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There’s just something about this woman that makes her seem like a fragile little thing instead of a ball-buster that could easily rip my twisted heart right in two.
The girl in question pops her head out around the door jamb and eyes me expectantly, the blue of her eyes holding a question that I can’t answer. I don’t even know if I know the answer.
“I’m coming, baby girl.”
She flushes and I swear her pupils dilate and I groan under my breath. The one thing that’s saving the both of us right now is that she seemed oblivious to what’s going on with me. If she goes and looks at me like that again, with desire and a question in her eyes, all hell is gonna break loose and it’s gonna take a Christmas miracle to keep me from stalking across this room and slamming her up against the first available horizontal,..hell, maybe vertical surface. I don’t fucking care. I just want her.
And that look on her pretty face, the way her pink lips part on a gasp? That look says she wants me too. Even if she’s not entirely sure that she wants to.
Both of the guys chuckle and Teach, called that because of Blackbeard the pirate, not because he’s a fucking English teacher or something although I have heard rumors that he was a professor at one time. Now though? He gets his hands dirty just like the fucking rest of us.
He does have a way with words when he grunts and eyes me uncertainly. “She doesn’t look like she’s fixing to run away, boss.”
“Trust me. She’s a fucking runaway. I think she’s been running for awhile. She said she’s only stopping to make a little money and then she’s on her way again.”
“You better keep a close watch on her then, boss. Because you could find yourself wanting more than just an hour or two with a sweet little thing like that. I don’t want to watch you get ripped apart again.”
Me neither. I don’t want to race down that broken, dark road in my mind and find myself lost in the darkness again.
Addie cocks a brow at me like she’s waiting and I sigh, glaring at them. “Get back to work, motherfuckers. I can deal with Addie. Nothing’s gonna happen. She’s too young.” Too sweet, too innocent and too scared.
My dick jumps in my pants and I snarl under my breath, stalking after her. Apparently that particular combination is like catnip to my fucking dick.
Too bad. Although she’s be fucking magic between the sheets, I can’t risk what would happen to me if she disappeared.
And I have a feeling her tiny little foot, attached to her curvy, smooth legs and haunting body are already halfway out the door.
“Let’s hope you can make some sense out of this mess, baby girl.” She flushes again and I ruthlessly push down the desire curling through me. That way leads madness and I’m never going there again.
CHAPTER5
Adeline
It’s been three days since I got to Christmas Falls and strangely every day since to be falling into a peaceful rhythm. I’ve never been happier and more at ease than I am with Petrol. Big, scary and mean-looking he might be but he’s also got a soft spot that makes me want to hug him.
There’s a stray puppy that sneaks around out back looking for handouts and his easiest target is Petrol. I’ve walked out the door more times than I can count to find him feeding big pieces of his sandwich to the mutt. I even stood in the doorway the second day because Petrol was talking to the pitiful animal like it was going to answer him back.
“Well, what do you think, buddy? Good sandwich?” His conversational skills are sometimes lacking. Also…he’s trying to talk to a dog. As far as I can tell, they never seem to hold up their end of the conversation.
I’m not sure though since my stepfather was dead-set on no animals in the house. Or anywhere he was at. Probably because he hated thinking something else might get some of the damn attention he craved like a fucking drug.
My lips twist and my stomach roils. I hate thinking about that bastard. By rights, I should never have to see that man again. If only I was a little more assertive and could tell anyone no.
“Uh-hum.” I shake myself out of stupidly painful thoughts to find Petrol’s big, hulking body in the doorway. He stalks into the painfully small room and it feels like I can’t breathe. The walls are closing in on me. His scent wraps around me and twists my gut into knots. My lower belly feels like I’m on a roller coaster and I’m plummeting to the ground. I push those feelings down and struggle to concentrate on what he’s saying.
“What are you thinking about there, Addie?” His crystal-green eyes lock on me and it’s like I’m lost in a forest of spring green, lost and completely hypnotized.
“Nothing,” I say, looking away from the skeptical look in his gaze.
“Yeah,” he grunts and I know he doesn’t believe me. He’s just being nice, acting interested and he doesn’t really care. If he did, he’d say more.
But that’s what I want, right? Stay out of his crosshairs and make myself as invisible as possible until I can disappear up the road.
I turn away and shuffle the papers on the desk. The job that Petrol needs is basically a decent secretary. File this, call that. Easy work. And he’s paying me very handsomely for it. The man must be desperate.
“Hey, Petrol? That guy with the vintage mustang that needs a new alternator is out front. He’s waiting to talk to you.” Teach stalks into the room and then his dark brow lifts as his gaze hits each of us in turn. “You guys alright? It’s like somebody died in here.”
My lip twitches as Petrol turns to glare at the man. “Nobody died, asshole. We’re trying to have a conversation and you butted your big nose in like you always do.” He growls and strides out the door, muttering under his breath.
