“What the fuck?” The words escaped him in one long exhale. This was the last place he had expected to run into Nora, let alone to run into her working here. She came to a fast stop, and his eyes traveled down her body, taking in the small red bikini top that barely covered her breasts, her bare midriff, and finally the tiny green short-shorts.
“ ‘What the fuck?’ is right,” Donavan agreed, misunderstanding Kane. “I’d do her right on this table.”
“I don’t want to see your bare ass next to my taco.” Patrick punched Donavan’s arm, laughing. The guys broke their stares and began joking and talking with one another. Except for Kane.
He glared at each of his friends, his jaw tight. Did I ever talk like that? He had felt out of place around them ever since they’d arrived at this sorry excuse for a restaurant, and he wasn’t sure why. “Have some respect. She’s just trying to do her job,” he told his friends.
Patrick snorted. “Relax, Killer.”
“Seriously, we’re getting you a drink,” Donavan agreed. “You need to loosen up.”
Nora had quickly collected herself and was standing at the end of their table with a small notepad in hand. The flush on her cheeks was the only indication that she was as surprised as he was. She threw on a giant fake smile that he wasn’t buying for a second. “Hi, boys. I’m Nora, and I’ll be your server today. What can I get you guys to drink?”
“I’ll have a Guinness,” Saint said.
“Same here,” Donavan echoed.
“I’ll have one, too, plus your phone number.” Patrick winked at her.
Kane’s jaw tightened as he painfully pulled his eyes from the beautiful blonde and shot daggers at his friend. “Shut the fuck up, Pat.”
“Three Guinnesses, got it.” Nora ignored both of them, scribbling on her pad, until she turned to Kane. Her face was unreadable, as if she was purposefully trying to mask any association with him. He didn’t like it. “Is there anything you’d like, sir?”
Sir? Now that…he liked.
He surveyed her quietly for a moment, letting her squirm as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, waiting on his reply.
“Whiskey—whatever you got. Neat.”
“You got it. I’ll be right back with your drinks and to take your food order.” With that, she flitted away like it was nothing. The woman who’d been in his bed only two weeks ago, the woman he knew was in graduate school, the woman who worked with kids whom she adored during the day and who his sister-in-law had just told him was too “grown up” for him…also worked as a bikini waitress in a sleazy neighborhood bar conveniently located a good trek away from Woodlawn?
There was a lot more to Nora than he’d thought.
“You ready for Vegas, Killer?” Patrick asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. The national championships were always held in Las Vegas, and the clock was ticking down.
“Fuck, yeah,” Kane assured them, happy to slide back into an easier topic. He’d worked his ass off, and despite the stress and nerves he had about it, he was also confident that this win was in the bag. He’d never worked so hard toward something in his life. “I’m going to slaughter Xavier.”
“Cold, man.” Donavan raised his eyebrows. “You got this.”
“We’ll say we knew you when!” Patrick patted him on the back. “Congrats, man. This is huge.”
“Bigger than any of your brothers,” Saint chimed in. “Rory got to the championships, but lost.”
Kane nodded. He didn’t need to be reminded. If he won this, he’d surpass the fighting careers of both Rory and Kieran. No pressure. “It’s in the bag.”
“Fuck yeah, it is!” Donavan agreed, just as Nora returned to their table holding a small serving tray lined with their drinks. The grace and ease with which she held them—not even close to spilling a drop—definitely impressed him. This woman was strong. And completely confusing. She placed the drinks one by one in front of each of them, but as she moved to put his drink on the table, he reached out and met her hand. Taking the drink directly from her, he let his fingers linger over hers for a moment.
It worked, because her eyes immediately flashed to his, heated and nervous. She might be good at masking what she was thinking, but her eyes betrayed her every time. The way she looked at him, biting the corner of her lip as she relinquished the drink to him…it felt like winning.
And Kane loved to win.
“Are you guys ready to order yet?” Nora pulled away, redirecting her attention to the whole table.
