Page 35 of Razor

“So–” She lifts the cup to her lips, and I can’t look away. As she takes a sip, a little of the foam from the milk lingers on her upper lip.

Leaning forward, I swipe it away with my tongue, and the desire hangs heavy in her eyes as she whispers, “Why is that so hot, and I’m not talking about the coffee?”

I wink and she says with a sigh, “So, what is your real name?”

“Razor.”

I enjoy the frustration in her as she leans back and sighs. “It’s like pulling fucking teeth.”

I smile inside. I’m aware I’m a difficult son of a bitch and that will probably never change.

I change the subject from me to my new favorite one. Her.

“Tell me about your family.”

Her eyes light up. “My father raised us single-handedly. Mom died in a car wreck when I was two years old and my brothers eight and ten.”

Her smile dims.

“It wasn’t easy. Three kids and a business were a lot for a grieving widow to deal with. Our grandmother helped, and I was practically raised by her. When she died after a fall, I kind of stepped up as the female in charge. I helped my father out in the home and business, and then my brothers enlisted in the military, and it was just me and Dad.”

“Tell me about them.”

I’m interested in discovering every part of her life, and her smile is wistful.

“Chad and Logan are brilliant brothers. The best. They were a little wild, and I suppose it’s because Dad never really had the time to check on them. He was and is a great father, but sucks at discipline. After a scrape with the law, he stepped up and told them that a stint in the military would save them from jail.”

“He made a good call.”

My career in the military saved me and my brother from heading down the same path, so I can’t argue with her father’s reasoning.

“I miss them, though. They were always there to protect me.”

“Protect you?”

“From guys mainly.”

Fuck. The thought of any guy hitting on her is causing murderous thoughts to plague my mind, and she nods.

“It was tough being a kid under those conditions. The only female in a house full of men. My brothers warned any guy off me, and when I had a steady guy through school, they backed off.”

“Steady guy?”

I attempt to act unconcerned, but I’m already planning this guy’s demise in my head, and she nods. “Yes, Jarred Benson. He was a member of the football team, and we kind of stuck with each other until he left for college and I worked in my dad’s waffle house, at least one of them, anyway.”

“You mentioned a marriage. This guy–”

“Santiago De Sauro.”

She shivers, and her lip curls in disgust.

“He is the creepiest weirdo I have ever met, and marriage to him would be over my dead body.”

“What happened to him?”

She shrugs. “He’s around. Which is why I’m so worried about my father and his business.”

I make a mental note to question Ryder on the situation when we return, and Sunday smiles.