Chapter
Four
On Monday morning when Mr. Wynn dropped him off at the employee entrance at the back, Cayden was not ashamed to admit he was as giddy as a fucking schoolboy. Cayden’s eyes narrowed slightly at the red light on the keypad. Trixie had obviously changed her code. Mr. Wynn had already driven off and Cayden didn’t have her number to call her. Regardless of the temporary delay in getting inside the building, Cayden still felt jubilant just to be here.
Glancing around, he found a rock shard in the manicured landscaping. He waved at the camera before popping the keypad off the base. A quick slice of two wires and a green light later, the door sprung open. With his foot in the door so it wouldn’t close back on him, he reconnected the correct wires back together and then snapped the pad back onto the base.
As he suspected, she’d been watching him. Each door he came to with a keypad was unlocked virtually just as he approached, including her office door.
Cayden nearly swallowed his tongue upon entering. She wasn’t in her coveralls as she’d been Friday afternoon. She was dressed plainly in jeans and a tank, and damn. He enjoyed the sight of her exposed midriff. The way her jeans hugged that tight little ass… His dick immediately started getting hard.
Shit, she was his boss. She deserved better than to have him gawking at her like some teen with his first porn magazine.
Trixie crossed her arms over her chest, which did not help his raging erection! He needed to get his dick to behave. He did not need to spend the day with a hard-on and images of her breasts dancing through his mind. This was his first official day, and he meant to make a good first impression on the other employees.
“You broke into my—”
Yeah, he hadn’t lasted even three seconds. As soon as she’d opened her mouth to speak, Cayden had rushed forward and kissed her. His hand at the small of her back and the other cupping her face, he devoured her mouth like a starving man.
Because he was. He wasn’t sure how he’d survived the weekend without hearing her sass or watching her smile. It had been torture. She was wearing her thick black curls in a simple ponytail. He understood the practicality of the style but longed to have her hair down again. He wanted to wrap it around his fingers, to see it splayed out on his pillow.
Best part was she kissed him back. No hesitation, no fight. That was all the permission he needed.
When they finally separated for some air, he managed to gasp out, “Hi.”
He felt her smile against his cheek. “Good morning.”
“Best damn morning I’ve had in a long, long time.”
She giggled, the sound going straight to his cock. “You really need to stop doing that. I can’t control myself when you do.”
“That is sort of the point.”
She shook her head against his, but he still felt that smile. “You broke my keypad.”
“I’ll be replacing it soon, anyway.” He shrugged against her. “All of your security is going to be getting upgraded soon.”
“And how much is this going to cost me?”
He dropped his head, nibbling on her exposed throat. She tasted recently showered, an image he longed to see for himself. She used a coconut-scented shampoo or body wash. It made him picture her in a bikini on the beach. “Don’t worry about that,” he told her between nibbles. “I’ll get you a good deal. I know a guy.”
“Mmm…” she moaned.
She was putty in his hands, and they both knew it. His dick protesting vehemently, Cayden stepped back with a sigh. Now was not the time to get carried away or for her to make a decision she would later regret.
Her eyes blazed an objection he was sure his own echoed too. But the longer they were separated, the more she seemed to come to her senses. She blinked, as if trying to clear the fog in her head. Her cheeks flushing beautifully, she mumbled a thank you to him.
He raised her chin up so he could look into those milk chocolate delights she called eyes. “Let’s get something straight between the two of us, Trix. I want you. Badly. I want you in my bed, I want you on this floor, on your desk, against that door.” Her cheeks heated. “I know you want me too. I was locked up for two and a half years. That’s a long time without sex, so yeah, I’m fucking horny.” She audibly gulped. “But I won’t sleep with you until you give me explicit permission. I’m talking some serious begging here too, maybe even written consent signed in blood.” He smiled to show he was joking as her eyes widened. “I know you want me too. I’m good with kissing and occasional fondling, and I’ll keep it strictly professional for you outside this office. I want to get to know you. I want to know what makes you tick. I want to understand who you are. I want to know everything there is to know about you. Because you, Beatriz Roberta Romero, are special. You deserve anything and everything you’ve ever desired and more. I may not be worthy of you today, but I hope to be someday. I hope you’ll let me into your life. And not for a one-night or even a weekend marathon.” He wiped the single tear that had escaped her eye with his thumb before it trailed down her cheek. Cayden leaned forward to kiss her gently. “I want you to feel like you’re on top of the world. My world.”
Trixie didn’t know if she should laugh, cry, smile, or scream at his declaration. What he’d just offered her, promised her, was not a quick fuck at the end of his parole term as she’d planned. Her reward for keeping her hands off of him for the next four months. Not that she’d been doing a good job of that so far. What he laid out for her hadn’t even been a consideration for her. But the way he phrased it, forever didn’t sound all that terrible.