“Yep,” Saint told Nora, before giving her a lingering look. “I’m very hungry.”
There was no mistaking what he was hungry for, and Kane glared at him. “Just order your fucking food.”
“Hands off, guys,” said Patrick, casting a speculative glance at Kane. “Apparently, Kane has called dibs.”
“Seriously, I’m going to kill all of you if you don’t shut the fuck up and order your food like gentlemen.” Kane seethed, his chest leaning over the table in an intimidating stance.
“No man has dibs on me,” Nora spoke up, purposefully avoiding his glare as she gave each of his friends a flirty grin. “But I do need to go help another table, so if you know what you’d like to order, we can get started.”
Her confidence put his friends at ease, and they placed their orders one by one. Begrudgingly, Kane did, too, but he was nowhere near as fine with this situation as Nora appeared to be. In fact, her casual attitude was pissing him off.
Sure, he didn’t have “dibs” on her, nor would he ever seriously think of a woman like that. But her early departure from his apartment after they had slept together and her continued dismissal of him since then was really getting under his skin. He’d never been a possessive type with women before, so he wasn’t sure why he was feeling that way now.
After Nora had taken their orders and walked away, Kane mostly listened as his friends talked about the latest events in their lives. He threw in an occasional nod or grunt but didn’t offer much to the conversation. The whiskey wasn’t doing anything to help him relax, either, as he just kept watching Nora at her tables nearby. She was all smiles and skin as dozens of men stared at her bouncing breasts barely concealed under the tiny piece of fabric.
She brought their food, and Kane watched in sullen silence as his friends flirted with her, albeit keeping it tamer than they had before. He ate a few bites of his order but wasn’t really feeling much of an appetite. Also, the food was pretty shitty. Not that he’d expected five-star dining at Tacos & Ta-Tas.
“I’m going to hit the head,” Patrick said, standing and stretching his arms before making his way toward the restroom sign, which pointed down a corridor.
Nora emerged from the same corridor moments later with a tray of food, delivering it to another table with the ease and grace he’d noticed seemed to come naturally to her.
None of his other friends were paying attention, but when Kane saw Patrick emerge from the hallway a few minutes later, only to turn back around quickly when Nora walked by him, Kane was on his feet.
“Where are you going?” Donavan asked, but Kane ignored him and charged for the hallway.
He rounded the corner and saw Nora’s lip curl up in disgust as Patrick pushed cash into the side of her short-shorts, murmuring something to her. She didn’t look scared or upset, just annoyed. Kane was a million miles past annoyed right now.
“I’m not a stripper, asshole.” Nora shoved the money back at him, but the asshole persisted.
“How about my phone number then? We can meet up after your shift tonight,” Patrick slurred, not even bothering to look at her face, but leaning his body toward her suggestively.
Nora placed both hands on his chest and shoved backward. “Not even when I’m dead, prick.”
“Patrick!” Kane growled angrily, storming up to them, his hands balled in fists at his sides. He couldn’t believe the guy he’d known his whole life was acting like such a caveman. But Patrick was his friend, and he’d giv
e him one chance not to fuck this up; otherwise, he was going to lay him out. “You heard the lady.”
“Lady?” Patrick sneered, his breath reeking of booze. “Good one, Kane.”
Yep, he fucked up.
Kane’s vision misted red with anger as he raised his fist, ready to smash his now-ex-friend in the face. But someone beat him to the punch. Literally.
“Damn it!” Nora swore. “That really hurts!” She shook her hand out and tried to flex her fingers seconds after she punched Patrick in the face.
“Fucking bitch!” Patrick bellowed, storming away from them toward the men’s room, his hand over his bleeding nose.
Kane’s jaw had dropped, and he stared at her. She stared back at him, and neither one said a thing.
Then they both laughed.
Hard.
She cradled her hurt hand to her chest, laughing so much that tears began rolling down her cheeks. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d cut loose with this kind of laughter, to the point where his abs were actually hurting. Reaching forward, he took her hand in his and examined it as he tried to calm down. Her knuckles were scraped and her whole hand was already swelling.
