Chapter Four
Keegan
Tacos look good, sure—but nothing looks as delicious as that full, wise mouth right now.
Kady is here, at my site, with a plate full of food.For me.To prove herself, she said. As if she needs to—I might have avoided her before but I sure as hell tasted the food she sent. I know damn well why her place is booked weeks in advance.
Ever since I pissed her off that day at the courthouse, she is all I can think about. Not just because I feel like an asshole for how I talked to her, either. I can remember how her eyes sparked, how good she smelled—like mint and something spicy—and how that mouth of hers turned me on.
“Good, you can eat my carne asadaandsome tasty crow. Come, sit, eat....andthentell me what you think of me,” she sasses as she saunters over to a workbench.
Before my eyes, she turns the workbench into a dining table. She spreads out a clean drop cloth, pulls up stools, and lays the food out. We sit in unison. I kick my legs over the tall stool while she sits carefully in her short skirt and heels.
“I did not mean what I said,” I start off, watching her expertly assemble a taco, “it was a bad day, I was pissed, it is not my business who you....” Before I can finish, she shoves the taco at me to shut me up.
Her fingertips pass over my lips covered in onion, cilantro, and lime juice. My cock stirs in my jeans and I grunt around the steak in my mouth. It is fucking delicious. Not nearly as delicious as her smirk as she sucks that steak and lime juice from her fingertips.
“Holy Christ,” I say once I get a bite down, “you some kind of witch? This is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.” I take another greedy bite when she laughs.
It is not the same laugh I watch her give that other prick. I don’t actuallyknowif he’s a prick, I guess. But he gets her laughs and her smiles and maybe a lot more. Her chuckle now is softer, warmer, as if she doesn’t want to share it with anyone but me. The one she gives him is louder and brighter, almost as if it’s practiced or cautious.
Taking another bite, I lean into her more, wanting to ask what she sees in him. Wanting to ask what she sees in any man, so maybe I can be that for her. She leans in too, but her eyes are too serious. Just a second ago, she gave me a flash of warmth and I want it back.
It hits me then that what I think of her food, and what I think of her, it really matters to her. “What do you see in that prick? Is it his money?” I still say the exact wrong thing.
“Un-fucking-believable,” she laughs again, but it’s cold now and I pull back from the bite of it, “enjoy the fucking tacos. Hope this joint is almost done so we don’t have to play nice. Have a good night,” she spits every word out fast and furious, her eyes darker and closed off.
“Fuck! Wait....I did it again. You make me say stupid shit, Kady,” I say, swiping at my mouth as I toss the taco aside.
“Whoareyou? I mean, I grew up here and I sure don’t remember you. That cute little accent tells me you ain’t from these parts.” She stands, eyes blazing up at me as she mocks my twang. “Does the country boy act work for you, honey? Or does tearing down a woman do it for you?” She licks her cherry red lips as she snarks me.
I barely hold back from clearing her delicious tacos off that worktable so I can throw her down and make a meal of her. That look in her eyes lets me know telling her what I really think of her won’t win her over right now. Stepping back before I make this worse, I take a deep breath and start another apology.
“Name’s Keegan. I don’tact likea country boy, I am one and I promise if I was from here, you’d have been the first person I made sure knew me. I don’t have a right to judge you or that rich prick, so I don’t mean what I say. I just can’t help the stupid shit I do or say when I'm around you. I’m no good with women—definitely not ones that look like you.” I'm breathing heavy as I finish, not caring that I just admitted my attraction to her.
She gazes up at me and the iciness in those lavender eyes of hers slowly melts away. I hold my breath as she takes one step and then another towards me. Her heels click loudly on the newly poured concrete floors. Her sexy mouth quirks in a grin as she reaches a hand out to walk her fingers up my chest.
Something shifts in the air between us and I realize whatever I'm feeling, she is too. It’s wrought and frenetic and I've never felt a single thing like it before. I want to throw her to the floor and lose myself inside her as badly as I want to stay the fuck away from her. I want to kiss her lips and spank her ass for the way she talks to me.
“Country boy works for you, then. Even if you are the prettiest sight I ever saw,” her eyes flash as her smirk makes my jeans feel too tight, “you don’t get to talk to me like that. You don’t know a thing about me or about Baker. It’s painfully wrong what you think.” Her voice is tight as her eyes go sad again and I hate it.
Grasping her wrist before she can take her hand away, I flatten her palm to my chest. Towering over her, I reach my hand up, tangling it in her dark hair, tipping her head back. A little gasp passes her lips as heat starts to simmer in her eyes. She does feel this. This want, this must-have feeling I have for her. She feels it too—for me.
Only I can’t have her because she’s taken. I'm a lot of things—a bad poker player, a hard worker, a good friend—but I'm no home wrecker. I don’t know what she and that rich fuck have going, but it won’t stop going because of the likes of me. And I won’t be someone’s good time or runner up. As badly as I want her—and it’sfucking bad—I won’t take something I know I can’t keep.
“Not sure what he does for you, Kady, but I figure it’s more than I could do, I guess. You are without a doubt the prettiest sight I've ever laid eyes on. But I'm no fool, even if you make me act like one. Thanks for the tacos, firecracker, I’ll be seeing you around,” I'm gentle with my words even as I push her away before I make a big mistake.
Again, she laughs. It’s a sad sound, this time. Not cold like when I pissed her off, or warm like that moment we shared. It’s empty and cold and I hate it more than the ones she gives him. Before I turn back and try to get that warm laugh from her, I leave.
Kady put some kind of spell on me, worked her brand of magic, and she knows it. Maybe it’s the same magic she works on all men—maybe she is a witch that wields her power over us to get what she wants. I don’t want to believe that, but I don’t know what else to think.
All I know is I need to keep my distance from her before I do something foolish—like fall deeper under her spell.