Not worthy of her? His record didn’t make him unworthy. He made mistakes, but he owned them. Cayden Russo was sweet and funny. He was caring. He had a wicked smile that did terrible things to her. He wasn’t unworthy. The fact that he was trying to turn his life around, to be better, made his statement inaccurate.
The knock on her door prevented her from responding to him. Cayden placed a quick kiss in her hair before striding over to the chair before her desk. He sat down casually, as if he’d been there the whole time, instead of draped around her.
It wasn’t until the second knock that she realized she was still frozen where he’d left her. “Come!” she shouted, walking towards her desk.
Jeff poked his head into her office. “Everyone’s here.”
She nodded and indicated for him to step in. Cayden stood, turning to meet her head mechanic. “Jeff Ingram, this is Cayden Russo. He’s going to be working on our security system. I’m also told he’s a hell of a mechanic, so we might be finding him work in the motor pool too.”
Jeff reached out his hand and clasped Cayden’s. “Good to meet you, son. Weren’t you here on Friday in the bay?”
Cayden nodded once. “Sure was. I had a bet to win.”
Trixie felt her cheeks flush, and she quickly turned towards her cabinet where she kept her coveralls. She took her time putting on a pair, trying to get her body back under control. She could hear Cayden and Jeff talking behind her, but she worked hard to ignore them. Maybe she should have taken that out Cayden had offered her on Friday. Was it too late to fire him now?
“Let’s go,” she snapped, walking out of her office without waiting for either of them.
Trixie walked down the hall to the stairs. Cayden was with Jeff, so he didn’t need to break any more of her security pads to gain access to the different areas. She’d switched her personal code to a random ten-digit number it had taken her all weekend to memorize. She was grateful not many employees were around on the weekends, so no one had witnessed her locking herself out of her own shop. If she hadn’t had her phone on her, she might have had to call a locksmith to let her into her own apartment. How embarrassing would that have been?
And yet, Cayden had still gotten in. Mind, he’d broken her keypad to do it. But he’d also been the first to enter this morning. If the keypad was truly broken, the others would have either noticed something was wrong or they wouldn’t have been able to get in too.
Men! Why were they so fucking frustrating?
Cayden was right, though; she did want him. She wanted him in all the places he’d announced he wanted her, and more. The idea of starting something with more meaning than a one-nighter was tempting. Really tempting. Like craving-in-her-loins tempting.
But the idea of a relationship? That freaked her out. She didn’t do relationships. Despite the happiness and love she witnessed with the Wynns, Trixie didn’t have a good rapport with relationships. Her madre had walked out on her papá, along with her and her hermanos. Her grandmother had died before she’d been born.
She’d watched AJ and Addy fall in love and then witnessed as that love had imploded on them. She’d watched as Marco and Lindsey exchanged vows that had proven unable to save either of them in the end. Lee was perpetually single, but she also didn’t know enough about his current life to know if that statement was still accurate.
Trixie had no intention of falling in love, but man, she craved it. Worse, she craved it with Cayden, Mr. Cocky Biker. So maybe working towards a relationship wouldn’t be such a bad thing with him. Maybe, when it ended, she could at least say she tried. Maybe knowing she’d put the effort in would make it less painful when he walked.
Because he would walk. They all walked.
Cayden didn’t know what was going through Trixie’s mind, and it was killing him. Jeff had interrupted them before he’d gotten any response out of her. He’d laid out his intentions to her, and he had no idea what her thoughts were. Stupid Jeff and his rotten timing.
In hindsight, Cayden probably could have picked a better time to all but profess his love for her. Cayden was under no illusions. He wasn’t in love with Trixie, but he knew it was only a matter of time. She was perfect for him in every way, and he couldn’t risk her falling into another’s arms. That would kill him faster than any bullet or shiv.
He wanted to stop her before she entered the breakroom. He needed to know her thoughts. But Jeff was chatting away next to him, and there were others around. It would have to wait. He’d promised her he’d be professional outside her office, and he needed to keep that promise.
Finally admitting how much he wanted her and how often did get him thinking, though. He was clean. They tested him every six months while in prison. He also hadn’t had sex in roughly three years. He didn’t know if she was on any type of birth control, but he wouldn’t risk it regardless. The second he got her explicit permission, he would be inside her. Which meant he needed to pick up some condoms next time he was out.
That would be difficult. If he wasn’t at work, he was at the house. That was the terms of his parole. The only exception was if he was off property with either Mr. or Mrs. Wynn, who viewed Trixie as a daughter and were not oblivious to his attraction to her. Maybe he could get one of the other residents to pick up the condoms for him. Geordi was out, but maybe Paul. Definitely not Victor. He still hadn’t forgotten how the arsonist had stared at her last Sunday. He wasn’t familiar enough with any of the other residents to ask them for a favor so personal.