“Fucking hell, Nora. That might have been the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he managed to choke out once he had finally caught his breath. “But damn, girl, your hand needs to be looked at by a doctor.”
“Yeah, but I have to finish my shift.” She had finally calmed down, too, and was gazing at her hand in his. “I’ll be okay.”
“There’s no way you’re carrying a tray with this hand, kitty.”
She paused for a minute, and he could tell she was thinking about telling him off for the nickname, but then decided against it. “I can work around it.”
“Nora, we’re going to the doctor. Now.”
“First, you act all possessive of me at the table, and now you’re telling me what to do? When did we start dating?” The tiny smile at the edge of her lips told him that, despite her joking, she was kind of okay with that.
And for some inexplicable reason, so was he.
Stepping toward her, he guided her back to rest against the wall and leaned over her. Cradling it protectively, he held her injured hand against his chest. She gulped and her breath quickened, which made his body react almost immediately, and his next words came out low, with a slight growl to them. “If it means your putting on some freaking clothes and getting that hand looked at, then right fucking now.”
“Kane, be serious.” She looked down at the floor to avoid his gaze.
His hand found her chin, gently tipping her face up to look at him. “Kitty.”
“What?” She finally looked at him, exposing a vulnerability in her eyes that made his heart pound behind his ribs.
“Dibs.”
That finally earned him a smile from her as she shook her head and chuckled. “I really don’t like you.”
“Liar,” he said, one brow raised as he examined her hand again. The swelling was getting worse by the second. “Tell your boss that I’m taking you to the doctor.”
“Be right back.” She walked through the employee door, presumably to find her boss.
Patrick emerged from the bathroom seconds later, his nose red and puffy but the bleeding stopped.
“The fuck was that, man?” he asked, his words only slightly less slurred.
Kane just shrugged. “You deserved it.”
“Fuck you, Kane.” Patrick said, his finger in Kane’s face. “You don’t even know me anymore. You don’t know any of us.”
Kane’s brow furrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Ever since training became your whole fucking world, you’ve bailed on your old life. On all your friends. You’re a totally different person.” Patrick touched his nose tentatively, sniffing. “And with that chick? You’re going soft, man.”
Kane thought about it for a second, but it didn’t sound like a bad thing. “I’m not a different person—I’m a better person. I grew the fuck up, Patrick. I suggest you do the same.”
“Fuck you.” Patrick stormed off in the direction of their table. Kane had no plans to rejoin them and couldn’t have cared less what they thought about it. He’d talk to them in a few days and smooth things over, if he felt like it, but honestly…he wasn’t sure he even wanted to. He wasn’t the same man he had been a few years ago, shooting the shit and not caring how his actions affected others. And he couldn’t help but wonder if Nora had been part of his growth as well.
Nora reemerged from the kitchen a few minutes later, now wearing jeans and a T-shirt and with a bag hanging over her shoulder. “He said I could go.”
“As if he had a choice,” Kane said. “Got your stuff?”
Nora’s cheeks flushed. “Um, yeah, but…”
“What?”
“My hand hurts so much, and I need two hands to do my button. Could you…um…”
He furrowed his brow, unsure what she meant as she trailed off, blushing more now. Following her gaze, he glanced down at her pants. Sure enough, her jeans were on but unbuttoned, revealing a peek of the tiny green short-shorts from her uniform.
He chuckled and reached forward, buttoning her jeans for her. “I’ve never put pants on a woman before, but I’ll make an exception this time.”
“I appreciate your sacrifice,” she said sarcastically, and Kane decided then and there that he wanted to see her smiling like that all the time.
Chapter 10
“There’s no way they can legally do this,” Nora huffed as she walked up the stairs to her apartment behind Kane. He’d never been here before, so she didn’t even know how he was leading the way, but she followed him regardless.
