Struck Love

“A please would be nice from time to time, asshole,” Pink mutters.

“Copper,” Pres barks.

“Pres,” Eddie responds as he gets closer. He drops his head. That confidence he had before was instantly wiped away at the sight of Jason. The girl he’s with must sense the change because she releases her hold on him.

“I warned you after the shit you pulled last night. I want you out of here by the end of the day. Don’t want to see your face. Get what I’m sayin’? Don’t make me repeat myself,” Jason orders him. Seeing this side of him doesn’t help the growing attraction I have for him.

“But, Pres, I can’t. Not right now.”

“I don’t want to hear it. I gave you a direct order. I fucking told you no more drinking for a while. And what do you do? You come shouting through the fucking place that you want a beer. So, I’m done and so are you. We clear?”

“I thought you meant the hard stuff.” Eddie’s eyes flick over to me. In a blink of an eye, Jason is gone from beside me and in Eddie’s face. Holy crap. Jason towers over him. He grabs him by the back of the neck like a rag doll.

I watch with wide eyes as he leans in close and says something into Eddie’s ear before he releases his hold on him with a shove. Eddie drops to the concrete floor like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

“Marks,” Jason calls. A man playing pool turns our way. Suddenly all the people that had been so interested in Jason and me a few moments ago are looking anywhere but our way.

“I’ll make sure the trash gets taken out,” the man in the black leather vest says.

“Thanks. I’ll be in my room. I don’t want to be bothered.” Jason snags my hand before grabbing my drink for me. Heat rushes to my face as he once again starts pulling me along with him.

“Oh my God,” I hiss at him. “Everyone is going to think we’re…” I trail off. One, because I’m a prude and two, because I realize how stupid I’m about to sound. As much as I tell myself nothing is going to happen between us, I don’t love the idea of him thinking of me as a silly little girl. The reality is next to him, I am.

He doesn't respond. This time he leads me past the office he left me in before and further into the warehouse. When he pushes open the door at the end of the hallway, I’m a bit taken aback by what I see.

“You live here?” He shuts the door behind us. I don’t miss the sound of the lock clicking into place. I’ve been transferred from a rustic warehouse into a penthouse condo in New York in the blink of an eye. When I’m with Jason I always forget he’s the owner of Adair Mines. He’s loaded. I can tell he’s spared no expense when it comes to this place.

“Most of the time. It’s more convenient.” He releases my hand. “There are alarms on the windows, so don’t get any ideas.” I roll my eyes at him.

“This place is swanky.” I pass through the living room area into the kitchen. My hands run across the pure white countertops with swirls of gold in them. “I bet that’s real gold,” I tease him.

“I might have money, but I’m not fucking stupid. There are much better places to piss money away.” So true. He sets my drink down on the counter. I grab it but pause when Jason speaks again. “You need to alert your brothers that Eddie Harris is about to hit the streets.”

“You know?” Of course he knows. I’m not as good at this undercover thing as I imagined I would be. I set the bottle back down on the counter.

“It’s what you wanted, isn't it?” He walks over toward me, his hand going to my hips. He lifts me, sitting me on the countertop. “That’s one of the reasons why you came here today. It wasn't only because I was blackmailing you.” I can’t believe he did that for me. My only question is why? And what is he expecting in return?

I was sure when he found out what I was up to in the end he'd all but toss me out. Hell, I thought he’d be done when he figured out who my family was. Based on what I heard my family whispering about this place this afternoon when talking about Eddie, it seemed we were from two very different worlds. But after this, I’m not so sure we are.

“Is this a test?”

“A test?” A deep chuckle comes from him. One that sends a tingling feeling throughout my body. He cups my neck with his hands, tilting my head back to meet his eyes. His thumb caresses along my jaw. It takes everything I have not to lean into his touch. I can’t help but place my hands on his broad chest. He feels damn good. This attraction I have to him is all-consuming. I don’t understand it, nor can I begin to control it. “Copper is a piece of shit. I don’t care what happens to him. I also can’t just hand him over either. You do what you want with the information I gave you tonight.”