109
" I remained with Lark in the hospital room until Aaron arrived out of breath from running.
“My muse,” he said, taking her hand.
Leaving them alone to prepare for the surgery, I walked into the waiting room. Cooper patted the chair next to him and I joined him.
“She’ll be okay,” he said, sounding convincing.
I didn’t feel like talking, so I texted Dylan, Harlow, Mom, and Dad to let them know what was happening. Cooper spoke quietly on the phone with Farah who was on her way with Tawny.
First, Dick and Maryann arrived then Raven not long afterwards with Bailey.
“We were shopping when you called,” Bailey announced as Raven hurried to Lark’s room.
Joining her brother, Bailey tapped her foot and stared at the door. “How long will it take?”
“Patience,” Cooper muttered then returned to talking with Farah.
Bailey changed seats, so she was next to me. “Don’t be scared. Pixies are powerful creatures.”
Smiling softly, I took Bailey’s hand and waited. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Bulldog (Damaged, #6)
110
" I’m planning to go redneck chic with the wedding,” Maddy announced, looking through the racks of dresses.
“What the hell is that?”
“Redneck chic is a nice way of saying I have bad taste, but I’m embracing it.”
Sizing up Maddy’s blonde girl next door beauty, I found her dressed normal. “Bad taste how? Is this about Tucker because, yeah, I see it?”
Maddy rolled her blue eyes then walked to the next rack. “Tucker is gorgeous. He’s the classiest part of my life.”
Nearby, Raven burst into laughter to the point of nearly pissing herself. I didn’t blame her since we’d all seen Tucker fall off chairs and struggle with push/ pull doors. Classy, he was not. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Dragon (Damaged, #5)
113
" Cooper grinned. “You should listen to me, man. After all, I’ve got a way with the ladies.”
When Judd said nothing, I realized he wasn’t even looking at Cooper. Everyone followed his gaze until we realized he was glaring at Mac.
Tucker laughed for the simple reason that he was hammered. Maddy rubbed his face and they started making out.
Bailey rolled her eyes. “What did Mac do? Should I kick his ass?”
Cooper patted his sister. “You could so take him too, midget.”
Nuzzling Judd, I ignored Cooper tugging my shirt as if to separate me from my man.
“I never liked him even a little bit.”
“You touched his arm.”
Bailey stepped closer and slapped Cooper’s hand off me. “Judd, the only way to make things right is to cut off Mac’s arm and feed it to our dogs.”
“Sounds about right,” Judd muttered, still glaring at Mac who moved around the large packed family room as if trying to dodge the eyes on him.
“Bailey,” I whispered, giving her the look.
“What I meant was that Tawny is all kinds of loyal and shit, so cutting off Mac’s arm, while fun, isn’t necessary. Trust your woman.”
“I do trust her,” Judd muttered. “I still want to stab Mac’s face.”
“Yeah, that takes me back,” Cooper said, grinning at Farah who frowned. Rolling his eyes, he sighed. “Trust your woman. You know, what the dipshit said.”
“Don’t call her a dipshit,” I told Cooper who glared down at me. “I’m not having a staring contest with you.”
“Cause you’d lose.”
“Farah,” I said and she wrapped her arms around Cooper who sighed.
Seeing a way to fix my other problem, I hugged Judd to me. As he looked down and grinned, I murmured, “Pay attention to me.”
Exhaling hard, Judd caressed my face. “Sorry, but that guy had your fingers on him. I feel like I should make an example of him, but I won’t. That wouldn’t be respectable.”
Bailey leaned in and whispered, “Are you training him too?”
“I’m training everyone,” I whispered back. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Knight (Damaged, #2)
114
" If you don’t make a move on Lark, I’m going to hook you two up. Don’t make me stoop to that shit, man. Bad enough I’m helping Tucker find a decent fuck for Bailey. I really don’t need to play matchmaker with you too.”
“I’ve got it handled.”
Cooper smirked. “Lark’s coming to your shop to get a tat fixed. You’re welcome for that.”
“What?” I muttered, frowning even if this idea interested me.
“She’s got a lame worm tat and needs it fixed. She works at that Denny’s and can’t afford it, so I said I would pay. I like paying for chicks to get nice tats. Makes me feel charitable.”
“It’s a worm?” I asked, wondering why Lark would have a fucking worm tattoo.
“Looks like one. I think it was supposed to be a butterfly. I can’t remember. Farah got all territorial and I about jizzed my pants.”
“Too much fucking info, man,” I said, emphasizing each word.
