Page 60 of Seduction

“Oh my God, Cord!” Haliee squeals out in a fit of laughter.

“What?”

“You do not have Taylor’s new Red album on here!” Haliee says, wheezing out the question.

I puff my chest up and glare at her. “I am a man, Haliee. I like what I like, and I am not ashamed to admit that.” I reply with bravado, wanting to pat myself on the back.

She hits play on the album, and I put the car in drive heading in the direction of the park. There’s an epic food truck there that has the most delicious tacos ever.

We jam along to the music, following the freshly plowed roads until we reach the park.

Creed holds true to his word and parks his bike at a distance from us, before dismounting. Giving me a nod to go ahead, I steer Hailee towards the food truck that thankfully isn’t busy and only has a couple customers at the moment.

Once we’ve eaten our weight in tacos, we toss our trash before starting our walk.

“That was seriously delicious, Cord. I’m so full I could bust!” Haliee exclaims.

“I know, right? Me too. I love those little bits of mango they put in it. Where they get fresh mangos this time of year blows my mind, but it’s highly appreciated,” I reply, pointing out a nativity scene to her.

“This is beautiful, Cord. Look, there’s a snowman!” Haliee says, pointing up ahead. She looks so happy and peaceful right now and it makes my heart soar knowing I did this for her.

The chill in the air has cleared out the park, but we just keep walking and pointing out the different lights, not caring about the cold. For the first time in my life, I have a sense of peace wash over me, and it’s all thanks to the woman beside me.

She makes me want to be a better person for her. Before her, I was just an empty shell, fucking my way through life. It's what I’m good at, and all I felt I had to offer. Now she’s shown me I can be kind and caring. So much more than I thought I would ever be capable of.

I’m so lost in my thoughts and Haliee’s beauty, I barely hear the twig snap in the woods beside us.

I freeze, snatching Haliee behind me before I remember Creed is following us at a distance.

Problem is, Creed's sharp whistle is coming from the opposite direction which has me on instant alert before three armed men step out of the tree line.

“Well, hello boys. Lovely evening, isn’t it? Can I interest you in some get fucked and die? Because if you come any closer, that’s all I can serve you, I’m afraid,” I growl out, putting Haliee completely behind me as she shivers. Whether it’s from the sight of them or the cold, I’m not sure.

The leader takes a step forward laughing like I told the funniest joke in the world.

“It’s just the two of you, against us. The odds don’t look good for you,” the lead jackass comments. Ah, so they must not know that Wrath is lurking in the shadows, ready and waiting to kill if they make a wrong move.

I relax back into Haliee, knowing Creed has our backs. They eye me warily, probably wondering if I’m crazy to not be scared of them.

“Do you mind massaging my shoulders, baby? Carrying the weight of all this awesomeness is tough and such a burden,” I say to her, causing her to giggle and relax with me.

“You two are…” the lead jackass trails off as one of his back-up dancer’s gets snatched into the woods out of sight, nothing but a yelp of fright trailing behind him.

“What the fuck was that, boss?!?” his second back-up dancer squeals like a bitch, drawing out two blades from his Kevlar.

Lead jackass launches himself at us at the same time Creed springs from the foliage, and I grab Haliee in a ballroom style dance position and spin her around. She giggles and dances with me as the lead jackass fails to grab us, instead coming face to face with Wrath personified as Creed takes on the lead asshole with a smile.

From the corner of my eye, I see back-up dancer number two trying to escape into the woods. Oh no, big boy. Can’t let you get away that easily. I spin Haliee again, grabbing a thick tree branch off the ground. Letting her go, I turn in time to clock him over the head and knock him out cold.

“Oh no, sir. It seems you’ve been hit by a tree. What an unfortunate event,” I say to his still form, causing Haliee to clutch her stomach in a fit of laughter.

Back-up dancer number one comes bursting through the tree line, no doubt having just come to from Creed’s earlier knock out.

Creed is currently in a boxing match with the lead jackass when back-up dancer number one launches at them. Creed blocks his grab and proceeds to take them both on like it’s just another day for him, smiling like a complete psychopath.

He fucking loves this shit.

I grab Haliee and spin her again, returning to our dance. “Hey, my name is Microsoft. Can I crash at your place tonight?” I smirk, firing off some of my epic pick-up lines while wiggling my eyebrows at her.

---