t bothered with the overhead lights, just a dim corner lamp. It wasn’t quite a romantic glow, but she wasn’t in the market for romance. The way he looked at her now, it wasn’t like before, when she’d felt exposed, maybe even in his crosshairs. It was like he was seeing her for the first time.

  “Who’d you hear it from, then?”

  She shifted in her seat. “My dad, at least until he left.”

  “He taught you all those words?”

  “He was a sailor. I’m pretty sure he invented some of them.”

  Aiden nodded. “Yeah, those navy boys have a certain way with words.”

  Those navy boys? She tilted her head to the side, taking him in once more. He wasn’t the only one who could tell a thing or two about a person just by looking at them.

  “You were in the military, weren’t you?”

  He stilled and there was a deadly air about him, as if in a second he might explode in a flurry of action. His arms flexed, gripping the edge of the desk. Aiden reached across with his right hand and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, exposing his left bicep. Some truly talented artist had inked the iconic Iwo Jima Memorial onto his arm, set against two pillars of smoke and arching over it all, the words WE WILL NEVER FORGET. There was so much detail to it; she almost wanted to brush the sand from the soldiers’ boots out of respect.

  It wasn’t the kind of tattoo a person could just go into a shop and pick off a wall. She’d spent enough time around the local shops to recognize a custom piece when she saw it.

  He’d thought about this tattoo. It meant something to him, more than the momentary jab of emotion pricking her heart. For him, this was something he’d survived. His service alone didn’t mean Aiden was a good type of man, but it was hard to not fling her trust at his feet.

  Perhaps he wasn’t a bad boy at all. Just a badass one.

  She licked her lips, aware she was staring. “How long did you serve for?”

  “Eight years. That was more than enough for me.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For serving.”

  He laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “Don’t thank me for what I did. We did what we thought we had to do.”

  She knew nothing of how the military worked. Her father had left before her teenage years and with him anything she might have gleaned about the navy.

  “Is that where you learned how to do this stuff?” she asked.

  “This stuff?”

  “Helping people.”

  “You ask too many questions.”

  She shrugged. “I learned too late that not asking them was a bad idea.”

  “How do you completely miss that your husband is a dope dealer?”

  She flinched, because his words stung. She deserved that.

  “I saw what I wanted to see. I was young, I was stupid, and I was afraid that if I asked what was going on, I’d know the truth. It was easy to live with it at first. I had things and money. Whatever I wanted. But I learned too late the price having stuff cost me. I think I always knew Dustin wasn’t a good guy, but I wanted someone in my life so badly I was willing to ignore all the warning signs. Once I started to suspect something”—she shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself—“then I was scared that if I rocked the boat I’d get kicked to the curb.”

  “But isn’t that what happened?”

  “The hell it isn’t.” She glared at him. “I left him. He didn’t kick me out. Dustin didn’t give one shit about what happened to me, so long as I kept the house and answered the phone.”

  “But you knew what he was doing.”

  “No, I knew he was screwing around on me. I suspected there was something else. I thought it was gambling, that maybe he was doing drugs, but I had no idea he was dealing until right before I split. I started looking in his pockets, checking his phone and that’s when I figured it out. Was I stupid? Yes. Yes, I was stupid and I did what I thought I had to at the time. Would you like to keep rehashing this? We can talk about it again and again and again if you want, but it’s not going to change what I’m saying. Yes, I married a criminal. Yes, I willingly remained ignorant of what he was doing. And yes, I left him. Any more questions?” She was practically yelling at him, but her give-a-shit reserve was empty. If he wanted to keep questioning her and doubting her, well, he could do it without her present.

  Aiden shook his head. “You’re a defensive little thing, aren’t you?”

  If he was on roller skates, she’d hip-check him onto his ass and feel good about it. Instead, she imagined him flying up, going parallel to the ground, and slamming down. She shoved to her feet and clenched her fists. It would be so satisfying to punch him.

  “Fuck you,” she spat.

  Madison stalked to the other side of the office. One bad thing about roller derby was the way it encouraged the girls to embrace their anger, use it, except once you started wielding the wicked emotion you had the wolf by the ears. Let go of it and it would bite you.

  “You shouldn’t go around offering things like that,” he said in a lazy drawl, except there was nothing lackadaisical about the man.

  “You are not funny.” She turned to face him, digging her nails into her palm. Heat rolled across her body. So she had a thing for him? Any girl drawing breath would swoon at those blue eyes.

  “The guys think I’m hilarious.” The deadpan delivery was almost comical.

  “Well, good for them.” It was time to leave, except he stood between her and the door. “You got a bathroom around here?” If she couldn’t leave, she’d retreat.

  “Sure.” He pointed at the door behind her. The pane of glass shone out into the dark garage. “Through there, to the left.”

  Madison jerked the door open and the scent of rubber, oil, and grease assaulted her senses. The classic restore shop had always made her curious, and she’d often wanted a closer look at the cars she could never afford to own.

