Page 31 of Hell's Claim

“I’ll call for a candidate,” Madisen said.

“No, don’t. Some of them I do not like,” I replied. Shocked that the words had left my mouth, I clapped a hand over it.

Madisen and Tami started to laugh.

“No, a couple are assholes. But I know one who isn’t, have you met Jinx? He is adorable, if he’s at the garage, he’ll come help.”

“Not in my shop!” Tami gasped and began grabbing bags.

“He is danger-prone, isn’t he?” I agreed, grabbing bags, too.

“I swear to God, that boy was cursed with bad Juju,” Madisen said as Brandy entered.

“Hey, Cuz, grab some, please. We’re going to call for Jinx, but Tami doesn’t want him in her place,” Madisen called.

“Hell to the no,” Brandy exclaimed and grabbed the remaining bags. The four of us, laden down, carried them to the entrance of The Midnight Hour, and Madisen phoned Levi for Jinx.

“Levi’s sending him,” Madisen said, hanging up.

“Good. I’m heading out for a meeting, catch you all later,” Brandy stated and waved goodbye.

I wished the pavement would swallow me when I saw Jinx coming, but he wasn’t alone. Sunny was with him. Madisen sent me a knowing glance but didn’t say anything.

“Thought I’d come because of the Jinx effect,” Sunny stated. He picked up two bags, and the handles broke. Tami gasped and caught them before they hit the ground.

“Stay here and don’t touch,” she ordered as Jinx winced.

Tami returned moments later and doubled all the bags up.

“They should survive,” she said and hugged me before leaving.

“I’m going to head to The Midnight Hour, I need to check a few things. You know, we’ve been here a few hours, Callie probably wants a drink, Sunny,” Madisen suggested and skipped off.

That wretch!

“Let’s get these back to the car,” Sunny said with a glint in his eye. What did that mean?

I followed along as they carried the majority of the bags and couldn’t help appreciating how well Sunny’s jeans fit his tightly muscled ass. As we approached the parking lot, butterflies erupted in my stomach. Sunny was up to something. I didn’t know what, but I knew I had to escape whatever he’d planned.

I popped the trunk and allowed them to place the bags inside, and I headed for the driver’s seat. Sunny reached out and gently snagged my arm.

“Where you going, kitten? We’re getting a coffee.”

“You don’t have to! Madisen shouldn’t have put you in an awkward position,” I stuttered, trying to figure a way out of this mess.

Sunny smirked. “Nobody makes me do anything, Callie, you know that. And we’ve got to talk.”

“We have.”

“I do not remember much of that night. Ain’t gonna lie. That moonshine kicked my ass. But I do remember a beautiful pair of eyes and soft moans.”

“Let’s go!” I squealed as I glanced in Jinx’s direction. To his credit, he’d already begun walking off and was ignoring our conversation.

“Where would you like to go?” Sunny asked as he fell into step with me as I scurried away.

“Somewhere private,” I hissed as I felt butterflies in my stomach. My wonderful day was turning into a nightmare.

Sunny took my elbow and turned me towards Clio’s tearooms. “Come on.”

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