Page 43 of No Apologies
She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence, her thought, or even to decide. A bell rang somewhere in the distance and it might as well have been a shot going off. Colt jolted as though he’d been physically knocked back. All of the air rushed out of him in one gust and his eyes flickered over her, horror dawning on his face a moment before his lids slammed shut and he stumbled away from her.
“Cover up. Now!” He growled.
Skylar blinked as her entire world shifted again but nothing went back in its right place that easily after being blown apart. Dimly, she was aware that there were hard footsteps on the concrete floor heading their direction. Someone had come into the shop and Colt was reacting to the interruption.
She looked down at her dress and groaned. It was hiked up around her waist so she smoothed it out as best she could and pulled her legs shut. But no matter what intruder walked in on them she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that said Colt’s reaction wasn’t about securing her modesty.
She watched him with wary eyes. He’d flipped his back to her but she didn’t need to see his face to know that he was past turmoil into full on destruction mode. His back rose and fell in heavy pants as he sucked in air. He’d gripped the edges of the counter on the other side of the small stall and his knuckles were white. He was trying to hold on but he should have been holding onto her.
“Yo, Colt, I was thinkin’ about running by the…”
Remington Bomar stepped into view and slammed to a stop just outside the room. In another situation his reaction might have been comical. His eyes went wide as they swung around, quickly taking in the scene he’d stumbled onto. But it was Colt’s older brother and she was nowhere near comfortable enough around him to find this funny.
She barely knew the guy. He’d left town when they were still kids. He’d only shown back up a few weeks ago and everything she’d learned about him since pegged him as nothing but trouble. Jemma didn’t like him. Cash didn’t trust him. Colt didn’t talk about him, never had, and Remy’s sudden reappearance in town and in their lives hadn’t changed that.
To her knowledge, the oldest Bomar brother was a real chip off the old block. Since Decker was that block, she’d always assumed he was pure evil like their father. Having actually met him recently, she wasn’t so sure that was the case. He looked like their father, all darkness where the twins’ features were light, but if he shared Decker’s vices of alcohol, women and violence she’d yet to see it.
Still, that didn’t mean she liked having his dark eyes drag over her in that knowing way and she fought a shudder. For the first time since she’d dressed this morning, she wished she’d put on more clothes. This outfit was the opposite of modest but that had been the point when she dressed to come see Colt.
Remy’s lips twitched when he met her gaze and she felt a flush warm her face before she dropped her head and stared at her lap. She tried to straighten her dress again but it was no use. Her lips felt swollen, her hair was a mess, her clothes were in disarray and she was blushing like a schoolgirl. There was no question whatsoever, Remy knew what he had walked in on.
“Oh, hey Skylar. I didn’t know you had an appointment.” He drawled.
She cleared her throat and tried for a smile, “It was kind of last minute.”
“Uh huh.” Remy’s dark blue gaze swung to his younger brother, “You need some help in here bro?”
Colt turned around slowly, standing up to his full height. His hands fisted at his sides and Skylar felt a rush of alarm run along her spine. She’d never seen him in fight mode but something told her it looked a lot like this. Shoulders back, jaw clenched, death in his eyes and the threat of menace radiating off of him.
“No.” He ground out.
“I was just sayin’ I could…”
“So much as look at her again and you die.”
“Colt!” Skylar gasped at the blatant threat but Remy only chuckled.
“Ya know, I had a feelin’ you were gonna be just as possessive as your twin.” He winked and held his hands up in a faux innocent gesture, “Next time you want to get kinky in your chair, maybe put a sock on the door or…”
“Fuck off Remy.” Colt growled.
“Yeah, yeah.” He snorted, “I’ll be in the back so do me a favor and finish this some other time.”
She bit her lip when Remy’s footsteps faded away. The room was painfully silent and tension filled every free space. She didn’t know what to say, wasn’t sure how to get them back to where they’d been before the interruption. Then she remembered that despite that life-changing kiss, Colt had started pulling away from her before Remy walked into the room.
He’d already started to withdraw and as she forced her gaze up, she felt her heart stutter in her chest. He hadn’t moved from his spot on the other side of the room. His shoulders were back, tense, and his hands were still fisted. He was still expecting a fight.
“Colt?” She tested the waters gently but he didn’t budge so she went the other way and decided to jump in, “Please don’t try to convince me that was a mistake.”
He ran a hand through his tousled hair but didn’t say anything. He still hadn’t looked at her. She didn’t have a clue what was going on in his head.
“Colt…”
“It was just a kiss, Skylar.” He gave a mocking snort and finally glanced up. “No reason to get all worked up. It was bound to happen sooner or later and now that it has we can move on. It was a kiss. Nothing special.”
She heard his words. She heard him try to discredit what had just happened between them and maybe it shouldn’t have surprised her given their history, given that every single time he’d let her close he later shoved her away with both hands but it did. Because damn it, that hadn’t just been a kiss, and he knew it!
“Just a kiss?” She gaped at him as she sat up from the chair, “Just a kiss?” She heard her voice rise, knew she was venturing towards shrill and couldn’t manage to contain her irritation, “That was a hell of a lot more than a kiss!”
