Page 4 of Cash's Treasure

I look up from the spreadsheets for the umpteenth time to track her like I have all night, but this time, I come up empty.

My brows draw as I look around, but she’s not at any of the tables serving the customers, and she’s not behind the bar either.

I close the file I’ve been studying all evening and rise to my feet. I stalk toward the bar when I catch sight of one of the waitresses leaving a table. She’s the same blue-haired girl who was speaking with Kayla earlier. Lana, I think is her name. I grab her arm, stopping her before she can walk past me.

“Where is Kayla?”

She nods toward the bar without saying a word, and I let go of her to approach the bar. At first, I am confused until I catch a glimpse of blond hair peeking from below the counter. My girl seems to be crouched on the floor, rocking back and forth in a soothing motion.

“Freckles.”

Her head shoots up, and my breath catches as it does every time my eyes lock with the prettiest honeycomb brown gaze I have ever seen in my life. Everything about Kayla is perfect. From her long blond locks to the freckles sprinkled across her nose like little diamonds, and don’t get me started on her body. I’ve hugged that perfect body close to mine a million times over and had to fight each time to resist the urge to push her against the nearest surface and ravage her.

Heck, just watching her like this sends blood rushing down my body and my cock growing behind my fly. I haven’t even touched her yet, but the hundred scenarios I have built up in my head featuring this girl are enough to have me hardening.

How I was able to convince this girl that I am content to only be her friend beats the hell out of me.

“Cash, oh hey,” she calls out, quickly recalling me to the present and the fact that the girl of my dreams is currently on the floor.

“What’s wrong?”

She blinks up at me. “Hmm? What?”

“Kayla, why are you on the damn floor?”

“I . . . I . . .” She chews at her lip as she cooks up a lie for me, but I know her too well. “I had a muscle cramp.”

“Really? Where?”

“My left leg.”

I breathe out a sigh and walk around the bar before crouching next to her. “Okay, show me.”

“It’s fine . . . Hey, wait,” she protests, swatting my hand off her when I grab her calf to inspect her supposed cramp. “W-what are you, a doctor?”

“I know you’re lying, so tell me the truth. What are you doing down here? Are you hiding from someone?” Something dark filters in, and I quickly stand up, my eyes shooting around the bar for anyone who might be a threat to this girl.

Mine!

Kayla is mine.

Sure, it makes me sound like a creep, claiming her so boldly and threatening other men who might approach her, but it’s not exactly something I can control. The thought of someone getting close to this girl sends me roaring with the need to go all neanderthal on that person.

Kayla grabs my arm before my eyes can sweep around the entire place. “Hey, I wasn’t hiding from anyone,” she whispers, but I catch the shakiness in her voice. I don’t like her lying to me, but even more, I don’t like someone making her this scared and shaky.

“Tell me the truth, Kayla.”

“I thought I saw someone from my past,” she whispers, rising on her tippytoes and sneaking a glance over my shoulder. I can read the relief in her eyes when she doesn’t see whomever it was that spooked her. “They’re gone.”

“Who?”

“Just some people I would rather forget,” she says, grabbing my wrist and checking the time. “It’s almost time for my shift to be over. Are you done with your work?”

I want to argue, demand the identity of the people that rattled her this badly, and take care of her, but it seems she’s not ready to talk about it, and when it comes to this girl, I always give into her desires.

Only she has this power over me.

“Get changed. I’ll wait for you outside,” I tell her then walk away before she can give me a response, but a part of me still wants to pull her against me and demand answers.

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