Page 10 of Cash

And as much as I wanted to get back to my condo, as long as Stella was hanging around I was perfectly fine staying out on the farm. Which was nothing more than a training facility with an old farmhouse and some bunk houses in a small town on the eastern shore of Maryland.

“I hear that.”

I turned and took the stairs two at a time.

As soon as I hit the living room, I found two women facing off.

One pissed off, one looking like a scared jackrabbit.

Lore turned her glare on me. Penny was slower to turn and when she looked at me, she barely contained her flinch. In the short time I’d been in Penny Cox’s presence, I couldn’t get a read on her. One minute she was twitchy and nervous, the next she was fine, even going as far as showing she had a backbone. For whatever reason, Lore seemed to loathe her. The rest of the team liked her. Kira especially. I didn’t have an opinion mainly because she wouldn’t be around long enough for it to matter.

But the weird looks she gave me were getting tiresome. I was a lot of things, and one of them was honest—at least with myself—so I didn’t pretend not to notice the attention I got from women. I knew women liked what they saw when they looked at me. I knew they liked what they got from me when we hit the sheets even better. My conceit was founded in fact. Further, I knew shy women tended to be awkward. However, I was over the looks and flinching and stumbling every time Penny got near me.

I jerked my chin at Lore and asked, “Ready?”

She gave Penny one last scathing look. When she looked back at me, some of the scorn had bled out but there was still plenty of apprehension. It took only a second for Lore to clear trepidation and replace it with one of her stone-cold stares. I wanted to chase the unease, push it to my advantage until the Lore façade fell away. I liked Stella on her back foot. No, I fucking loved when the woman was backed into a corner and she unleashed that mouth of hers. I didn’t know for certain, but it was a good bet I’d like that sweet mouth better when it was wrapped around my cock instead of spewing attitude. Though I liked that too.

“Ready for what?” she rapped out.

“To take out the trash.”

Her lips tipped up. Not into a smile. A smirk. One that wasn’t only hot as fuck, but it made her look like the sexy villain from a James Bond flick.

“Oh, clean-up. My second favorite thing to do.”

I didn’t have to ask because I knew the first had to do with torturing a man. If it wasn’t a turn-on watching her work, it would’ve scared the fuck out of me. The chick was no joke when it came to interrogation.

“Um…Cash?” Penny called.

I heard Lore’s grunt of disapproval, which would’ve made me laugh if I wasn’t annoyed and in a hurry.

I was no less annoyed when instead of talking, Penny just stood there like I didn’t have better shit to do than have the woman stare at me.

“You need something, Penny?” I prompted.

She jolted like it wasn’t her who’d started the conversation.

Annoying.

“I…um… you’re busy now but later can we…um…talk?”

Good Christ. The stammering.

“Not to be a dick, but I got shit to do later. If it’s important, I’ve got five minutes before I gotta bounce.”

There was some worrying of her bottom lip, which I had to admit was cute. Shy and stammering did nothing for me. But some guys got off on that shit, and she was pretty enough she could work that and turn attention. Just not mine.

“How about tomorrow?” she pushed.

Lore made another disgruntled sound; this time it was more of a gurgling than a grunt but no less irritated.

“Sorry, Penny, I’m on the road first thing in the morning. Again, if this is important I can give you five minutes, but make your decision quick. I’ve got someplace I need to be.”

Some of the color leeched from her face. What she didn’t do was make her decision, so I made it for her. “How about this? If you’re still here when I get back, we’ll talk. If not, get my email from Kira.” When she didn’t so much as acknowledge my response, I looked back at Lore who’d inched her way toward the front door. “Let’s roll.”

Without a backward glance, I followed Lore out of the farmhouse.

“You up for a walk, or do you want to drive?” I asked.