“Whatever. Just make sure you look your best when she shows up. I don’t want you scaring her away. She’s cute and available and I don’t want Vaughn messing with Lark. He’s trouble and will eat her alive.”
Even though I said nothing, Cooper started laughing. “You’re jealous.” Exhaling hard, I flipped him off again, but he just kept laughing. “Yeah, well, you better get that girl or I might set her up with someone from the club. Judd still gets weird around Mac. Need to get him a woman so Judd won’t kill him on accident one day,” Cooper said, air quoting “accident.”
Leaning back, I doodled on my napkin until I realized I was drawing Lark again. Cooper didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy frowning at his phone.
“Problem?”
“More shit from the Devils. They’re pushing and we’ll need to push back. Might need to call someone in to go to Tucson to handle the problem at the top.”
“Someone?”
“Don’t you worry. Business shit.”
“Now, you’re secretive. Where was this when you were talking about jazzing your pants. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Cobra (Damaged, #3)
116
" What the fuck was that about?” Vaughn said, standing over me.
“I pissed him off.”
Dark blue eyes flicking to the restroom, Vaughn reached back and scratched at his shoulder. “All I know is when Judd came back from Texas, he was all hollowed out. Like a ghost, I guess. This morning before his bitch fit, he looked alive again. Whatever you said or did, can’t be that big a deal compared to the shit mood he’s been in lately.”
Glancing at the restroom, I wanted to go back to before I said the words. My honesty ruined our happy morning.
“You can’t take it personally,” Vaughn added when I just stared at the restroom. “You know how moody Judd is. Always crying and bitching about something. A freaking drama queen.”
Grinning, I looked up at him. “Thank you.”
“Men like us aren’t used to pretty girls looking at them like you look at Judd. He’s not sure what to do with you and you’re just gonna have to be patient while he figures shit out.”
“Okay,” I said, studied him. Whereas Judd hid a deep sorrow and iced heart behind his walls, I sensed Vaughn concealed a barely contained rage. He smiled easily enough, but it was a ruse. Just like Judd who acted like the world didn’t touch him, Vaughn faked his exterior to avoid showing anything to the world.
“Why do they call you Outlaw?” I asked.
Vaughn sighed. “Because it’s better than calling me dead man walking.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to, darlin. The drama queen returns.”
When Judd appeared next to me, his expression was unreadable while kissing me softly. When he pulled away, his gaze flickered to Vaughn. “Thanks.”
“You are so premenstrual sometimes.”
Grinning, Judd sat down across from me then glanced at Vaughn. “Fuck off.”
Vaughn leaned his hip against the side of the booth and sized me up. “What is it about the Smith sisters that makes otherwise strong men lose their balls?”
“I have no idea and I’m out of sisters, so I guess you’re out of luck.”
“Thank the Lord too. I like my balls attached. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Knight (Damaged, #2)
117
" If you die, I’m dating your corpse.”
“I’m being cremated.”
“I’ll date your urn.”
“My urn already has a boyfriend. They’re really serious too.”
Cooper laughed against my neck then wrapped himself around my waist, swallowing me up with his warm embrace. “My pop has my mom’s name on his wrist,” Cooper whispered against my cheek. “Underneath, he has my name along with the lesser crap kids he got stuck with.”
“I’m in college,” I blurted out.
“Yeah, I remember you mentioning that.”
“Tattoos. Kids. Dating my corpse. Seems serious.”
Leaning back, Cooper adjusted me so I rested against his chest. “I always planned to settle down when I was an old fart like my pop. Meet some cute piece of jailbait and make a few bad seeds plus one decent kid I could trust with the family business. Instead, here I am not even done with college with a tattoo of my girl’s name on my wrist.”
“You could change your mind.”
“I won’t. You’re a keeper.”
“I could change my mind,” I said, wiggling my brows at him.
“Who would you replace me with? Seriously, look around and see what shit pickings you have to choose from. I’m the best you’ll ever do, baby.”
“You are pretty sexy. Tall too. Yeah, I can see keeping you around.”
A grinning Cooper glanced at Aaron. “I’m so whipped.”
“It’s pretty nauseating, yeah. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
118
" You shouldn’t call girls bitches.”
“That chick is a bitch. I don’t need to know her to know that much. The way she was looking at you the first night was like she wanted to kill you because you took her table. Who gets that pissed off about a fucking table?”
“She probably needs the tips.”
“So you like everyone, huh? Is your nickname doormat?”
