Rebel (2 page)

And, shit, she’d floated over that damn no-touching line again—a line he had a way of making her forget all about.

She told herself to pull her hand back, but it had been such a long time since she’d done something as simple as touch a man’s hair. Okay, maybe not
that
long. Maybe it had been a long time since she’d touched a man’s hair with a purpose other than fisting it during sex.

An image of her hands fisted in Wes’s hair, his hands and mouth pleasuring her body, flashed in her mind. Heat exploded at her core and spread. Quick. So damn quick, she almost didn’t catch herself from a headlong fall straight into him. Her gaze lowered to his mouth, those lush, masculine lips she wanted to taste. To
know
.

He propped the helmet between his legs and leaned forward. The teasing heat in those smoky eyes had deepened. “Trying to distract me? ’Cause it’s working.”

“Not really. But as long as I’m here…”

He let his gaze skim down her body again with an I-gotta-have-every-inch-of-that-now-or-I’m-gonna-chew-my-arm-off groan. “As long as you’re here…”

“Wes,” Jax called as he walked toward another camera, “we’re going again in five.”

“I’m so ready,” Wes said without taking his eyes off Rubi. He definitely wasn’t talking about the stunt, and his voice sounded as decadent, sinful as dark chocolate.

She lowered her gaze to ease the unsettling current growing between them. His body armor, tucked into pockets of the neoprene, covered his most vulnerable areas—shoulders, elbows, chest, hips, package… A very nice package she’d noticed on more than one occasion.

The thought forced her gaze back to his square jaw dusted with golden stubble, then higher. Avoiding those stormy gray eyes, she inspected his new haircut, shorter on the sides, longer on top.

“I like the cut,” she said, holding back from another suggestive comment.

Wes didn’t show such restraint. “Feel free to sink your hands in anytime.”

She pretended the words didn’t vibrate in her belly. “Did you go to Sterling Shears?”

“And saw Julie, just like you suggested.”

“I knew she’d do you right.”

His grin heated, eyes sparked. “I’d rather
you
did me right.”

The low vibration of his voice made her tingle everywhere. And he just kept smiling into her eyes, as if he really
saw
her. Saw beneath her looks, her attitude, all her smoke and mirrors. Her throat tightened.

She’d been operating under the one-night-stand-only guideline for years, and that safety net worked for her. But she didn’t throw friends into the pool of possible sex partners. She only had to remember the hearts she’d damaged to remind herself she either did friendship or sex—not both. Never both.

Narrowing her eyes, she met his gaze again. “You’re extra playful today.”

He leaned forward, still braced on the helmet, bringing him closer. So close the outer gray-blue ring of his irises contrasted with the lighter center and his spiky golden lashes. “Have dinner with me tonight. Just us. No Jax. No Lexi.” He paused, and Rubi felt the grip of his intent stare at the center of her chest. “You and me, Rubi.”

His mouth was saying
dinner
. But his eyes were saying
the best, eye-crossing, beg-for-mercy sex of your life
.

And her body screamed
yes
with a flare of dizzying heat. But equally dizzying apprehension raised a wall that cooled her down. “Where’s this coming from?” She crossed her arms. “You know I’m not into the dating scene.”

Vulnerability hinted in his eyes and tugged at Rubi’s heart. “Then don’t call it a date. I’d just like to get you alone.”

Alone.

Oh dear God.

The battle of the Titans warred inside her, and she had to look away to find the strength to do the right thing. She sucked at letting guys down easy. She wasn’t one of his typical
nice
girls, but she wasn’t the type to use friends either.

“No, Wes, that’s not my game. And I like what we have.” Rubi forced her mouth into a smile, slipping into the flighty, careless cover she’d perfected. “Get to work, Lawson. I’ve got information to gather, and a lunch date with Lexi.”

“Rubi—”

“I’ll be watching, taking notes, putting it all together for those apps you can’t wait to get your hands on.” She turned toward the camera where Jax bullshitted with the crew, and shot Wes one last grin over her shoulder. “Remember—no major injuries.”

