NINE: Boyle Heights

  He pointed at the empty seat across from where Dee took a seat next to Chelsea. “Does it look like anyone’s sitting there?” The kid next to Chelsea sneered with a smirk.

  “Hector, don’t be rude,” Dee warned.

  “My dad says stuff like that to my uncles all the time,” Hector responded.

  “Yeah, well, they’re his brother and longtime friends. You don’t know this man.” She turned to Nine, shaking her head, but motioned for him to take the seat if he wanted. “You guys, this is Rudy, but everyone calls him Nine.”

  She introduced them to Chelsea, Hector, and the other two kids at the table. “Nine?” Hector asked. “Why Nine?”

  “Just a nickname,” Dee responded before Nine could. “Just like your dad calls you Thunder and your cousin Noah is Smokin’ for your boxing skills.”

  Hector nodded but still chuckled. Nine stared down Hector in mock defensiveness, but couldn’t help smirking too. The kid stared right back until Dee said something about cutting the corn off the cob for Chelsea. “That’s not how you eat corn on the cob,” Hector protested as the other kids at the table turned to see Dee getting ready to cut down the side of Chelsea’s cob. “That’s a waste of finger food.” He glanced down at the cob on his own plate. “It’s one of the few things I’m allowed to eat with my hands, and I’m always the fastest to finish too. I can eat it in like—”

  Nine cleared his throat loudly. “Hate to burst your bubble there, kid, but I’m the corn-on-the-cob-eating champ.” One glance at Chelsea and he saw she was already motioning for Dee not to cut her corn. “My moms made me a first place ribbon and everything.”

  That had all the kids laughing. “Did your mommy hang it on the fridge too?” Hector asked.

  Peering at the smart ass and trying not to chuckle because he walked right into that one, Nine nodded. “As a matter of fact, she did.”

  Hector shrugged. “Well, you can’t beat me.”

  “Is that a challenge?” Nine asked, raising his brow, a bit exaggerated. “Because if it is, you better ask your mommy for permission to use your hands because it’s on.”

  “Already told you she let’s me eat corn with my hands.” Hector picked up his corn.

  “I wanna race too,” the other kids said.

  “Me too,” Chelsea said, taking the cob from Dee.

  Dee winced. “This is gonna get messy, I can already tell.”

  “You say when.” Nine motioned to Dee.

  They all readied for the “on your mark, get set, go!” As soon as Dee said go, they all went at it as giggling ensued all around. For once, Nine didn’t care about winning. In fact, he ate extra slow, not wanting Chelsea, who seemed to be the youngest at the table, to be last.

  Hector dropped his cob on his plate and raised his hand in triumph when he was done. As did the other two when they were done. Chelsea’s cob was half the size of everyone else’s, and everyone but her and Nine were finished. Finally, she put hers down. “Done!”

  Nine put his down, feigning disappointment. “Guess I’m losing it. You all beat me. But if we were all the same age, I so would’ve won.”

  Hell, if it weren’t for Chelsea being such a Slow Moe, he so would’ve won. Hector scoffed but held his hand at his belly like he was in pain. Nine smirked not so inwardly. Served the little punk right.

  Dee’s jaw dropped open for a second. “Chelsea, that’s the first time you’ve eaten the whole thing.”

  She glanced up at Nine and he winked. “My moms knew what they were doing.”

  After Nine showed Chelsea a few more of his moms’ tricks, her mashed potatoes and mac n cheese were all gone too, along with most of her hot dog. Granted, most of the portions on Chelsea’s plate were itty bitty compared to his. Still, Dee seemed very pleased with how well she’d eaten.

  “Now you can have pie and ice cream if you want.”

  Chelsea sat back in her seat, hand at her belly. “I’m too stuffed now.”

  Dee laughed. “I don’t think you’ve ever genuinely been stuffed since you never finish anything. Just wait ’til Daddy hears about this. He’s not gonna believe it.”

