But there she was.
Again.
She walked right through the door of Olive’s. Her presence stampeded out in front of her. Consuming everything.
Agitation lit me up, singeing my skin.
Tonight, she looked like she’d just stepped off the runway with those long, long legs encased in a tight pair of black pants and super high heels. Chestnut hair, which was normally all mussed and heaped on her head, swished around her like the silky calm of a midnight river.
Fuck. Me.
I didn’t know if I liked her better like this or the total mess she normally was, the way she’d been earlier this afternoon when she’d stopped me in my tracks when I was in the middle of giving my crew instruction in front of Broderick Wolfe. No doubt, I looked like some kind of blundering idiot who couldn’t find words.
Tongue-tied.
That was because I was too busy letting my dick do the talking, the traitor perking up at the sight of her standing outside her grandma’s run-down, closed-up diner that had seen far better days.
Had taken Broderick calling me on it, all while wearing a knowing smirk on his face, before I’d snapped out of my stupor and had gotten back to the meeting.
Guessed I should have expected trouble the second I’d seen her outside Pepper’s Pies with Nikki and Lillith.
I would have been right.
Her face split into a grin when her sight landed on the two of them. They were sitting at the bar, drinking their frilly drinks and chatting like they did just about every Friday night.
From behind me, a hand suddenly clamped down on my shoulder.
I jumped like some kind of pussy.
Just fucking awesome.
Kale laughed. “Dude, why so jumpy?” He set a fresh beer in front of me and pulled out a chair. By the time he sat, he was all grins and amusement.
That was just Kale’s way. He had the ability to find the good in the moment, something light and easy and fun, even on a day like today.
“Did you start shit with one of those big fuckers and now you’re scared?” He wasn’t so discreet when he pointed at a couple of guys who looked like they’d probably rolled up on bikes and had rap sheets a few miles long. “Don’t tell me I’m going to have to step in and protect you.”
Leave it to Kale.
But that sure as hell wasn’t what had me on edge.
I shifted a bit so Rynna was off to my side and not directly in front of me, situating myself in a way that let me pretend she wasn’t there.
Pretended I couldn’t feel the heat radiating from that tight body.
Pretended that feeling didn’t exist. The one that left me restless.
Edgy.
Hungry for something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
I shot him a glare. “You wish, asshole. If anyone needs protecting, it’s you, standing around looking like a pretty boy. You’re just begging to get your ass kicked.”
He cracked up.
“Hey, someone wants to kick my ass? It’s only because they wish they were me. All the ladies love me.”
He smirked, slinging back a gulp of the dark liquid dancing in the rocks glass he clutched in his hand. Kale was the cockiest asshole around. It was a total mindfuck he still managed to have the biggest heart of them all.
