Luscious (Topped #1)(11)

She sighed. “God, am I that much of a scared mouse?”

He wouldn’t put it that harshly. “It’s obvious you don’t trust men.”

“It’s not like that. I’m jittery from earlier. I’m sorry. It’s nothing personal.”

“I won’t take it personally, Ally. We’ve all got scars. Some of us wear them on the outside and some of us got ’em buried deep. You don’t feel comfortable being alone with me, but I promise you have nothing to worry about. How can I make you feel better? You got a phone on you? You can keep it close. There’s an emergency button on most phones. You can call it without having to unlock the phone.”

Her eyes rolled. “Fine. You’re not the big bad wolf.” She walked up to him, putting her feet in front of his. She had to turn her neck up to see him. “I’m not scared of you. You’re a big old teddy bear, but you’re not like a lot of the men I grew up around. They were a bit more like Timothy.”

He had the most insane urge to reach out and tangle his hands in that soft brown hair of hers. It was in a bun on the back of her head, but he’d seen it long, flowing down her back. When the sunlight hit her hair he could see strands of brown and red and yellow. Complex. Like the woman herself. Like a lemon tart. Sweet and sour and perfect. “Is that why you thought Sean was going to believe Timothy?”

She took a step back and started sweeping the lobby. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone believed a male employee over a female one.”

So it had happened to her before. “I wouldn’t have believed it. Even if he’d had his tongue halfway down your throat I would have thought he was assaulting you.”

She stopped and looked at him thoughtfully. “Because you think I’m too sweet to have an affair with a coworker?”

“You’re too sweet to want that asshat.” Damn, he probably shouldn’t have said that. He could feel himself blushing. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate.”

She sighed. “It wasn’t. I said it first. And I’m sorry if I made you think I’m some fainting female. I’m not. I can take care of myself. Usually. I’m afraid that asshat brought back a whole ton of bad memories. When I was fifteen I worked at a movie theater and the manager there was a big fan of inappropriate touching. When I complained, I found myself out of a job. He was the owner’s son. It’s not the only crappy thing in my background. Most women have a file marked ‘skeevy dudes’ in their personal histories. I’m sorry. I had a bad reaction.”

“You should have a bad reaction. You weren’t yelling.”

She frowned. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Why? If some dude was trying to mack down on me and I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t be embarrassed. I’d be pissed.” He needed to figure out what was going on in her head. “No one thought less of you, Ally. Did you think they would?”

“Maybe.”

He crossed the distance between them. She was turned away. He didn’t try to hide his steps. He wanted her to know he was behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders. “What happened today was on him. Not you. Him. The next time some idiot so much as touches you, you scream and shout for help and one of us will come running.”

“Like you’re touching me now?”

He pulled his hands back. “Sorry.”

She turned and he was happy to see a smile on her face. “Now I know how to get to you, Miles. You’re a sucker for a down-on-her-luck girl.”

Was she flirting with him? “I’m a down-on-my-luck guy. I guess like attracts like.”

She studied him for a moment and he wished he’d shaved. He was a little scruffy. He really wasn’t kidding about being down on his luck. “Why did you show up today? You weren’t taking out the trash and you don’t smoke.”

He thought about lying and then decided not to go that way. “I was looking for you.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you. I heard a rumor.”

Her jaw went tight. “Really?”

He didn’t like the militant light in her eyes, but he plowed ahead anyway. “Yeah, are you living in your car?”

She waved that off with a laugh. “Oh, that. Yes. I can’t afford a place close to work yet. I’ll find something in a couple of weeks.”

He didn’t understand her. She was acting like homelessness was a nothing problem she would deal with later. “It’s dangerous.”

“No more so than anywhere else. I wasn’t exactly safe here at work earlier. At least I can lock the doors. And the horn makes a really good deterrent. Not to mention my LifeHammer. Sounds silly. It’s really supposed to be for breaking a window if your car goes underwater. Not surprisingly, it also works on car thieves and pushy drug dealers.”

She was going to give him a heart attack. “You took a hammer to a guy trying to jack your car?”

One shoulder shrugged and she went back to sweeping. “Yeah. After I brought that sucker down on his hand, he decided to try again elsewhere. And the drug dealer was actually kind of nice. I mean in the beginning. He was just getting started and his sales pitch needed work. Then he tried to rob me and he met my life hammer, too.”

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. What was he supposed to say to that?