Page 6 of Come Around
Heat floods my face. “You don’t know the first thing about me or what I should be doing. I pay my own bills. I make my own choices. And right now, I’m choosing to ask you to leave if you’re not going to order anything.”
Something flashes in his eyes. Like he wasn’t expecting me to push back. Well, tough luck, rockstar. I didn’t leave behind my parents’ controlling behavior just to let some famous musician waltz in and start making declarations about my life.
Instead of backing off, he leans closer.
“I have a better idea.” His voice drops even lower. “Quit. Tonight. I can help you find something better.”
I bark out a laugh to cover the strange flutter in my chest.
“Just like that? Quit my job because some guy I’ve never met tells me to? Do you even hear yourself right now?”
“I’m not some guy, Kitten.” The certainty in his voice is maddening. “I’m your man.”
Chapter Three
AXEL
Sami’s mouthdrops open at my words, and her eyes flash with a mix of shock and outrage.
“You’re out of your mind.” She snaps. “I don’t know what kind of groupies you’re used to dealing with, but I’m not interested in being another notch on your guitar strap.”
I can’t help but smile.
My kitten has claws. Good. I’d be disappointed if she made this easy.
“Not asking you to be.” I lean against the bar, making myself comfortable. “And I don’t have groupies.”
“Right.” She rolls her eyes and grabs a cloth to wipe down the already clean counter. “Because rock stars are famous for being celibate.”
I chuckle at the sarcasm dripping from her voice. She’s trying to put distance between us, but I can see the way her pulse flutters at the base of her throat. Her body knows what her mind is fighting.
“I’m selective.” I watch her hands move as she wipes down the same spot for the third time. “Haven’t found what I was looking for before.”
“And what’s that exactly?” She tosses the cloth aside and crosses her arms again.
“You.”
It’s true. I spent all day looking for her. After Sami left the diner this morning, I followed her out and watched her climb into that ridiculous green Beetle. I remember thinking it was perfect for her. It’s small, bright, and a little quirky.
I’d jumped in my truck and tailed her, keeping a few cars between us, not wanting to freak her out by pulling up alongside her at a stoplight. But then a delivery truck cut me off at the intersection by the grocery store, and by the time I got around it, her car was gone.
Fuck, I’d been frantic. I drove up and down every street in Cooper Heights like a madman. I checked every parking lot and every business. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
When I finally spotted that green Beetle in the parking lot of The Summit hours later, relief crashed through me. Then came the realization of where she worked, and that relief morphed instantly into rage.
Everyone in Fit Mountain knows what happens at The Summit. The first floor is tame enough. It’s mostly just a restaurant and a night club that serves overpriced drinks and mediocre food. But the second floor is high-stakes gambling, and the third floor... Christ.
The third floor is the kind of adult playground that makes me see red thinking about my woman anywhere near it.
I’d sat in my truck for ten full minutes, trying to calm myself down enough to go inside without causing a scene. I told myself she probably just worked in the office or something. Maybe she was a hostess.
But then I walked in and saw her behind the bar in that tight black tank top with men’s eyes all over her, and it tookeverything in me not to vault over the counter and carry her out of there.
“Are you even listening to me?” Sami’s sharp voice pulls me back to the present.
“Every word, Kitten.” My eyes snap up to meet hers, and I grin. “You said you don’t date customers. I respect that.”
“Yet you’re still here.”
