Colt Page 4

  Kellan stepped in. “I’ve got room at my place. I’m . . . uh, between roommates at the moment.”

  Catman broke out into a hearty laugh. “That just means his sorry ass got kicked to the curb by his old lady. Again.”

  Kellan shot him a look but didn’t deny the charge. I put an arm around Kellan’s shoulders. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate that.” And I did. It solved the problem of Jase. He’d let me stay with him, of course. But neither of us needed the complication.

  “Good,” Catman said. “We’ll call a club meeting for tomorrow afternoon. Plan a proper welcome back for Colt.”

  With that settled, we headed back out into the bar. I felt more at ease than I had since I blew into town. Sure, Catman probably wasn’t done busting my balls, but he had every right to. I wasn’t here to threaten him, and he needed to know that. They all did.

  I spent the next hour or two catching up with the guys. Then my phone vibrated in my back pocket. I’d missed two calls while reminiscing. It wasn’t a number I recognized. I clicked into voicemail and listened. My back straightened, and my blood heated just from hearing her voice.

  “Hello. This is Amy . . . from the hospital. I understand you found my phone. If you could please call me back at this number, I’d appreciate it.”

  My face split into a smile, and Kellan gave me a “what the fuck” look. I winked and nodded to him as I punched in the callback button. Amy answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, blue eyes,” I said. I knew all the guys’ ears had perked up, and they were watching me, but I didn’t give a damn.

  “Hey, yourself,” she said. I could tell she was trying to act tough. But there was a sexy little waver in her voice. “Um, I’m really sorry to put you out but is there any way you can drop my phone off at my work? I’m at Lincolnshire Junior High. If you just stop by the front office and give it to the secretary, they’ll know it’s mine. They’re expecting you.”

  Smart, I thought. She didn’t know me. Not yet. Still, there was no way I wasn’t going to figure out a way to see her again from this. “How about you meet me out front? I promise I won’t bite you.”

  She cleared her throat. “Just leave it at the desk,” she said, not taking the bait yet. “I can’t really afford to leave my classroom.”

  “All right, blue eyes. Whatever you need. I’ll head over there first thing in the morning.”

  She thanked me one more time then clicked off. Brax, Sully, and Kellan were holding their sides laughing.

  “You work pretty fast,” Kellan said.

  I shrugged and held my palms up. “Me and wine get better with age.” I tried to play it cool. The ball busting would only get worse if they sensed how into this girl I really was. And I was. Shit. Just the sound of her voice had me revved and ready. I knew I was gonna end up counting the hours until I could see her again tomorrow morning.

  Chapter Four

  Amy

  Midway through the second hour the next day, Lindy, the front office secretary, buzzed me over the P.A.

  “Miss Amy,” she said. “There’s a nice little package down here at the office for you.” I knew Lindy’s voice well enough to know she was smiling through her words. Package, huh? Something told me she’d gotten a good look at the mysterious Colt. If I was right, her reaction was something similar to nurse Kayla’s the other day. Dammit, if my heart didn’t skip a little knowing he’d been in the building. I took a breath before I answered. Lindy knew my voice well enough too.

  “I’ll be down in about five minutes, Miss Lindy. Thank you.” The intercom buzzed once as she clicked off.

  I put a hand up and waved to get the attention of Megan, the student teacher assigned to me this semester. She was in the middle of reading a passage from The Diary of Anne Frank to my class. I held up five fingers and mouthed, “Back in five.” Megan nodded and kept on reading.

  I took a breath and headed out into the hall. Part of me wished I hadn’t blown Colt off as hard as I did. He clearly wanted to return the phone in a more intimate setting. And I couldn’t deny I wanted that too. He was gorgeous, sexy, and definitely into me. The trouble was, I didn’t need his kind of attention. I wasn’t Kayla or even Lindy for that matter. At twenty-eight, I’d sewn the last of my wild oats, and it was time to get serious. I had an important job, a Master’s Degree and had gotten things on track after the detour of a horrible relationship that had nearly cost me my life.

