Page 15 of Ember
“You can’t go even a few minutes without giving back a snarky remark, can you?” he asked. He stood from the chair, and she stood in front of him, going toe to toe with him—which wasn’t an easy feat. Jack was a big man, and intimidating didn’teven begin to cover how he looked, but she also knew that he would never hurt her. He was a big teddy bear, not that she’d admit knowing that to him, and one of the kindest people she had ever met—again, something that she’d keep to herself.
“I just say what I mean,” she admitted. “You have an issue with me telling you how things are because no one else does. I mean, all these pretty little bar flies aren’t going to tell you that you’re an overbearing ass, right? I’m betting they’ve never said one nasty word to you for fear that you wouldn’t take them home and give them the promised—one-night of fun speech.”
He put his hands on his hips and stared her down, but Ember refused to back away from him. She had hit a nerve, though, and she wasn’t sure if that should please her or scare the hell out of her. “I never gave you that speech, Ember,” he reminded. He hadn’t. “In fact, you are the one who told me that our night together was a one-and-done ticket to nowhere, and I pretended to be fine with that.”
“And why would you be okay with that, Jack?” she asked. “I mean, you say that you had developed feelings for me at that point, so why give in to my one-night stand demands?” That part had always baffled her. How could he use her and let her go so easily? Sure, some might argue that he didn’t let her go without a fight, but Ember needed more from him. Maybe she was asking too much. Hell, maybe she should have stuck with her own rules and walked away from him the next morning without a word, but she hadn’t. Everything with Jean’s accident had happened so quickly, she really didn’t have time to figure out her next move. She thought that if she ran her plan by Jack, he’d actually be okay with her going to Florida, but she was wrong.
“We had only known each other for a month before you told me that you had feelings for me, Jack,” she reminded. “What did you want me to do? Should I have run into your arms and begged you to marry me? I think that finding you here with your latestconquest has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that would have been a huge mistake on my part.”
He sighed and hung his head, and God, she almost felt sorry for him. “I know that I was moving quickly, but I won’t deny the fact that I did have feelings for you—I still do.” She barked out her laughter, and he took a step back from her as though she had physically attacked him.
“Sure, the blond on your lap was the dead giveaway that you still have feelings for me, Jack,” she spat. “How did I miss such a telltale sign?”
“Sarcasm again—great,” he grumbled.
“I’m not sure how else you expect me to react,” she shouted. “I won’t play second fiddle to any blond bitch, and I won’t cater to your hero complex.”
“My what now?” he asked.
“Your hero complex,” she repeated. “You know what I’m saying. All the women around the Bastards know how you like to swoop in to save women. They say that you get off playing the knight in shining armor, and I can see that about you. Isn’t that how you found me? You followed me to the church that day, and when you realized that I was a damsel in distress, you swooped in to save me.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “Well, that’s some bullshit,” he swore. “It’s the dumbest thing that I’ve ever heard, Ember. I do not have a hero complex. I helped you that day because you looked like you needed my assistance. I’m a cop, and you were going into an abandoned church. It’s my job to make sure that both you and the building are safe, and when I found out that you weren’t, well, I decided to help you.”
“Oh, I see,” she spat, “your training kicked in and you just decided, ‘What the hell, I’ll lend her a hand.’” Ember wasn’t playing fair, and she could tell that from the hurt staring back at her in his hazel eyes.
“If that’s what you think about me, then I have nothing more to say,” he whispered. She wanted to take back her words—tell him that she was tired and hurt by finding him with another woman in Hurricane’s office, but she had no right to feel that way. She had told him not to wait for her when she left for Florida. Ember was the one who insisted on just one night, and she was also the one who said that they could never be anything more. But, God, she wanted more with Jack.
“Pick up your stuff whenever you want,” he said. “I’ll have it all delivered here for you by tonight.” Hearing that he was going to pack up her life and drop it off at the local bar stung a bit. That was her life, though. It had been unpredictable since hooking up with Marco, so why should she expect anything to change now? She watched as Jack brushed past her and out of the office. Having him mad at her was a good thing, really. Ember would be able to get over him faster, because whether or not she admitted it to him—she had fallen for Jack too.
Spark Plug
“She is the most stubborn, pigheaded woman I’ve ever met,” Jack shouted at Hurricane.
His Prez chuckled. “I believe that those two adjectives have the same meaning,” he teased.
“Yeah, well, it fits because she’s double those things all rolled up into one moody, she devil,” Jack spat. He sat up at the bar, and the blond barfly who had found him in Hurricane’s office earlier sat down next to him. At least she wasn’t sitting on his lap this time—that had already caused him enough trouble for one day.
“I hope that you boys aren’t talking about me,” the woman said. What the hell was her name again? Charleen, or something like that. He had tried to tell her that he wasn’t interested in what she was offering him back in the office, but the woman couldn’t seem to take a hint.
“Listen, Charleen,” Jack started.
“Darleen,” she corrected, looking a little put off by him not remembering her name.
“Yeah, sorry about that, honey. Listen, Darleen,” Jack continued. “I’m not interested.” Her pout was back, and he wassure that telling her that women who did that kind of thing were a turn-off for him, but he kept that to himself. Needy, insecure women didn’t do it for him. Hell, he seemed to be cursed that only capable she-devils were his type—and why the hell was that? Ember had given him so much grief in the past couple of months that he knew her; all he wanted to do was lock her in his house until she agreed to his rules. Wanting her wasn’t the issue, though. Wanting her on her terms was—especially when she wasn’t capable of compromising.
“Are you sure?” Darleen asked, running her hands up his dark T-shirt. He was more than sure, and no amount of petting or groping was going to change his mind. He only wanted one woman, and she was standing in the corner of the room, mean-mugging him again.
Jack had to admit—he did like the jealousy he saw in her dark eyes every time she caught him with Darleen. When Ember burst into Hurricane’s office and found her practically sitting on his lap, he thought for sure that she was going to rip the woman’s hair out. Yeah—she was a she devil all right.
“I’m positive,” he grumbled. Darleen stood with a huff and stomped off, crossing the bar to stand with a group of women who, within minutes, were also mean mugging him.
“You’re just a ball of sunshine today, aren’t you, Spark?” Hurricane asked.
“Shut the fuck up,” Jack grumbled. “It’s like the entire female population has lost its collective mind. What the hell am I supposed to do about Ember?” he asked.
“You’re asking the wrong guy,” Hurricane insisted. “I’ve already got a woman who keeps me on my toes. You’re on your own with that one.” He nodded to Ember, and Jack groaned.
“She’s going to know that we’re talking about her if you keep nodding at her, man,” Jack grumbled.
