Page 19 of All Our Ghosts

Holden shakes his head, plopping down onto the small couch. His feet kick up onto the corner of the desk, narrowly missing knocking over the stack of paperwork I just organized. He purses his lips, shaking his head.

“No.” He pauses. “Well, you can tell me how you somehow swindled my best friend into giving you a job and free housing,” he muses, his tongue flicking over his bottom lip.

“Hmm,” I hum. “See, I didn’t swindle Cole out of anything. He offered. So you should probably get your facts straight before accusing me of whatever it is you’re accusing me of.”

I stand, taking a step forward to move from behind the desk and past him, but when he doesn’t move his legs and just stares up at me with a smug smile, I huff and push his feet down. His boots land on the floor with a thud.

“You got a last name, Kadie?” He questions.

My body freezes at the name my mother always uses. I pull open the filing cabinet, wanting to ignore him, but he huffs and I hear him move behind me.

“It’s Kadence,” I grit through a clenched jaw, spinning around to see him leaning against the desk.

Holden narrows his eyes again “Okay,” he drawls. “Kadence. You got a last name?”

I stare at him. I can feel the anger in myself beginning to bubble with every precise push of my buttons that he can do. “Not for you I don’t. What do you want, Holden?”

“I want to know where you came from.”

“Not gonna happen,” I say shortly. “So unless you need keys for a car or a work order or something, I can’t help you right now.”

He laughs.Laughs. I know it’s to piss me off, but the noise is sweet and I hate it. “Where did you come from?” Holden asks again with a raised brow. I can’t tell if he’s being sincere or not as I go to move around him.

“Why are you suddenly so interested in me?” I all but yell as I catch his gaze, my brows furrow and my neck is starting to get the splotchy red spots from me trying to keep my anger down. “You seemed pretty busy last night,” I pause, “and this morning. So if you’re looking to have a busy afternoon, Holden, I’m not it.”

Holden just grins at me, his eyes narrowing again like he’s studying me or carefully considering his next words. “You jealous, Darlin’?” He finally says and it comes out as smooth as smoke, kicking off the desk and taking a step towards me.

Normally, I’d flinch or shy away, but after last night, I can’t let him win. I won’t let him win or give him any ounce of satisfaction that he’s gotten under my skin, although I’m pretty sure at this point I’ve failed at that.

He leans towards me, his hand resting against the file cabinet behind me. The heat of his body radiates against my own and I can smell the sandalwood and spice on his skin. He must have showered before coming to irritate me. Holden reaches up, and for a moment, I feel like he’s about to touch me, and my body fills with anticipation. Instead, he pushes back the fallen strands of his own hair behind his ear.

“Because if you are, all you have to do is ask,” he rasps.

I suck in a breath, which doesn’t help because I just get another full-bodied smell of him, and my skin starts to tingle. A wave of confidence washes over me as I run the pad of my index finger along the middle of his chest, flattening my hand against the hard muscle there and narrowing my eyes back at him.

“Tell me, Holden, do you usually put your dick into anything or is it a whole,oh woe is medeal?” Up close his eyes are ice blue and turn colder with my words. I push him backward, just hard enough that he steps out of my space. A part of me is a little surprised that he lets me.

“Grow up, Holden,” I mutter, moving past him and grabbing my mug. I have to get out of this room before either of us do or say something we both regret.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he spits, making me turn back towards him. I see the same anger and sadness from last night wash over his features.

“Neither do you.” I agree, stepping out of the shop. Still feeling his heated gaze on my back, my eyes squeeze shut and I suck in the first steadying breath I’ve needed in a while.

HOLDEN

Grow up, Holden.

Her words cut through me like a dull knife and the fact that those words, coming from a woman I’ve known for less than 24 hours, hurt that much makes me angrier. Who is she? I watch as she walks back to the clubhouse, not missing the way the jeans shorts she’s wearing hug the curve of her hips. My hands ball into fists at my sides and the urge to run courses through me.

“The lass has got a fire in her.” The Scottish accent booms from behind me. I turn to see Scottie standing in the doorway that leads out into the shop. A smirk plastered over his face like he knows something that I don’t.

“I don’t trust her,” I mumble, pushing past him. “There’s no way Cole would just hire someone on the spot like that, let alone a stranger.” I huff, sitting down on a stool in front of a pieced-together motorcycle.

Scottie drums his fingers along the empty gas tank, “Are you pissed because he hired someone who calls you on your shit? Or that he replaced Becs?” The name makes me freeze and my coldblue eyes glare up at him. Nobody mentions her name around me other than Cole and only when he wants to get under my skin. Scottie does it because he knows I’m better than the shell of the man who's been haunting the shop.

“This has got nothin’ to do with Becca,” I hiss, picking up a greased rag and twisting it between my fingers.

He nods. “You keep tellin’ yourself that, Brother.”

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