Page 69 of Hot Summer Nights

“Am I living with you?”

He seems taken aback by my question, looking at me like I’m crazy.

“Of course, you are. You have more stuff somewhere else? Give me the address and I’ll go get it right now.”

“No, all of my stuff is at your place now. I just... we never talked about it and I wasn’t sure if I should be looking for another roommate or not.”

“No. The only person you’ll be living with is me, and Princess?”

“Yeah?”

“We aren’t fucking roommates.”

I can’t quite hold back my gasp as I stare into his hungry eyes. I'm two seconds from throwing myself at him when the neon lights outside the strip club turn on, flickering across our faces and reminding me of where we are.

Right.Time to go to work.

“Thanks for the ride,” I say, reaching out for the door handle.

“Anytime. Although, I wish I wasn’t driving you here,” he says and once again the frown is back on his face.

He glares at the strip club like it’s personally wronged him and I bite back a smile at how cute he is.

“I’m just a waitress. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Unless you are wrapped in my arms, I will always worry about you.”

I melt at his words and I realize that at some point in the last twenty-four hours, I let down my guard and Kit managed to fight his way in.

I like him. I like the way that he treats me, even when he’s being overprotective or a Neanderthal. I love the way he touches me and all of the orgasms he’s given me. Most of all though, I love the way that I feel when I’m with him. Like I’m delicate, something to be cherished.

I’ve always been that tough girl who could take care of herself. I had to be. Growing up with an addict mother and no father in sight made me self-sufficient but also distrustful. Living on the streets made me tough and taught me how to take care of myself. Working in a seedy strip clubs or bars made me see the worst in people.

I built a wall around myself, believing that I would be safer and happier alone but one day with Kit has shown me how wrong I was.I don’t need to be alone anymore. If I can just let Kit in, I know that he’ll never let me down.

“I’ll see you later,” I say, distracted by my thoughts as I climb out of his truck.

“I’ll walk you in,” Kit says.

Somehow, I know when Kit laces his fingers with mine, that tonight is not going to end well. It doesn’t take a genius to know that Kit, a bunch of horny assholes, and me in a room is a bad combination.

I still thought that he would be able to handle himself better than he did.

Twenty minutes later I storm out of the club with Kit hot on my heels.

“Princess, slow down.”

“I can’t believe that you did that. You got me FIRED, Kit!”

“That guy was trying to grab your ass. You think that I’m just going to sit there and let guys touch you?”

“You can’t just go around punching out every guy who gets close to me!” I yell, spinning around to face him in the gravel parking lot.

“Says who?” Kit growls, stepping up so that we’re toe to toe.

“I can take care of myself, Kit. I needed that job.”

“I’m sorry about the job, Stella.”

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