  Glancing back up at Nine, Dee’s bright eyes nearly sparkled as she smiled at him beautifully but glanced away fast enough. She pulled a flat container out of her purse and proceeded to wipe Chelsea’s face and hands off.

  The rest of the afternoon and evening he hovered near and around Dee for the most part. Though unlike the shower, he didn’t get much chance to do a whole lot of prying since someone else was always around, which was a good thing considering Beast’s warning and all. Their moments alone were never too long. Mostly, Chelsea was always around, or Dee was vigilantly keeping her eye out for her when she’d run out of her sight. Nine got to see firsthand another side of Dee, the motherly side that surprisingly made her even more endearing than before. She had so much patience. Though admittedly Chelsea was a sweet little thing who didn’t require much patience to tend to.

  As usual, Nine couldn’t get enough of chatting with Dee. He’d even purposely gone all in early on in the poker tournament the men set up after the fight. His opting out of the tournament altogether as he’d really wanted to do so he could hang with Drew instead, would’ve been too obvious.

  It was customary that the first man out wait on everyone else when they were out of their drinks. “Cocktails!” O held up his empty glass to Nine.

  “Asshole,” Nine muttered with a smirk as he walked over to him from where he’d been standing with Dee again.

  O made the final three before going all in and losing. By then, it was late and Chelsea had knocked out on the sofa. “Ready?” O asked as he stretched from having been sitting so long.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “I better get going too,” Dee said, gathering her things. “We have a long day tomorrow at Disneyland.”

  She started toward where Chelsea was sound asleep. “I’ll get her for you,” Nine said, knowing he’d be hearing it all the way home from O but didn’t even care.

  They said a quick good-bye to everyone as they made their way out. For a moment, Nine got a glimpse of what life might be like if he were the one marrying Dee, not Brad, and was momentarily inundated with an insane jealousy. Insane because this was so not what he ever imagined wanting.

  O headed to his truck as Nine followed Dee to her car. He placed Chelsea in her car seat through one door as Dee worked quickly from the other door to fasten the her daughter in. Nine watched as Dee finished, smiling lovingly then kissing Chelsea on the cheek before closing the door.

  Having two moms, he’d witnessed that look of adoration all too often. “She’s beautiful.” Nine said as Dee came around to the driver side of the car where he stood.

  “Thank you. I think so too.”

  Like her mom, nearly slipped from Nine’s lips, but he bit his tongue. Just like at the shower, it’d been so easy to talk with Dee all night. He didn’t want to weird things up.

  “Until next time,” he said as he started to walk away. “Don’t be a stranger.”

  Her reaction to that last comment was a strange one, but she said nothing for a moment, just nodded. “Until next time.

  Drew

  Even after the BBQ three whole days ago, Drew had managed not to give into the temptation of responding to Nine’s morning text from weeks ago. He hadn’t texted her since, and despite what a pleasant surprise it’d been to see him again and spend time with him, he hadn’t texted her again the next day as she thought he might. He was being respectful about the fact that she was in a relationship, and even that was admirable, considering the kind of guy she’d first labeled him. As if seeing him again and watching him interact with Chelsea hadn’t been enough to have her continually sighing deeply, his not rocking the boat by texting her again only made him that much more endearing to her.

  Drew had done so well these past three days, not giving into the temptation of texting him again and now this. She’d texted Ali a picture of the shoes she’d just b
ought for the wedding, and Ali called her back to ask where she was and if she had time to grab something for her. Of course Drew said she would without even thinking.

  “Oh, thank God! I left my purse at Leo’s shop yesterday. I went crazy this morning looking for it then realized I left it under the receptionist’s desk when we went by there yesterday. I swear this pregnant brain of mine . . .”

  When Drew realized what she’d just agreed to do, she didn’t even hear the rest of Ali’s story. Drew had labeled the photo with the name of the place she’d bought the damn shoes at, so there was no way she could say this was out of her way. It was just a few blocks away from where Ali was asking her to swing by. Before she knew, it she was off the phone with Ali and headed to the shop.