  I pushed thoughts of Roy out of my head as I’d had to train myself to do day after day, hour after hour. I hated that he still had any power over me at all. Hated that just the thought of him could send my heart tripping in fear. I steadied myself with a hand against the wall and straightened my back.

  I turned the corner, heading for the office, and stopped short. Trevor Meaney was leaning over the drinking fountain at the far end of the hall. Two boys came up behind him. Shit. They were Curtis and Austin Ford. Curtis was an eighth grader, and Austin was in seventh. They were both huge for their ages and topped nearly six feet. They were also notorious little assholes.

  My bully radar was tripping all over the place. I hurried my step. I didn’t want to shout down the hallway for fear of freaking Trevor out. The last thing I wanted to do was trigger him and make it even worse with Curtis and Austin standing there.

  Curtis reached out and grabbed Trevor by the back of the head as soon as he leaned down into the stream of water. He held him down while Austin laughed. I was in a full run now, my tennis shoes squeaking on the floor. Trevor’s arms flailed to the sides. I could see him turn beet red under the water stream. Son of a bitch!

  From around the corner, strong hands clamped down on both Curtis and Austin’s shoulders and pulled them back off Trevor. I was about twenty feet away when I skidded to a halt. Those strong hands belonged to none other than Colt. He hadn’t seen me yet.

  “What’s your name, son?” Colt asked in an even but forceful tone. He directed the question at Trevor, who had just turned around. His face was as white as chalk and his mouth was open and frozen into a perfect “o.” God, Colt was huge. He towered a good three inches over the tallest Ford boy. He took a dominant stance, broad shouldered with his back straight and his chest out. Those dark eyes of his flashed power. He was a full-grown lion to these three little cubs.

  “T-Trevor,” he said. I was a little shocked he even answered. But somehow Colt had instinctively hit the exact right tone of authority without threat.

  Colt kept his hands clamped on Austin and Curtis’s shoulders. Their color was a shade whiter than even Trevor’s. “See, boys, Trevor here is my friend. And I understand the two of you were probably just really thirsty and didn’t want to wait your turns.”

  Austin nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Colt fixed a dangerous stare at each of them. He was tall, strong, and full of alpha male menace as he looked at those two boys. Curtis started to shake. Though Colt had them by the shirt collars, the threat was all implied. He wasn’t hurting them.

  “And since Trevor’s my buddy, I’d hate to see you treat him like that again.”

  Curtis shook his head. “We didn’t mean nothing, sir. Honest.”

  “Oh, I know you didn’t. Trevor? Buddy? You doing okay over there?”

  Trevor nodded as he wiped droplets of water away from his brow.

  “Good deal. Now here’s how this is going to work. Trevor’s going to finish getting a drink if he wants to. Then he’s going to walk back to his classroom. And you two are going to go back to yours. Now, here’s the really important part, so listen close. If I find out either of you boys mess with Trevor or anybody littler than you again, we’re going to have a problem. And ganging up two on one isn’t cool. Only pussies do that.”

  I cringed, but crass though it was, Colt’s choice of words was having an impact.

  “We don’t want a problem,” Curtis said. “It’s cool. We’re sorry.”

  Colt nodded. He let go of Curtis and Austin’s collars, and the two of them steppe
d back. “Get lost, boys,” Colt said. “And don’t forget what we talked about.”

  As Curtis and Austin peeled off down separate corridors, I flattened myself against the wall. Colt turned back to Trevor and knelt down, so he was at his eye level. “Does that happen a lot, buddy?”

  Trevor nodded, and my heart broke down the center. He cast his eyes downward and Colt tucked a finger under his chin and brought him back to eye level. I couldn’t believe Trevor was letting Colt touch him. That man was magic, somehow.

  “Your dad ever show you how to defend yourself?”

  Trevor shrugged. “My mom kicked him out when I was five. He liked beer more than us, she said.”

  Colt smiled and cocked his head. “Don’t sweat that, buddy. My dad was like that too. I’ll tell you what, maybe I’ll come back some time and show you some moves.”

  “That would be cool,” Trevor said, smiling.

