“Give me a name, beautiful. Just his name and I’ll make him pay for ever touching you.”
I dropped my lashes, covering my eyes and hiding the pleasure I felt at his vow. “You can’t. He’s already dead.” Pressing my lips into a hard line, I forced my lashes to lift and smiled coldly at him. “And that’s all you’ll ever get out of me on the subject, Sheriff Davis.”
No way I would tell this man—the fucking law, for God’s sake—that my mother killed the bastard who had nearly killed me.
Chapter 2
Ben
I hated that cool little smile Lexa was giving me right then. It made me want to kiss her until she melted against me like she had the night before. I ached to feel her in my arms again, her mouth devouring mine just as hungrily as I would hers.
If she thought I couldn’t see through it and glimpse the agonizing need that was burning through her—just as it was me—then I needed to set her straight. She’d put up walls since last night, and I was going to tear them down. Brick by brick if I had to.
“Here we go, Lexa,” Quinn announced as she placed four, heavy-looking to-go bags on the counter. “I’ll ring you up while Little John gets the sheriff’s orders together.”
Lexa gave her a forced smile. “Thanks, Aunt Quinn.” As I watched, her tongue skimmed over her bottom lip, making it glossy, and I nearly released the groan that was vibrating in my throat. As she handed over a twenty for the first order, she bit into her bottom lip then blew out a small huff. “Hey, do you happen to know why Mom is taking the week off? They waited until the last minute to ask me to help out at the shop, and things seemed kind of tense this morning.”
A frown squeezed at the blonde’s brow as she handed over the change. “Sorry, honey. Things have been so crazy around here, I haven’t really seen Raven in about a week. Although—” She broke off, shaking her head. “Never mind. I’m sure it’s nothing. Your mom has been really busy lately. She probably just has to take care of other things, and with you home now, she can focus on them while you take care of the shop for her.”
“Yeah,” Lexa said with a nod, but I could tell she wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Worry pinched at her brow before she quickly smoothed it out, putting on a smile that her aunt didn’t seem to notice wasn’t reaching her beautiful eyes.
Eight transactions later, and Lexa was finally ready to go. When she went to lift the bags, I was already there, taking two in each hand. “Lead the way,” I instructed, only for her to glare up at me.
“I can carry it myself, Sheriff. I’m not helpless.” Those glacier-blue eyes snapped icy fire at me, making the need to kiss her intensify. Did she have any idea how beautiful she was when she was pissed?
“No one thinks you are, woman. My grandmother would whup me good if I didn’t offer some assistance.” When she didn’t move so I could follow her to her car, I turned and walked to the door alone.
I knew exactly which car was hers. When I’d pulled into the parking lot and saw it sitting close to the front door, my shitty morning at work had evaporated, and I’d felt
a little of the peace I’d gotten a taste of the night before just looking at the stars with Lexa.
Turning so my back was to the door, I pushed it open with my shoulder and grinned at her. “Coming, beautiful?”
Muttering curses under her breath that would have had my grandmother swatting at her sexy behind, she stomped toward me and followed me out to her car. The doors weren’t locked, so I secured the four bags in the back seat while she glowered at me. As I closed the door, she stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest mutinously, and I winked down at her before walking around to the driver’s door and opening it for her.
“You can’t do things like this and not expect people to notice,” she said with a sexy little growl as she marched around the car toward me. “Especially here, of all places. Do you realize how many MC brothers eat here at any given time every single day?”
I shrugged. “I saw the cuts, sweetheart. I’m well aware of the club and its members.” Leaning down, I brought my face to within an inch of hers. “Told you last night I don’t care about them or your father.”
“Yeah, well, I do.” Tossing her hair out of her face, she showed me her scar for the third time since the night before. “Take a good look, Ben. It doesn’t get any prettier in the sunlight.”
Slamming the car door shut, I cupped her face in both hands, letting my thumb brush over her scar. “Stop it. I don’t give a damn about this scar. It doesn’t make you less beautiful to me, Lexa. It doesn’t make me want you any less. I don’t care about it or your father or anyone else in this goddamn world. I just want you to be mine.”
Leaning into my touch, she lowered her lashes, but not before I saw the sheen of tears. Yet all too soon, she jerked back, putting distance between us all over again. “That didn’t seem to be how you felt last night. I saw the disgust on your face, Sheriff. So, don’t stand there and lie to me that you don’t care about the fact that I’m—”
“Lexa?”
We both looked up at the sound of her name. When I saw the mountain of a man standing only feet away, his head shaved and a tattoo of a black widow on his neck, I instinctively put myself between him and Lexa. I knew who he was. No one would forget James Masterson after one introduction. The patch on his MC cut said Enforcer, and I could easily believe he would enforce every law his club had.
Noticing how protectively I was treating Lexa, he lifted his brows, but when he spoke, it wasn’t to me. “Lexa, you okay here?”
Stepping around me, she walked over to him, not in the least bit intimidated by him. “Everything is fine, Uncle Spider.” Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. “Are you stopping for lunch?”
“Meeting Willa here,” he told her, giving her a squeezing hug before releasing her and turning his menacing eyes back on me. “You got a problem with my niece, Sheriff?”
“Of course he doesn’t,” Lexa rushed to assure him without giving me time to speak. “He was nice enough to carry all my food out to my car for me.”
“Why was he touching you, then?”