  She could do this. She could deal with being around him—a guy she’d begun to daydream about a little too much—this was doable without any dire consequences. She opened her car door and stepped out in front of the shop, taking a deep breath. “Just walk in and ask for what you need then walk out,” she whispered to herself then added, “ASAP!”

  Praying he wouldn’t be there, she walked into the noisy auto repair shop, looking around. Allison had told her they’d since picked up more employees, and Drew was suddenly full of hope that maybe none of the owners were there this late.

  One guy eyed her then smiled. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes.” Drew took off her sunglasses. “I’m a friend of Allison, Leonardo’s wife. I’m here to pick up her purse. She left it here yesterday.”

  He looked lost and glanced around at the other two guys washing their hands at a sink. They both shrugged; then one of them made her heart stop when he yelled out, “Nine!” God no. “Someone’s here for Beast’s wife’s purse?”

  Trying not to look like she might faint, she stood there, chin up, as she glanced around at the far more fancier shop than she expected. To her horror, the guy she’d been greeted by and the guys washing up at the sink, started getting their things together, turned off the loud music that had been blaring when she walked in, and shut down some lights.

  “He should be coming down in a bit,” the first guy told her as he wiped his hands off then glanced upstairs. “Nine, we’re out!”

  Thankfully, Drew’s phone dinged, distracting her for a moment. She clicked on the text from Brad and read it.

  Meet you tonight for a drink at Moby’s? I should be done here in about an hour. You don’t have Chelsea tonight, right?

  Despite her drumming heart, she smiled and responded.

  No, she’s with her dad until tomorrow morning. I should be good to meet you in an hour.

  She’d barely finished typing up her response when she heard the footsteps on the stairs. Hitting send on her phone, she closed her eyes before taking a breath and glancing up at the sight of Nine coming down the stairs in jeans and a wife beater, displaying his heavily tatted muscles with that smirk she was sure she was in love with now.

  Lust. Just lust, Drew. Nothing more. You got this.

  “I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever hear from you again.”

  “I, uh . . .” She took a few steps around the motorcycles in the middle of the shop. “I mentioned to Allison I was in the area when I was on the phone with her earlier, and she asked me if I could stop by and pick up her purse. She left it here last night.” Drew shrugged with a smirk. “Wacky pregnant brain and all.”

  Nine eyed her playfully from top to bottom the way he always did: unrestrained, unabashedly, with that gleam of approval. “Yeah, Beast said someone would come by for it today.” He got to the bottom of the stairs and headed away from her toward the reception area. “If I’d known it was you, I could’ve planned something. We could still go grab a bite or a drink or something. That is, of course, if your boyfriend wouldn’t mind.”

  “My fiancé.” She wasn’t sure what hurt more, correcting him or turning him down, but she had to. After the barbeque, what she’d shrugged off as a silly crush had begun to feel like a little more. “And thanks, but I’m actually meeting him for drinks in a little bit.”

  He slowed so much she thought he might stop, but then he kept walking, grabbing something from underneath the receptionist’s desk. Taking a second to examine the purse, he finally turned around to face her.

  “That’s right, huh?” He eyed her as he walked back toward her.

  Drew nodded but said nothing more. She couldn’t, not when he looked at her in the way he was looking at her now. The smile was gone, but he didn’t look upset or angry, and why should he? Drew felt stupid for even making note of it. He was just peering at her with intense curiosity, and that was normal. Well, the curiosity anyway.

  “So, you gotta ring now or still not sure?”

  “I am.” She tried to smile as genuinely as she could. “But we’re still house hunting, so . . .”

  “Is that why you stopped returning my texts?”

  He was close enough to hand her the purse, but he still took a few more steps even closer to her. Drew gulped but had the presence of mind not to flinch and embarrass herself. “I’ve been really busy.” She shrugged, refusing to let him rattle her. “So much . . .”

