“Thanks for sharing.” Winter chewed on her hamburger appreciatively.
“You and Lily deserve the whole meal after last night.”
Winter’s eyes shone with amusement. “Wasn’t much of a fight after Lily busted Crazy Bitch’s nose. After that, we spent the rest of the night drinking.”
Jewell pushed down the vindictive side of her that wanted to see how Crazy Bitch was doing today. Was her nose swollen? Did she have a black eye?
“I didn’t see Crazy Bitch at the racetrack today.”
Winter placed her burger back down on the plate. “I’m not making an excuse for the way they acted, don’t get me wrong, but as we talked last night, T.A. told us that Crazy Bitch had been spoiling for a fight. She and Calder have been trying to get pregnant. She thought she was, but had taken a test yesterday and found out she wasn’t. I know how bad it is to want a child.”
All her anger at Crazy Bitch died.
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. After taking their plates to the sink when they were finished, they went back into the main room.
Most of the men were gathered around the bar or the pool tables. Searching the room for Nickel, her gaze was brought up short by seeing Rory sitting on one of the chairs, and Ember sitting on the armrest with her arm around his neck.
Jewell recognized the look on her face and felt red-hot rage envelope her. She couldn’t see Rory’s expression, nor did she give a flying fuck if he was into Ember or not.
Striding forward, she came up behind Rory, raking her nails through his thick hair. Then Jewell clenched the thick mass to jerk his head back. Furiously, she glared down at Rory as she made her point. “No,” she hissed out before turning a daggered gaze on Ember.
Ember lightly hopped off the arm of the chair. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
“I don’t.” Jewell plopped her ass on the spot Ember had vacated. “I blame him.”
“So, we’re cool?” Ember asked.
“For now.” Jewell nodded as Ember moved off toward the pool tables at the back of the room.
“Can I have my hair back?” Rory’s amused voice brought her gaze back to him.
“Are you going to behave?”
Jewell knew she had seriously fucked up when he grinned at her.
With a sweep of his arm, she found herself sitting on his lap.
“Depends on what you mean about behaving.”
“If I can’t fuck Nickel, you certainly can’t fuck Ember.”
“I don’t want to fuck Ember. I sat down here to wait so I could watch the stairs in case you tried to slip up there. Ember was the one who came over here. I was just telling her what I was doing when you grabbed my hair.”
His revelation made her heart stutter.
“I don’t want you fucking Ember.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
Her body melted into his. Then, taking it for granted that she was no longer angry at him, he slid his hand to her leather-clad thigh.
“Are you going to fuck Nickel?”
“Not right now.”
“You don’t give an inch, do you?”
She sensuously slid her hand under his shirt to feel the firm hardness of his abdomen. “Depends on how much you’re asking me to take,” she hedged provocatively.
“I’m a pretty easy-going guy, Jewell.” Rory’s expression became formidable. “I’ll try to make you happy to a certain point, but I won’t let it be used against me just to let you get your way.”
“I’m not—”
Her stomach dropped. Rory had never looked at her that way. The cold, matter-of-fact way he warned her had her second-guessing the mellow, even-tempered impression she’d had of Rory. She was still trying to decide if he was bluffing when he rose with her in his arms.
Jewell wanted to bury her head in his shoulder when he walked out of the main room to carry her downstairs. She waited until she heard the snap of a door closing before she lifted her head to see they were in Rory’s room.
“I shouldn’t be here with you.”
Standing her to her feet, Rory wrapped a firm grip around the nape of her neck to stare down at her with piercing eyes. “Why not?”
“This isn’t going to end well for us.”
“Why not?”
Jewell jerked away from his touch. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a motorcycle license? And don’t tell the same bullshit about me not asking.”
“I knew that would upset you.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why did you assume I didn’t? I’ve been fielding your perceptions about me since I arrived here. When I want to find out something about you, I ask. You’ve given zip effort to find anything out about me unless it involves what I do for a living.”
Ashamed, Jewell stepped away from him to turn away. Rory was right; if a man had treated her that way, she would be furious and have nothing further to do with him.