  “In the meantime, though,” Colt said, “I meant what I said. Those two give you trouble again you let your teacher know. In fact, I’ve got a friend who works here. Do you know Miss Amy?”

  Trevor’s face lit up with a smile. “Miss Amy’s my favorite.”

  Colt smiled back. “Mine too, buddy. Mine too. Okay. I’ll make a deal with you. You have any trouble, you go tell Miss Amy and she’ll make sure I know about it.”

  “You’re a badass, aren’t you?” Trevor said.

  Colt laughed and so did I. I smashed my hand over my mouth so they wouldn’t hear.

  “I try not to have to be,” he said. “But it’s not cool when guys pick on people smaller than them or different than them.”

  “Yeah,” Trevor said. “It’s chicken shit. That’s what my uncle says.”

  Colt nodded. “Your uncle’s got a point. Though maybe watch your cussing. I have a hunch Miss Amy and the rest of the teachers around here would bust your balls for that.”

  Trevor laughed and nodded. “But those two are total pussies, aren’t they?”

  Colt nodded. “Yeah. I promise that stuff will catch up to them one day. Okay, buddy. Remember, my name’s Colt and I’m a friend of Miss Amy’s. You have her call me if you need me.”

  Colt leaned in and threw an arm around Trevor. My heart tripped, and I took a step forward to try and warn him. But again, like some miracle, when Colt pulled Trevor close to him and patted him on the back, Trevor just smiled and hugged him back.

  “Good man, Trevor,” he said. “Now get on back to class.”

  “Thanks, Colt,” he said. “See ya, Colt.”

  Then Trevor turned in my direction. Colt’s back was still to me. Before I could gesture with a finger to my lips, Trevor blurted, “Hey, Miss Amy! We were just talking about you! I really like your friend Colt. He says Curtis and Austin are a couple of pussies.”

  I froze. Colt straightened and turned to face me, his dark eyes boring into me and sending a zing of heat straight down my spine. I lifted a hand and waved. Trevor ran past me and held out his knuckles. I gave them a knock with mine and he headed back to gym class leaving Colt and me alone in the hallway. “Watch your language, buddy,” I whispered.

  Colt stuffed his hands in his back pockets and walked toward me. I chanced a look around the corner, but second hour was well under way. We were alone. He pulled my phone out of his pocket and held it out for me. When I reached for it, he brushed his thumb over mine, making me shudder a little. God, if just that one tiny touch had me hot and bothered, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like if he came closer and brushed those luscious lip across mine.

  “Slick moves back there,” I said. “I think Trevor doesn’t have to worry about Curtis and Austin for a while. He might need to worry about his new vocabulary, though.”

  He nodded and flashed me a killer smile. I had the same urge to reach up and brush that long lock away from his eye. “Pretty sure Trevor’s vocabulary was already well rounded. What is he, twelve? And I meant every word of what I told them. Though I doubt they’ll be messing with Trevor again. Doesn’t mean they won’t move on to their next victim. Kids like that usually do.”

  I couldn’t argue his point. “How’d you get this far down the hallway without a pass?” I grasped for words, conversation, anything to get a handle on the lust coursing through me as Colt leaned against the locker doors. His broad chest puffed out as he held his hands in his back pockets. He had on a heather gray t-shirt that stretched over his muscles.

  “Lindy at the front desk was really helpful,” he said.

  I’ll just bet she was. “Thanks for taking care of my phone,” I said.

  “I want to take you out,” he said. No preamble, not even a request.

  “I don’t even know you,” I answered.

  Colt smiled and leaned his head against the locker. “Yeah. That’s why I want to take you out. I want to know you better. Nothing too intimidating. Promise. How about dinner, neutral turf? Anyplace you want.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “No, it’s a brilliant idea. See, you’re standing there looking at me like all I am is some kind of player. Now, I admit, you’ve seen some of my moves. I can see why you’d naturally come to that conclusion. But see, I’m a hell of a lot more charming than you think I am.”

