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He watched her walk to the large window and look out. God, she was beautiful.
“I didn’t see you yesterday or Sunday.” She glanced over her shoulder.
“I had to cover a route for one of the guys,” he explained, but was struck with a heat building in his chest. “Were ya looking?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
She shrugged and walked toward his desk. “Thought maybe you were avoiding me ’cause of the other night. I hope I didn’t make it awkward.” She slipped her hands in her back pockets and shrugged her shoulders up to her ears. “I just really wanted to kiss you.”
Her admission knocked some air from his lungs. While her honesty was refreshing, it was unfamiliar territory for him. He’d come to find most women were mastermind liars.
“Did ya hear me complain?”
“No, but I thought you’d come by my place after, and you didn’t.”
He’d yet to have a conversation where he wasn’t surprised by something she said. This one was no different. He rested his arms on his desk, folding his hands. Her gaze drew down to his arms and scanned over his tattoos.
“You wanted to finish what you started?”
She peeked up through her lashes with a playful gleam in her eyes. “Didn’t you?”
Fuck yeah.
She flattened her lips together and remained silent, but he could read her heated gaze. The attraction was mutual. His vision immediately went to her sprawled out over his desk. It had been a long time since he’d met a woman he wanted and didn’t have.
“Busy, huh?”
He snorted. “I’m always busy.”
“So, you own this company with Kase?”
Caden froze, and he clenched his jaw. He ground his teeth with such force his molars shifted. It wasn’t her fault, she was asking a simple question. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a simple answer. Until a few months ago, he was the sole owner of the trucking company. He started it from nothing years ago and busted his ass to make it something. And he had, for a while. Then shit got real, expenses added up, and he took on his dad and his medical bills. He was barely keeping their heads above water. When the partnership with Kase and the club was offered, he had no choice but to take it or close a business he worked so hard for.
Marissa had no way of knowing it was a sore subject for him. But it angered him all the same. Cade glanced up, and his face hardened through the silence. It may have been irrational and unfair, but she was pissing him off with the reminder that he couldn’t handle shit without his brother coming in and saving his ass.
“I got shit to do.” He reached for a purchase order and stood.
It was a dismissal.
“I thought maybe we could have lunch or something.” Her bottom lip quivered. “My treat this time.”
He eyed her, wondering what angle she was using. He’d been around plenty of women who showed their cards too early, and it was easy to end shit before they slithered their way in. With Marissa, he didn’t fucking know. She shifted on her feet but kept her stare on him. She blinked a lot, which seemed to be a nervous reaction. Fuck. More than anything, he wanted to have lunch with her.
Shut this down.
“No.”
He watched her face falter and her lips angle into a small frown. She hadn’t moved, and he figured she was waiting on an excuse. He wasn’t going to give her one. An excuse would give her hope, and there was none when it came to her and him.
“All right,” she whispered, turning slowly and walking to the stairs. She grabbed the banister and stepped down but stopped to glance over her shoulder. “Bye, Caden.” She descended down the stairs until she disappeared out of sight.
He gripped his hips and muttered a curse, his regret settling in.
Chapter Seven
It was dusk when she ventured out into the lot. Most of the cars there earlier were long gone. She walked past the main building and office and rounded the smaller garage off to the side. The lights were off, and it was obvious no one was there. Marissa bit her lip and walked closer. She peered through the glass. Two cars were parked in the center. A black small-sized pickup and her car. From where she was standing, she couldn’t tell if the roof was up or not.
