Chapter Twenty-four
~Katarina~
Jessie sat behind the wheel, tapping his heavy fingers against it with exhaustion painted all over his face.
Katarina worried if asking for a ride was the wrong move, but he practically begged her.
There was something weighing on him. So, she had him help her pack Isabella’s bag while her child worked oatmeal into her sleepy maw.
Then wrangled the car seat while Lailee brushed and styled the kiddo’s hair.
With a few fake airplane movements from Jessie, Isabella was in high spirits and babbling the whole drive to school.
Something that seemed to ease the tension in the tense man’s shoulders.
Katarina studied him from her seat as he kept his focus on the road but answered every one of Isabella’s questions from ‘where did you go last night’ to ‘Did Barnibus have to fight any monsters’.
He had an answer, child safe, for all of them.
And when they parked, he waved goodbye to her.
It wasn’t till Katarina threw herself back into the cabin that she saw the real pained look he hid from Isabella.
“What happened last night?” Katarina cocked a brow.
He sighed. “Bobby’s gone. Don’t know where. Looks like he was in bed with some dangerous people, and when they came to get their device back from him, he booked it. Now they probably think I have it, or know about it, or worse.”
Katarina put a hand on his arm, rubbing it tenderly.
He sagged to the right, his gaze still locked on the school, his horns clinking against the open top window he had closed.
She would have suggested to open it, now that Isabella wasn’t in the car.
She hates the wind beating her in the face.
But she didn’t want to risk anyone hearing either.
Instead, she leaned toward him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He hummed in appreciation.
“What can I do to help?”
Jessie shook his head. “Just you being here helps, baby girl. But I gotta head back into the shop. The bank deposit needs doing and I gotta balance the books and…”
Katarina beamed as he slowly straightened staring at her. She cocked her head to the side with a wicked glimmer in her eye. “Money, you say?”
A light bulb turned on. “Well, you are an accountant.”
“A freelancer too! And I think my rates are rather reasonable,” she smirked.
“How reasonable?” His gaze dropped to her mouth and a spark of desire ignited in her belly.
Look at me, the mere thought of him and my stomach growls.
He pulled away to put the truck in reverse and back out of the spot.
Throwing an arm behind her headrest, her skin prickled immediately as his hand wrapped around the nape of her neck.
He applied just a squeeze and she was a puddle in the seat.
“Jessie, you sure you want to play these games?” She breathed as he kept his hand there, like a delicious threat. “You’ve had a rough night.”
“Nothing better to recover from a rough night than by playing some games,” he chuckled darkly.
His eyes were blown wide but glued to the windshield.
Katarina caught him shifting in his seat and she saw the front of his jeans were tented.
There were still grass and oil stains all over them, and she knew he hadn’t gotten a shower in yet, so they were going to be playing dirty games.
Somehow that’s even hotter? She sucked in a sharp breath through her nose.
“Well, let’s see…” she trailed off with a hum, raking her hands up her legs.
They’d, thankfully, swung by the townhouse to snag actual clothes.
She’d gone for ease instead of practicality that time, throwing on a sundress.
I thought if I actually got to work on stuff in the yard this time, I’d just run back home or borrow some shop overalls.
Suddenly, she felt like a fucking sexy genius as she gathered up the hem of her dress.
Jessie’s grip on her neck flexed and she didn’t even have to look to know he was holding onto his sanity by the daintiest fucking thread.
“There’s bank deposit, an account overview I’ve got to do, general upkeep.
Balancing books. Payroll. All that plus a fee for taking care of that knot?
Mmm, that’ll run you, oh, I’d say about two orgasms and a pretty please. ”
“That’s all?” Jessie choked on his own laugh as they flew through a mostly yellow light.
She shouldn’t play with fire. It was a terrible idea.
Yet, she couldn’t help the shit-eating grin that crawled up her lips.
Katarina hooked her fingers into her panties and wiggled them off her hips.
She heard him suck in a breath as she bucked her hips, shoving the fabric off her thighs in a single move.