  The bathroom was a small, cramped space with barely enough room for the toilet and sink, but it was clean. She shut the door, closing out Aiden and the mess he’d thrown her life into. How could one person stir up so much stuff? He was dealing with Dustin, her, and a street gang. He didn’t seem like the man to share his secrets, but she thought it was safe to assume he had more going on than what she knew about.

  At some point tonight the pendulum had swung in his favor.

  Madison actually trusted him. She was still uncomfortable with the idea, especially after seeing him pull a gun as calmly as he had. But didn’t that just mean he had what it took to protect her?

  There was no one good reason why she should trust him, and yet she did.

  She’d have to keep her trust close and not let him know, because trusting him to handle Dustin and trusting him to handle her were two different things. Not that he’d flirted with her, but there was a certain something between them she was beginning to suspect wasn’t just her.

  Madison washed her hands, staring at the girl she’d become. She liked herself now. It was the one thing she wouldn’t trade, the thing Dustin couldn’t take from her after she’d left him. The last couple of years she’d lived with Dustin, she’d been a shell of a person. Hating herself and everyone around her for allowing her to fall in the pit she’d dug for herself. But she’d suited up and climbed her way out of there, and no one could put her back in that hole.

  “What do I do about him?” she whispered at her reflection.

  Aiden wanted to solve her problems with Dustin by making him go away. It was a lovely idea. Man drives in, his car shining in the sunshine, decks her ex, the cops arrest him, and they drive off into the sand for a celebratory dip in the ocean. When things went down she doubted it would be that neat. For starters, she couldn’t deny that she was attracted to Aiden, and trusting him made that attraction dangerous.


  Her impending divorce had kept her away from entangling her heart because she had a silly set of values to honor the commitment she’d made—even if Dustin didn’t. There’d been a couple of men she’d fallen for—at least in her head—but never acted on. She hadn’t changed much where her attractions lay. Aiden was dangerous to her heart, even if she knew it was a bad idea. She doubted there were few things that mattered more to him than cars and whatever personal vendetta he had against Michael Evers. She’d have to check his license plate to make sure it didn’t read DANGER.

  God, she had no ability to judge the bad guys if everything Aiden said were true.

  Her phone vibrated. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen with a text from Lily. There were half a dozen missed calls from Matt, but she’d long since set his special ringtone to silent.

  What r u doing? Cat said you were @ Stokes again w a guy. Spill!

  Madison cringed. She hadn’t wanted to tell Lily about why Aiden had seemed so fixated on her. If anything, Lily would get protective and then Madison would never get to the bottom of what Aiden wanted. She owed Lily a hell of a lot for sticking with her through the Dustin years, pulling her out of the depression funk and everything else.

  Met up w guy from earlier. Not going anywhere. Headed home.

  It was the truth. She could fantasize about whatever he had under that shirt, his arms around her, and those eyes, but it was a bout she couldn’t skate. Trusting him was one thing, falling into bed with him was another. While many of the derby girls bragged about their sexual escapades, that wasn’t for Madison. One-night stands, flings, and no strings weren’t in her repertoire, no matter how much Lily pushed it on her. When she found the right guy, it would change her life. But it wouldn’t be Aiden.

  Madison opened the door and peered around the garage. There were at least four cars in the bays in various states of repair. One was on a lift, with no tires, the body stripped of paint and missing half its windows. Another seemed to glimmer under the emergency light. It looked ready to drive off the lot. The other two had their hoods up and an assortment of parts ready for assembly.

  She picked her way toward the blue car, ready to take her anywhere. She didn’t know the first thing about cars, but it looked pretty and maybe even fast. The seats were white, the windows and grille trimmed in chrome. A shining jaguar leapt at her from the front of the car.

  “1950’s Mk9 Jaguar.”

  Madison flinched and glanced over her shoulder at Aiden. He stood in the open doorway to the office.

  “Is it yours? Or are you working on it for someone?”

  “Nah, it belongs to a guy out in Coral Springs. He brings it over here every six months or so and leaves it overnight so we can look it over.” Aiden crossed the garage to stand next to her.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “He’s kept her in good condition. Bought her off a lot when he was in his late twenties. The guy’s got to be almost a hundred now, but don’t tell him that.” Aiden smiled, an unguarded expression she didn’t think he was aware of. Damn that dimple. She wanted to lick it. Something about the old man stirred a memory in him. Looked like the badass was human after all.

  “What does a car like this go for?”

  “You in the market?”

  “In my dreams.”

  “This car, because of the condition and everything, fifty grand, maybe forty if the economy tanks.”

  Holy crap.

  Madison almost took a step away from the car. She couldn’t afford to even sit in it at that rate.

  “Do you want to drive it?” Aiden asked.

  She gaped at him. “Are you serious?”

  He shrugged. “You couldn’t drive his, but there’s one out back. It’s not in as good condition, but it will be when I’ve got the time to scrounge up the parts for it.”

  “Okay.” She’d take a busted-up car if that was all she could get.

  Aiden led her to the back of the garage. He paused to disarm the security system before stepping out into a fenced off yard. Several badly abused classic cars sat in a line. They looked like they’d been salvaged from a junkyard.