Paul had a furlough trip coming up with his wife. Mr. or Mrs. Wynn wouldn’t think twice about him picking up such supplies. Cayden would just have to make sure to slip Paul the necessary cash for the transaction. He had to bury his frustration that he needed someone else to purchase something as simple as a pack of condoms for him.
Plan set, Cayden followed Jeff into the employee breakroom. Jeff gestured for Cayden to follow him, but he shook his head. He was better in the back. He needed some space between him and Trixie, plus he wanted to watch how she interacted with her employees and how they interacted with her. There was a lot of temptation sitting outside those doors, and he might not be the only one with the skills to take it.
Trixie said she trusted her employees, but one of her trusted employees had also been easily conned into handing over the keys to an Aston Martin to Cayden last Friday.
Speaking of which, that employee—his embroidered coverall said Gary—shifted in his seat and caught sight of Cayden. Recognition set in before confusion. Cayden gave him a chin lift but didn’t offer up any information. It was up to Trixie to introduce Cayden.
Calling the meeting to order, Trixie sat on top of the far circular table, facing the rest of them. Around her table sat Jeff, a woman wearing a pantsuit, and a man who was far too attached to his cell phone. Cayden immediately had them pegged as her managers. Jeff was obviously her head mechanic, the woman and her manicured long fingernails was the head of sales, and the man and his quick thumbs was in charge of marketing.
There were three other round tables with six chairs each around the room. Directly in front of Cayden were the mechanics. Their coveralls and blue-collar appearance gave them away. To their left sat the sales team in their spiffy outfits and perfect hairdos. All the way over to the right was the mismatched table. He figured the woman in her thirties was in marketing, because her thumbs were in a clear contest with the man at Trixie’s table. There were two men whom Cayden had spied in the bay last week and knew they were painters. Then there was a young man who looked completely out of place surrounded by so many adults. He had a notebook and pen out, which Cayden found interesting. Who used pen and paper anymore?
Bringing his attention back to Trixie, Cayden surmised that she had a good crew. How each of them worked individually and with each other, Cayden didn’t know yet, but she had a decent size staff for her operation. He needed to make sure to compliment her on that. He was concerned for her business and personal security. He didn’t need her thinking he was coming in and taking over what she’d worked so hard to build.
The talking halted immediately as soon as Trixie sat down, as if planting her cute little ass on that table was equivalent to a judge’s gavel. Damn, now the image of Trixie in a sexy judge’s robes was stuck in his head.
He had to close his eyes and take several deep breaths. When he opened them, he tried to casually glance down as he silently ordered his cock to behave. Yeah, maybe telling her he would wait until she begged him to sleep with her wasn’t the brightest idea he’d ever had. In fact, right now, his dick was calling him all sorts of stupid.
“I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.” She crossed her legs before her on the table. “I’ve got two announcements to make before we go over this week’s schedule, but first.” She reached behind her and pulled out a large mason jar. There were several dollar bills in it. Cayden cocked his head to the side in wonder. “Who has something they want to share?”
Several employees raised their hand, a dollar bill in each one. What the hell was this?
Trixie passed the jar to a mechanic in coveralls to her right. He stood to collect the jar from her, dropping the bill into it. He remained standing. Cayden was sure his name was Will. He was one of the men Cayden had talked to on Friday to win his kiss. The man’s smile was wide as he announced, “Ashley’s pregnant!”
The uproar through the room made Cayden jump. He was not used to such celebrations and camaraderie. When he’d been younger, he’d viewed the Black Pythons MC as a family, as brothers. But they weren’t. He hadn’t been their brother, he had been their pawn. Each member trusted each other to do their assigned jobs, but when push came to shove, it was each man for himself.
Always.
This was a family. He’d never seen or even heard of a workplace like it before. Trixie, and likely Bobby too, had cultivated a family out of strangers.
Watching as Will was slapped on the back, his hand outstretched to shake as many hands as he could, and that smile on his face… Cayden realized this was Trixie’s world. She trusted these people to do their assigned jobs, but there was also affection, loyalty. They had her back as much as she had theirs.
Cayden still didn’t understand the significance of the jar of cash, but he definitely caught onto the ritual.
As everyone settled back down, Trixie hopped off the table with ease. She hugged Will tightly, and though it was completely platonic and in view of everyone in the room, Cayden’s green-eyed monster reared its nasty head. It took everything in him not to tear the two of them apart and declare that Trixie was his.
Yeah, he was definitely not used to this sort of environment.
After Trixie and Will retook their seats, the jar was passed to the next employee who dropped his dollar bill in and announced that he’d finally booked his vacation dates. It went on, from something as simple as a child finally tying their shoes on their own to bigger announcements like closing on a house.
