“I’d be more impressed if he’d accomplished all that on his own,” he scoffed while waving a dismissive hand. “Given he was born with a silver spoon stickin’ straight out of his mouth, it’s a smidge less admirable.”
“Oooh.” The pulse in her neck beat fast in fury. “Why do you hate Charlie so much? Is it because he makes the world a better place through acts of charity instead of acts of violence?”
Like you.
She didn’t say those last two words.
He heard them, nonetheless.
The truth was, he’d have traded places with Charles McClean in an instant. To have been raised by a powerful father who supported all his dreams and aspirations instead of an abusive asshole who’d ignored him in the best of times and emotionally and verbally abused him in the worst? To have been given the choice on what he wanted to do with his life instead of being forced into military service because the only other options for making a living in Nowhere, Louisianna, had been cooking meth or dealing cards on the riverboat casino?
To have Eliza?
To have beenworthyof her?
He said none of this, of course. Instead, he barked a laugh that rang with cynicism. “That’s a mighty high pedestal ya got him on, doll face. Careful. If he ever loses his balance, the fall will be long and the landin’ will be hard.”
“Annnnddd, I’m out.” Having decided he wanted no part in their sparring, Britt vamoosed himself toward the back of the shop and busied himself with the V-twin engine sitting atop a bike lift.
When Fisher turned back from watching his best friend’s cowardly retreat, it was to find Eliza’s gaze still hard and cold on his face. The air around her seemed to vibrate with animosity.
It was sexy.
Shewas sexy.
But, more than that, she was smart and funny and kind, and helikedher. Like,likedher liked her. And it rankled more than he’d ever willingly admit that she’d never given him the time of day.
Well…that wasn’t exactly true. There’d been a brief moment when he’d thought…maybe. But no.
“What makes you so sure he’ll fall off?” she demanded. “Some people have no trouble balancing on those high pedestals because theybelongup there. Also”—a muscle ticked in her jaw—“stop calling me doll face. You know I hate it.”
Ignoring that last bit, he cocked his head and regarded her. “They always fall off. In the end.”
“Sounds like projection to me.” She bared her teeth in a snarl just as Peanut, the fat, notch-eared tomcat who was part mascot and part benevolent ruler at Black Knights Inc. padded over and began making figure eights around her bare ankles.
The act of rubbing his chubby body and crooked tail against her skin had the cat’s motor turning over. And his purr was loud enough to compete with the rumbling engines of the custom bikes lined up like chrome-coated soldiers behind Fisher.
I get it, he thought.I’d be purring too if I was lucky enough to be touching her.
He’d purr. And then he’d growl. And then he’d sink his teeth into?—
“Is that why you can’t keep a woman around for more than a few days?” She ignored Peanut’s antics. “Because you so quickly disabuse them of any misplaced notions you might actually want them for more than what they can offer you in the bedroom?”
She was baiting him. He knew it as surely as he knew those cliched stories about the rich girl falling for the guy from the wrong side of the tracks were only true in low-budget rom-coms and cheesy romance novels.
“Why would I care about findin’ Mrs. Right when there are so many Miss Right Nows eager to take a ride on?—”
“Stop.” She lifted her hand, palm-out. For a brief moment their wills clashed right along with their eyes. Then her combative expression dissolved into one of weariness. “If all our conversations are going to end with us getting angry at each other, I think it’s best if we stop talking altogether.”
As much as he hated what’d become of their interactions, the thought of not talking to her at all filled him with sadness. And…fear?
But that was silly. How could he be afraid to lose something he’d never had to begin with?
“Easier said than done seein’ as how we live and work together.” He gestured around the old factory with its three-story ceiling, line of gleaming custom-made Harleys, and wide garage doors that they threw open when the weather was nice.
“It’s a big space,” she countered. “Plenty of room to avoid each other.” With a saccharin smile that didn’t reach her eyes, she added, “Let’s start now.”
Before he could get in another word, she bent to give Peanut’s whiskered cheek a scratch. It was enough to have the cat’s yellow eyes rolling back in his head. Then she straightened and breezed by him, heading for the front door.
