Page 34 of Side Hustle
“Hazel?”
Rip’s voice brought me out of my R-rated daydream to a reality almost as R-rated.
He stood next to his old truck, leaning against the side of the hood with his legs crossed at the ankles, arms folded over his chest. His baseball cap was weathered and fit his head like a second skin. The dark jeans highlighted muscled thighs that led to a tight waist and a T-shirt that stretched across his chest like it was in a contest to see how much elastic it had in its fibers. He looked damn good. Better than any harem of ten guys and far better looking than any guy I was mad at had a reason to be.
“Whatcha doin’ here, Rip?” I twirled my keys around my finger, acting cool and collected when I wanted to use his body as my personal slip n’ slide.
“Thought we could chat if you have time.” He pushed off the truck and straightened, his arms going down to his side.
I tracked a vein going down one arm and into his work-rough hand before I snapped out of it and remembered I was mad at him. Despite my pounding heart, I lifted my nose in the air.
“Aren’t you supposed to be monitoring the new crew at the cave?” My keys took that inopportune moment to fly right off the tip of my finger and land at his feet. There went acting cool.
He swooped down and picked them up, approaching me like most visitors approach the clowder of cats that spring into action when the door to the National Cat Protection Society opens. Cautiously, reluctantly, and with a hand in front of any sensitive body parts.
“I was up there with them earlier this morning and everything looks good. It’ll take them a day or two to clear a path and get their equipment set up. Their cut of the take includes a round-the-clock security guy to watch the cave. I made sure he knew what my father looked like in case he tries anything.”
Curiosity killed the cat and it killed me too. “Any word from your dad?”
After my departure from the kissing booth at the festival yesterday, I hadn’t run into Rip again. I hadn’t purposely avoided him, but I hadn’t looked for him either. Figured a cooling-off period was wise.
Rip’s jaw hardened, but he shook his head. “Not a word. Which probably isn’t a good thing. Him ranting and raving would be more expected. If he’s silent, it means he’s working on a plan.”
My stomach rolled at that. The mayor wasn’t after me, but I knew Rip’s relationship with his father and how much this all must be affecting him. And just like that, all the anger I’d been harboring wrongly against Rip floated away. It wasn’t his fault my mother was a leech and a deadbeat.
“Sorry for, ah, pitching a fit yesterday.” I took a step closer, tilting my head to look up at him. Close enough I could smell his clean soap scent and cleanse my nose of every armpit I’d had to sniff during my two-hour shift. “I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you. I know you’re sharing the wealth to be generous. Not your fault my mother got caught up in that.”
His eyes shifted back and forth across my face, checking the truth to my statement. He must have been satisfied with what he saw because his hand came up, paused, and then pushed a few strands of hair behind my ear. The touch was innocent, yet still made my knees weak.
Oh, shit. The weak knees, the butterflies, the need to sniff him constantly? I was totally crushing on Rip Bennett. For the second time.
He came closer, his hand shifting to run a thumb up my jaw. His lips barely brushed against mine, a question in the way they skittered away. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him into me, claiming his lips and answering his question with zero uncertainty. He smiled against my mouth and lifted me up so my toes barely touched the ground. His throat made some sort of growly groan and I almost begged him to take me right then and there in the parking lot of FART. I had thirty condoms at my disposal, after all.
I didn’t, though, and he didn’t either. Instead, my cautious Rip set me down and pulled away a fraction to ask the one question I dreaded and would have happily ignored forever if I could.
“What happened in high school? Between us?”
His eyes looked like they wanted into my soul. Wanted to strip me to my most vulnerable self before he’d take that kiss any further. He was the son of a master negotiator, that was for sure.
“I—” I gulped, wishing my throat didn’t feel like the Sahara. “Well, I’m not sure. I mean, we kissed. Down at the marina.”
“Uh-huh.”
He wasn’t giving me anything, was he? “Well, you tellmewhat happened.”
His eyes narrowed. “I asked first.”
I pulled back, my spine straightening, sensing danger ahead. “I answered. Now you tell me what happened the next day.”
He frowned, the lines deepening between his eyebrows. “Not much to tell. Seems like you should be the one explaining.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Hey, you two! Glad you’re here, Rip.” Lucy’s voice cut through the argument bubbling into dangerous territory. “I was swinging by to grab Hazel for a beach day. You wanna come too? Bain said he’s leaving the prison at noon, so he’ll meet us there. I brought a ton of food and firewood in case we want to make it a bonfire night.”
We both swung our heads to see Lucy in a silver minivan, car seats in the back with various-sized arms and legs waving in the air. She grinned, a lopsided bun on top of her head that threatened to slide right off at a moment’s notice.