Finally, the jar was brought back up front to Trixie. She placed it on the table between her and her crossed legs. She took out a twenty-dollar bill, and the room immediately hushed. Cayden had picked up on the bigger the announcement, the larger the bill offered. “Payton called me yesterday. He and Claudia are the proud parents of an eight-pound-two-ounce healthy baby girl!”
The applause given this time rivaled the one Will had received. Cayden recalled Trixie telling Paul that one of her painters was out on paternity leave. That must be Payton.
Once everyone settled back down, Trixie pulled out a single dollar bill and put it in the jar. “I would also like to introduce to you our newest employee, Cayden Russo.” She gestured to him in the back of the room. Trixie waited a moment before continuing. “Mr. Russo is going to be working on updating our security and verifying we are doing everything possible to protect our customers and their property.” Her eyes narrowed as they landed on the table where Will, Gary, and Terrance sat, the three employees whom Cayden had tricked last Friday. “He already has become aware of certain lapses on our part and will be working closely with me to rectify this.”
Gary’s head did a whiplash between Trixie and Cayden. “Wait, he wasn’t from Peterson’s insurance?”
Cayden and Trixie both shook their heads, but it was Trixie who said, “He got this job because he wagered that he could break into any one of my cars.” Though her voice was light, her disappointment was evident. “Clearly, we have all been a little too trusting to allow a stranger to just walk into our midst and into a customer’s car.”
The grumble that ran through the room was not happy. Cayden’s jaw ticked in annoyance, but it had nothing to do with the room’s sudden mood change. Trixie had made it sound like he’d only gotten a job out of their bet when, in fact, he’d gotten a much better prize.
He’d gotten her to kiss him. Hell yeah, he’d started their kiss, but she’d been the one to escalate and finish it. Best damn prize there was.
“Once Mr. Russo and I have implemented a security change, you will all receive an email notice and we will also go over any changes in our morning meetings. Any questions?”
Yeah, Cayden had several, but they sure as hell weren’t appropriate in a room full of her employees.
Since she didn’t have a spare office, Cayden was upstairs using hers. He said he needed to make some phone calls and do a little research. Fine by her. Trixie needed to get under a car and fast. Watching him, tall and sexy, against the wall opposite her during that meeting had been excruciating. She’d had to put the collection jar on the table in front of her as a reminder not to move. Not to run head long into his tattooed arms.
Fuck, she needed to get laid. He might not have to wait so long for her to beg.
Gary, Will, and Terrance had cornered her after she’d dismissed the others from the meeting to apologize. She didn’t blame them, per se. It was her business, her fault. She’d allowed herself to become reliant and complacent about the security system.
It made her wonder where Cayden had learned his skills as a thief. He obviously hadn’t stolen just the one car he was convicted of. What else had he stolen? And from whom? The Black Pythons MC was known on the streets for picking up exotics and selling them to the highest bidder. She wouldn’t last very long in this business if she didn’t keep her ear to the ground. There was a difference in who wanted her babies and who was willing to take them from her.
If rumors about how to get into the MC were true, then Cayden had to be good. Hell, he’d already proven he was good. So how had he gotten caught? What and whose car had he taken that had gotten him arrested? Why hadn’t he gone back to the club as soon as he’d gotten out? Did he intend to go back when his parole was over?
Too many questions. He’d said he wanted to learn everything there was about her, but he hadn’t said anything about opening himself up to her in return. What if it was all a line just to get in her pants?
She already knew sex with him would be amazing. The universe wouldn’t be so cruel as to let a man who could kiss like Cayden did and then not give him the know-how to follow through. But beyond that?
A hand tapping on her drew her attention. There was no electricity, so she knew it wasn’t Cayden before she rolled the creeper out from under the Ranger. It was Jeff. He offered her a hand up, which she took.
Grabbing an oiled rag from her toolbox, she asked, “What’s up?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
She raised an eyebrow. She’d known Jeff since she was a kid. He’d worked for her abuelo forever and had stuck by her when she’d inherited the shop. He was the first to enforce respect for her and never allowed anyone to question one of her decisions. While he’d earned the right to speak his mind to her, he usually did with a bit more tact. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Did something happen that made you hire Russo?”
It took a lot to keep the relief off of her face. Jeff thought they’d been robbed or there’d been an attempted robbery, which was why she’d hired Cayden. Not that there was something going on personally between Cayden and her. If it got out that she was sleeping with an employee, Trixie wasn’t sure what she’d do.
