Page 76 of Wanting More
"Umm, I-I'm…" she dumbly stuttered.
Vic lowered the heavy bucket to the ground and looked beyond her, his sharp black eyes scanning the area. "I know those two wouldn't have let you out of their sight for long, so…"
He let the words drift off, once again giving her an opportunity to explain why she was here.
Why was he so gorgeous?! She thought in sudden outrage. If he wasn't so damn off-putting with his unexpected beauty, maybe she could speak like a normal person. With all her effort, she dragged her eyes up from the sweaty t-shirt clinging to the man's chest and tried with great pain to look past his lean, defined body up to his long, ebony hair pulled back into a silky bun and tried to focus on his piercing eyes. It was hard, though. His pecs were basically plastered to the damp shirt giving her the perfect outline of their hard shape as he moved closer and Sapphire desperately wanted to focus on that appealing detail. So instead, she trained her gaze on the lean angles of his face. He reminded her of a wolf. His high cheekbones and rangy features gave his cheeks an almost sunken in quality, adding to the sharp lines of his features.
"I…I mean, we were going to the beach, and Joel suggested we come to see you first," she finally managed.
Stepping closer, Vic nodded but said nothing. This close to him, Sapphire could smell the damp sweat from him mixing with that fragrant yet manly deodorant scent she had become accustomed to with Hayden and Joel.
Nervously wanting to fill up the silence, she began talking. "They went around the house to look for you," she said, gesturing to the side of the farmhouse.
Again, Vic simply nodded, his black eyes never leaving hers.
Sapphire shifted on her feet under his inspection. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Was he angry they came or what?
Against her will, her eyes traveled again over his broad shoulders and down his arms. Moments ago, when he had carried the bucket filled with tools, she had seen the taut strain of his muscles. He was just like Hayden and Joel—hot and jacked. Sapphire almost made a noise of pain in the back of her throat as her eyes settled on the vein bulging against the skin of his wide forearm. Why did he have to be hot too? She moaned inwardly. Was the long-lost Leblanc gang filled with hotties? Was there a requirement to stay sexy in order to join? Because what were the chances that all three of the former members were hot as hell? Just what in God's name was up with this town?
"I think I've seen you before," she rushed out, unable to take the growing silence between them any longer.
Vic tilted his head, and she swore she could see a ghost of a smile on his lips, but it was gone before she could be sure. "Did you?" he asked, his voice like midnight smoke.
This man was so dangerous. Looking over her shoulder, she fidgeted with the frayed hem of her jean skirt as she searched for Hayden and Joel. Just how big was this farm?!
Looking back to Vic, she nodded. "Yeah, I didn't know it then, of course, but seeing you now, I'm pretty sure that was you. You came to the coffee shop, right?"
It had been an odd experience. She had been swamped and by herself one day. Thankfully everyone was patient with her and waited as she took orders and hustled up and down the counter, filling said orders. She remembered him for two reasons. One was a given—he was fucking gorgeous. With his black hair down around his shoulders and lupine features, he had stood in his plain black leather jacket in comfortable brooding silence at the end of the counter as she fulfilled two complicated ice coffees. And secondly, she remembered him because of the pure relief of his order. Large plain black French roast. It was so blessedly easy that she had been tempted to just saythank youfor that, but when she looked back to say something more to him, he had already taken his coffee and left. She could still see his broad back as he walked out the door.
Vic nodded. "Yeah, I stopped in to finally see the girl that had the town turned upside down. The girl who not only wrapped Hayden around her finger but tamed Joel too." This time there was an edge of a smile taunting at his lips. "I just had to see the girl everyone was talking about."
Sapphire stiffened at that. She couldn't tell if he was being sincere or snide. There was something cool and calculative in the man's eyes as he stared at her as if he was waiting for her to do her worst or waiting for her to try and cast the same spell on him that she did his friends. Whatever it was, Sapphire didn't like it, and she was beginning not to like him.
Like slipping into an old familiar coat, Sapphire let the walls of ice come down around her, and she stared back at him with almost cool disdain.
His eyes widened for a fraction as he watched her detach herself from the situation and ultimately him before smirking.
"Aww, there it is. The infamous Sapphire Waters I've heard about," he drawled with a low laugh.
Sapphire didn’t let the surge of anger show on her face. Nothing got past her mask of cold indifference. She turned on her heel. "I think I'll wait in the car," she announced.
She heard the steps behind her first before the sharp command. "Wait."
Turning around, she gave him a tired look.
Surprisingly his sharp eyes softened, and he ran a hand over his bound hair. But Sapphire was looking beyond him at the black shape in the distance rounding the house. Horror broke through her aloof mask, and a scream fought its way up her throat. The massive black beast's eyes met hers as it dug its paws into the ground, gaining speed.
Ignoring Vic's expression of confusion, Sapphire turned and ran toward the truck, but the door handle only jiggled in her frantic hands as the door stayed shut. Her heart seized. The door was locked.
"Wait, what is-"
Absently she heard Vic's confused voice behind her, but she focused on the scrambling sound of the feet coming closer and closer.
With little choice, Sapphire planted her foot on the truck's tire and hoisted herself up in one leap on top of the truck's hood just as the deep bark sounded behind her. Turning and falling onto her butt, Sapphire screamed from the top of the truck as the huge black dog put both paws onto the metal hood of the truck and barked at her. Each deep piercing bark showing its huge white teeth.
Sapphire scrambled further back onto the hood of the truck, feeling the glass of the windshield behind her as she looked back at the huge dog trying to jump up to her.
"Krrsantan!" The deep bellow of the name paused the dog's bark.
