Page 14 of Dirty Dillon

I shake my head. “It’s silly. I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff.”

Dillon turns me so that I’m forced to look at him. “You’re a smart woman. If you have an idea, then I want to hear it.”

Again, a strange heat blooms in my chest. Nobody has ever wanted to hear my thoughts before. “It just makes sense to follow the money, I think. That’s the reason people like my father do things. So why would Tempest failing be worth more money than Tempest thriving would?”

Dillon shoots a look at William, but William shrugs. “She’s got a point. We should call Max. All these months, I’ve been assuming it was personal. That the mayor didn’t want people like us, people he sees as riffraff, making him look bad. Maybe we’re missing a key piece. Thank you, Cressida.”

When William leaves, Dillon turns to me. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Cress. You shouldn’t feel like you have to choose between me and your dad.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that it’s looking like your dad may be doing something worse than just burying his head in the sand about the problems in this town. If we find out he’s doing something illegal or...I don’t even know. But he’s your dad. If you don’t want to work here, I understand.”

Disappointment should be my middle name. I should be used to it by now. I’m not worth the trouble. I get it. It just hurts more because I let myself get caught up in the praise. My heart does a slow descent to my feet, and I take a deep breath. “You don’t trust me, right? You want me to leave?”

“I don’t want you to leave. But your dad is still your dad. He loves you and—”

I snort. “My father doesn’t love me. I’m a great big disappointing nuisance to him. I always have been.” I pick up my purse. I guess my time playing office is done.

Dillon puts my purse back down and folds me into his arms. “If that’s true then he’s an idiot. There’s nothing about you that isn’t lovable. You’re sassy, yes. But that doesn’t make you a nuisance.”

Right.

I pull out of his hug. “I want to stay and work off my car repairs, Dillon. I want to follow through. It’s important to me. But I understand that you and your brothers might have some sensitive information that you don’t want to get back to Blake and my father. So, maybe just keep it out of the garage. That way you don’t have to worry about my loyalties.”

“How would you like to come with me to the barbecue at Max and Cherry’s house tonight?”

“Did you not just hear me? I’m trying to put distance between me and your brothers.”

“And I’m trying to tell you that I trust you.”

“You do?”

He nods.

“Why?”

I’m caught off guard by Dillon’s sudden kiss, but I respond eagerly nonetheless. His lips are hot and demanding, his hands gripping my waist tightly. I moan into his mouth, feeling an electric sensation course through my body.

When he pulls away, his eyes are smoldering with desire. “That’s why. I don’t know what this is between us, but it doesn’t happen every day.”

“You mean you don’t make a habit of spanking women you don’t know in exchange for car repairs all the time?”

“You’re going to regret getting sassy with me. You know that, right?”

I smirk, feeling my heart race with excitement and anticipation. Dillon is like a drug to me, and I crave his touch like nothing else. Even though it’s bad for me in the long run.

“I highly doubt that,” I reply, my voice low and sultry. “I think you like it when I’m sassy.”

Dillon’s eyes darken with lust, and he growls low in his throat. “You have no idea how much I like it when you’re sassy.” He pulls me closer to him, his hand running up my back and tangling in my hair. “And you have no idea how much I want to punish you for it.”

The phone rings and we both stare at it.

I take a deep breath and approach the prey warily. I pick up the phone, push a button that may or may not be correct, and say, “Duke’s Garage.” The person on the other end starts talking, and I bounce up and down, smiling at Dillon.

He looks at me like I just successfully created the formula for cold fusion.

And that he’d like to take off all my clothes and lick me from head to toe.

---