Page 49 of Rock

King chuckled. “No, but I met and claimed a certain Little girl named Ella recently, so I haven’t been getting enough sleep between rotations.” He winked at Lyla and lowered his voice. “Not that I’m complaining.”

Rock took her hand and led her inside.

Lyla leaned close to him and whispered, “Does everyone know who I am?”

“Yeah. I didn’t tell anyone except Atlas before I headed over here to see you last night, but I had to get the MC involved after your attack, Little one. None of them know our history yet. I’m sure they’re curious, but they’re too polite to the old guy to bombard me with questions.”

“You’re not old,” she quipped. “If you are, then so am I, and I refuse to be old, so stop saying that.”

He squeezed her hand and continued through to the kitchen, where he set her satchel on the counter. “I’ll do my best, but I gotta warn you, the guys will call me old man anyway. I can’t stop them.”

Lyla glanced at the cooler and winced. “Shoot. I meant to go to the store this morning and get more supplies. Lunch and drinks.”

Rock opened the fridge and laughed when Lyla gasped. “I sent a few guys to do that for you this morning.”

“But I wanted to pay for it!” she exclaimed.

Rock chuckled. “Baby girl, that’s not happening. It was kind of you to get Ink and Breaker lunch yesterday, but that was a one-time thing.”

She put her hands on her hips. “You can’t do that, Rock. I have to pay for the people working on my house.”

He closed the distance and stalked her until she backed up against the wall. He loved the way her breath hitched as he closed in on her. “Baby girl, people have work done on their house every day. They don’t buy the workers’ lunch.”

She pouted. “Well, they should. It’s kind.”

He cupped her face. “I love that you’re kind. Most people aren’t. I’ve got lunch, Little Lyla. You can pay for the home improvements. A bunch of the guys are going to pitch in and get the job done. I don’t like you hanging around this house any longer than necessary.”

“Okay,” she murmured as her hands came to his front and slid under his cut to press against his chest.

He tipped her head back farther and narrowed his gaze at her. “If you were planning to leave town the moment they were done, I’ll send them all away now and slow the process to a crawl.”

She grinned. “Thathadbeen my plan. I figured it would take a few weeks; then I could put the house on the market and leave. I don’t need to be here while it’s up for sale.”

He growled. “Lyla…”

She giggled. “I promise I won’t bolt immediately just because the job is done.” She slid her hands higher, wrapping her fingers around his shoulders. “I met this guy…”

He smirked. “I’ll cuff you to the bed at night and not let you leave my sight during the day if you’re planning on bolting, Little girl.” He knew this was mostly banter. She was teasing him. But he realized it was true that she had planned to leave. She hadn’t known he would even be in town or available when she arrived. Staying in Shadowridge hadn’t been on her bingo card.

He fully intended to change her mind.

“Mmm. I might like the idea of being cuffed to the bed, but you don’t have to do it all night. I’m not going to run.”

Rock sobered completely and pressed his body against hers. “You ran once. Took me nearly four decades to get you back. It will kill me if you do it again.”

She licked her lips. “Neither of us can be certain things will work out between us. It hasn’t been a full day. We might have conflicting views on something that would be a deal breaker.”

He shook his head. “We won’t.”

She rolled her eyes.

Rock slid his hands down to squeeze her bottom. “If I spanked you every time you rolled your eyes at me, you wouldn’t be able to sit for a week.”

She shivered delightfully.

He groaned. “My girl likes the idea of being spanked.”

“Maybe.”

---