Wrong for You (Before You #3)(3)
He leisurely perused her body from the bottom to the top, cataloguing every detail just to give her a little taste of her own disapproval. Conservative nude colored heels, perfectly shaped calf muscles, slim fitting navy skirt hitting less than one inch above her knee, nicely flared hips, a tiny waist…
She cleared her throat. “Excuse me.”
Well, damn. He was just getting to the good stuff. “What was your question again?”
Little Miss Uptight, with her effortlessly styled blonde hair, folded her arms across her chest, clearly objecting to his impolite perusal of her body. She didn’t need to worry. She was everything he avoided when it came to women. Her kind demanded commitments, love, and honesty, three things he could never offer. But still, he couldn’t look away from her. It was like staring at the sun.
“Can I help you?” she asked, interrupting his musings.
He sucked his lower lip into his mouth, chewing on his silver lip ring as he contemplated his next move. “Do you work here?”
“Yes, I’m the director, Violet Emerson.”
“Perfect.” Alec opened the door of the truck and jumped out. “I’m Alec Reed.” He held out his hand, yet she hesitated to take it. Instead, her eyes skimmed the large silver rings decorating each of his fingers and the tattoos on his forearms. Together, they were overkill in the middle of Montana, making him look more like a thug than a rock star, but his fingers felt exposed and ungrounded without them, and his tattoos…well, that ship had sailed years ago. No drugs for him. He craved tattoos. The sting of the needle momentarily erased his guilt and gave him an incomparable rush of endorphins that lasted longer than any drug he’d ever tried.
Unfolding her arms, Violet slipped her small hand into his and an electric shock ricocheted between them. Hm…interesting.
Confusion washed across her face and then she immediately replaced it with a blank, professional look. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Reed,” she said, no change in her voice tone and no outward signal that she recognized his face or his name. Nice. He liked that. He was so sick of being Alec, the drummer from Chasing Ruin, especially after finishing the last tour. His level of notoriety didn’t even come close to what Jax, the lead singer, experienced on a daily basis, but it was enough to impinge on his privacy and he liked his privacy. He wouldn’t mind being Mr. Reed or Alec, a nobody from nowhere for a while, living and dying on his own merits rather than on the celebrity of his band.
He rocked back on the heels of his heavy boots as his eyes swept over her long-as-f*ck legs one more time. What the hell. He shoved away the unwanted thoughts about a woman he could never have. It didn’t matter how famous or successful he became, Violet Emerson was the forbidden fruit he could never taste…not a single nibble. “So anyway, I’m in town for a while and I’d like to volunteer at the Foundation for the next month.”
Her grayish blue eyes widened briefly, then her pouty little mouth opened and closed again before she pulled herself together again. “All right. Do you have any experience working with troubled kids?”
He smirked. “I was one once. Does that count?”
Her lips twitched before a smile spread across her flawless face, showing off two adorably matched dimples. “Troubled or a kid?”
Interesting. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Both." He liked little Violet. Underneath that professional veneer, she had a sense of humor and it didn’t hurt that she was damn cute with her button nose, clear skin, and almost white hair that swayed across the middle of her back.
She tapped two fingers against her dark pink lips. “That’s a start. Anything else you want to add?”
Not really. He didn’t want to spill his secrets, but she obviously needed more than a warm body to volunteer. This wouldn’t be as easy as he thought when he came up with the plan last night. For some reason, he got it in his head that he needed to give back to the program that gave him so much. “The Foundation for a Better Future helped me get my shit together as a teenager. I’d like to return the favor.”
Her dark eyelashes lowered, hiding her eyes and her thoughts from him. His fingers itched to tip up her chin so he could see her face. Knowing she’d probably flee if he touched her, he tapped his fingers on his thigh, then he circled his thumbs around his belt loops to stop fidgeting.
Her eyes dropped to his waist. “Well, I have to do a background check and get some references before you start.”
“I can have someone contact you this afternoon.” His agent would have his work cut out for him putting the paperwork together before tomorrow, but he could do it. Rick was efficient and that was the only reason he still put up with his shit.
Her eyes flickered to the holes in his jeans. “And I need you to fill out an application.”
“I can get that out of the way now.” He waved his hand toward the front door of the building that had seen better days. He didn’t remember the building looking so run down when he spent his free time here in high school, but that was probably because this place was like a beacon of shining light, freeing him, if only for a moment, from the hell that awaited him when he went home, and anything was better than his home.
Without turning around to see if he followed, Violet strolled toward the front door. “What brings you to Missoula?”
“Family,” he answered untruthfully. He had no intention of visiting his mom during his stay. Maybe he’d make some discreet inquiries into her life these days, but he’d stay far away from the f*cked up world she’d like nothing better than to drag him into. She was like a cancer consuming everything in her path and what she didn’t consume, she damaged irrevocably.