Page 4 of Possessive Trucker

Commanding. Powerful.

“Rick? I’ll have two of the usual,” he tells the guy behind the counter, “You gotta eat,” he adds, lowering his voice.

I turn to tell him where to get off, that I don’t need anybody’s charity, but a near whimper is all that escapes me once I feel his hand over mine.

“And make your phone call. I won’t have you sitting here cold, hungry and with no place to go, that’s final,” he tells me firmly, the gentlest squeeze of his hand over mine telling me a lot more.

If I’m interested.

Uh. Yeah, I’m interested.

But what about…?

I can’t go through life not trusting everyone. From now on it’s only people who don’t look and act like this… that don’t smell like this that are no good. This one? He’s just incredible. Don’t blow it. But who is he?

“I’m Sophie,” I squeak in a near whisper. And I feel the relief he does once he breathes out through his nose, holding his huge hand out.

“Thorn,” he says, matter of fact, and I shudder again at his touch. My hand in his feeling like the most natural, and most erotic thing I’ve ever felt at the same time.

Both our eyes widen a little, okay. Mine a lot. It’s pretty clear straight away that there’s something incredible going on when Thorn touches me, even just a little bit.

He holds my hand way too long, but it’s nowhere near long enough and by the time food comes it’s the furthest thing from my mind.

“You need to call your boyfriend… husband?” he suddenly grunts, his eyes narrowing on something I can’t see.

“Just my dad,” I say absently, automatically starting to cut steak, eggs and bacon. Totally forgetting my manners.

I cringe once I see his eyes on me in the mirror behind the counter again, and he lets out a low chuckle as I blush a deep red.

“It’s okay,” he says, looking genuinely satisfied. “You must be hungry and you don’t have to wait for me.”

He looks away, to his own plate but once I start eating again, his eyes are on me. I thought it might be awkward with someone sitting so close, but everything with Thorn just feels natural.

Everything feels right.

Safe.

“When did you last eat?” he asks me, filling his mouth with steak in a way that makes me think there’s nothing this man does that isn’t sexy.

“Yesterday,” I murmur between mouthfuls of my own, somehow feeling he’s enjoying watching me eat which makes me want to eat more.

His disappointed sound and slight shaking of his head doesn’t faze me.

I vow to finish every morsel of food for him, as well as to satisfy my own hunger. But the more I eat, the more I become aware of the different kind of hunger between us.

I try and tell myself he couldn’t be interested in a curvy girl like me, that he could have any girl he wants.

But there’s something in his brooding look, like a steel spring in a trap that’s twitching, aching to go off.

“What about you?” I hear myself asking briskly, as soon as it occurs to me, the thought of anyone else in his life fills me with panic.

He cocks a brow at my question, sipping long on his coffee.

“Anyone? You must be married,” I say louder than normal, noting his curious look as my own shoulders slump.

Of course he is.

How could he not be?

“Really” I almost squeal as he shakes his head, wiping his mouth with his napkin before grinning.

“Why’d you ask?” he quizzes me, an extra shine in his eye. A little twinkle of mischief that makes me sigh out loud as I sit back, feeling full and suddenly very relieved.

“Just wondered,” I muse quietly, shifting in my seat a little and feeling a fresh line of moisture ripple through my mound.

So close to Thorn, a delicious meal and now the news that he’s not taken?

It’s pure fantasy, but it’s enough to give me some hope.

“I just never met the right girl,” he smiles knowingly, making a shiver go up my spine as his look shifts to something I know is only going to lead to me making a fool of myself if he keeps teasing me like this.

“You gonna make your call?” he asks, glancing at the clock. I know in an instant that he has a schedule, which I’ve intruded on.

Reminded that my only option is to call my dad and ask him to drive two hundred miles to collect me isn’t a pleasant thought.

The thought of Thorn leaving too, leaving this diner without me at his side? The slightest doubt in my mind still threatening that I’ve imagined his attraction to me?

That it’s three for three today and everyone I meet is just not what they seem these days.

I feel my face crumple and my lip starts with that thing again. That thing it does when I have to cry.

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