Dangling them off a finger, she popped an inquisitive brow at him.
“Tell me I’m pretty and I’ll let you breed the fuck out of me,” she blurted out.
Jessie slammed on the brakes a little harder than necessary.
She dropped her skirt and her panties fell into his center console, not to mention the car behind them honked angrily.
All that was forgiven by the smoldering gaze he threw her way.
“Baby girl, you know you’re fucking gorgeous,” he growled.
“I know,” she giggled before she nodded toward the road. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“And give me a damn heart attack, apparently,” he snarled. Before she could grab her panties, he snatched them up from his console and tucked them into his pocket. “You got yourself a deal, Ms. Witchbane. I’ll see you paid in full upfront. Just let me get us safely to the shop.”
“You sure you want everyone to hear you pay that upfront?” she teased.
“Oh, don’t worry.” He shot her a quick wink before letting off the brakes.
The light switched to green and he floored it through the intersection as safely as any person who’d been toyed mercilessly by a succubus could.
“I paid for the enchantment on that office last year. And I had that desk reinforced too…though, that was for completely different reasons than what they’ll be used for today. ”
Katarina wiggled her eyebrows at him but relented so that they could get to the shop without another incident.
The five minutes it took to get through town, then into a parking spot at the shop felt like an eternity.
She sat on a razor’s edge, dangling her feet into the abyss, waiting patiently till Jessie tackled her the rest of the way.
He threw the truck into park before dragging her head across the cabin to his mouth.
His kiss was hard and desperate. She grinned into it, a dastardly moan floating between the two of them.
He shook his head. Taking up a fistful of her hair, he croaked against her mouth.
“Baby girl, you’re a damn menace. Get that pretty pussy in my office this moment.
I’ve got to make sure the boys got everything set up. ”
“Okay, but remember, Mr. Bonesaw. I don’t start working till I’m paid.” She dared him with a glance.
Jessie smirked, tugging her in for one more heated kiss before he let her go. “I don’t expect you to lift a damn finger.”
Katarina tossed herself out of the cabin, ignoring the rush of air between her legs.
She made sure her skirt wasn’t presenting her bush to the world and strutted to the front door.
Penny picked up a sleepy head from the desk.
She was bent over it, a cup of steaming coffee next to her and the remote angled at the television as she flipped through channels.
“Oh! Katarina,” she yawned, pixie dust sprinkling the air as her wings fluttered pitifully behind her. “You’re here early!”
“Yeah, I’m here to help Jessie with the books.
” Katarina tiptoed around a sleepy child in the arm of an equally bleary-eyed man.
He offered her a polite head nod but said nothing else.
Katarina felt bad that she was still planning to get absolutely railed in the back office.
Jessie says it’s enchanted so… Of course, the head of a chop shop had a silenced office.
“Oh, you’re an accountant, right,” Penny yawned with a nod before putting her head down against the desk.
Katarina rounded the desk and found the office door shut.
Before she could even ask, Penny fished a set of keys from her pocket and stuffed them into Katarina’s hand.
Dance club ink was printed on the underside of Penny’s wrist and she still smelled of raspberry liquor.
Oh man. Penny was hungover. As the receptionist was always a bundle of joy, she assumed her lackadaisical attitude was due to it being simply too early.
But Katarina could see the pixie still in a sequined dress, glitter boots, and fishnets behind the desk.
Penny flashed her a knowing smile from the desk as she finally picked a channel. “It was just easier not to go home.”
“I hear that,” Katarina chuckled. Though, it’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to go out for fun… Sera would love to go out for drinks. Maybe once the problem was settled, she’d ask Lailee if she minded babysitting?
She opened the office before handing back the keys.
Inside the office, she sighed with relief.
The room was spacious, but still partially cluttered.
Wall to wall shelves full of manuals, references, past years’ taxes, and filing cabinets.
It was strange to feel a sense of longing as she rounded the thick, reinforced desk.
It was a sturdy oak with bolts on its feet to keep it in place against the tile floor.