Better When He's Bad (Welcome to the Point #1)(46)

“What’s up?”

She tossed her head back against the seat and fixed her eyes on me. I liked the way the green got darker and deeper when she was feeling something strongly. They did that when I made her come, too.

“College, even community college, is impossible with no books. I hate that Benny guy, I hate whoever Novak is, and I’m pretty pissed at my brother right now for dragging me into the middle of this.”

“You need money?”

I looked at her and she glared at me.

“Not from you.”

I made a noise in my throat and tried to remember why I thought I’d missed her the last couple of days. She moved a little and under her baggy plaid shirt I caught a peek of her creamy throat. There was a very visible hickey on the side of it, and it all came back to me in a rush, a rush that made my jeans suddenly too tight.

“Would you take it from Race?”

She begrudgingly nodded and crossed her arms over those br**sts that I swore I would remember long after she was just a fraction of a memory.

“Well, Race isn’t here, so I’m the next best thing. Take the damn money so you don’t flunk your classes. Consider it going to a good cause.”

“I’m not a charity case.”

“Are you sure about that?” I liked to rile her up. It was fun to watch her get all huffy and puffy. “How was your weekend with the kids?”

She looked at me curiously, like maybe I was trying to set her up, but I really was curious. I didn’t know anyone in my world who cared about the future well-being of others. She was like a saint or something . . . a very sexy, very alluring saint.

“It was fine. Everyone was on good behavior, which is rare. They all thought your car was boss.”

I chuckled. “My car is boss.”

She moved some of her hair out of her face and bit her bottom lip. I wanted to replace her teeth with my own.

“Marco, my neighbor, said you promised him a ride. He asked me to remind you.”

“That little punk scammed me.”

She laughed a little as we got to the house. “You should still take him for a ride. It would make his day. He doesn’t have a lot to get excited about.”

I climbed out and followed her to the front door. “I’ll think about it.”

“What errand do you have to do tonight?”

“I already did it. I had to go see an old friend.”

She looked up at me with questioning eyes as I pushed open the door and let my arm linger over her head. I told her I would let her get her schoolwork done, and I had every intention of sticking to it, but if she kept batting those copper-colored lashes at me and looking at me like she wanted me to shove her against the door and have at it, I totally was going to.

“Did you find out anything about Race on Sunday?”

We went into the living room and I saw her surprise when she took in the TV and the computer that were now part of the furnishings. I had dropped a mint at the electronics store yesterday. I didn’t know how to work half the stuff, but if I was going to be crashing here, I needed the basics.

“No.” I wasn’t going to tell her about Old Man Hartman putting a price on her curly head. I don’t care how tough she pretended to be, hearing that her blood wanted her dead was bound to throw her for a loop, and I would just rather avoid the drama, at least until I had a clearer idea of what was going on. “You want something to eat?”

She made an incredulous face and flopped down on the couch. “You can cook?”

I lifted an eyebrow and smirked down at her. “I’m a man of many talents.”

I gave myself a mental high five when I saw a blush race up her neck.

“Sure, I can eat.”

“It won’t be anything fancy, but I can feed us.”

“Whatever. I’m gonna try and do my homework. Do you care if I use the computer?”

I shrugged and gave her the password to log on and went into the kitchen. When your mom was a drunk and your older brother was too busy trying to claw his way out of the muck and mire, you learned how to fend for yourself. I was never going to have a show on the Food Network, but I could throw together some stuff that would taste all right and keep us going.

I plopped a plate in front of her and turned on the TV. I wasn’t the type of guy who ever just lounged in front of the TV. I was always up to something, had somewhere to go or someone to meet. Maybe that’s why trouble had no problem finding me. I kicked off my boots, pulled off my hoodie, and settled in for as long as it was going to take me to wear Dovie down and convince her to go back to bed with me. Or maybe go down on me. Really, I wasn’t picky.

“This is good, Bax.” It made me grin that she sounded so surprised. I looked over at her and caught her watching me instead of looking at the computer.

“It was fend for yourself or starve around my house when I was little. I learned to make do.”

She swiveled around in the chair so we were facing each other.

“Is that why you started stealing? That’s how you fended for yourself?”

I put the empty plate on the coffee table and gave her a stony look. She was always trying to make me into something better than I really was.

“No. People had stuff that I wanted, so I took it from them. Cars, TVs, credit cards . . . I wasn’t stealing to make do, I was stealing because I wanted stuff that I was never going to work for.”