A few guys were just coming toward me from there, obviously heading toward the front room, where they ate lunch when they were working here. But Charlie wasn’t in the group, and I hoped I’d catch the bastard off guard.
They all said hello, and I gave them a curt nod, because I was on a mission.
I stormed through the swinging door to the kitchen, and there he was, arms crossed over his chest, broad, muscled shoulders stretching against his white henley as he stared at the commercial refrigerator like he was about to ask it on a date. His gaze moved to me when I stepped inside, and I pulled my arm back like I was going to pitch a ball in the World Series and hurledthe foot-long sandwich of deli meat wrapped in homemade bread at his head. The bastard raised his hand on reflex and caught it.
I searched the area for something else to throw at him.
“Hey, hey,” he shouted, moving around the island across from me. “What the hell is going on?”
I saw a newspaper still rolled up with two elastic bands around it, so I chucked that at him, hitting him in the chest this time.
“You bastard!”
“I didn’t get back to you about the tile you want to change on the kitchen backsplash, because I need to see if it’s even in stock.” He set the sandwich down beside the newspaper now resting on the stainless steel island and stared at me.
“This isn’t about the freaking tile, you asshat!” I shouted.
“Asshat’s a new one. You haven’t called me that yet.” He smirked, and I wanted to wipe that smile right off his handsome face. “What did I do now, Firefly?”
Damn him with the cute nickname. Although it probably had some sort of offensive meaning, for all I knew.
His hair was a disheveled mess. Ocean-blue eyes locked with mine. He was enjoying this.
I stormed around the island, stopping in front of him. “Well, buckle up, buddy, because I have a slew of names for you.”
“How about you tell me what you’re so pissed off about first.”
“You don’t know?” I moved closer.
“I don’t know.”
“Charlie.”
“Violet,” he said, mimicking me.
“Does me being a virgin, saving myself for marriage, and holding out for five kids ring a bell?”
I saw it on his face the minute the words left my mouth. He winced. “Oh, that. I can explain.”
I shoved at his chest. “You can explain? I highly doubt that.”
“He was telling me that you’d agreed to go on a date with him tonight, and—he didn’t have your best intentions in mind.” He shrugged, wrapping his hands around my wrists to hold them still.
“Ah ... the womanizer didn’t have my best intentions in mind? What a shock.”
“You know he’s an asshole?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah, genius. Everyone knows he’s an asshole. We were never going on a date. I was buying a car from him this morning. But that did not happen after he proposed marriage and offered to take my virginity and allow me to birth his demon spawn.”
A wide grin spread across his face, and he chuckled. “All right. Well, he misled me a bit on that, and I was trying to help you out.”
“You were trying to help me out by telling the biggest perv in town that I’m a virgin waiting to be deflowered?” I yanked my arms away and stomped on his foot, because it was the only thing I could think of.
He yelped, and I turned on my heels to walk away, but he wrapped both of his big arms around my waist and held me still. My back to his front. “Will you just relax and let me explain?”
I wrestled to get out of his hold, but the man was strong, yet he managed to be gentle at the same time. I didn’t feel threatened or nervous, and I stopped fighting him.
“Fine,” I huffed. “Let me go, and I’ll listen to what you have to say.”
