Page 6 of Dusty and Dented
The reminder, and his smug tone did what no one had been able to do in years.They pushed her past the limits of the control she kept on her temper.Without thinking about what she was doing, she shifted her arm as if she was reaching for something on her other side, then jammed her elbow into Dagger’s ribs as hard as she could.
It wasn’t until she felt the throb where the nerve on the end of her elbow hit something hard and unforgiving that she realized what she’d done.She froze, wondering if he was going to hit her back, how much it would hurt and how many blows she might take before she could get out to her car and away from here.She clenched her teeth, closed her eyes and waited for the first blow.
But it never came.
“Well,” the man she’d never looked at said.“With that, I think I’ll leave you two to work out your evening.”She thought there was amusement in his tone, but without knowing who it was and seeing their face, she couldn’t be sure.She remained still as whoever it was got up and walked away.
Only once it was just the two of them in the booth or anywhere near that she could tell, did Dagger speak.
“Looks like you’ve finished your food.Would you like more?”He didn’t even sound angry.“There are some desserts on a table over there.Do you maybe want to take something there home with you?”
Still keeping her body tense, she slowly turned her head until she could look him in the face.
“Are you waiting to get me alone so you can hit me back?I’d rather you just get it over with now.”Andy clamped her eyes shut so she couldn’t see it coming.She didn’t know where her nerve had come from.She couldn’t believe she’d hit this massive man beside her, then had the nerve to tell him to get her punishment over with.He was huge—he would be able to knock her out with one strike if he wanted to.She just hoped he would go easy on her.
When a blow didn’t come, she cracked one eye open and looked in his direction, trying to see if he was waiting until she could see it coming, but he stared at her wide eyed and mouth gaping.Not believing what she was seeing, Andy opened her eyes, then blinked.She hadn’t been mistaken.He was staring at her as if she’d lost what was left of her mind.
“I’m not going to hit you.I don’t know where you got that idea.”His tone betrayed hurt and confusion.
“But I hit you first.I started it, surely you want to end it?”She didn’t tell him that she’d lived that exact situation for too long.Until the last time.She’d thought he was going to kill her and then and there she’d vowed that if she survived, he wouldn’t do this to her again.That had been while she’d been in Denver.It had taken her moving back to Montana with Travis’s help, even if he didn’t know why it was so important for her to move when she had.
“Never.”His look of disbelief morphed into a scowl.“Who hit you?Who made you expect retaliation like that?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Andy said with a shake of her head.“If you’re not going to beat the hell out of me once we get there for hitting you, then, yes, I’m ready to go home.”She couldn’t help the flutter of nerves in her belly.What if he was just pretending to be angry that someone had hit her in the past so she wouldn’t be ready for it when he did it?
Not that she had much of a choice.She either stayed there for a couple of hours until she felt like it might be safe to drive again, and dealt with all the people who wanted to talk to her and wanted her to be social or she let him take her home.
He stood and held out one hand.Andy ignored it, got up, and headed for the door.Finally, she was going to get home where she could climb into bed, which was where she’d wanted to be all day.
Chapter Six
Dagger couldn’t helpbut notice that Andy went back to her silence on the way to her place.He hated seeing it, but to an extent, he understood it.Still, he had to fight the urge to pick at her, even a little.To say something or poke at her just to get her to go off on him.Anything to get her to show that spark, that bit of life that he’d seen all too little of today.
At her place, a single wide trailer in a trailer park on the outskirts of town, he parked, got out and went around.She had her door open but hadn’t gotten out yet, so he offered her a hand, which she ignored.That didn’t surprise him.She’d done the same at the clubhouse.
Her independence was both a turn on and concerning.And because this was his departed brother’s sister, the turned-on part just felt wrong.As if it was crossing a line that he knew he shouldn’t cross.Not that she was in a place for anything like what his cock wanted anyway.