Crossing my arms again, I stared at the television and planned to ignore him. Except he was in my home, on my couch, and playing with my hair.
“Screw you,” I said, smacking his hand away. “You’re rich and people kiss your ass. Great for you, but I’m not rich and I have to get along with people. I have to take shit from people to keep my job and make enough money to go to school. So screw you for thinking I’m a doormat because I didn’t punch Piper for giving me dirty looks.”
Cooper very deliberately reached out and wrapped a lock of my hair around his fingers. All the while, he held my gaze, daring me to stop him.
“I get it,” I said quietly. “What I want doesn’t matter. I bow to your superiority. Should we just fuck now so you can forget my name like your brother said?”
“My brother is a turd. I told you that,” Cooper said, taking one of my legs and resting it over his thighs. “Don’t be so pissy. I just want you to admit you like me.”
“Fine, I like you.”
“Yeah, I know, but thanks for being honest. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
119
" Tommy continued to leer at me like he often did through the curtains while promising to make me squeal. I didn’t think he would give up his prize with just one guy standing in his way.
Even moving fast, Tommy never stood a chance. Judd effortlessly grabbed the freak and slammed his head against the SUV hood. The first impact shattered Tommy’s nose while the second strike splashed blood across the windshield. Tossing him to the ground, Judd yanked out a gun and used its butt to bash Tommy across the head.
When Tommy’s friends moved to help him, Judd pointed the gun at them. “Fuck off.”
“You don’t know who you’re messing with,” said one of the guys.
“I know enough to be sure if I blew this fucker’s head off, you’d dump him in a ditch somewhere instead of calling the cops. Now, either I’m dropping all four of you or I let you walk away. How loyal are you fucks?”
Apparently not very loyal, they backed away quickly. Judd held Tommy by the back of his jacket and hit him again and again until the freak who terrorized me for weeks hung limply. Dropping him on the ground, Judd stomped hard on Tommy’s groin. Finally, he wiped the bloody gun handle on Tommy’s jeans before returning the weapon to his jacket.
Walking leisurely around the SUV, Judd joined me inside. He said nothing while using the wipers to remove the blood from the windshield. Despite the violence, Judd looked bored. Hell, he wasn't even winded.
As we pulled away from the motel, I couldn’t take my eyes off Judd. He was both my handsome knight in shining armor and the scariest motherfucker I’d ever seen. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Knight (Damaged, #2)
120
" Cooper’s dark eyes studied my face then he smiled. “I really am crazy about you. Let me make it up to you.”
“What about Nick?” I asked, daring him to freak out again.
His jaw twitching, Cooper shrugged. “He’s a guy. He gets it. In fact, I think he’s hot for one of those giggly blondes in class. Shar, I think is the one. No need for me or anyone else to care about old Nick.”
“So I can study with him?”
Cooper narrowed his eyes and exhaled hard. “Why him?”
“He’s in a bunch of my classes and he takes great notes.”
“Great notes? Is that code?”
“I waited all day to see you, Coop,” I said, placing my hand on his chest where I knew the cross was hiding under his white tee. “I missed you then you ruined everything by focusing on him. Will you keep doing that? I need you to focus on me.”
“You want me, right? Not him.”
“I want you so much, but I think it’s a mistake. You obviously don’t trust me.”
“Don’t make it about trust. It’s not even about you.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, removing my hand.
Cooper looked ready to grab my hand and return it to his chest. I saw him fight the urge then he forced a smile. A really fake smile that never reached his eyes.
“It’s about me. It’s about my feeling like someone is trying to take away what I need. You aren’t doing anything. I just can’t have a man sniffing around my girl.”
“He’s not sniffing around me.”
“Don’t be naïve.”
“You said he liked Shar.”
“Why do you care who he likes?”
Backing away, I sighed. “I’m taking the bus home.”
“No, wait,” he said, wrapping his arms around me as I retreated. “Look, I’m jealous. That’s not a bad thing, is it? If you saw me with some chick, wouldn’t you be jealous?”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t freak out and scare everyone.”
“That’s because you’re classy. I was raised to be a caveman though. I should get credit for not taking you by the hair and dragging you back to my cave. You know, after clubbing your boyfriend to death first.”
“You’re nuts.”
“I’m teasing you.”
“Not completely,” I said, staring at him in horror.
“No, not completely. Well, I’m not kidding about clubbing him to death, but I’d never drag you back to my cave. Me want woman to want it bad. "
― Bijou Hunter , Damaged and the Beast (Damaged, #1)
