Page 23 of Seeking Vengeance
And if—when—he decided to have her in his bed, he would, regardless of where she was working.
He probably should have foreseen this. Nick had warned him of her likely reaction. She’d dealt with her share of assholes over the years, enough that she was more than justified in her assumptions—as long as they applied to somebody else. He didn’t play games when it came to his garage, but she hadn’t been around long enough to know that, so he could cut her a little slack. And okay, maybe he had come on a bit strong, but it was hard not to when she affected him like she did. Never before had a woman gotten into his head and under his skin quite so quickly.
At least the weariness in her face was gone, replaced by burning passion. Or was that hatred? It was so hard to tell sometimes. Either way, her intensity made him hard as hell. Good thing he was not easily deterred.
He leaned toward her and dropped his voice. “And I thinkyoushouldn’t presume to know what I’m thinking.”
“Fuck you.”
Sean’s mouth tilted up in a half-smile. The woman lit a fire in his blood. He could feel it now, racing through his veins, burning him from the inside out. The illogical and sudden vehement need to care for her was close to being eclipsed by his need to get her beneath him, naked.
“Maybe later. You look like a good stiff breeze would knock you over right about now.”And what I’ve got for you is a whole lot harder and stiffer than that.
“You have a hell of a lot of nerve,” she hissed. “After your little stunt last night, you expect me to believe you’re interested in my mechanical prowess?”
“My little stunt?” he said in mock disbelief. “Sweetheart, seems to me I was just sitting there, minding my own business, enjoying the show. You’re the one who came for me, remember?”
She shot him a look that had his dick hard enough to pound nails. No woman had ever managed that with a look before. It was exciting as fuck, and Sean loved a challenge. But she was running on empty, and he knew it.
Nicki flinched, as if she’d been slapped, her pale cheeks flaming. “Well,” she said, her voice as icy as her light-gray eyes, “I’ll never make that mistake again.”
With that, she pushed at his legs and wrenched herself out of the booth, landing one or two solid connections with his shins in the process before making her exit and not looking back.
Yes, you will, he thought as he dropped a twenty on the table.Multiple times in fact.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nicki went back to her brother’s apartment. As exhausted as her body was, her mind refused to calm. Every time she closed her lids, she was plagued by luminous blue eyes that spoke of possession and hunger, the same eyes he’d had last night when she mounted and rode him in the middle of a packed house.
The same eyes that, only a few hours ago, had been searching and curious, as if he was trying to figure her out.
Yeah, she thought,good luck with that.
She and Nick had learned early on to keep the important stuff buried deep inside. Knowledge was power, and she’d be damned if she gave anyone that kind of power over her ever again.
You are not helpless, she reminded herself, stoking the slow-burning anger into a blaze.
No matter how much Sean Callaghan’s velvety voice stroked her nerves into a lusty frenzy. No matter how badly her skin burned with the need for his touch when he was around. No matter how strongly his scent made her mouth water and long for a taste. She was in control of her life, and she was making a conscious choice to stay as far away from him as possible. Because the truth was, Sean Callaghan was the only man she’d ever met who might actually have the power to destroy her, and she had too much goddamn stuff to do first.
The sneaky bastard had gone behind her back and spoken to Jason Michaels—she was sure of it. God only knew how long she’d been zombied out in the dressing room before Jason came and demanded her presence in his office, but it had been plenty of time for Sean to leave the floor and seek him out.
But why? Yeah, Sean wanted her. She’d seen the desire in his eyes and felt the proof beneath her lap. But so what? Most of the guys there were jacked up. It was just par for the course. If she gave a man—any man—the same show she’d given Sean Callaghan, he would have shown the same level of interest, right?
Maybe. Probably. But Sean Callaghan was the only one arrogant enough to go to the club owner.
And then this morning, Sean had spouted that bullshit about having her work in his garage, but if he really expected her to believe he wanted her for her mechanical skills, then he wasn’t nearly as smart as he thought he was.
Was he so full of himself that he thought she’d appreciate his meddling, seeing it as some heroic effort to save her or something? Had Nick suddenly gotten chummy with his hard-assed boss and appealed to him for help? It was no secret Nick hated that she was working at Angels, and she understood why. It hit too close to home and brought back memories they would both rather forget. Yeah, they had escaped Benny’s clutches, but the pain of their childhood would always be there. The scars went too deep to ever go away completely.
Which was the real reason she’d come to town in the first place. Word on the street was that after dropping off the face of the earth for a while, Benny Marscone had resurfaced and set up shop just outside of Pine Ridge. He had changed his appearance, changed his name, but it didn’t matter. Shewouldfind him. And she would make good on the promise she’d made to Nick all those years ago.
Nick didn’t know that, of course. He thought she was simply in town to see their mother. That was partially true. Despite the past, despite everything that had happened, Nicki didn’t believe Charlene should die alone.
But there was more to it than that too. Charlene had always been part of Benny’s inner circle. If the rumors were true and Benny was operating in the area, Charlene might just have that last piece of crucial information Nicki needed to find him and put him down for good.
No, Nick didn’t have a clue. Not about her so-called job and not about the real reason she was in Pine Ridge.
And Sean Callaghan needed to keep his gorgeous, tight ass out of her business.
