Beneath These Scars (Beneath #4)(25)

“Jumpy?”

I pressed a hand to my pounding heart and sucked in a breath as I ignored his question. “If you’re here for round two, you might as well turn around and walk your ass right back out the door.”

I had no idea where those particular words came from, and immediately wanted to snatch them back. I was supposed to be pretending last night had never happened.

His green eyes lit with something, and I absolutely did not want it to be a challenge. No. Hell no.

“I dare you to lock that door and flip the sign to closed. I’ll take you right here.” He nodded to where I stood at the counter behind the register, and his voice lowered to a husky growl. “I’ll bend you over just like I did in my kitchen.”

The words sent ripples of heat through me, and my nipples hardened against the thin cups of my bra. He was going to see them; he wouldn’t be able to miss them.

I held his stare, not wanting him to see how easily my body responded to him. “Never gonna happen.”

“For every time you tell me never, I’m going to make you beg longer to come the next time I have you.”

“Go to hell,” I spat out, hating that my inner muscles clenched, the ones I could still feel him pounding into. I’d been so right; the man was dangerous.

His eyes dropped for a beat as his smile darkened. “I’ve been there, and it’s not pleasant. I think I’d prefer to stay here and see how much harder I can make those pouty little nipples of yours.”

So much for him not noticing. I needed to put a stop to this conversation right now.

“What do you want, Titan? I’ve got a shop to run.”

As if he’d flipped a switch on his entire demeanor, he stiffened and the heat drained from his eyes. “The garage called me. They forgot to clear the codes on your car, so I’m guessing your service lights are on.”

What? “Um, I didn’t notice. Maybe?”

This time his smile was very male and very patronizing. Before he could say anything further—and I could tell him to shove his patronizing smile up his ass—the door opened and a group of five women entered the store.

Shit. Tourists. A necessary evil.

Instantly they started crowing over finds, their grabby hands messing up my displays. I should have been thrilled about their excitement, but today I just wasn’t in the mood, not when I was manning the place all alone.

“I have to help them.”

Titan nodded as if dismissing me. The dick. “Do what you need to do.”

I slipped out from behind the counter and sidestepped him, not willing to get any closer than absolutely necessary because my body couldn’t be trusted around the man. With that in mind, I decided the tourists were not a necessary evil, but rather a sign of divine intervention.

They fired questions at me and I scurried around, answering them and hauling clothes to the fitting room. Ten minutes later, Titan was still leaning against the counter.

“Why are you still here?” I hissed at him. “Don’t you have something better to be doing? Like making another million or something?”

He eyed me. “Levi’s gone, so you’re running this place alone?”

I shrugged. “I need to call the temp agency and bitch them out because the girl who was supposed to come help was a no-show.”

Titan nodded. “Give me your keys. I’ll take your car over to the garage and bring it back.”

I couldn’t stop the belly laugh that hit me. “You’re my errand boy now? Did I trip into an alternate universe? You gonna leave me the keys to your Aston too?”

His eyes hardened. “I don’t leave anything undone. And considering I took this task on, I’ll finish it.”

Whoa. I’d pricked some kind of nerve there.

“Could you help me with this zipper,” one woman called out from the dressing room.

“I’ll be right there.”

Sighing, I reached under the checkout counter and dug my keys out of my purse. I looked up at Titan, completely unsure of what to make of this man and his seemingly multiple personalities.

I took the simplest route, wanting this strange interaction to be over. “Thank you.”

He took the keys and walked out without another word.

It wasn’t until I was ringing up the purchases of the group of tourists that I noticed the Aston’s keys just behind the register.

No. Way.




The next hour was pure craziness. Tourists had apparently all decided that today was the day to shop at Dirty Dog. It seemed that my signature bags were being carried around the Quarter, and word of mouth was responsible for the abnormal foot traffic. It was good for business and kept me running my ass off, which in turn kept me from thinking about Titan.

When the door chimed again, I fought the urge to sigh. I needed a break. I was hungry and I was tired, because Lord knew I didn’t sleep last night for a multitude of reasons. So combine those two things together, and I was getting downright hangry. Hungry-angry. Not a good thing for the proprietor of a store to be. I plastered a smile on my face to welcome the newest guest. My brow furrowed when I saw it was Jerome, Titan’s man-of-all-things.

My brain finally kicked back into gear. He must be returning my car and retrieving the Aston’s keys. Apparently the master only had so much time to assist peasants. Fine by me. I didn’t think I could handle another encounter with Titan today.