“No,” she told him with an honest smile. “Tìo Greg stopped by a couple weeks ago and Cayden was with him. He told me, in his professional opinion, that he didn’t think much of our security. I basically told him to stuff it.” Jeff snorted, likely not doubting that was exactly what she’d done. “So, he offered me that deal. I was so confident that I took it, and you know how that turned out. Now, of course, Mr. Cocky and Sure of Himself is hiding in my office on his almighty throne about to spend a crap ton of my money to make sure our merchandise is secure.”
Jeff raised an eyebrow but thankfully didn’t comment on the nickname she’d given Cayden. “Russo seems solid.” He paused and then said, “He came in here with Greg?”
Trixie winced. Oops. Jeff was one of the few employees who knew about the halfway house. Damn it. It was Cayden’s first day and she’d already broken her promise not to reveal his history. She wasn’t used to having to keep secrets from her employees.
Jeff reached forward and squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay. I won’t say anything, but it would have been nice to know so I can keep an eye on him.”
Trixie hesitated. What did it say about her if she said she trusted him, that Jeff didn’t need to keep an eye on him? What did it say about her if she did ask Jeff to keep an eye on him? Fuck. When did life get so complicated?
“Greg trusts him,” she said finally. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have pushed for me to hire him.”
Jeff nodded once. “All right. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to be watching out for you.”
She blinked. That was oddly worded. “For me?”
“I saw the way he was looking at you in the meeting, Trixie.” Lowering his voice, Jeff added, “I also saw how you were looking back at him.” Trix gulped. Fuck, had she been that obvious? Who else had seen? Jeff quickly jumped to her sanity’s rescue. “Don’t worry. I don’t think anyone else was paying that close attention, but the two of you might want to try studying something else in the room besides each other if you want to keep it on the downlow. Otherwise, it won’t be a secret much longer.”
Trixie dropped her face into her hands. Jeff had seen her at all sorts of stages in her life. Including her awkward tomboy phase as well as her attempt at cheerleading. He’d helped get her through her papá’s and abuelo’s deaths. He’d threatened her prom date with a car battery to his testicles if he so much as looked at her disrespectfully. Jeff knew her as well as Greg and Peggy did. It should not be so embarrassing that all of them had picked up on her feelings for Cayden faster than she had.
Her voice muffled by her hands, she admitted, “I don’t know what to do. I can’t think when I’m around him. It’s like he’s put a damper on all my brain cells.”
Jeff let out a loud laugh, which only made her hide further into her hands. She was quite grateful the others were on lunch break this time of day and weren’t there to bear witness to her embarrassment. “I think that’s called lust, honey.” He patted her gently on the back. “I don’t know what’s between you two, and frankly, I don’t want to know. I still see you as the little girl in pigtails running after her grandfather, begging him to show her all the tools in his toolbox.”
Trixie risked a peek at her old friend from above her fingertips. His face was nothing but fatherly. It made her feel protected and loved rather than scrutinized and judged.
“My point, honey, is this is something you need to figure out for yourself.” He chucked her on her exposed cheek. “And just know I’m here to kick his ass if he dares to hurt you.”
It was her turn to laugh. She reached forward and hugged Jeff. Squeezing him tight, she said into his coveralls, “Thank you.” He still smelled like peppermint, exactly as he had twenty years ago when she’d started trailing behind her abuelo.
The door opened and closed behind her. She turned to see Cayden standing there. Jeff dropped a kiss to her head before he stepped back. As he passed Cayden, he stopped to say a quick word to the younger man and then walked out of the bay.
Cayden approached her. There was something…different in his eyes. She couldn’t figure out what, but whatever it was made her heart beat like a hummingbird’s wings in her chest.
He stopped just before her. She thought he was reaching to embrace her, only to be disappointed when she realized he was grabbing her oil rag out of her back pocket. Gently, he raised it to her nose. “Just when I think you couldn’t get any cuter, you go and get grease smeared on your nose.”
Her cheeks flushed but she let him clean her nose without objection. “What did Jeff say to you?”
“He told me to treat you like a princess or he’s going to kick my ass.”
She winced. “He caught on to how we were looking at each other during the meeting.”
Cayden smiled. “Glad it wasn’t just me then. I swear I had to pretend I had cement in my shoes to keep from going to you.”
That made her smile. “I was gripping the collection jar with the same purpose.”
“Are you going to explain the jar to me?” He returned the rag to her back pocket. She was disappointed when he didn’t so much as try to steal a squeeze. Cayden leaned up against the Ranger. Rather than jeans, he wore slacks with his button up Henley. She couldn’t decide which she liked his ass better in. And his tattoos were masterpieces, that shirt letting them be on display for her sheer joy and open perusing.
“It was something mi abuelo started. Employees would make announcements with a happy or a sad dollar. That way his employees would learn about each other, and he could stock the good coffee and treats in the breakroom.”
“So you use the money to stock supplies?”