Wes leaned forward, revved the Ducati, and shot toward the bridge, pushing the bike to ridiculous speeds just to burn out this new streak of frustration.

Between the sun, the suit, and running the stunt three times already, he was sweating from every pore. That all would have been manageable if Rubi hadn’t shown up looking like a goddamn
Penthouse
centerfold. Now his cock rubbed in all the wrong places.

He was done with this all-flirtation-no-action shit. They’d been building up to this for two months. Yeah, it had taken him a while to realize she was exactly the kind of woman he should have been dating for years. And, yeah, he’d been easing closer to her because he also knew she was skittish about dating one guy. But he either had to get her into bed or out of his head.

And both had about the same chance of happening—nil.

He’d pulled every trick, every tactic in his arsenal to tug Rubi over the friendship-only threshold she’d created between them, but she wouldn’t budge. He knew she wanted to cross over. He saw it in her eyes when she looked at him. Heard it in her voice in those rare private moments when they found themselves out of earshot of Jax and Lexi.

And he was no quitter. He wouldn’t give up on her without one hell of a battle of wills. Which meant it looked like he had a real challenge on his hands, because no one challenged him like Rubi.

Slowing the bike, he circled back to face the wreckage, pausing beneath the shadow of the condemned bridge for some heat relief. He dropped one foot to the cement and reached up to wipe sweat from his eyes through the opening in his helmet. When he glanced toward Jax and the crew, he found Rubi standing nearby. She had an ear bent toward Troy, one of Wes’s fellow Renegades, and her gaze on the pile of metal Wes planned to annihilate.

If Troy was flirting with her again, it was subtle. His hands gestured as he described the upcoming stunt so Rubi could get all the information she needed to program the apps she was developing for Jax. Her pen moved quickly over the page as she noted Troy’s information.

Wes’s mind flipped back to the way she’d laughed at something he’d said the night before. She’d been sitting next to him at dinner with Lexi and Jax, leaning forward, elbows on the table, chin in one hand, twirling her drink with a straw. But those gorgeous green eyes had been on his, twinkling with happiness. Her smile had been wide and breathtaking. Her light-cocoa cheeks blushed with color.

Fierce want gripped his entire body—the same desire he’d suffered last night—and he groaned.

As if she’d heard him, Rubi glanced up from her notepad. With her sunglasses still on the top of her head, those light eyes were piercing. Her gaze remained directly on him even as Troy continued to talk, and he felt the sexual tension as if they were connected by a wire of electricity.

Frustration spiked, and he revved the bike. “Come on, dude,” he said to Jax through the headset feed. “Wait too much longer and we’re going to have to realign the shot to kill shadows.”

“Hold your dick on.” Jax’s voice pierced Wes’s ear. “I’m putting three more cameras on this take. It’s not like we can run it a dozen more times.”

He rolled the bike back and forth in a restless sway as he watched the key grip—a guy who handled camera placement—run between cameramen. The best boy, a kid who taped down all the electrical wires, worked frantically in the key grip’s wake.

Waiting was one of his least favorite pastimes. Plus, today, every moment of downtime allowed his mind to drift toward his brother, which Wes had been trying to avoid by staying busy, dammit. And, just like every other time his mind had lolled toward Wyatt, his stomach balled into a fist. He’d be out of surgery by now. At least that was Wes’s hope. He hadn’t had a chance to call his mother for a few hours now.

“Okay.” Jax’s voice sounded in Wes’s ear. “We’re set to go.”

“Finally.”

The familiar flutter of anxiety that came with every stunt—stronger for some than others—stung his breastbone. Down the stretch of concrete, all but two members of the crew cleared the area. The remaining members tossed lighter fluid on the crashed vehicles, and the fumes flooded his nose even this far away. He didn’t like Rubi so close to that shit.

