Page 60 of Beautiful Ruins
She was going to keep digging. And she’d keep going until she filled in her damn grave if I didn’t intervene.
Scout groaned, stalling in the open doorway. “Now?”
If he was trying to grow a backbone, he was failing miserably. With Sadie, I suppose it was hard to do much of anything but agree and go along for the ride.
She levelled him with that same glare she’d given me and Bear only minutes earlier. “Yes. Now. Unless you have something more important to do?”
“I—” Scout looked to me, searching for a lifeline.
Not a chance, kid. Not a chance.
I waved him off with a flick of my hand. “Get going Prospect. Before my old lady cracks her whip across your arse.”
Bear snorted out a chuckle, ducking his head. It was the most I’d heard him laugh in six years. Not that I could help my own smirk. It made no difference.
“Leave him alone.” Sadie huffed out a breath and slapped Bear’s shoulder. Her boldness seemed to be growing, as did Bear’s little crush.
He’d recovered just enough to wipe a hand over his mouth. “Sorry . . . it’s just, you’re what—five foot nothing? And yet here I am wondering if you’d kill me in my sleep.”
He could probably bet on it.
I nodded towards Bear. “You going to let him talk to you like that, Firefly?” I could almost see the wheels turning in that stubborn head of hers.
She flashed me a devastating smile and sauntered closer to Scout as she levelled me with her full gaze. “Areyougoing to let him speak to me like that? Or are you just going to usethat dirty mouth on me?” She popped her hip out, eyebrow raised.
The air between Sadie and me had that same static charge it always did when we danced around each other. It was all attitude, and if I’d had my way I’d have spanked it out of her, but she wasn’t mine—not for real. Fuck.
If it wasn’t for the look in her eyes, I’d almost believe she was offended. I knew her better. She was playing with me. Playing with all of us. And that made me want her even more.
A smirk crossed my lips. “I’ll deal with you later, baby. My house. Seven. Make sure you wear that see-through tank top I love so much.” That last part slipped out, but I couldn’t help it. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the way it made her squirm. Now we were even.
Her hair was wild from the heat, sticking to her cheek. She brushed it away and narrowed her eyes on me, patting Scout’s chest. “Yes, sir.” Biting her lip, she leaned in conspiratorially. “Or I could just crawl into your bed naked.” With that she took off, flicking her hair down her back, and disappeared.
She was baiting me, and she was doing a damn good job of it, too. I just stood there like a fucking idiot while Bear and Eddie stared at me—like I was a fucking idiot.
Goddamn it. Imagining Sadie naked was not what I needed at that moment. I guess I’d asked for it.
“Arseholes,” Scout muttered, then stormed out after her, mumbling something incoherent under his breath.
A little dramatic if you asked me.
Eddie stepped fully inside the office, the smell of whiskey and poor decisions trailing behind him. He strode across the room. “Thought you’d want this, VP,” he said, handing me a thick white envelope, the weight of it heavy in my grasp.
It wasn’t just cash. It was a debt I owed to my brother, and to the man my father used to be.
I gave it a quick glance and shoved my thumb under the flap, tearing it open. “This everything?” I said, peering inside.
A stack of greens sat strapped together with a rubber band.
He nodded. “It’s all there. You can check it if you like. Damon said he should have the other part for you by the end of the week.”
Another part to piece together the car my brother had left me to finish.
“Great.” I closed the envelope, my grip tightening around it. “Thanks Eddie.”
He threw me a tight smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes, then practically ran out of the room.
Bear shifted in his chair, breaking the quiet even though my mind was anything but. “That for your old man’s bike?”
