Page 27 of King of Temptation

It was entirely unfair that his words should have her pussy contracting, as if remembering the pleasure he’d given her. Just as she was about to tell him, again, to fuck off, the bells above the door rang again and a smiling customer stepped inside.

Unwilling to make a scene and potentially harm Boone’s business, she once again forced a smile. “Fine. We’re together.”

Clearly Boone didn’t want to cause any issues with his new customer either, because he nodded. “All right. What else can I get you folks?”

“A slice of each Purgatory Roll you have and a large coffee. Black.”

“Coming right up.” Glancing back over his shoulder, Boone let out a sharp whistle and a moment later the door behind him swung open and Silk stepped out, his usual easy smile on his face.

That smile brightened considerably when he spotted Goldie, then dimmed again when his gaze shifted to Brody. “Morning, Austen. I see you brought another… friend.”

All right, that was the final straw. She was officially going to have to find a new place to get her coffee and pastry fix in the morning. Maybe Charleston Brews. They didn’t have donuts, but she enjoyed their coffee. Oh, except Killian apparently had business meetings there.

Ugh.

Two months ago, she’d never laid eyes on an O’Rourke. Now she couldn’t go five minutes without running into one.

Fuck my life.

“Yup,” she answered Silk through teeth she hadn’t managed to unclench. “Apparently I’m very popular.”

Silk grinned and winked as he tied a black apron around his waist. “Damn right you are.” Shifting his attention to the customer behind them in line, Silk went through the motions of asking what they wanted, but it didn’t escape Goldie’s notice that his gaze kept sliding toward her and Brody as he worked.

Deliberately ignoring all of them, she sipped her coffee and prayed the caffeine would hit sooner rather than later. Finally, after what felt like hours, Boone had boxed up Brody’s order and poured his coffee. With another of those smug little smiles, Brody tapped his card against the reader and⁠—

Declined.

Well, that was interesting.

Frowning, Brody tried the transaction again, and again it declined. “Weird,” he muttered, but as he was tucking his card back in his wallet, Goldie saw her opening. Pulling up the virtual wallet on her phone, she tapped it against the machine and sent him a smug smile of her own.

The transaction went through immediately, and Brody’s expression darkened even further as she took her receipt from Boone and said her goodbyes. Stepping out onto the sidewalk, she turned toward her apartment without bothering to say another word to her shadow.

Unfortunately for her, that didn’t seem to deter Brody. He simply fell in step beside her, walking in silence as if they were simply friends enjoying a nice stroll together.

With every step, the silence grew heavier and her anger grew hotter. Until, at last, she couldn’t stand it a second longer and she stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. Whirling to face him, she jabbed a finger into his chest, her donut bumping against his perfectly pressed suit jacket.

“What the fuck is your problem?”

One ruddy eyebrow raised slowly as he lifted his cup to sip at his coffee. “Seems like you’re the one with a problem, menace.”

“You know what I mean, O’Rourke. Why are you stalking me?”

“I wanted to check on you.”

He didn’t, she noticed, bother to deny the stalking accusation. And dammit if her heart didn’t trip in her chest at his response. “I’m fine. You can go now.”

“Are you?”

Swallowing down a scream, she dragged air through her nose. “Yes. Now please go.”

“My mama taught me to always walk a lady to her door.”

“Oh, really? What did she say about ghosting a lady after you spank her and finger-fuck her to oblivion?”

Amusement flickered across his face. “Oddly enough, that never came up.”

“You are impossible.”