Page 15 of The Risk Taker
“Okay,” she sing-songs.
“I’m not going there.”
“Whatever you say.” She grins.
“I’m not!”
Mel’s not going to let it drop. She’s going to make sure I go back to New York having been thoroughly dicked. The idea isn’t completely preposterous. Maybe there’s even an ounce of truth in the suggestion it’ll help me get over what Callum did. Like a great big ‘fuck you’ statement, even though he won’t know what I get up to while I’m here.
But if I let Mel think it’s even a remote possibility, then she’ll have me tied up on Declan’s bed with a cherry garnish between my legs, like an offering.
And I’m not sure I’m ready to fuck anyone when I’m still getting over being screwed.
It would take one hell of a fuck for me to feel better about it all.
5
WOODY
The brunette’spert ass shakes in her denim shorts where she’s bent over, rifling through a pile of stuff at the side of the bed. The angle exposes the soft curve of her ass cheeks.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
She jumps in shock and spins to face me.
“What the fuck areyoudoing? Creeping up on me like that?”
I lean against the doorframe of Declan’s bungalow and stare at the little thief. Her hair is flowing around her with a natural wildness as if she’s been raking her fingers through it. It’s not brunette like I thought. It’s got a thousand strands of caramel running through it, like subtle rays of sunshine filtering through trees.
Pretty hair for a dirty little thief.
“I’m going to ask you again, New York City,” I drawl, noting the way her brow creases as she understands I don’t mean the nickname in a friendly way. “What the fuck are you doing?”
She narrows her eyes. “You have a thing about New York or something? Some girl from there break your heart and you decided to hide out here and massage your bruised ego?”
I grit my teeth, a sharp twinge lancing up into my jaw.
“Because, if I’m not mistaken, that’s a pretty familiar accent I detect there,Cowboy,” she continues. “What happened to your friend, Buzz Lightyear? Did your whole moody act scare him away too?”
A triumphant smirk tilts her glossed lips.
Smart mouth for a little thief too.
“You ever visited a South African cop station?”
My question wipes the smug look off her pretty face, making the blood drain from it.
“I was looking for my phone,” she mumbles.
I walk inside, putting the board wax that I borrowed from Declan on top of a set of drawers.
“New York going to fall apart without you?” I ask.
The look of disdain she gave me yesterday is back in an instant.
“No. But I need to check in with home.”
I press my lips together hard, forcing myself to breathe through my nose as she twitters on.
