Dannika Dark - Six Months

There was something mysteriously sexy about his lips even though they weren’t expressive like Denver’s. A tiny scar on his bottom lip caught my eye.

“Are you cut?” he asked, still not putting me down.

I was having a little trouble focusing when my entire front was pressed tightly against his, and tingles were awakening from a long slumber. My God, his cologne was intoxicating and clouding all rational thought. My mantastic episode was on the verge of becoming epic.

“Put me down and I’ll check.”

“There could be glass on your shoes,” he said matter-of-factly.

A grin curved up my face and I lifted the aviators off his nose and glanced into a set of coffee-brown eyes. They were so molten that I found my mouth operating without a license. “Well then, I guess you could just hold me in the imported-beer aisle for the rest of our lives.” My best attempt at flirting was about to crash and burn.

Reno set me down and towered over me. I was average height, but he must have been over six feet.

“I remember you,” I said stupidly, straightening my blouse. “I ran into your brother. He said you’d gone missing. You probably don’t remember who I am.” I stepped back and bent over, wiping the wine from my lower legs.

“April Frost.”

I straightened up and looked at him, wide-eyed. “How do you know my name?”

“Lexi introduced us and I don’t forget a name.” Then he knelt down and ran his hand down my strong calves and around the edge of my shoes.

Wow. I hadn’t had a man touch me like that in ages. The feel of his rough hands sliding up my skin made me shiver, which was embarrassing because all he was doing was making sure I wasn’t cut.

And there I was, playing out a fantasy in my head. I couldn’t figure out why a guy like him was so attractive to me, but he was. Maybe ten years older, rough around the edges, and serious, but he had the hands of a skilled lover. Hands I briefly thought about having all over my body before I felt a blush rising and I quickly extinguished those silly daydreams.

When he pulled back his hand, I could still feel his touch on my skin.

“You should take these off and throw them out. There might be a shard in there I can’t feel,” he suggested, tapping his finger on my shoe.

He had a rasp to his voice, and a sultry flow of words brushed over me like a slow caress.

“Denver was the one looking for you, in case you didn’t know.”

He glanced up with his shades still perched high on his nose. “I know.”

What was I, his mother? Then I went blank. I had no idea what else to say and shifted around anxiously. How had he remembered my name all these months later? “So, you’re Austin’s brother?”

Brilliant. My inner voice chided me, clasping her hands together. We’ve already established he’s Denver’s brother, who is related to Austin. Let’s show him how dense you really are .

Reno stood up and straightened his glasses. “Yeah. He’s the baby in the family. Where did your friend go?”

“Um…” Had he been following me in the store?

“He’s picking up a few things for dinner tonight.”

Reno’s jaw clenched. “Does he look after you?”

“Trevor’s the best. He probably looks after me a little too much, but we’ve known each other for years.”

Reno’s hand dipped into his pocket and he fidgeted with something. It wasn’t change, because I didn’t hear a jingle. A half smile slid up his face when Trevor appeared.

He didn’t just appear—he wedged himself between us with his back to Reno and glared at my feet. “What happened to you?”

It was the scary voice. Trevor was going into ass-kicking mode.

“The usual, Trev. I’m a walking catastrophe, so behold the mayhem.” I waved my arm toward the mess on the floor.

He spun on his heel to face Reno. Trevor was not only leaner, but also shorter in stature, missing the six-foot mark by an inch or two. It didn’t take away an ounce of confidence. “What’s your business with April?”

Reno didn’t flinch. “The kind that’s none of yours.”

Didn’t matter that Trevor had been drooling over this man a couple of days ago, because now Reno was encroaching on my territory and this is exactly what Trevor did.

“Trevor,” I said in a low voice, trying to defuse the situation. “This is Reno. He’s Lexi’s friend and her boyfriend’s brother.”

Trevor spun around and regarded me with serious eyes. “He’s related to Lexi’s boyfriend? Oh, this barbecue should be real interesting.”

“What does that mean?” I whispered.

He shook his head. My eyes flicked back to Reno, who stood with a cool expression and a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. I couldn’t help but smile back. Just the idea of his hardened face softening made me a little weak, and Trevor noticed it, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

“Come on, babe. Time for us to go.” He seized my wrist and tugged me around the corner.

Reno moved so fast I barely saw it happen. He snatched Trevor’s arm and forced him to let go of me, inching in close in a way that intimidated even Trevor.

“That’s not how you handle a lady by dragging her around like a… pet. Is that what she is to you, a pet? ”

Trevor’s eyes narrowed in slow motion, and I knew it was time to buckle up, because this plane was about to hit major turbulence.

“How’s your nose?”

Trevor lifted the bloody rag from his face and studied it for a minute. Then his head fell back against the headrest of his car, and I handed him a bottle of spring water.

“Don’t ever tell anyone about this,” he said in a thick voice, taking a sip of water.

“It’s not the first time you’ve been in a fight.” But boy , had Trevor gotten his ass served on a platter. I’d had to help him into the passenger seat of his car and drive him home.

“I didn’t even get in one swing.” He sulked, shouldering his door open and slamming it behind him. Trevor stalked up to the trailer, unlocked the door, and began yanking grocery bags from the back of the car to haul inside.

I’d never seen him so agitated. He wasn’t an aggressive guy—but he had buttons like everyone else, and if you pushed the right ones, he went macho. Trevor liked to fight—it’s something he seemed experienced at, so when he knuckled up, it became like a halftime show. He’d flirt with bystanders and dodge swings while laughing. Something about it had been different this time. Trevor had not only confronted Reno in the grocery store, but he’d placed himself between us as if Reno were a threat to me.

Then he called Reno a freak.

A second later, Trevor was lying in the cereal aisle with a busted nose and bloody lip.

“Don’t be like that,” I said, grabbing two bags and heading inside. “Maybe if you stopped trying to beat up every guy who talks to me, I just might actually find Mr. Right.”

He slammed the paper bag on the counter and washed his hands. “I may give shit to some of the guys who hit on you, but I want to make sure they’re man enough to take you out. I don’t want him near you again.”

“What’s wrong with Reno?” I asked defensively, turning on the air conditioner and closing the front door. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with him the other day. The guy saved me from a wine mishap that could have made my walks home from work unbearable had I cut up my feet.”

Trevor leaned over the counter and looked at himself in an oval mirror, pinching the bridge of his swollen nose. “ Fuck . Look, I need to go out for a bit.”

“What about your tacos?”