“Jax,” he said. “Can’t Rubi watch from inside? The fumes are choking me all the way down here.”

“Copy.” Jax turned from one of the cameras and spoke to Rubi. She shook her head, and Jax returned with, “She says she’s fine. You good?”

He should have known she’d do whatever she damn well wanted. But he reminded himself he didn’t have to like her stubbornness to admire it. “Yeah, good.”

Extinguishers filled with foam fire retardant passed through the staff clustered off to the side. They would run out and smother the flames poststunt. If this didn’t take on the first round, it would be a royal bitch and a time suck to set up again.

He glanced toward Jax, but his gaze halted on Rubi. He got that delicious pinch low in his gut again, and instead of envisioning the death-defying act he was about to perform, Wes’s mind filled with the little burst of warmth in Rubi’s eyes when she’d laughed at his helmet head. The glimmer of her perfect teeth when she’d reached up and tried to straighten it out. The feel of her touching him. Yeah, she wanted him. Now, he just had to convince her of that.

He wiped sweat from his eyes one more time before dropping the Plexiglas on his helmet. God, he wanted out of this getup.

A scorching
whoosh
sounded as the cars went up in flames, dragging Wes’s mind back. His body responded with a sympathetic burst of heat as fire licked the air. That was exactly what he felt like every time Rubi got within ten feet.

A different member of the crew ran into the center of the concrete near the inferno, a slate in his hands to mark the scene and take.

“Ready,” Jax said in Wes’s ear, “Set…” At Jax’s pause, Wes revved the bike. “Action.”

The snap of the slate ricocheted off the concrete surroundings. Wes focused on the stunt, the placement, the timing, and lifted his foot as he shot forward.

“Angle a little east,” Jax said, watching how things looked from one of the cameras. “Yeah, good. Three. Two. One.
Hit it
.”

Wes shut down all outside thought. His frustration with Rubi, his concern over Wyatt dissipated like vapor, and a familiar, consuming cohesiveness with the universe filled him—brain and body. One making him intensely aware of the road, the air, his body, the laws of physics. The connection made him feel so alive, he vibrated with excitement.

He gunned the bike and shifted his weight backward. The front tire popped into a wheelie, and he kept just enough of his weight off the back end to allow the rear tire to spin against the slippery concrete. Vibrations rocketed through his body. Adrenaline flooded his veins. Acrid smoke spilled off the tire and enveloped him, filling his head with the scent of burning rubber—an instant high. Even after decades of racing and thousands of rides, this shit electrified him every damn time.

With another shift of his weight and a jolt of fuel, Wes accelerated. He lowered his upper body until his chest rested on the fuel tank, until his view of the wreckage was framed in the handlebars, then kicked the bike into high gear. The engine screamed, echoing off the concrete and rattling Wes’s brain. Every cell in his body exploded with life.

“Three… Two… One…” Jax said again, far too soon for Wes. He needed a good long ride—in a couple of different ways. But this was business. “
Now
.”

Wes slammed the front brakes and threw his weight forward. The bike’s rear tire bucked into the air. With nothing but balance, brake pressure, and physical strength, Wes managed to keep his face off the concrete.

He controlled the bike’s endo for two hundred feet, then clamped down on the brakes and threw his weight again. Bullying the bike to mesh with the laws of physics, Wes spun the opposite direction. He dropped his ass to the seat and the bike’s back end to the ground. Then gunned the machine directly toward the metal inferno.

Hot damn.
He’d nailed those moves. This take would scream on screen.

“Start your slide,” Jax said.

Wes leaned the bike toward the ground, guiding the Ducati into a sideways suicide.

“Three… Two… One…”

Jax paused a beat and the pressure of the concrete burned across Wes’s hip, then his thigh…

“
Drop it
.”

He gunned the gas and jerked his lower leg from between the concrete and the bike.

But his boot caught.

Ah fuck.

A flash of fear seared his spine. He gritted his teeth and yanked at his foot.