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—Banks—
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I stormed over to Tommie and slapped a large stack of bills on the reception desk. The ban stung my ego; I’d been coming here for years.
“That security footage doesn’t go anywhere,” I stated.
His graying eyebrows lifted, and he eyed me for the longest time before setting his hand over the cash. “Your money won’t buy my morals, Gatlin.”
I pointed at the cash under his palm. “Call it an apology, then.”
Sucking in a breath, he straightened and dragged the money his way. “I wouldn’t have disseminated the footage anyway. Me taking this is not you buying me off, and you’re both still permanently banned,” he stated, folding the bills in half and tucking them into the front pocket of his jeans.
I acknowledged him with a curt nod. “Good, because I’m not in the business of buying people off.” I balled one fist on the counter while waving the other toward the smash rooms. “What happened in there was a woman struggling to keep her head above water. She’s beyond her breaking point and needs all the support she can get. She’s fighting an invisible army that most of us can keep hidden from the world, and while what you saw on camera was confronting as hell, I hope that even just the tiniest part of her broke free from the chains today.”
Tommie visibly gulped. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“People come here for a reason and sometimes it’s not just for fun.” I lightly thumped my fist on the counter, then stepped back.
Having made my point, I nodded one last time before pushing through the exit door.
All my annoyance over being booted and banned faded the instant I set eyes on Simone sitting in my passenger seat, worrying her lower lip with her teeth.
I held her gaze as I rounded the hood, then asked, “How you doin’?” as I climbed behind the wheel.
She studied me hard, eyes flicking between mine and searching relentlessly. “I should be asking you the same.”
Reaching for her hand, I squeezed in reassurance. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m a big boy who can take care of himself.”
Her frown didn’t ease like I expected. “I am worried about you. Yesterday you lost someone who was obviously an important part of your life. No matter how close they were to you, you’re grieving.”
“You sound like you know what you’re talking about,” I drawled.
Simone smiled softly at my attempted joke. “Just a little.”
A beat passed where she dropped her eyes to our linked hands. Her thumb made stroking motions across my knuckles, pulling my new heart closer to the edge where I’d ultimately fall head over heels for her.
“I saw that you’d been crying,” she murmured.
There was no denying it, so I freely admitted that vulnerability. “I had been. Partly for Hilary’s death, and partly for Mom. She’s so cut up, and I don’t know how to fix that. Dad must be going out of his mind.”
Simone’s squeeze on my fingers tightened. “It’s not for you to fix because you can’t. Just being there to support her is all you can do, and that’s exactly what she needs. Trust me.”
I looked her over as a weight knotted in my chest. “I trust you,” I whispered, wanting nothing more than to pull her onto my lap, crush her chest to mine, and thread my fingers through her silky hair.
I was sure she felt the pull and the heightening magnetism. The ache in my bones screamed with everything I had to simply hold her. Kiss her. Build her back up each time she reached her lowest.
“It wasn’t meant to happen like this,” I murmured.
Her brows scrunched together at the center again. “What wasn’t?”
I swallowed, yet my voice still came out hoarse and gritty. “Me falling for you.”
Simone’s mouth parted and her eyes flared. “You’re not meant to fall for me at all.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “You should know by now that I don’t stick to the rules, darlin’.”
“But, but—” she spluttered. “This isn’t jaywalking, Banks. This is... not allowed!”
Despite her protest, against all rhyme or reason, we drew closer. My hand found her jaw and cupped just below her ear, and my god, her eyelids fluttered closed. I moved closer until my lips brushed high on her cheekbone.
“Who said it’s not allowed?” I murmured.
“The universe,” she whispered.
“Well, the universe has a fucked-up way of sending that signal. Fuck it,” I hissed, then sealed my lips over hers.
The kiss started hard as I staked my claim, then softened as one second stretched into another. I pulled away a fraction, giving her a moment to adjust. We both took a fleeting inhale before leaning in for more. My lips tenderly worked across hers in slow, tentative movements, while our fingers still linked on her thigh squeezed harder.
A hum vibrated in Simone’s throat and accompanied the first swipe of her tongue along mine. Arousal immediately lit my blood on fire and had me nearly moaning out loud. The touch I craved liquefied my bones, and the longer I kissed her, the more I wanted.
I released her lower lip from between mine when I felt a subtle shift of resistance gathering along her spine.
Running my tongue along my lower lip, I savored as much of her residual taste as I possibly could before pulling away.
“Uh—” Simone started.
“Please don’t freak out,” I rushed.
She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth and stared with wide blue eyes. Surprise then crossed her expression. “I’m not.”
My eyebrows lifted. “At all?”
“Weirdly, no. Like, I expected to, but there’s nothing.”
“No regrets?” I asked, internally cringing at how desperate I sounded.
“Not right now,” she admitted.
Her little headshake of disbelief had me chuckling. “Thank Christ for that. It would have been an awkward drive home otherwise.”
“And entirely your own fault,” she teased while buckling up.
With a flick of my wrist, my truck’s engine roared to life. I looked across the cab and fell a little harder. “And I’m not one bit sorry.”