Trixie shook her head. “He did. I don’t. I collect it and, at the end of the year, match their funds a hundred percent and then I split it up evenly into a bonus for them. Last year one of Victoria’s kids graduated high school. It was voted that we use the collection money to buy her a graduation present. Yesterday Payton’s daughter was born. We already pulled from the collection to buy a baby gift.” She shrugged. “This way not everyone feels obligated to give gifts and such when things like that happen. With a small business like mine, sometimes those obligations can get pretty hefty, and I don’t want anyone feeling pressured to do more than they can.”
Cayden reached forward and took her hand. She gave it, lacing their fingers together. It was a nice and easy gesture that connected them while keeping their bodies physically separate. “You’re really something, you know that? Just watching you interact with everyone here…” He shook his head. “I might know a lot about human nature and, you know, how to get around security systems, but you could teach me a lot about interacting with people.”
Trixie snorted. “I suck at interacting with people. That’s why I’m in here working during my lunch hour instead of out there with them.”
Cayden glanced over his shoulder and then back at her. “I was wondering where everyone was. This is the lunch hour?”
She nodded. “We’re closed from one to two every day so the employees can eat or run home or do whatever they need to do.”
“And you’re in here because you don’t want to have to socialize with them?”
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. “Sort of. I used to eat with them all the time, but back then I was their co-worker, not their boss. After I inherited the shop, I felt it was better to give them their space. They shouldn’t feel pressured to act or say something just because I’m there.” She shrugged. “They might not mean to, but everyone acts differently when the boss is around.”
He squeezed her fingers. “I know I do. For one, I can’t seem to keep my dick under control when my boss is around.” Trixie’s eyes landed on the mentioned appendage, and she let out a laugh when she saw it was indeed not under control. Cayden put his hand to his heart, feigning pain. “Oh, just what every guy desires: for a sexy as sin woman to look at his dick and laugh.”
She couldn’t help it; her laugh only intensified at his words. Still gripping his hand in her right, her left wrapped around her waist in an effort to keep her sides from hurting so much. When she was finally able to make herself stop and stand up, she had tears in her eyes. He didn’t look dejected in the least. In fact, he looked rather pleased with himself. Likely getting her to laugh had been his goal.
He’d succeeded.
“Thank you.”
“I’d rather you suck my dick instead of laugh at it, but I am at my lady’s command.” He bowed mockingly.
She swallowed at the mention of going down on him. She glanced at the clock overhead. The boys would start coming back in any minute. “Come on,” she pulled him towards the door. “Let’s go up to my office. We need to talk.”
“Oh dear, the dreaded Talk.”
She released his hand to punch in her new ten-digit code. She also made sure to use her body to block his view of the pad. Opening the door with her back, she said, “I’m not breaking up with you.”
That got her an eyebrow raise. “Does that mean we’re going steady?”
She rolled her eyes, again using her body to block the pad to the door to go upstairs. They walked up to the second floor in silence. When she got to the door to her office, he lowered himself to rest his chin on her shoulder. “If I get this code correct, what do I get in return?”
A shiver ran through her. There was no way he knew her new code. But she’d already underestimated him once. “Bragging rights?”
“Ouch.” He stood up off of her. “I was hoping for at least one orgasm.”
She snorted, not turning around to look at him. She bit her lip, suddenly unsure. “Do you really know the code?”
Cayden put his mouth to her ear as he started to list off the code, “Five, seven, seven, two, four—”
“Ah!” she turned around to stop him. She pushed him back to force space between them. “How the hell do you do that? It was a random code the computer selected!”
She crossed her arms and waited for his reply. He lowered his face down until they were eye to eye. “Baby girl, which computer selected the code?”
She shrugged. “Mine. The one in my—oh!” Her eyes widened at her stupidity, and then narrowed. “You looked through my search history?”
He had the nerve to press his lips to her nose. “No. You left it written on a sticky note attached to the side of your laptop screen.”
Trixie’s cheeks burned. “Oh God! I’m so stupid.”
“No, you’re not.” He reached over her shoulder to punch the code into the pad. “I’d also like to point out that you haven’t questioned how I made it downstairs without assistance.”
“You used my new code?”
He nodded, pushing the door open so she could enter her office. “Baby, it’s not a bad thing that you don’t think like a thief. That’s why you hired me.”
Trixie plopped down in her office chair. “I’m beginning to regret that decision.”
He gave her a sly smile. To her disappointment, he sat in the chair on the other side of her desk rather than crowd her on her side as he had last Friday. “What did you want to talk about?”
Cayden really should stop teasing her, but he couldn’t get enough of that blush on her cheeks. She looked so adorable and innocent.
“I want us to have sex.”
His eyebrows shot up. Okay, so not that innocent after all. “You’re already aware of where I stand on this subject.”
