Page 66 of Wild Desire

"You deserve to sleep in." I kissed her upturned mouth. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'll complete a few of these services this morning." She lifted her phone where she had the personal assistant requests open.

"It's taking off?" At her nod, I said, "Good for you. I knew it would be a success."

I grabbed my shoes and keys and slipped out the door. I didn't want to leave, but we had to deal with Cal. I didn't like the way he was texting her intimidating messages.

I met the guys in the lobby, and we took two trucks to go over to the shop. When we arrived, Cal was at the front counter, and a quick glance at the donut display told me the trays weren't there. It confirmed my suspicion that he wasn't going to make this easy.

"Can I help you?" Cal asked warily.

I hadn't brought the crutches, wanting to appear to be stronger than I was. I wouldn't need to throw any punches though, because I had my brothers at my back. "You have something we need."

He cocked a brow. "Is that so?"

"Why don't we take this to your office," Eli suggested, ever the cooler head in these situations.

Cal motion for us to follow him down the hallway and into the first door on the right. It was a small office filled with boxes of various supplies as if he didn't have a storage room. There weren't any trays.

"You came for Noelle's things," he said simply, his arms crossed over his chest.

"She's getting messages from you that don't sound friendly, if you know what I mean, and she's afraid."

"She needs the Wilde boys to come to her rescue?" Cal asked with a sneer.

I didn't like him calling us boys, and I felt Xander tense behind me, but I held my hand out, holding him back. "We're here for Noelle's trays. We want you to leave her alone."

"I'm not doing anything wrong."

"Your contract with her has been severed. There's no reason for you to contact her anymore. If it continues, it will be considered harassment." It didn't rise to the level of criminal harassment, but I wasn't above bluffing a bit to get him to back down. Guys like Cal only went after people they could bully.

We weren't so easily pushed around.

His gaze travelled over us, and with a huff, he lowered his arms. "She's not worth the trouble." Then he walked out of the room, presumably to get the trays.

Eli rested a hand on my arm. "He's not worth it."

I knew that logically, but I hated how he could so easily push my buttons. I didn't want him talking about Noelle like that. "He shouldn't talk about her, ever."

Eli shook his head. "I don't think he will after this. He only wants to push around people who bend to his will."

"We're sure as fuck not doing that," I said, everything inside me pulled taut.

I didn't like Cal pushing my girl around. My girl? When had Noelle become mine? And would she have something to say about it if she heard?

I wouldn't do something like this for just anyone. I'd be there for Kylie, but I'd never stepped up like this for anyone else. Noelle brought out the protective side of me.

Cal returned with the trays.

"See that you never contact her again or even utter her name."

Cal shrugged. "Whatever."

Before he could say anything else, we walked out.

I got into Eli's truck, and he didn't waste any time asking, "Are you and Noelle a thing or just friends?"

I looked out the window. "We haven't talked about it yet."

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