Say It's Forever (Redemption Hills #2)(12)

Her head cocked to the side, voice hard. “Charity case. I told you last night that this place was going to be too much, and you hauled my car in, anyway?”

“Everyone needs a little help every once in a while, Salem. Not a thing wrong with that. And if this is about what happened with your brother, he has to know you weren’t doing a walk of shame, that you—”

She flew into my face.

The words died on my tongue as that severity cracked.

A whip.

In a heartbeat, my guts were tangled in those thunderbolt eyes.

She poked me in the chest. “Walk of shame? If I fucked you, it’d be because I wanted to, and I wouldn’t feel an ounce of shame, so you and my brother can both kiss my ass.”

Uh…wow.

I didn’t know if I should be turned on or offended.

Visions hit me like a backhand of lust.

Okay, fine.

Definitely turned on, so there I went, easing in, my words rumbled near her ear. “Might like that. Don’t tempt me, enchantress.”

Screeching, she tossed her hands up and stomped the rest of the way to Darius’ truck before she swung back to face me as she opened the door. “Fine, fix my car, Jud, but I will figure out a way to pay for it. I refuse to owe you anything.”

She hopped in and slammed it shut, and I just stood there staring as Darius passed by, the dude eyeing me with outright distrust as he went.

He climbed into the driver’s side and started the truck and whipped out of the lot, the loud engine roaring as he disappeared down the street.

While I stood there wondering what the fuck had just happened.

Laughter ripped from behind. “Whelp, there went your balls, boss.”

I strode back into the shop, not bothering to tell Brock where to shove it.

Not when I had the sinking feeling the motherfucker was right.





FOUR





SALEM





Crap. Crap. Crap.

I peered back at the huge industrial shop as Darius floored the accelerator out of the lot and sped down the road. The hulking man stood where I’d left him, his mouth gaping open in shock and a bit of hurt and something else that slipped beneath my skin like the kindling of flames.

An old-seeded fire that had long died out that threatened to burst back to life.

My stomach was in knots and my pulse thundered like an out-of-control freight train that blew into town. A coming disaster that I wasn’t sure I could derail. Because falling prey to what that man had to offer would likely destroy the bare semblance of any control I possessed.

It was a promise of the type of recklessness I could not afford.

Not to mention the fact that Darius was seething in his seat beside me. He white-knuckled the steering wheel as harsh breaths panted from his nose.

“What the fuck, Salem?” he hissed as the building disappeared from view.

My brow curled as I shifted my head to look at him. “Excuse me? I already told you that my car broke down and he stopped to help me. Do you have a problem with that?”

I couldn’t keep the pissiness from my voice. He didn’t get to do this.

His words were shards. “I was worried about you.”

Uneasily, I readjusted my bag on my lap. “I tried to call you a bunch of times, Darius. Service was out for everyone. I was coming downstairs to ask him if I could borrow his phone to call you.”

A grunt left him, and he pitched me a hard glance. “He’s my boss.”

“Which I didn’t know, considering I just got here last week, and you never told me where you’re working. I thought you were still at the dealership?”

He released a strained sigh, a wash of bashfulness softening his formidable features. “Didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out. Not exactly qualified to be working there.”

Tenderness pulled at my chest. “Of course, you are. Who wouldn’t want you working for them? I thought we didn’t keep secrets from each other?”

He cut me a glance. “Don’t we?”

There was an accusation there.

“Darius.” Frustration laced his name.

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, he’s my boss and he’s—”

“He’s what?” I challenged, defensiveness making a rebound.

No, I might not know the guy, but the one thing I knew was he’d been kind.

The thousand emotions I’d felt last night scattered through my consciousness.

The cornerstone of a man I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Hard and cocky. Sweet and flirty. Overbearing and…dark. I guessed it was that layer hidden beneath that sexy smirk that held the power to knock me from my feet.

It billowed through me then. The memory in the night. The feeling of not being alone when the torment came. Like the man could give me comfort in the storm that hit me night after night.

I shook my head out of the stupor. God knew, those thoughts were dangerous.

I couldn’t go there.

But if I were being honest, I had to admit there was something about him.

Something that compelled me to look closer. To touch and explore and feel. A piece that ached to come alive under those massive hands.

Yeah. Definitely dangerous.

Still, regret fluttered, shame at the way I’d reacted.