Then I pull Colton into the back door of the bar. As I'm looking for the first-aid kit, Colton paces around the room, fuming. I return with the kit and look at his bloody knuckles. "Is that your blood or his blood?" I ask carefully.
He glances down at his hands and shrugs. "Probably both," he answers.
I guide him over to the sink, and I wash his hands for him. The sound of his panting breaths fills the room, and I'm scared that Colton can go off the handle like that so easily. "What the hell did Grady say to you anyway?" I feel his hands tense up under my ministrations, and I regret asking the question. "Never mind. You don't have to tell me," I assure him.
After his hands are washed, I see that one of his knuckles is cut pretty badly. "Come over here." I guide him to a chair and push on his shoulders to make him sit. I hunker down and carefully clean his wound and wrap up his hand. I notice that Colton hasn't stopped staring at me the entire time. My eyes meet his, and we have our own little staring contest.
After a few minutes, Colton's other hand moves towards me, and I stop breathing. His palm touches my cheek, and I lean into his touch, closing my eyes, savoring the contact.
"You," Colton mutters, his voice hoarse.
My eyes snap open, and I stare at him in confusion. "What?"
"He was talkin' about your pie."
I narrow my eyes at him. He's upset over food? "What about my pies?"
"Not your pies, Penny. Yourpie," he says, and his dark gaze flickers down my body.
"Oh." My heart stutters. Colton, back in the day, would kick anyone's ass just for looking at me wrong. He was very protective, and some would say, namely my parents, that he was overly protective. Colt always made me feel safe when I was with him, though, like he would come between me and anything and everything in this world that ever threatened to cause me harm. And maybe I always kind of loved that he wanted me all for himself. That protectiveness made me feel wanted. "And what exactly did he say about my…pie?"
"Doesn't matter."
I stand up quickly, glaring down at him. "It doesn't matter? Of course it matters, Colt. You were beating the shit out of him over something he said. Tell me what he said!" I demand, stomping my foot to the concrete floor. Now I'm the angry one. "I'll kick the shit out of Grady myself!" I exclaim.
And then Colton does something I haven't seen him do in five years. He laughs. And it's not just a quiet chuckle. It's a loud, boisterous laugh that fills the entire room. He's laughing…at me. He's laughing at me!
Furious, I step back and snap the first-aid kit shut. "You think I couldn't take him?" I ask seriously. And then a grin slowly breaks out on my face as I realize what I'm saying. I guess it is pretty funny to picture me, five-foot-three Penny Preston, up against six-feet tall Grady Parrish.
Colton stops laughing and smiles up at me. "I think you could." He stands and stalks over to me. His palm returns to my cheek, and, damn it, if I don't want it to stay there forever. "You're quite the little firecracker when you want to be," he says with amused eyes.
The old Colton did always call me a little firecracker, and, boy, did he love getting me riled up. That was our thing, though. We would fight. He would make me mad. And then we would make up. Hard. Everyone always said he liked to break up so we could make up. I think that was totally true.
Colton's thumb brushes over my bottom lip, and my breath hitches in the back of my throat. I gaze up at him, completely mesmerized and beguiled. He hasn't shown me any real affection since I returned to Willowbrook. Why now? I start to wonder if he hit his head during the fight.
And then his mouth is coming towards mine, and all thoughts and reasoning go right out the window. Our lips touch. At first, it's just a tiny spark…and then it's like an inferno igniting between us. Suddenly, he grabs me and pulls me hard against him, making me gasp, and he steals the opportunity to invade my mouth with his tongue. He tastes sweet like cinnamon and smells so damn good. I can't get enough of him.
My hands wrap around his neck, pulling him down to me as his hands explore my skin…and there'sa lotof skin to explore with this bikini. His touch feels so good that I find myself moaning into his mouth as his tongue tangles with mine, completely possessing me.
The door opens, and it kills the mood instantly. I quickly break the kiss and turn to see Buddy walking into the room. He always has the worst timing.
"There's a line for the dunk tank and ---." Buddy stops talking and stares slack-jawed at us in amusement.
Growling, Colton pulls away from me. "See somethin' you like, Buddy?"
Buddy leans against the counter and smiles a shit-eating grin. "Oh, yeah. I could watch you two all day." He chuckles and then says, "I wondered where the two of you disappeared to." Turning his attention to Colton, he says, "Someone just told me you beat the shit out of Grady Parrish."
"Yeah. So what if I did?"
Buddy suddenly grows very serious, the smile long gone from his face. "So what? This is a fuckin' fundraiser, Colt. You couldn't keep your hands to yourself for just one day?"
Colton looks to the floor as if embarrassed by what Buddy said. I begin to wonder if Colton gets in a lot of fights. He was always a make love, not war type of boy growing up. He would rather make peace with someone than fight. But maybe that's just another part of his personality that has changed since the accident.
"He was talkin' shit about Penny. So I shut him up."
Buddy's anger quickly recedes, and he nods in understanding. "Okay. Well, I can understand your reasonin' then. I would have beat his ass for doin' that too."
I'm positively beaming. I can't help it. It's nice to know that people will stick up for you when you need it. "I'm sorry about disappearing, Buddy. Colt broke his knuckle open, and I was just bandaging it up for him."
