Page 12 of Demo

The unintentional innuendo was not lost on him. “I was Enlisted, EOD.”

“Elephants Over Donkeys?” she inquired with a sassy twinkle in her eye. “No! No, wait, I got it!” Paige waved her hands in front of her. She snapped her left hand, indicating she was a fellow leftie. “Eggos On Donuts?”

A laugh escaped Demo before he could stop it. She was the perfect blend of cute and feminine, he noted. Her smile was infectious. Demo couldn’t help but react to her. In more ways than one too: not only were his eyes taking notice of her, but so was his dick.

“Explosive Ordnance Disposal,” he corrected good naturedly. “We located, recovered, and disarmed dangerous weapons.” He held up his left hand to show her he was not over-exaggerating the description of his former AFSC.

In the past, women had reacted differently to his hand. The two most popular reactions were to either be awed by his missing fingers or to be disgusted. What remained of his ring and middle fingers were melted together to make one large stump between his scarred pinky finger and what remained of his pointer finger. Scotty, bless him, called Demo’s mangled hand his ‘surfer hand’, because it permanently formed the ‘hang loose’ hand sign Scotty had seen on an episode of his favorite TV showMonk.Even Demo could admit to it not being the prettiest of sights.

Paige, however, had an entirely different reaction than the typical ones he’d come to expect. She leaned over the counter as if to get a better look at his missing digits—then she made atsksound with her tongue like a mother scolding her child and said, “You weren’t very good at your job, were you?”

There was utter silence in the room before they both burst out laughing.

CHAPTER 3

Paige had no idea what had come over her. When she’d seen ‘Ron Snyder’ on her schedule that morning, she had no idea who he was. The few people from town she was on a first name basis with were mostly women and none of the few men she knew were named Ron. Actually, since moving to Mount Grove, the only ‘Ron’ she knew was her father-in-law, who, like her husband, did not go by common nickname versions of their names. They were Richard and Ronald, not Rick or Ron.

She’d seen Demo at a distance several times while on club property. Many of the members she knew by their name but not their face; or she would recognize their face but would have to cheat and look at their cut to know their name. There were just too many of them when she didn’t know them personally. If she didn’t trust Lucky as much as she did, she never would have accepted Abby’s invitation to have the club men take her boys on their outings with the other club kids while she socialized with the ladies.

But the truth was, even at a distance, she knew Demo. The first time she’d seen him, at Harper and Lucky’s wedding last May, her entire body had reacted on a molecular level. Since hanging out with the club women, Paige had heard some things about the men’s reputations. Prior to Angel domesticating him last year, Cage had been the club’s biggest womanizer. Many of the women had called him an Adonis for his striking Greek looks. And, while Paige could not deny that Cage was ruggedly beautiful, Demo washot.

If she was twenty years younger, she might even have the nerve to call himh-a-w-t hot. Sadly, though, she was not. While there was no love for Richard still in her heart for his deception and desertion, it did not change the fact that she was still legally married. A status which she couldn’t even afford to change because she was too busy trying to keep her boys fed with a roof over their heads.

Wherever the hell Richard was, she hoped he was miserable. Downright miserable. Like living on the streets with fleas and mice and cockroaches miserable. Living in squalor and having to sell his body for mere scraps of food miserable. Following the first pictures she’d taken to be posted on the foot fetish website, she’d even prayed for Richard to contract genital warts, chlamydia, and gonorrhea all at the same time. Just to even out their suffering.

If she was free of Richard, though, she might have pursued Demo. Or at least, introduced herself. Learned his legal name. Made sure he knew she existed.

But she wasn’t free…

Based on the information he provided when he had made his appointment online, she knew he was two years younger than she was. Two years wasn’tthatbig of a deal. It wasn’t like she was a cougar. Hell, Lucky and Harper had a fourteen year age difference and they seemed to make it work. More than work. Lucky looked at Harper like she was his entire universe.

Richard had never done that. Paige had been an ornament, a prize to be won. Hell, if one of her stepbrother’s nastier messages could be believed, she’d been abet. Clifton claimed that he’d bet Richard a hundred grand that he couldn’t fuck his stepsister by the end of the summer before her last year of college.

“…who knew my little sister was so big a slut that she kept on fucking him for free…”

Paige internally winced at the memory of listening to that message, drawing her shared laughter with Demo up short.

She was aware enough of herself to admit she’d been flirting with him. As soon as she realized he was here for her—or rather, for her services—she hadn’t been able to help herself. To finally be able to talk to him…

But it couldn’t go anywhere. She was still married.

She had to get her head on straight. Ring or no ring, hot guy or no hot guy, she was still married. Richard might not take that seriously, but she did. Her inability to even consider becoming intimate with another man had nothing to do with loyalty to Richard but her own personal morals. She’d made a promise, a vow, andshewould not be the one to break that vow. Despite her suspicions, she had no proof of Richard’s affairs. When he returned—ifhe returned—she would not give him any fuel to potentially take her children away from her.

Everything she did was for her sons. She would not do anything that could risk them or their future.

Paige found herself blushing as she recalled her comment about his hand. Covering her mouth with her fingers to hide her smile, she shrugged, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

He thankfully did not seem offended. Even with the laughter, he could have taken her comment very differently. “You should have seen the other guy.”

“Is that what you’re here for?” Paige asked, wanting to steer the conversation to a more professional level. “Is your hand causing you pain?”

Normally she wouldn’t speak about a patient’s private reasons for seeking her experience out in the main room, but it wasn’t like she had a receptionist or other patients around to overhear. A swell of depression at her empty clinic tried to take hold of her heart until she pushed it away.

She’d actually gotten to eat the day beforeandshe had plans to go grocery shopping after she was done at the clinic—which, unfortunately, was whenever Demo’s appointment ended. In an effort to cut back utility costs, she’d only been coming in for scheduled appointment times. If she had a higher walk-in clientele, she might have stayed open. There were only so many times she could clean the clinic from top to bottom before the reality that no one else was coming in would come crashing down on her.

Demo shook his head. “That’s an old injury. Other than the occasional phantom pains, the only issue with missing my fingers is my inability to count higher than seven.” He held up his right hand with all five fingers and his left hand with his two remaining fingers, wiggling the digits individually like a child learning to count.

Paige stifled a laugh.

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