Her chocolate eyes narrowed. “I am not begging you, but I do have conditions.”
Interesting. “Consider me intrigued. Go on.”
“You said you wanted to learn about me, that once wasn’t going to be enough. I assume that means you’re looking for a relationship?”
Cayden nodded once. “I’m done with one-nighters and quickies. Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to a quickie in your office on lunch break or on the bay floor after closing, but I want it to be with you. I only want you.”
And there was his reward: that red flush on her cheeks. “I need to be honest with you. I suck at relationships.”
He couldn’t help but smile at that confession. “I’ll admit you’d be my first.”
Her voice raised an octave as she exclaimed, “You’re a virgin?”
Cayden let out a barking laugh. “I’m as virginal as a professional gigolo. What I mean is, you’d be my first girlfriend. Baby girl, I haven’t been in a ‘relationship’ since I told my prom date that I wanted to go out with her just so I could fuck her under the bleachers. Trust me, whatever track record you’ve got, mine’s worse.”
“I doubt that.” She said it so low that he almost didn’t catch it. Interesting. He was dying to know more. “Look,” she said louder, “I do like you. I want us to…try, but I need you to understand that that is literally all I can offer right now. To try. I haven’t been on a date in forever, and I haven’t had sex in nearly as long.”
He leaned forward on his knees. “How long?”
“Since I’ve had sex?” He nodded. Her blush returned. “Um, about that… I’m not entirely sure I’ve, you know, done it.”
Cayden’s jaw dropped. Fuck, that’s about as innocent as it gets. “You’re a virgin?”
She fiddled with a pen on her desk and didn’t meet his eyes. “My high school boyfriend and I got drunk after homecoming. He said we did it, but I honestly don’t remember. Right after that, there was a lot of family drama and then mi papi was diagnosed with cancer. We lost mi abuelo right after we lost him, and I took over the shop. Sex hasn’t exactly been a priority for me, I guess.”
Cayden got up quickly and rounded the desk. He reached for her, pressing her shoulders and face into his stomach. He felt like a million bucks when she wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. “I am so sorry, Trix. You deserve so much more than that.” He paused, realizing, “And you deserve so much better than me.”
Damn, she was a virgin. Or as good as. What did it say about him if he took that from her? He had no history with virgins. What if he hurt her? He knew that much at least, that it hurt the first time for a girl.
Trixie stood up. Her eyes were red, but her cheeks dry. “It is my choice who I sleep with whether it’s my first time or not.”
Cayden wiped his hand down his face. “Christ, the things I’ve said to you. I’ve been so crass—”
“And I’ve found it exceedingly hot. Now, are we going to do this or not?” When he shook his head, her eyes narrowed, “Come on, Russo, don’t wimp out on me now—”
He cut her off with a kiss. “First, my name is Cay-den,” he emphasized the syllables. “Use it, memorize it, write it on a fucking sticky note if you have to. Second,” he put his hand under her chin, “we aren’t doing this now.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he rushed forward, “Baby girl, this is your first time. Even if it’s not actually your first time, it’s the one that will count. I have no experience with virgins, and I need to make this good for you. No way in hell am I doing it with you bent over your desk. You deserve better than that. Not this weekend but the next, I can request a weekend pass away from the house. I can take you out to dinner, wine and dine you like you deserve. Then I can bring you back here to your bed and make love to you all night long like you deserve.”
Though she scowled, her blush gave away how flattered she was by his words. “You keep talking about what I deserve, but what about you?”
“Me?” Cayden snorted. “Baby, my list of sins makes it very difficult to justify deserving anything.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m going to need more detail on that.”
“Anything you want to know,” he vowed. “Consider me an open book where you hold my skeleton key.”
Something resembling pain crossed her face then, to which he was dying to know the reason for. Instead, he stayed quiet as she said, “I like that. I like the idea of getting to know you better. It’s just…” She bit her lip. He was torn between wanting to comfort her again and wanting to bite that lip along with her. “It might take me a bit to get there. I’m not used to sharing myself with people outside of my family.”
Cayden nodded to one of the pictures on the wall behind her. “They look like a nice family.” A young Trixie sat on the lap of her grandfather. Surrounding them was a man Cayden assumed was her father and three teenage boys of varying ages. It didn’t pass his notice that she was the only girl. Where was her mother or grandmother?
She turned her face over her shoulder to look at her wall, and again that pain touched her eyes. He wanted to find the source of that pain and squash it like a bug under his boot. “They were.” She turned back towards him. “What about you?”
He allowed the change of subject, hoping, in time, she’d open up to him. “I was raised by my grandmother. No clue who my mother is or if she’s still alive. My father was killed when I was three, drive-by shooting.”
She put a hand on his chest. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “Can’t miss what you never had.”