He chuckled and shook his head. “Did you expect something called Tacos and Ta-Tas to have ethics?”
She didn’t say anything to that, because he was right. But she had really needed that job, so when her boss had texted her a few minutes ago to see how her hand was, he’d been unhappy to learn she would have to wear a soft cast for a while. Claiming it would clash with the look of the uniforms, he’d told her not to bother coming back again—he’d have to find someone new to cover her shifts anyway.
“I have to be honest, I was shocked to see you there. Why do you even work at a place like that?” he asked. “I mean, it’s kind of—”
“Sleazy?” she filled in for him. “I know, but it’s all I could find that paid so well and let me work for cash. Plus, no one knows me there; it’s far away from where anyone in Woodlawn would come.”
He chuckled. “How’d that work out for you?”
“All right, well usually no one in Woodlawn would be out there,” she corrected. “I need the job. I’m really short on money, and I can get in a lot of trouble if I don’t keep up with…my bills.”
She saw him frown and worried he could tell there was more to that than she’d let on. The truth was, she did feel guilty about working in that sleazy place when she spent so much of her time around children. She wanted to be a good influence in their lives. The life she was being forced to live was the exact type of life she wanted to help them avoid.
She was a hypocrite, and she hated it.
If her school found out, she’d lose everything she’d worked for. And if she didn’t have the money to keep paying her mother’s bookie, she’d lose a lot more than that.
It seemed so hopeless.
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing, kitty,” he said. “I’ve never met anyone with as many layers as you.”
“Thanks?” she said, not sure if that was a good thing, but warming at hearing his nickname for her. The first few times she’d heard it, she’d prickled at his audacity, but the way the word left his mouth now was entirely different. It was wrapped in affection, a soft tone, and a sweeter smile. It made her heart happy, and he made her even happier.
“It’s a good thing, trust me.” Kane came to a stop in front of the apartment number she’d told him and put his hand out. “Keys, plea
se.”
“I can take it from here,” Nora told him, fishing around in her purse with her good hand. “Thank you for taking me to the doctor.”
Kane rolled his eyes. “A few hours ago you couldn’t even button your pants. Just let me help you get set up on the couch with everything you need.”
“I’ll be fine. The doctor said I just need to rest it.”
He took the keys from her hands and opened the apartment door, completely ignoring her request for him to leave. Sighing, Nora followed him inside her home, silently praying she hadn’t left dishes in the sink or underwear on the floor before leaving that morning.
“Cute place you have here, kitty.” Kane was already walking around, sticking his head through each open door and exhibiting zero sense of personal boundaries.
“I don’t remember offering you a tour. I’ll rest on the couch for the evening and be perfectly fine,” Nora told him, standing by the front door and holding it partially ajar. “You’re welcome to leave now.”
Kane grinned and stalked toward her. She gulped as he got close, and she could smell his cologne, strong and subtle at the same time. His eyes not leaving hers, he pushed the front door closed behind her. “Nice try. I told the doctor I’d take care of you.”
“He told you to do that only because you said you were my boyfriend,” Nora countered, dropping her purse on the table by the door and heading for the couch. She sat carefully, keeping her hand at the level of her heart as the doctor had instructed for soft tissue swelling.
No one had ever warned her that a human face could be so hard. Her hand felt as if she’d punched a brick wall.
“Well, we are dating,” Kane called back from the direction of her kitchen. “Seems perfectly logical to me.”
Nora rolled her eyes. That particular joke was getting old. She had genuinely enjoyed chatting with Kane during the last few hours, in between the minutes she’d spent with the doctor and the time it took for her to get X-rays. Thankfully, he’d stayed away from any hard topics and just kept it light. It had felt normal, like hanging out with a friend, or maybe with someone who was more than a friend. However, the facts still remained. Things were complicated in both of their lives. Neither one of them wanted a relationship. She might be slightly wavering on that decision, but she knew Kane wasn’t. He’d meant what he’d said the first night: he didn’t want to date her.