“How’s the ass?”
I gently eased away from him and licked my lips. Seemed like they were always dry around the three men who’d blown into my life like a summer storm.
“Um, fine?”
He stood over me, his eyes hard as they roamed my face and body.
“If you aren’t sure I could take a look.”
I let out an embarrassing squeak.
“No! No, it’s okay. I’m good. T-thank you, though.”
He grinned and it turned his hard face into something Hollywood would’ve loved for their next biker show. Move over Charlie Hunnam.
“The offer stands. Come on. I’ll walk back with you. Theo and Charlie slipped into the woods together.”
I looked around and sure enough, the two had vanished.
“How do they do that?”
“Not my secrets to tell, Angel.” He rested his hand between my shoulder blades and eased me along. “Thoughts or concerns so far?”
Besides the huge ones I had about working for them?
“Where’s your little girl? Theo said she’s three?”
“Lee. She was with the temp nanny when you screamed. She’s been fighting a cold and has been sleeping in for a change.” He kept his voice light but I could hear an edge of concern.
“Kids are so resilient. I can’t wait to meet her. If I get the job, I mean.”
“You’re fucking with me. You think after that display that you don’t already have the job?”
I looked up at him and shrugged. Not wanting to focus on the details of the job before I had to, I smiled up at him.
“You named your daughter after yourself? Leon and Lee?”
He didn’t smile back. If anything, he looked more sour than ever.
“She’s my sister’s kid. I’ve raised her since she was born but my sister stuck her with my name before she split. It’s technically Leona, though.”
Two out of the three scary tough men were raising kids that weren’t theirs. My heart couldn’t help but swell.
“That’s a really brave and kind thing you did, Leon. I absolutely love kids and want a football team of my own some day, but taking on a child is still intimidating to me.”
He didn’t say anything more and I trudged along, my unease coming back more and more with each step. What if they hated me and didn’t want to hire me? Even if they did want to hire me, what if they hated me? Had I upset him by talking about Lee?
While I worked myself into a tizzy I kept stealing glances at him. Some of the men my mom would run off with looked similar, with the untamed hair and long beard. The sides and back of his head were buzzed short but the rest was wild. He looked like he’d never followed a single rule in his life. The thing that set him apart from the men I remember being with my mom was his hazel eyes and alarming good looks. Even through the beard there was no hiding just how attractive he was. Even with his questionable tattoos, there was no hiding it.
“Breathe, Angel.”
I realized the tightness in my chest was because my lungs were struggling to get oxygen. I sucked in a sharp breath and let out an awkward laugh.
“Sorry.”
“For what?” He stopped walking and looked down at me with a deep frown marring his oddly pretty lips. “What exactly are you sorry for?”
I reached for the collar of my shirt and rubbed it between my fingers.