  He led her to the last on the row. The paint had chipped away to reveal a second coat under the obscure, dark color. The roof had cracked and a tarp now covered the back half of the car. The windshield looked more like a spiderweb.

  “You’re real funny.” She crossed her arms and tried to swallow her disappointment. That’s what she got for trusting a man, wasn’t it? Broken dreams and shattered hope. But she couldn’t pin those faults on him. Not for a poorly timed joke.

  Aiden grinned at her. “I am, aren’t I? Go on, sit behind the wheel.”

  “Is there even a wheel in there?”

  “There is, it just doesn’t turn anything. I think I left it lying on the seat. Well, it’s more like a bucket with some foam over it.”

  “You are a jerk.” And despite her disappointment, she laughed.

  “So, it’s not much right now, but eventually it will be.”

  It was hard to imagine the car in road condition, but what did she know about restoring cars?

  “I need to get home.” She sighed, tucking away her dreams of a starlit cruise down US-1. “Where’s my bike?”

  “Already? Night’s young.”

  “Yeah, well, remember—some of us have to get up early for work.”

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that.” He gestured toward the garage.

  She fell in line beside him and they walked toward the side of the garage. There were several stacks of crates, a few barrels, and tucked up against the side of the building, her green Rebel. It wasn’t the nicest bike on the road or the fastest, but it was hers.

  “Do you still have my number?” Aiden asked.

  “The one you gave me earlier?”

  “Take this one too.”

  She dug her phone out of her pocket and plugged in the second number he gave her.

  “How do I know which to call?” she asked.

  “If you’re in trouble—the first one.”

  “And the second?”

  “Anything else.”

  What did that mean? His features were once again shrouded in shadow and she had no idea what to make of him. He pissed her off and made her hot, all at once. She had issues. Serious issues.

  “What about the street gang?” she asked.

  “I’ll take care of them.”

  “You have enough hands to juggle all that?”

  “I’ll make it work.”

  All on his own?

  Dealing with Dustin was too much. The rest of it made his workload sound impossible, unless he was some kind of cop or superhero under the garage alter ego.

  Aiden took a step closer. “Don’t worry about your ex. He’s not going to hurt you.”

  She nodded. Dustin might be the least of her worries.

  “Hey.” He tapped her chin, his thumb sliding across her jaw. “I mean it.”

  Not all injuries were external.

  Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. “Okay,” she replied.

  She hadn’t let a man take her out or touch her since Dustin. This wasn’t a date, but it was the closest thing to one she’d been on since high school. She didn’t know if she wanted to bolt or lean in closer.

  Was it wrong she thought she might be in more danger from him?

  Aiden bent his head, slowly. Hesitating. Giving her a chance to turn away, or maybe he wasn’t certain. She wasn’t. Madison held her breath until his lips brushed hers. As if by not moving she’d given him permission, his hold became tighter, possessive. He pressed his mouth to hers harder, parting his lips, inviting her to play.

  She placed her hands over his chest and opened for him. His tongue darted between her lips, teasing hers. Desire coursed through her veins, waking up those parts of her body long dormant. She grasped the front of his shirt and kissed him back. Aiden dropped a hand to her hip. He pressed so close she stumbled back against the chain-link fence. Their lips part
ed for the span of a second.

  Madison wanted him. Would a little taste be such a bad thing?

  He didn’t wait for her implied permission a second time. He sealed his mouth over hers, kissing her. He was just as swept up in this thing as her. Heat pooled between her legs. She wanted him closer, so she could feel all of him against her. His hands squeezed her ass, coasted up her back and into her hair. She hooked one thigh over his and rocked against him.

  Fuck, yes.

  Rational thought fled. All that mattered was how good he made her feel. Years of ignoring her nature, the things she wanted, were behind her. Right now, her need for him was paramount.

  Tremors of pleasure shook her and she held on tight. The cravings, yearning for another body redoubled, driving out her better sense until all that mattered was the press of a thick thigh between hers.

  The muscles in her abdomen fluttered and she gasped. She didn’t want to think about the last time she’d felt like this.

  Aiden rocked against her once more and she moaned. He did it again and she dug her nails into his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. Once more and a burst of white light erupted behind her eyelids, pleasure rocketed through her, stealing her breath and robbing her of the last bit of her senses. The release was sudden, brilliant, and shocked her back to reality.

  Madison was humping a man she barely knew, in a dark alley.

  Aiden stilled his motions, as if sensing her change, and lifted his face from hers. She couldn’t make out more than the glint of light on his eyes or the shadows across his nose and mouth.

  “I . . . I think I need to go,” she managed to say without too much trembling.

  “You sure about that?” Was that an offer in his tone?

  “Yes.” She licked her lips, tasting mint on them.

  Aiden straightened, bringing her with him, and putting out a hand to steady the bike. She stepped away from him and straightened her clothes, ignoring the way her hands shook.

  “Here, I’ll roll this out for you.”

  He unlocked a small gate and wheeled the bike out into the open space next to the garage. She just watched him, not sure what to think or feel, until he held out the helmet to her.