Loathe at First Sight: A small-town enemies to lovers romance: The Lawsons: Book 1 (The Lawson's)

7. A Bag Full of Surprises

seven

Jack

Ilook down at the ground where someone just ran into me and then fell on their ass. I guess they weren’t watching where they were going.

Looking down, I see none other than Liz Lawson.

Why am I not surprised?

She seems to have had a lot in her hands because now everything is littered all over the sidewalk. Most of the bags she was carrying popped open, spilling out their contents.

“What the hell?” She exclaims looking up at me. When she realizes who I am, she mumbles, “Of course.”

“Nice to see you too, princess.”

Her eyes narrow in on me, showing just how much she hates the nickname I’ve given her. Well, if the shoe fits, you can wear it, Cinderella. Her actions scream princess.

“You know, my mom told me that I should apologize to you because she thought maybe I was being unreasonable yesterday, but now, I think my actions were completely warranted.” She looks at me again and asks, “Do you own any shirt that’s not flannel?”

“I think the better question is why does my flannel bother you?”

“It doesn’t bother me. It’s just…I can think of a thousand other things that you would look better in.”

“Have you been picturing me wearing other things?”

I’m just giving her shit, but it’s too much fun to stop.

Flustered, she responds, “I wasn’t picturing you in other things! Just maybe there’s more to the fashion world than flannel. You look like a lumberjack.”

The way she says it makes it clear that she thinks it’s an insult.

“You realize that most of the men in this town work at a lumberyard, right? Are you giving all of them this much shit if they wear flannel? Or am I just special?”

She points her finger at me. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

I could just walk inside and let her pick up all of this stuff by herself, but that just wouldn’t sit right with me—no matter how much of a brat she is.

So, I kneel, setting the donuts that I was carrying down on the ground next to me. I start grabbing some of her things and put them in one of the bags.

“You don’t have to help,” she tells me. “I’m sure you need to get to work.”

“They can live a few more minutes without me.”

“Well, thanks,” she mutters so quietly that I almost miss it.

“You’re welcome,” I reply in a volume that I’m sure she hears.

My eyes occasionally glance up to look her over. This woman doesn’t look like the same one I saw yesterday. This one doesn’t have on a ton of makeup or any fancy clothes. Her hair that was straight before is now pulled up in a ponytail of crazy curls. She”s ditched the long, fake eyelashes, and she just has on some athletic clothing.

I like this version of her better.

Not that I actually like either one of them. I’m sure she’s still the same spoiled brat underneath it all.

I’m not paying too much attention to what I’m grabbing until something catches my eye. Something very small.

And lacy.

And black.

Using one finger to hold it by the very thin strings, I hold up a thong.

Liz glares at me while reaching over to grab it off of my hand. “Don’t get any ideas.”

Too late.

Liz Lawson may be the last person on Earth that I want to take to bed, I bet she looks sexy as hell in this little thing.

I can’t hide the sly smile that curls up one corner of my lips.

Liz takes notice and asks, “Why are you smiling? Is this your first time seeing women’s underwear?”

“Nope. I just didn’t think you’d be the type to wear thongs.”

“Why’s that?”

“Didn’t think it would be too comfortable with that giant stick you have up your butt.”

She rolls her eyes. “Ha. Ha. Ha. You’re hilarious.”

“I know, right?” I say in the tone of a teenage girl.

She starts moving quicker, clearly ready to get away from me. That’s alright. The feeling’s mutual.

The final thing that I grab is a t-shirt. Problem is that something seems to be wrapped up within the fabric. The way I grab it makes whatever is inside come toppling out. I watch Liz’s eyes go wide almost in slow motion, looking at whatever it is.

When I follow her line of sight, I now understand the look on her face. On the sidewalk sits a large black vibrating dildo.

I cock one eyebrow as I look at the toy. I could say something about it. Hell, I have a million things sitting right on the tip of my tongue. But I can only imagine how embarrassing this must be for her. I’d be upset if someone opened up my internet browser and saw the porn I was watching.

So, I decide to just keep my mouth shut.

As she picks it up and wraps it back in the t-shirt, she asks, “Not going to say anything about that?”

“Nope,” is all I give in response.

I grab two of her bags and hand them to her as she gets them situated in her mom’s car. I recognize it because I’ve been doing oil changes on it ever since I opened up my shop.

When I’ve handed her the last one, I say, “I’ll try to look at your car today and let you know what I find. How do you want me to get ahold of you?”

“Just call the bar. I’m sure my parents can relay the message. And take your time. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” The last statement seems like it’s more just for her rather than me.

“Alright.” Not wanting to prolong this any more than we need to, I walk inside.

