Page 6 of Brutal Heir

The sight of that plump ass stirs my cock. As much as it annoys her, I want her to stay safe. “The way you’re going, you’re gonna end up on one of your reports.”

She keeps going, ignoring my statement, then climbs in the truck and slams the door.

If I’d known she’d get so damn worked up over this, I would have done it a long time ago.

Chapter 3

Sage

You don’t belong out here.

My back straightens and my shoulders stiffen as I suck in a breath. The buzzing in my ears increases, drowning out everything else around me.

Wow. How dare he tell me I don’t belong here? The gall… Who does this guy think he is?

A retort rushes to the tip of my tongue; somehow I manage to bite it back at the last second. If this was personal, I’d let him have it. But it’s not. This is my job, a responsibility entrusted to me. I’ll stay true to the badge and uniform, which means I’ll remain professional. No matter what, I’m not going to sink to his level.

I take a deep breath and wet my lips. “Bill will be by to talk to you.” My tone is steady, emotionless. He can’t know how deep he cut.

Gathering the storm of emotions brewing around me, I raise my chin and turn to walk past him, back to my truck.

“The way you’re going,” he says from behind me, “you’re gonna end up on one of your reports.”

I tighten the grip on my cell phone and refuse to take the bait. I just need to make it to the safety of the truck and shut him out. Just a few more steps.One, two, three, four, five.The crunch of caliche under my boot signals each step. Urgency builds inside me, making it feel like I’m rushing, like I should slow down.

Numb, I reach for the handle, yanking the door open. I shove the phone in my back pocket and climb in. Slamming the door behind me, I snatch the seatbelt, drawing it down and across my chest.

I’m not going to look.

I don’t care what he’s doing.

I don’t need to know.

Each of those statements is perfectly reasonable. But as much as I try to convince myself, I know I can’t make it happen. Almost without my consent, my gaze flicks back to him. It’s as big of a mistake as I figured it would be. The big jerk is standing there, a damn grin across his stupid face.

It’s enough to make my blood boil.

I grip the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turn white. It’s all I can do not to whip the truck around and kick up mud on the jerk.

I hit reverse, going into the grass, which I know I shouldn’t do.Well, it’s just one more thing for him to criticize me about,isn’t it.He can add it to a damn list if he wants. I put the truck in gear and head out the one-lane road to where I came in.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I let him get to me.

It hurts that he would go to such lengths to point out my shortcomings. What makes it so much worse is that he’s not wrong. That’s what irks me. I’m not a damn rookie, I know better.

When I first started working with Kelly Oil & Gas, at another location, I took care of orientation. I stressed the need to be aware of your surroundings as part of the safety course for first timers. Now, here we are, when I should be following my own advice, and I totally blew it.

It’shim. Ezequiel. He’s the reason I forgot every lick of training I’ve had and done. Being around the brute throws me off my game. He’s always in a dark mood. I’m used to that. But seeing him so angry made it worse than usual. I reacted to him and went totally blank to the point I didn’t think to watch where I was stepping.

He used it against me in the worst possible way.

Tears burn behind my eyes.

I get it if it was about me being from the city, because I didn’t grow up on a ranch. I’ve never been on a horse. I’d never been this close to a cow. And I’d never, in my worst nightmares, thought I’d end up seeing an animal killed right in front of me. So no, in that sense, I don’t fit in.

Only he was referring to my job.

I’m damn good at what I do. I’m always on time. Never miss a day. I take emergency calls at any hour. The schedules are done and posted for the guards. I make sure all the shifts are covered,twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, even holidays. My paperwork is in order, with all the detail to tell the full story. And I don’t leave anyone in the dark.

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