Page 5 of A Little Naughty

“Get in the truck.”

She turns, walking slowly to the parking lot, leaving her jacks behind.

The tiny metal pieces pierce my skin, and I realize I’m making a fist. The breath in my lungs stings as anger grows hotter in my chest. It’s fueled by every slap, every lonely night, every time I went to bed curled tight in a ball, cold and starving and dreaming of my sister scratching my back and singing me to sleep.

I’m going to rescue this little girl.

My mind races as I quickly form a plan, switching my demeanor from insulted to interested. I channel all the stage-performance I’ve learned—find the one who’s not smiling, and make him love you.

Swaying my hips side to side, I bite my bottom lip. “You’re so strong.” I slide my fingers down his jacket, giving his forearm a squeeze. “I don’t have to work for you to have some fun.”

His dark brow arches. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, girl, is that so?” Monay crosses her arms.

He said I’m beautiful, so I tilt my head, blinking up at him with baby-blue eyes. “I could come by a little later, and we could blow off some steam.”

“You just said last week—” my roommate starts, but I cut her off.

“Give me your address.” I hold out my phone. “Maybe you could tell me more about your offer. Show me what I’m missing.”

He’s not as dumb as I need him to be, but he’s horny. I felt the boner in his pants, and I only hope his dick-brain is stronger than his man-brain.

He sizes me up again then taps his phone to mine, airdropping his address. “I’ll be alone at six.”

“I’ll be awake at seven.”

Turning, I sway my hips as I walk to where Monay is waiting, tapping her platform boot, her dark brow lowered over her eyes. Before we go, I glance over my shoulder, giving him a little wink and swishing my long hair.

Monay catches my arm, muttering under her breath about how she thought only gay guys werethathorny. It’s all good. It plays into my act.

I force a silly giggle as I jump into her yellow Suzuki, slamming the door and letting out a loud,Woo hoo!as we take off. The more unhinged I appear, the better.

Once we’re away, I fill her in on my plan, and what I hope is a situation so bad, one little girl won’t even be missed.

CHAPTER1

Today, Eureka, South Carolina

JEMIMA

“Upstairs is a bedroom and a half bath. It was Ryan’s room, and I think it’ll be perfect for Nikki.” My boss Piper Jackson is giving me the tour of her tiny house behind the newspaper office. “It has a lot ofcharacter, but you know, it’s a hundred years old.”

Honestly, I wouldn’t care if it was a million years old. It’s clean, solid, and cheap. Piper’s letting me have it at a big discount because she’s moving in with her fiancé Adam Stone, and she’s best friends with Cass.

It’s possible she also took pity on me for being a poor “single mom,” which has tension hanging in the air everywhere I go. I’m back with a kid who looks nothing like me, and in a small town like Eureka, everybody wants to know everybody’s business.

Nikki takes off running up the stairs to check out the room, and Piper’s eyes follow her curiously. She’s politely waiting for me to spill the beans on what’s going on, but so far I haven’t formulated a good enough cover story.

Still, the pressure is rising.

“It’s small, but we made a lot of good memories here.” Piper pushes a pair of dark-framed glasses onto the top of her red head. “I hope you two are as happy as we always were.”

She has no idea how happy I am to be home. Stepping forward, I give her a hug, doing my best not to squish her baby bump.

“I know we will be.” I shove my blonde hair behind my ears. “First you gave me a job, now you give me a place to live. How will I ever pay you back?”

“Stop with all that.” She waves me away. “What do they say? It takes a village?”

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