Looks like Trouble to Me (Bad Boys Need Love, Too #1) Read online

  Looks like Trouble to Me

  By Calinda B

  Published by Sumner McKenzie, Inc.

  Kingston, WA, 98346

  Ebook Edition

  Copyright ©2014 Calinda B

  All Rights Reserved. ISBN: 978-0-9913027-3-4

  Cover image copyright Jenn LeBlanc / Illustrated Romance

  Editing by Tina Winograd

  License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people, but it can be lent according to the retailer’s coding. If you would like to give this book to another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to an online retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Appreciation

  Limitless love and thanks to the Official Sweetie Pie, my loving partner, and truly honest guy, John. Thanks to Tina Winograd, the boss-dog editor of editors! Thanks to the most awesome street team in the world, the Wicked Hot Street Team. Thanks to Scott for help on boat scenes, Glenn, for help on Port Townsend scenes, and all the others who helped me get my facts straight.

  And thanks to Ron, as always, just because.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to all who have suffered at the hands of physical and/or emotional abuse, who have been immersed in substance abuse, who have seen the effect on family and friends and who have, ultimately, chosen a more positive path.

  “It’s not what you go through; it’s what you do with it and how you get to the other side.”

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Calinda’s Books

  Chapter 1

  Sex.

  Jace peered through the dimly lit, crowded room in Chica Ríos, a hip new bar in Belltown, a trendy area just north of downtown Seattle.

  I need to get laid.

  Indecipherable music blared through the speakers, creating a solid screen of conversation defying noise.

  How long has it been? Two weeks? Four? Nothing since trouble arrived.

  The bar’s décor consisted of gold fabric, dark woods, glistening copper and bronze tiles. Lamp shades floated over tiny tables from pale yellow-haired antelope legs, complete with lacquered hooves. Whoever thought using animal parts was a good idea had their head up their ass, as far as Jace was concerned - he found it macabre.

  Mirrors hung everywhere, allowing the vain to see how cool they looked, the inebriated to wonder, “Is this what I look like when I’m hammered?” and the jealous to keep tabs on their boyfriend, girlfriend or ex from across the room -- the same way he’d kept an eye on Kate. He shook his head to clear it. Old news.

  Images of beautiful women dotted the walls here and there.

  I’ve probably already done her, he thought with a chuckle, in reference to recent attempts to purge his ex out of his system, as he studied one of the photographs of a voluptuous redhead.

  “Hey, what about her? Look.” Billy O’Reilly, a curious mix of Irish street thug turned mega-rich prick on his father’s side and smooth Southern gentility on his mother’s side, pointed to a brunette across the bar.

  Jace squinted through the crowd at the woman his buddy pointed at. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair, and sighed. “Yeah, I see her. What about her?” he shouted across the table.

  “How’d you like to take a ride with her?” Billy let out a snort and a derisive laugh.

  Jace shook his head at his drinking buddy and tossed back his rum and Coke. “Might not be so bad. She’s probably really nice.” At this point, I’ll take anything. How long has it been? He circled around his inner timeline again. Fuck. Too long. Ever since…

  “Nice?” Billy hooted. “She’s a dog, Jace. Homely as a cow. Pillowcase material.”

  “Jesus, Billy.” Jace tipped his head to the side, scrutinizing the woman. “Quit being a dick. No, she’s not.”

  “Look,” Billy said, “I told you, I’m doing you a solid. I’m making it my mission to get you a girlfriend. A real girlfriend. A girlfriend who looks good on the outside and loves to fuck.”

  “Is that your criteria for success?”

  “What else is there?” Billy reached for his pale amber beer and poured some down his throat. “We have to get you over Kate Bethlehem so you’ll be fun again.”

  “I’ve been working on it.” Jace’s stomach tightened at the mention of his ex. He picked up his glass and swirled the remaining droplets around and around. That’s what his insides felt when he thought of her. That shit’s over. It’s been months. I’m fine. His lower logic took over. I need to get laid. How long has it been? Oh, right. Weeks.

  “We miss you on the yacht.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “The girls.”

  Jace groaned. I need another drink.

  A group of barely twenty-somethings, the noisiest in the bar, made their way toward the front like a herd of drunken sheep. They stumbled outside to smoke, leaving an empty pocket of stillness in the middle of the room.

  “Where’s your girlfriend, by the way?” Jace’s voice sounded hoarse now that he could hear himself. “You said she was joining us.”

  “Jasmine? She’s around here somewhere.” Billy waved a hand in the air before finishing his beer.

  As if conjured, a gorgeous, raven haired beauty slipped in beside Billy, pressing her ample cleavage close to the man’s arm. She looked across the table at Jace and said, “Hey, handsome. When you going to let me lay my hands on your luxurious waves and that scrumptious muscular build…mm mm mm. I’d like to get my fingers on some of that.”

  Expecting fangs to poke out of her gums, he smiled politely, signaling the waitress for another drink. I’m not that desperate.