A couple of the guys say hi to me as I make my way toward the back.

Holding up the box in my hands, I call, “Donuts in the breakroom if anyone wants them.”

I immediately get to work and try my best not to think about Liz or all the goodies that I just saw in her bag. There is no way in the world that I want to think of that woman in that way.

There’s no way I want to think of her at all.

She’s a headache I don’t need.

Just when I think I’ve gotten my mind off of her, Dylan pokes his head into my office. Dylan is awesome as an employee. I couldn’t ask for anyone better. But his obnoxious sister is another story.

“Hey, boss. Do you have a minute?” He asks.

“Yep. Come on in.” As he sits down, I add, “I think you’ve got some explaining to do.

“Yeah, I heard you met Liz.”

“Oh, I met her alright. How did I not know you had a whole other sister?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “She’s been gone for a long time. She hasn’t even been to visit in forever. I never would have imagined she would be moving back.”

I don’t say anything, and he continues, “Liz has had a rough go in the past year. I’ve made it a point not to talk about her around town because it inevitably turns into gossip, and I don’t want to do that to her. She will get enough of that from everyone else.”

You may think that Liz and I would have nothing in common, but I understand what Dylan is saying. In the past, I’ve had plenty of people talking shit about me behind my back. And it was on a much bigger scale than a small town.

“You don’t have to go into details, Dylan. She just caught me off guard.”

“I know she can be a handful. And sometimes, she can be a little…”

“Much?” I interrupt.

“I was going to say bitchy.”

We both start laughing.

He adds, “She’s awesome once you get to know her.”

I have absolutely zero intention of getting to know her better, but I smile and nod at him to let him know I get where he’s coming from.

Before we can go any further, Jamie comes walking in, taking a seat in the other chair.

“Fuck, my office is like Grand Central Station today,” I say.

Jamie completely ignores me. “A woman came in here earlier to get a bunch of stuff out of her car. She was hot as fuck.”

Dylan and I exchange a knowing glance and decide to let the newbie dig his own grave.

“Oh, yeah?” I ask. “Was her name Liz?”

“You know her? Man, she may be older than me, but I’d love to get between those long legs of hers.”

Sure, the guys in the shop always compare stories and talk about their conquests, but you have to read the room. Jamie doesn’t know the meaning of that.

“Are you going to ask her out?” I ask.

“Would you care if I did? I mean, you know her. Is there something going on between the two of you?”

“Absolutely not,” I reply. “But I don’t think I’m the person who you need to ask about it.”

“Who do I need to ask?” He looks so damn confused it’s almost cute.

I try to contain my smile. Using my pen to point at Dylan, I say, “Maybe her brother.”

His head snaps to the side. “That’s your sister?”

“The one you were just talking about with the long legs you’d like to climb between? Yeah.”

“Fuck, bro. I’m sorry.” He looks at me. “Why didn’t you say something before I made an ass out of myself?”

Dylan and I both burst out laughing. I reply, “Because it was so much more fun this way.”

“Man, you guys are assholes. How long are you going to haze me for?”

Dylan says, “As long as you’re still the newbie.”

It’s quiet for a minute before Jamie speaks again. “So, where did we land on me asking her out? Is it cool?”

Dylan squeezes the bridge of his nose, trying to calm whatever headache is coming on. “Dude, she would eat you up and spit you out.”

Jamie grins. “I’d like it.”

Both Dylan and I change our grins to looks of disgust.

I don’t say anything because quite frankly, none of this is any of my business.

After a long pause, Dylan says, “If you want to ask her out, go for it. Just be prepared for her to shoot you down.”

Another smile. “We’ll see.”

And with that, he gets up and walks out the door.

Dylan looks at me, “Kid has giant brass ones on him, I’ll give him that.”

“Are you really okay with him dating your sister?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t care. Liz is older than me, and frankly can still probably kick my ass, so I’m not about to get involved in her love life. Plus, I don’t think she’ll be interested.”

After a minute more, he stands up to go get back to work so that I can do the same. I tell him that when he finishes with Mrs. Anderson’s car, he can get started on his sister’s if he has time.

He agrees and walks out.

After a morning filled with Liz Lawson, I do my best to keep her off my mind. After seeing the things that I did this morning, that’s going to be difficult. Now, when I see her, I’m going to wonder if she’s wearing that tiny thong underneath her clothes.

And I’ll wonder if she’s been using that toy of hers…and how she uses that toy.

It has nothing to do with me wanting her. But I’m a guy. Anything and everything sexual pretty much reigns supreme in my mind. As much as thinking about her in that way annoys me, it’s just a fact.

But one thing makes me feel like a smug son of a bitch.

My dick is bigger than that toy of hers.