CHAPTER FOUR
As soon as the limo was first sideswiped, Mick reached over and grabbed Roz from her seat across from him, placed her on his lap with his arm around her stomach so tightly that it hurt, and braced for impact. The limo careened out of control and slammed into the brick wall so hard that it nearly jarred Roz off of Mick’s lap. It was a hard frontal hit, mangling the hood, but it had little impact in the back.
Roz was so thrown by the sudden turn of events that she could hear her heartbeat racing. She looked at Mick, who held his arm around her as if she were his baby. He was already staring at her. “Are you okay?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I think so.”
Mick looked at Deuce. He was unbuckling his seatbelt and preparing to get out of the vehicle. Mick pressed the intercom button. “Deuce?”
Deuce pressed the response button. “I’m alright, boss. I’ll check it out.”
Mick continued to hold Roz. But at the same time, unbeknownst to her, he pressed a button and pulled a loaded gun out of a side panel beneath the limo’s door handle. He held the gun at his side, out of view.
But unlike Mick, who wasn’t certain if this was an accident after all, Roz had more inward concerns. She was at war with her own emotions once again. They had just been in a car crash. A crash that could have gone terribly wrong. But here she was feeling like a little princess in Mick’s big arms. And she loved the feeling! And the way he grabbed her so decisively, as if he was making the statement that if anybody was going to get hurt, it wasn’t going to be her. After their rocky beginning, she was surprised by such a strong move and such a strong, unspoken statement. It disturbed and pleased her all at the same time.
Mick was disturbed too. Not so much by the accident, although he was holding his gun and keeping his eye on the man who had hit them. The guy was out of his car, seemingly apologizing to Deuce, as Mick’s eyes glanced around to make sure it was no set up. He saw nothing suspicious, and was grateful for that. But what disturbed him more was his reaction to Rosalind. As soon as he felt that hit, his heart hammered at the thought of her being injured. He grabbed her so fast he nearly tore a muscle. And now that he had her close to him, he felt an even stronger emotion. That connection he had felt the first time he saw her had returned, as if there was a string that was binding them together. But it disturbed him mightily because he wasn’t at all sure if he wanted that kind of bond.
What was even more remarkable was the fact that he was beginning to get an erection. In the middle of a car crash, and he was getting a fucking erection! What the fuck was wrong with him? He was no sex starved teenager! But there it was. He was rock hard and well aware of every inch of her tight ass on his lap.
That fact wasn’t lost on Roz either. She could feel that hardness beneath her as if she was sitting on a steel rod. If she were to remind herself about his earlier proposition that so offended her, now would be the time for her to get off his lap and put an end to this once and for all. And if he hadn’t grabbed her, and protected her from what could have been harm, she would have quickly done just that. She never cared for guys whose only attraction to her was her body. But Mick had protected her. He had looked out for her. She remained right where she sat.
But when Deuce came to the window and Mick was about to press the button to roll it down, Roz’s attention turned from Mick’s arousal to what she saw in her periphery. It looked like a gun at his side. When she realized it was indeed a gun, she looked at him with concern in her expressive eyes. “Is that a gun?” she asked.
Mick looked at her. He would have preferred that she hadn’t seen it, but it was too late now. “Yes,”
Roz had heard about white boys and their need to always have a gun handy, but she’d never seen it this up close before. It was a mentality she didn’t understand. “Why would you pull out a gun at a car wreck?”
Mick attempted to smile and play it off. “To protect you,” he said.
But when she didn’t bite, when she remained serious, he got serious too. “You can never be too careful,” he said, and then pressed the button that allowed the window to roll down.
Deuce had the umbrella unfurled to cover him from the still hard rain. “The police are on the way, sir. But there shouldn’t be any problems. The guy is accepting all blame.”
Mick was pleased to hear that. “Anybody hurt?”
“No one. Thank God.”
“We will have to be towed, yes?”
Deuce nodded. “I’m afraid so, yes, sir. I’ll call for a backup car, but that could take some time. I don’t know what you want to do. I can hail a cab if you like.”
Mick looked at Roz. “How were you planning to get home before we happened upon you?”
“The Subway,” she said.