  “And your emerald eyes are to die for. You could kill with those eyes.”

  “Wouldn’t that be a plus?” Jace muttered. What a whore. He knew she was merely another conquest for Billy. He gave them one week, tops.

  “That’s what I’ve been saying to him, Jaz,” Billy said. “It’s my mission to hook him up again. He’s in a dry spell. Staying at home all the time lately. Probably pouting a lot. He’s got some sort of secret.”


  “Fuck you,” Jace said.

  Billy smirked, winking a cold blue gray eye. “Got any available friends?”

  “I told you,” she said to Jace, “I’ll take you out for a whirl.”

  “Like hell you will,” Billy growled at her. “I’m not done with you.”

  She laughed, leaned in close and whispered in Billy’s ear.

  His eyebrows launched sky high as he listened. “Uh, be back in a few,” Billy said, pushing Jasmine out of the booth.

  Jace watched them disappear into the back of the bar, Jasmine tugging the back of her extremely short skirt, no doubt heading for the women’s room. He pulled his phone free of his pocket and stared at the screen. Nothing. Well, no news is good news, right? He tapped the Messages icon and listened.

  “Hey, Jace,” a female voice said. “Haven’t seen you in a few we…”

  Delete.

  “Jace! Where you been? Want to party?”

  Delete.

  “Jace Savage, my kitty cat’s getting…”

  Delete. Fuck. He slipped the phone back in his shirt with a sigh, raking his hand through his hair again, thinking about getting a new cell number. And what awaited him at home. Shit. My life is fucked up. How can I take a girl to my house?

  A few minutes later his drink arrived, carried by a pretty woman with long, lustrous, sun-kissed honey brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail. She fished a paper coaster embellished with the name Chica Ríos from her black apron pocket, positioned it on the gleaming wood, and looked at him. “You okay? Looks like you’ve had a few.”

  “I’m fine,” he said, wiping his face with his palm. Am I okay? Maybe a little buzzed. I’ve only had a couple drinks. “Having the time of my life.” His eyes slid to her full breasts.

  “Could’ve fooled me.” She lifted the rum and Coke off the tray, and placed the drink on the napkin with practiced hands. “Shall I add this to your tab?”

  “This is the last one,” Jace said. “I live a ways away. Got to keep my wits about me for a change,” he said, sarcastically. “Bring me the check.”

  “You got it.” The waitress lingered at the booth. “Are you sure you’re okay? Need me to call a cab?”

  “I’m fine,” he said again, blinking, trying to clear his head. What a vocabulary. That will impress her. He let out a short laugh at his stupidity.

  She lifted one dark brown eyebrow along her silky smooth forehead and pressed her kissable lips together.

  “It’s not the drink, it’s the…” Lust. I really need to get laid.

  “Of course not.” She eyed him disapprovingly, then leaned forward to collect empty glasses, her lips pursed.

  This is not what I’m going for. I’d rather those lips were parted, eager to get around my…. Jace cocked his head and studied her. “Haven’t seen you here tonight - we’ve been here a while.” His smaller, more persistent head began to rally and cheer. He reached under the table to surreptitiously make room in his jeans.

  “I see that,” she said, indicating the empty glasses on her tray.

  “Those aren’t…” His lips clamped shut. Shit, why am I defending myself to this girl?

  “Shift just started. And, I’m late.” She raised and dropped a shoulder. “What’s your name, stud?”

  A touch of electricity zapped his stomach. Is she interested? “Why?”

  She raised a brow at him. “I can bring you a bill, but wouldn’t you want the one with your name on it?”

  Christ, I’m such a fucking, horny idiot. “Jace. Jace Savage.”

  “Savage, huh?” She took a pen from her pocket and scribbled on a napkin held down with a tumbler.

  He shifted in the booth, letting his well-practiced chick-shagging line roll. “It means wild and uncontrolled.” He watched her reaction. Is that a blush coloring her cheeks? He appreciated the way she looked - kind of farm girl fresh with attitude. “What’s your name?” His gaze lingered on her beautiful face.

  Rosy cheeks, full lips, not a hint of make-up. A tiny tattoo of a small heart, almost like a beauty mark, dotted her left cheekbone. He stealthily scanned her curvy body. Nice. I’d love to photograph her against an ocean backdrop, with a blazing sunset. Then I’d… He narrowed his eyes, picturing her naked, her golden brown hair splayed along the sand, gazing at him with her sexy, doe-like eyes, a wave dancing at the edges of her toes before receding into the sea. Inclining his head to the side, he allowed a slight smile to form, imagining, eye at the camera, finger over the shutter, standing over her beautiful body….Click, click, click, he thought, taking imaginary pictures.

  She snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Zoé.”

  “What?” He pulled himself up in the booth. Shit.

  She shook her head at him. “My name is Zoé Dubois.” She waved her hand, as if brushing the name away. “It’s French or something.”

