Chapter 4
FOUR
Pearl
“I’m never going to work again,” I inform Coco as soon as she comes out of her bedroom the next morning.
“What?” she asks sleepily. “What happened?”
“I told him I was thinking about kissing him, and he just stared at me, Coco. Like I was a freaking weirdo!”
“Huh.”
I stare at her wide-eyed. “Coco!”
“What else happened?”
“I ran away! He caught up with me, and I thought he was going to kiss me, but someone pulled up with an injured puppy and I helped him with surgery and then… I don’t know. I stayed for a bit, gave the other pets their medicine, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t seek me out, so I came home.”
Coco shrugs. “Maybe he was looking and couldn’t find you.”
I glare at her. “The clinic isn’t that big. He knew where I was. He could’ve found me, but he didn’t. He came to his senses and ignored me instead.”
“Maybe he’s worried about your reaction. Maybe he’s freaking out right now too.”
“I don’t think so. He was very… confident,” I mumble.
“What does that mean?”
“It was so hot, Coco. He caged me against my car with his body and made me say I wanted to kiss him. He was right here.” I hold my hand up in front of my face. “I swear he would’ve kissed me if we hadn’t been interrupted.”
“Okay, so go to work and talk to him.”
“Are you insane?”
She laughs. “Probably, but I’m right about this.”
“You’re forgetting the part where he ignored me for the rest of the night.”
“He was going to kiss you!”
“But he didn’t,” I point out. “And now everything will be awkward.” I bury my face in my hands.
My phone dings on the counter behind me.
Coco scoops up my phone and frowns at the screen. “I bet this is him texting you right now.”
“Is it him?” I ask, my heart racing in my chest.
“No, it’s Kathy. She wants to know if she can take your shift today. She needs the extra hours.”
“Yes!” I grab my phone and respond to her message right away.
It sucks to lose the money, but at least I’ll have a whole day to avoid Wells and get myself together.
My shoulders relax. I take a deep breath as I tuck my phone into my pocket and look at Coco.
“Coward,” she accuses.
I nod. “Yep.”
“What are you going to do?”
I chew on my lower lip. “Right now? I’m going back to bed. I’ll deal with all this later, figure out a plan.”
Coco pulls me into a hug. “It will be okay.”
I squeeze her tightly. “I hope so.”
I go back to my bedroom and climb into bed.
Closing my eyes, I will sleep to claim me, but it’s no use.
All I can think about is Wells and what happened last night.
I’m still trying to come up with a solution for this mess when my phone rings half an hour later.
I frown when I see it’s work, wondering if something happened.
“Hello?”
“Where the hell are you?” Wells growls, his voice low and demanding.
I groan as I roll onto my back.
“Fucking hell, Pearl. Are you trying to turn me on?”
I blink. “What?”
“Never mind.”
“Uh…”
“Get your butt to work. Now.”
I tense. “Kathy is covering my shift. She needs the hours.”
“I need you right now.” Something in his voice, a heated note, has the blood rushing in my veins.
“Wells—”
“Be at work in twenty.”
I don’t know what to say. One minute I’m mad that he’s bossing me around, and the next I’m turned on.
“Pearl,” Wells barks.
I swallow hard. “I’m not dressed.”
“Fuck. That’s not helping my current situation, Pearl.”
Situation?
“I want you to tell me everything you’re thinking.”
“Clearly,” I say sarcastically.
“Pearl, I’m still fucking hard from when you asked me to kiss you last night. Now I’m picturing you in my bed, naked, those sweet fucking eyes locked on me.”
My whole body ignites. My heart beats so loudly that I can barely hear Wells’ sexy words over the thump, thump, thump.
“I’m not naked,” I mumble. “I’m in pajamas.”
“Get dressed, Pearl, and get to work.”
I hesitate. Do I want to go to work? Can I face him right now?
No. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to figure this out at work in front of everyone. I need to get my head on straight before I face him.
“No.”
I hear him suck in a breath.
“I’m going back to bed.”
I hang up. I have no idea what’s gotten into me, but I know I need to get my emotions under control before I see him again. I need to have plans in place for every scenario. Need to be ready for him.
Rolling over, I try to go back to sleep.
The front door opens as Coco leaves for work.
I close my eyes, desperate to sleep, but I’m too keyed up.
I keep replaying what Wells said, keep hearing that low growl in his voice.
My nipples pebble beneath my thin tank top, and my core clenches as I think about what would’ve happened if we hadn’t been interrupted last night.
He would’ve kissed me, the hard planes of his body pressing me against the side of my car. Would his kiss have been hard or soft? Would he have tried to take it further? Would I have let him?
Yes! my subconscious whispers right away.
My clit pulses between my legs. I bite my lip as my fingers skim down my body and into my pajama shorts.
A knock sounds at the front door, making me jump, and I yank my hands out of my panties. My whole body is hot as I crawl out of bed.
It has to be Coco. She has a habit of leaving her keys here and locking herself out.
I smile, ready to tease her as I open the front door.
Except, it’s not Coco.
It’s Wells.
He glares at me, hands braced on the doorframe as he looms over me.
“Wells?” I squeak, backing up.
He stalks me step for step, kicking the door shut behind him.
“Wh-what are you doing?” I stammer.
He grabs me and drags me against him. “What I should have done last night.”