Her hand moved from his chest to his face. “Yes, you can.” Her eyes granted him unfettered access to her soul. She knew of the pain of missing a parent that had never been there. “Is your grandmother still around?”
He nodded. “She lives in the panhandle. She’s too far for me to visit on furlough, and it’s too far for her to come down just for a day visit since she can’t stay in the house. I mean to go see her as soon as my parole is up.” Trixie bit her lip again, the question distinct on her face. Cayden put his hand over hers on his cheek. “I also mean to come back after I do.”
Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Still, she protested. “It’s too soon for you to make such promises—”
“Bullshit.” He kissed her palm and then dropped her hand to his chest over his heart. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel it. You can’t tell me you’re considering giving your virginity to a man you don’t have feelings for or a man you don’t see a future with. I’ve known you for a little under two weeks, Trix, and I already know that’s a boldface lie.”
She lowered her gaze. “I just meant, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“True,” he allowed. “Anything is possible.” He forced her chin up. “I can handle the unexpected, Trix, as hard as it might be to deal with at the time. What I can’t handle is you putting an expiration date on us before we’ve even started. Don’t assume we’re doomed just because neither of us has experience in relationships.”
“Why were you arrested?” she blurted out, shocking him.
Definitely not the question Cayden had assumed she was going to ask. “You know why. I stole a car.”
She shook her head, black strands of hair falling forward. “I meant why. How did you mess up, get caught?”
Oh, that. Well, Cayden had claimed he was an open book. Might as well start this off with some honesty. “I didn’t mess up. One of my club brothers did.”
She looked up, obviously confused. “You took the fall for him?”
“Don’t make it out to be heroic. It’s not like I took a bullet for the guy. I might not have done the crime I went to prison for, but I sure as hell did equal to it and more. I deserved my sentence.”
“Why?”
“Because whether I felt I needed the money, felt I was owed the money for the shit life I was dealt, I had no right to take what wasn’t mine. It took me a long time to come to terms with that realization, baby girl. ‘Poor orphaned Cayden…’” he said mockingly. With a shrug, he added, “I needed to grow up and live my life instead of pissing on it.”
She watched him closely, but he saw no pity in her eyes. He appreciated that. “That’s big of you. Not many people would take the time to self-reflect like that. Is that why you took the fall?”
Cayden paused, wanting to make sure he worded his reply correctly. “It’s going to sound weird, but I felt like it was imminent. I was already tiring of the lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, the money was great, but I wasn’t great. I was…drowning, I guess.” He looked down, studying her hand still gripped in his. “When Bu—when my club brother messed up, it was like this lightbulb went off in my head. No one could call me a coward or threaten me for quitting the life if I was in jail. And I felt like I needed some me-time.”
“Jail was your version of a vacation?”
Cayden snorted, picking up on the humor in her voice. “Far from it, but it was an escape. I made several promises to myself before I got out, before my parole was granted. I called it ‘Project Cayden 2.0’. I got rid of all the things I clung to prior to my arrest. I made a list of priorities to accomplish, and I swore to myself that I’d never go back to that life.” He gripped her hand tighter, bringing the back of it to his lips. “Finding you was a happy accident, but one I’ll gladly accept.”
Her blush returned. “I like Cayden 2.0.”
He smiled against her skin, loving the sound of his name from her lips. She might not realize it, but that was the first time she’d said his name to him. “Good. You’ll never have to meet the old Cayden, I swear to you.”
“Was he so bad?”
Cayden was quiet for a moment. “No, but he also wasn’t good.”
He felt her hand run through his hair. She pressed herself against him. “I feel like I could talk to you for hours.”
“Four more months,” he said softly, pressing her head against his lips. “Then you can have me however and whenever you want.”
“Seems like a lifetime.”
Cayden nodded in agreement. “You do know you never told me your conditions.”
He felt her smile against him. “Seems silly now. I wanted to make sure you understood that I did want to try, and then about my lack of experience.”
“Those aren’t conditions.”
“No,” Trixie grudgingly admitted. “I guess the biggest condition is that no one here can learn about us until we’re ready for them to. Jeff knows, by the way,” she added quickly.
“I figured that part out when he told me to treat you like a princess.”
She giggled. “I went through the standard Disney princess phase. Jeff was my knight in shining armor for Halloween.”
“I will require photographic evidence of this event.”
She moaned low. “I destroyed them all.”
“Liar.”
“I did,” she insisted, trying hard to keep a straight face. “Burned every last one of them so they could never be held against me.”
“Against you? Honey, I mean to use them against Jeff.”
God, he could spend the rest of his life just listening to her laugh. It was like a birdsong, relaxing and peaceful. And entirely addictive. “In that case, I might have saved one or two from the flames of damnation.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “That’s my good girl.”
