Wrong for You (Before You #3)(4)
“Do they live in town?”
“Yep,” he said, his eyes glued to the slow sway of her hips as she walked across the parking lot. “But you wouldn’t know them. I don’t think they’re your kind of people.”
“Hm…” she murmured while she slid the key into the lock.
“Are you staying with them?”
He chuckled, but instead of sounding light, it sounded bitter and dark because no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t make anything about his mom sound carefree or light. Nope, Cecilia Reed was as dark and evil as they came. Maybe she didn’t start out that way, but once her bitterness settled into her heart, it wasn’t long before the darkness swallowed her whole. “No. I think I’d prefer a hotel.”
She turned around, her gray-blue eyes scrutinizing every detail of his face. Don’t look too closely; he wanted to warn her because she probably wouldn’t like what she saw. Darkness lived inside of him too, and if she saw it, she would shove him out the door—at least if she were smart. And little Violet looked smart. Too smart to be messing with guys like him.
“Um…okay. My office is down the hall.” She brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Her hair was so light it looked like moonbeams fluttering around her face. He smothered the chuckle begging to be released as that sappy thought registered in his mind. Get a grip, Reed; he wasn’t here to wax poetic about the uptight director of the Foundation even if the girl was beautiful in a wholesome kind of way. Definitely not the type of chick he could ever take home and build a life with. There was no question about it, she was way out of his league and then some.
“You lead, I’ll follow,” he answered. She chewed or her lower lip and wrung her hands. Clearly, she didn’t know if she should be alone with him. Shoving his hands in his back pockets, he flashed his most nonthreatening grin. His sister Taylor always accused him of looking intimidating. He never gave much thought to it, but Violet obviously agreed with Taylor.
“Um, maybe you could wait here while I get an application from my office,” she said, twisting the hem of her navy suit jacket.
“Whatever you want, sweetheart.” He plopped down on the worn red bleachers on the side of the gym. They used to be blue when he came here after school, before school, on the weekends, and any time in between when the doors were unlocked. Funny, all the long-buried memories of his days here were seeping back into the forefront of his mind. With the exception of the hours he spent alone with Taylor, the time he spent at the Foundation was the only good part of his childhood. Regrettably, the bad shit was burned so far into his mind that on most days it swallowed all the happy memories.
She nodded. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I don’t know you, and it wouldn’t be smart to…” Cringing, her eyes darted to the floor.
He smiled as she stumbled over her words, obviously attempting to make the thoughts in her head sound more benign than they actually were. “I get it. I’m aware of the way I look.”
“No,” she yelled a little too loudly, a frown marring her naturally beautiful face. No makeup needed for Little Violet, not with that flawless skin. “You look good. I mean…fine. There’s nothing wrong with the way you look. I don’t judge people on their appearance. I’m not like that.”
“Maybe you should.” He smirked as his amused gaze traveled the length of her cuter than shit body. He didn’t want her to get the impression that he could be trusted. The world was full of evil. She couldn’t save everyone regardless of how much she tried and something told him she tried often and frequently. Some people didn’t want to be saved. Learning that now would save her a lot of trouble when some * crushed all that goodness pouring out of her without remorse.
And then she f*cking laughed, her lips curling up into a sultry smile that would have brought a lesser man to his knees. “Are you trying to scare me?”
“Am I succeeding?”
“No. I’ve worked with troubled teens for the last four years. I can see right through you. No need to pretend you’re the big bad wolf,” she said, her wide, innocent eyes soaking him, taking in every last detail.
He shook his head in disbelief. “If you say so.”
“I know so.” She took two steps backwards, still facing him, giving him a wide smile, before turning around and walking to her office. All he could think about was spending a month getting tangled up in her.
Chapter Three
Holy crap. She needed to get her thoughts under control. Alec Reed was bad news. She knew it. He didn’t need to hammer home that point with her. His appearance screamed it loud enough to be heard from a mile away. Black messy hair, way too many dark, disturbing tattoos, a little lip ring highlighting his dangerously sinful lips, and good god, those arms. What the hell did that man do to create those muscles that rippled and bulged with every movement? And she hadn’t even got to his mysterious, heavy-lidded blue eyes practically pleading with her to take a dance on the dark side of hell.
Closing the door to her office, she pushed her hair away from her face. Take a deep breath. Get over it, she instructed herself. Alec didn’t have any interest in her and she certainly couldn’t foster any delusional thoughts about him. Guys like him didn’t go for women like her…and that’s a good thing. The dark and dangerous thing didn’t appeal to her, especially when she had to deal with his type, albeit much younger, on a daily basis. She liked nice, solid, upstanding banker, lawyer types who wanted a calm, predictable life. She was all about predictability, planning, and forethought.