The Dangerous Curves Series

Chapter 90

If he was being totally honest with himself, he had to admit that she’d actually impressed the hell out of him that morning. Showing up at the garage – an intimidating place, to put it mildly – and then putting him in his place for calling her a pet name, not letting him talk to her like she was just some chick.

She hadn’t backed down when he’d gotten angry, she hadn’t backed off when he’d turned the tables on her a bit. She was protective of her organization, she fought for her artists. Naomi had integrity, and guts, and a hot ass, and as King sat in the parking lot, he decided that he liked all of that just fine.

He’d stayed put for as long as he could physically stand it, then he’d sprinted into the Heart Center ten minutes early and all jacked-up on adrenalin – only to be disappointed to hear that Naomi was leading a workshop. Deflated, he’d accepted a cup of coffee, and then brooded and watched the clock some more. When Jax and Sarah walked in, he almost crumpled with relief at the distraction.

He played it cool now. “Yeah. I got here a bit early. Slow day at the garage.”

Sarah handed Jax her coat and then sat down with a wince. King gazed at her, taking in the strain around her blue eyes, and wondered if she was in pain.

“Hey, Red. How you doing?”

“OK,” she said. “A bit tired today.”

“Yeah?” King said. “You didn’t get enough sleep last night?”

She blushed now, and King grinned.

“Oh,” he said, looking at Jax. “Late night last night, guys?”

He watched as they stared at each other, an intense look of longing and connection passing between them, and he felt an increasingly-familiar pang deep inside his chest. He’d known Jax for a little over five years now, and Sarah was his first serious girlfriend, and she was the real f*****g deal. God, the way those two looked at each other – it sucked all the air out of a room, and it made every other person turn invisible.

What would it be like to have a woman look at me like that, just once in my life? Like I was her sun and moon and stars? Like I was her blood and breath?

King had no clue why he was starting to want these things for the first time ever; all he knew was that he did. He wanted them badly, and he knew that he wasn’t going to get them with party-girls or guns-for-hire who moved around where the work was.

Can I get them with a woman like Naomi? Maybe with Naomi?

“Hi.”

He looked up at the greeting and shot to his feet. There she was, and his heart rate accelerated at the mere sight of her. In the two times that he’d seen the woman before, she’d been all suited up, and he’d thought she was sexy as hell like that. But holy God, Naomi in worn jeans and an oversized button-down shirt was doing it for him too. She was standing there, so natural and casual, and it was kind of killing him: no fancy jewelry, no high heels, no snug blazer. And the woman was still a knock-out.

“Hi,” Jax replied. “You just finished a class?”

“Yeah. I led a sketching workshop.” She ran her hands through her short hair. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No problem,” Sarah said. “We’ve only been here a minute.”

Oh, me too. A minute plus another forty-three minutes before that. But no big deal.

Naomi smiled at them, trying to ignore how gorgeous Matt looked. How was it possible that every time she saw him, he got more devastating? He was standing there in jeans and a black t-shirt, impossibly huge and muscular, and her whole body just wanted to curl up against him. His face was open and bright, and she wondered what had brought that look to it.

“OK, then,” she said, trying to stay focused on the task at hand. “You want a tour of the place?”

“Sure,” King said.

Sarah got to her feet incredibly slowly and Naomi paused. The other woman looked wiped out, shaky and hollow-eyed, and Naomi felt concern move through her.

“You OK?” she asked. “You look done in, Sarah. You want to lie down in my office for a while? I have a small sofa there.”

“No, I’m fine.” Sarah tried to look somewhere close to fine. “I just came here straight from physical therapy, and it was kind of intense today… maybe I pushed it a bit too much. I’ll be alright in a few minutes.”

“You sure?” Jax said. He moved to stand next to her now, alarmed. “Naomi’s right… you look really pale.”

“I – I’m exhausted.” Sarah’s voice was low, almost embarrassed, as she finally told the truth. She sat down again, her legs trembling and weak under her. “I’m so sorry, guys.”

“Hey, no. Don’t apologize for anything.” Naomi shook her head. “You want to reschedule?”

“No.” Sarah managed a small smile. “We can go and you guys can stay. Jax and I have been here many times, and we’ve sorted out all the payment details, right? So really, today is about King. He’s never been to the Heart Center before, and you two still need to talk numbers…” She pushed her red curls back from her face with a weary hand. “Why don’t you guys do that and we’ll head out?”

“You sure?” King said, simultaneously freaked out and thrilled at the thought of being alone with Naomi. “You don’t mind?”