Rocket (Hell's Handlers MC 5)

The door closed.

For a moment, Rocket looked over his shoulder at the blocked off room. The sound of Shell’s happy giggle followed by a squeal hit his ears. Cop sure seemed to be enjoying his newfound ol’ man status. The notion of having a woman, one woman, who cared about him as much as Shell cared about Copper was so foreign to Rocket, he could barely imagine himself in Copper’s place. Emotionally speaking. Physically? Yeah, he could imagine that pretty well. Closing the door while his woman stalked toward the desk, losing clothing along the way. Maybe she’d drop to her knees right there behind the desk. He could sink his fingers into all that auburn hair as he disappeared between plump pink lips. All the while, those green eyes would drill into his—

Auburn hair? Green eyes?

Shit, his fantasy woman bore a striking resemblance to Chloe.

CHAPTER NINE

CHLOE MANAGED TO trick Scott into hanging around the house for three days. They lounged around in their sweats, ate junk food, and spent more quality time together than they had in years. Of course, during the day she’d had to work some. Her accounting business couldn’t survive without some effort. Clients still needed her despite her plans, but she’d had plenty of time to devote to her brother. On the fourth day, Scott couldn’t stand it anymore, and begged to go hiking.

Hiking, as it turned out, was a fantastic activity for her. Not once did they run into another soul while traipsing through the gorgeous mountain terrain. For the majority of their five-mile trek, they didn’t even speak, just absorbed the peace and quiet of nature around them. Chloe wasn’t certain, because he was even more tight lipped about his problems than she was, but she was pretty sure Scott benefitted from the healing calm as much as she did. Maybe even more.

But now, it was Friday and Scott wanted to check out some festival at a local winery. Since when did her brother give a shit about wine?

“I don’t. You know I’m more of a beer or whiskey man, but I heard from a buddy of mine that the place was worth checking out. So we’re going.” He narrowed his eyes, practically daring her to disagree.

“Okay,” she said. “Sure. Sounds fun.” Hopefully that came off as light and interested instead of dreading every second of what was sure to be a room jam-packed with people.

He strode past her and helped himself to a bottle of water from her fridge. The light gray T-shirt he wore was soaked with sweat from his forty-five-minute run. Chloe watched as he tipped his head back, guzzling the ice-cold liquid. Objectively, she understood why all her high school friends had flocked to her house whenever her big brother was home on leave. He was a good-looking guy. Charming too, when he wanted to be. Of course, as a sixteen-year-old, she’d been horrified and disgusted by her friends’ interest in him. The memories made her chuckle.

“What? Am I dribbling?” He asked wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Yes, but that’s not why I was laughing.” She sent him a sassy grin then drained the last of her own bottle of water.

He rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair like she was still six. “Smartass. What’s so funny?”

“I was just remembering how my girlfriends all went gaga over you back in high school.”

His brown eyebrows wiggled up and down. “Couple of those girls were easy on the eyes too, once they turned eighteen.”

Laughing, Chloe tossed her empty water bottle at him. It bounced right off his hard chest as though the plastic had hit a brick wall instead of flesh. That had him flexing in all sorts of ridiculous poses, making her laugh even harder.

Her heart clenched. Damn, she’d missed laughing. Missed him. Maybe it had been a mistake to isolate herself from her family these last few months. Well, poor choice or not, it’s what had to be done to keep her promise to the man who’d rescued her.

“Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you I won’t be around tonight. There’s a guy I met in boot camp who lives about ninety minutes from here. I’m gonna meet up with him and probably crash at his place.”

Chloe froze. Friday night and she’d be all alone. The unexpected development had her insides twisting. She could do it. Head to the bar, pick someone up, and find some peace.

“You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.” Scott’s voice snapped her out of her stupor.

“What? Oh, uh, maybe.” No way in hell would that be happening. She’d never get a lick of sleep in some random man’s house. Not to mention they’d probably want to go out drinking and pick up women. She almost laughed again. They’d probably do the very same activity she engaged in every weekend, but this time the thought of it had her ready to run for the hills.