Page 22 of Seeking Vengeance
“Shouldn’t you be with them?”
“I’ll catch up with them later.”
If he hadn’t been studying her so closely, he might have missed it. It was quite subtle really, but for those few brief seconds while she was watching his family, something raw and painful flickered over her features. It was gone before he had a chance to fully process it.
“Hey, you okay?” Sean’s voice pulled her back.
That quickly, the implacable mask was back in place, decorated with that scowl with which he was becoming so familiar.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she snapped.
That was what he wanted to know. But he wouldn’t press her now. “You look tired.”
Nicki shrugged noncommittally.
“Are you working tonight?” Of course, he knew she wasn’t.
“No,” she answered without further explanation.
“Well,” he said easily, polishing off his sandwich, “maybe it’s for the best.”
Her eyes narrowed, and he could see her connecting the dots. It didn’t take long.
“You.” That weariness in her features changed almost instantly into something far darker.
He held her gaze, neither confirming nor denying her suspicions. He didn’t attempt to fake innocence. The sooner she understood, the better.
“You tried to get me fired, didn’t you? Why?” she asked, her voice low but decidedly venomous.
“I didn’t try to get you fired.” Technically, it was true.
He’d just had a little chat with his buddy Jason and reminded him of some owed favors. Hemighthave suggested that Jason take her out of the spotlight or that itmightbe prudent to keep her off the floor and away from the throngs. Hemighthave hinted at the problems thatmightoccur if anyone laid their hands on her. But that was entirely different than trying to get her fired.
Nicki, however, didn’t seem convinced. “I need that fucking job, cowboy.”
No, he wanted to argue, she really didn’t. What she needed was a job that required a decent amount of clothing and no physical contact with other men, preferably under his watchful eye. However, given the way her eyes were shooting daggers his way, it wasn’t the time to share his opinion with her.
Instead, he shrugged slightly. “Everything happens for a reason. Maybe this is an opportunity. A chance for something better.”
She snorted derisively. “Yeah, because I have such marketable skills.”
“Nick tells me you know your way around an engine. Ever consider doing something with that?”
“You’re not really that stupid, are you? Because I have to tell you, you seemed smarter than the average caveman.”
“Was there a compliment in there somewhere?”
She made the cutest sound of feminine indignation, and then she clenched her jaw and ground out the single-worded denial, “No.”
Undeterred, he bit back a grin. “Seriously. If you’re half as good as Nick says you are, I could use your skills in the bays. What do you think?”
“Use my skills in the bays?” she echoed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Well, there’s a euphemism I haven’t heard before. At least it’s a tad more original than the usual dipstick and rod references.”
“You think this is a come-on?”
“I think you’re delusional if you think for one minute that I’d believe you were serious about offering me a job as a mechanic.”
Sean glared at her, frustrated by her apparent inability to take him seriously about this. Granted, there was a strong sexual attraction between them, but the offer was a bona fide one.