  Again with the blush. Very attractive. I could definitely… “It fits you. It’s a pretty name.” He extended his hand to her, flashing his winning “yes, I want to fuck you” smile. “It’s a pleasure, Zoé.”

  “The pleasure’s mine, I assure you,” she said in a pleasant voice. “We get our fair share of assholes in here. You seem like a somewhat decent guy, even if a bit buzzed.”

  Jace winced. Decent? He wasn’t a boring ass--“I’ve had my share of trouble. And it’s not the--”

  “Chill out.” She cut him off. “All I said was decent.” Her sultry, fawn-brown eyes danced. “I didn’t think for a moment you were dull.”

  He relaxed into the booth, stretching out his long legs. He liked this girl...a lot.

  Zoé nodded at his arm. “Interesting ink you’ve got. What is that?”

  Jace glanced at the tattoo poking out underneath his half-rolled up sleeve. He self-consciously tugged on the white linen, trying to pull it over the image of teeth biting a steel blade covering his forearm. “That’s some of the trouble,” he said, smiling in an attempt to distract her from this line of questioning.

  Zoé reached down and pushed the sleeve up. She frowned slightly as she studied the tattoo. “Not much blood,” she said, fingering the three red drops that dripped from the knife edge.

  Jace’s breath hitched at her slight graze.

  “Deep but survivable,” she said. “Sharp blade. I’ll bet it was a clean wound. No jagged edges. Those are the worst.”

  A clean wound? Leaving Kate and the chaos that came with her were endless stabs to the heart with an unsharpened butcher’s knife. He nodded, surprised to be so affected by this woman’s touch. It’d been a while since he had a real girlfriend. Not since…And her eyes…warm, smoldering beauties, looking deeply into his, revealing…what? Interest? The kind of compassion reserved for stray dogs? He pulled his arm away.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Jace. I was being inquisitive, over analyzing. I think way too much sometimes. Forgive me.”

  “Nothing to forgive. It’s a part of my past, is all.” He smiled at her wanting her to know she’d done nothing wrong. I’d definitely like to take her to my…He gave a slight shake of his head. Maybe we could go to her place. He glanced up to see Jasmine and Billy walking unsteadily across the room, eyes a bit wild, their hair mussed. Billy’s expensive shirt was buttoned all wrong. Jace made a note to not say anything - kind of dick around with his buddy’s vanity. Billy liked to look good - appearances mattered. He dressed in top dollar attire, even got his dirty blond hair highlighted, for fucks sake, thinking himself a much younger version of Sir Richard Branson. Even his Southern accent was put on pretension. He’d shit a brick when he found out he skipped a button.

  Zoé looked up to see what Jace saw and froze. “Son-of-bit--, Billy.” She glared at him.

  “Uh, Susan, right?” Billy said.

  “Zoé,” she said coldly. She gave Jace a disgusted look. “He’s your friend?”

  Jace squinted at her, his brain a blur. “Him?”

  “Yeah, stud. The guy about to get in the booth with you.”

  “Nah, we work togeth
er.”

  She turned to Billy.

  He grinned at her. “That’s me. A working stiff.”

  She glanced at Jace. “I’ll get your tab,” and furiously turned.

  “Wait a minute,” Billy said. “I want to place an order.” He gave Jasmine a small shove into the booth and settled next to her.

  Zoé returned and stood rigidly at the table.

  Jace eyed her, eyed Billy, back to Zoé. “You know him?”

  “We’ve met.” Her lips formed a rigid line.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Me, too,” she replied, her pretty face stony. “What do you want?”

  “Hold up a sec.” Billy gestured to someone across the room. “We have another joining us.”

  A short, lithe blond woman staggered unevenly across the floor. The walk looked practiced, meant to magnetize all eyes in her direction. She seemed to have downed a few, though, making Jace smirk.

  When she stood at the low-backed booth, her eyes widened at Jace. “Well, hello. You didn’t say he’d be this handsome.” She slid in next to Jace, uninvited. “I’m Simone.”

  “Meet your new girlfriend,” Billy said. “We met her in the back.”

  “When you finally emerged from the ladies room,” the woman said in a sultry voice. “Looking very pleased with yourselves.” She dabbed at her glossy pink lips. “Just like we will soon.” She turned her gaze toward Jace.

  Her sour, boozy breath reached his nose, making him recoil.

  Zoé’s face assumed the countenance of a soldier. “Your order?”

  “Another beer for me, a dirty martini for my girlfriend, another rum and Coke for my buddy…”

  “I’m good,” Jace said, holding his palm over his full glass.

  “Another rum and Coke for my boy,” Billy said, frowning, “And Simone?”

  “I’ll have what he’s having,” she said, scooting closer to Jace. He tried to push away, but bumped against the wall. Simone placed her hand on his thigh and began stroking. His body responded as her unwelcome, sharp fingernails dug into his jeans. Shit. He plucked her hand from his leg and placed it in her lap. She wriggled her skirt up, grabbed his hand, and placed it in the hot crevice between her legs.