  She paused with a gulp when his eyes went straight to her lips and he licked his. The man had features any woman would envy, from the perfectly shaped and arched brows to the long thick lashes and those naturally full and crimson lips. Yet, everything else about him oozed carnal masculinity.

  “So much going on,” she went on, even as her voice began to trail.

  “I guess congrats are in order.”

  She nodded, not sure what that meant, until his arms were around her and she felt the warmth of his breath at the side of her head. “Congratulations,” he whispered without pulling back. “I’m happy for you.”

  To her surprise, he kissed her cheek, making her freeze, even as she’d begun to hug him back. Her hand stopped on his upper arm as he pulled away to look at her. Just touching him was something else. She’d been privy enough times to the sight of his big tatted muscles and around him enough times now she shouldn’t feel so flustered by him anymore. But feeling how hard his muscles were and being this close to him had her breath catching.

  He was staring at her now as if he knew what that harmless little kiss had done to her. As if he’d known for weeks now what he did to her, and now her trembling body was proof he’d been right. He licked his own lips then glanced down at hers again. It took everything in her to just thank him for the congratulations, take the purse, say good-bye, and walk out of there with some dignity.

  The man had power to turn her into a puddle from just one kiss to the cheek. But he probably knew it, and she’d die before letting on how weak she could be. She was better than this, damn it.

  Chapter 10

  A few days after her brief run in with Nine, Drew’s fiancé—minus the ring still—made plans for them to meet with a married couple who were friends of his for a late lunch. Drew had been busy getting ready and waiting for Brad to pick her up when she got another single word text like the one she’d been so tempted to respond to before but didn’t. This one he’d sent later in the day.

  Afternoon!

  The text from Nine was enough to distract her the entire rest of the day. It was all he’d had to say to get her all rattled. After doing the right thing and tapering off their texts once Ali’s ordeal was over, she was certain his “Morning” text after the shower had everything to do with the time they’d spent together. She was certain seeing him at the shop again was why he was sending this text again.

  Once again, she was so tempted to respond. What harm could there be in a few short texts between friends? After the shower, it felt like they’d gotten closer. They’d gotten even closer, and he’d been a perfect gentleman at the barbeque, and he did say he was happy for her at the shop.

  Of course, Brad was just pulling into her driveway when the text came through, and Drew was at a loss as to how to respond without getting caught up in a possible b
ack and forth and Brad likely asking who she was texting. Again, not that there’d be anything wrong with her responding to a friend’s harmless text, but the tingling in her belly made it feel wrong. So she hadn’t.

  The rest of that day as they’d chatted with Brad’s friends, Henry and Doris, it should’ve—would’ve—been a pleasant enough day, had it not been for her preoccupation with her phone. She kept checking to see if Nine might’ve followed up with more, which was so stupid because, even if he had, Drew had no intention of responding to him. At least not that day in front of Brad.

  They’d spent the rest of the afternoon on Henry and Doris’s yacht, enjoying the sunset while sipping wine and mimosas. The evening ended with Brad spending the night at her place since Phoenix had called to say Chelsea was tired and he’d just take her to pre-school in the morning from his place. Overall, she’d spent a nice romantic day and evening with her boyfriend. Yet, the nagging feeling about such a simple enough text continued to pester her.

  She’d given into temptation the next day on her way to work. But it wasn’t without obsessing over it first. Should she respond? Shouldn’t she? What the heck was the big deal anyway? Then she moved onto what should she write back? Should it be short or long? After deciding what she’d write, she obsessed about the type of punctuation she should use. An exclamation like the one he had used might indicate she was excited to hear from him. A period, so she wouldn’t seem so needy, might be better, but it might come across as curt, bored, or even rudely indifferent. In the end, she decided she was making too big a deal of it and went with the one-word text that matched his last two, forgoing any punctuation.

  Morning

  Drew had sent it early because she’d been on her way to work and didn’t want another day full of distraction, so she wanted to be done with it ASAP.