  He shot me a ridiculously wide smile and wagged his eyebrows. He’d lost the bandage from the other night and had a straight pink line over his right brow, just like the one I had. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, you’re exactly as charming as I think you are. So you’re saying you’ve got another whole set of moves I haven’t seen? That wasn’t your A game at the hospital? That’s what you’re bringing me now?”

  He laughed. “Well, you’re still standing here talking to me, so I’m thinking I’m making progress. Come on. One dinner. Let me pick you up. Seven o’clock tomorrow?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, tomorrow’s a school night.”

  Colt put a hand over his heart like I’d just shot an arrow through it. He raked a hand through his hair and licked his lips as he thought about what to say. “All right. Friday. I’ll pick you up after school. Four?”

  I wanted to say yes. Hell, I wanted to jump his bones. But I really didn’t know the first thing about him, and my spidey senses read danger. He’s too perfect. Too much swagger.

  “Think on it,” he said, pushing himself off the lockers before I could say no. “I’ll text you tomorrow.”

  Shit. He could text me all he wanted to now that he knew my phone number. It was in my head to tell him no again, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. My head was one thing, but my body was turned on at every level. Colt looked from left to right, assuring himself that we weren’t being watched. Then he leaned in close, brushing my ear with his lips. The hairs on the back of my neck rose.

  “I promise, I know how to behave, Miss Amy. Do you?”

  I bit my lip. I had the urge to whisper back that I didn’t want him to behave. I wanted him to run his hands down my sides, pull me close and feather those perfect lips all over my body. I trembled at just the thought of what that would feel like. But I got a hold of myself and pulled away. My face flushed, and I knew he could see my cheeks color.

  “You’d better go,” I said. “The next bell is about to ring, and these halls turn into a madhouse. You might get run over.”

  He smiled and nodded. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Are you going to answer?”

  I cocked my head and shot him a smile. It was impossible not to. He was sexy and infuriating and exactly the kind of guy I always went for. And they always ended up being the worst thing for me. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  He smiled wide and gave me a thumbs up just as the bell rang. Students started pouring out of the classrooms around him. “Progress, Miss Amy,” he shouted over the rising din. “Definite progress.”

  Then he turned and worked his way toward the front of the building, dodging flying backpacks and the growing swarm of students. I watched him until he rounded the corner, my heart thumping wild
ly in my chest with each step he took.

  I spent the rest of the school day imagining all of the wicked things I just knew Colt was good at. I pulled up the contact list on my phone and sure enough, he’d put his number in it. I laughed at the picture he’d uploaded. It was just his right eye with an arched brow, his finger pointing to the new thin scar above it, just like mine.

  God, I had it bad for this guy. It had been so long since I’d been out on anything even resembling a date. After Roy, it had gotten so complicated. But maybe, just maybe, it was time to take a chance. My fingers hovered over Colt’s number maybe a dozen times that day. But I couldn’t bring myself to click on it.

  I stayed late after school grading papers. A good two hours after the last bell rang, I picked up my things and headed for the parking lot. It was empty save for the janitor’s car. I headed to my red Ford Taurus and heaved my bag of papers in the back seat. I still had another hour or two of grading and lesson planning to do when I got home.

  Still thinking about Colt . . . what he looked like without that t-shirt, without those jeans. Oh, the way those strong fingers might feel skittering across my skin . . . I put the key in the ignition and looked out the windshield. What I saw there made my heart turn to stone.

  I looked around the parking lot. It was empty except for that janitor’s car. That could be good or bad. A single white rose was trapped under the driver’s side windshield. I turned on the wipers and opened the window to catch it as it slid to the side. I held it in my hand and crushed it, letting the petals fall to the asphalt.

  To anyone else, that white rose would mean a pleasant surprise. But I knew better. It meant Roy or someone who worked for him was still watching. For the two years we dated until that awful night it ended, Roy would send me white roses. I made the mistake of telling him once they were my favorite. They had been. Not anymore. I blew out a breath and put the car in gear. In two years, he hadn’t gotten bold enough to come close to me. But these little gifts popped up from time to time just to let me know he still paid attention.