Chapter 2 #2
“Why would you do that?” I snapped.
He gave me a confused look. Wilna watched us, and Tate was probably outside the door listening in.
Teller stepped closer to me. I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze, and god, why was that so hot?
He didn’t move away. Neither did I. “Why don’t you settle what’s left and then we can talk?”
“ Or you can answer me instead of expecting me to jump to do what you say.”
He leaned a little closer and my traitorous body wanted to sway forward and close the distance, to feel how warm that big, hard body was. “I’ll wait outside the office, Madison,” he finished on a purr.
My thighs quivered. Then he was gone, taking that delicious heat and his enticing woodsy citrus scent with him. My world tipped sideways, and I covered the dizziness by facing Wilna. The sooner I was done dealing with this payment and that man , the better.
I’m supposed to dislike him, but my hormones hadn’t gotten the message.
I’d never wired money before, but Wilna walked me through everything. The nausea returned through the process. For a brief, blissful moment, I’d had over fifty grand in my account. Now I was back to twenty bucks until payday.
I’d had less before.
In the hallway, Tate was gone. Teller was in his place, reclining against the wall. He propped a cowboy hat against his leg with one hand. My brain took a snapshot in case I needed to know what kind of guy was out of my reach. I was about to spin in the other direction, but after the money I’d spent, I needed what I’d paid for.
“When can you be at the bar?” I asked.
The corner of his mouth lifted in a tease. “You didn’t bid so high for a date?”
“Disappointed?”
“Depends on what dating you is like.”
His answer caught me off guard. “Not exciting.” I inwardly winced. I didn’t mean to say that, but it wasn’t like my history made guys line up to ask me out.
“Hmm, I feel like that’s not true.”
Is he joking again? “Well, you’re not finding out.”
He held up his hands like he gave up, and a small part of me withered. “The bar? That’s the project? That shithole?”
I bristled. That shithole would be everything I had once my parents’ property sold. “Yes. Hope you’re up for it.”
I breezed past him just as he said, “Being up is never a problem.”
His wall of heat stayed at my back, wreaking havoc with the interest my libido had with his comment. The church was empty as I marched through the sanctuary to get to the exit on the other side.
“What’s your issue?” he demanded from behind me. “We’re going to be working together.”
I kept walking. As if I hadn’t heard that question so many times before.
“Jesus, Maddy.”
“You should watch your mouth in church.” The glass doors were in front of me. I pushed out of them, but Teller was so close they didn’t shut in his face. “Even us poor people have some manners.”
“Are you that upset I helped with the donation? I could tell fifty was your stopping point.”
This time, I spun. He pulled up short but not nearly far enough away. “You didn’t think that if I came up with fifty grand, I couldn’t cover five more?”
“Could you?”
I clamped my mouth shut. “I would’ve, yes.”
“Life insurance?”
I stiffened. Guilt fed into my anger, diminishing it. “None of your business.”
“A lot isn’t my business, but it sounds like that bar is now. Wendi fought you for it, didn’t she?”
I scoffed, but I hated hearing his ex’s name come out of his mouth. “She fights for everything that isn’t hers.”
He huffed and nodded. “Ain’t that the truth. Best decision Scooter ever made was divorcing her.”
A lump formed in my throat. My brother hadn’t had a choice, but I didn’t want to get into it. I opened my door and scrambled in. Teller wedged himself in the opening. His torso was within touching distance.
Seriously? That was where my mind went?
“Move,” I said through gritted teeth.
He clasped the top of the pickup. He’d also stuffed his hat on his head and the brim shadowed his eyes. I had a stubborn cowboy facing off with me, but my pulse didn’t spike with fear. Heat wound through my veins, curling down farther, whispering steamy suggestions into my ear. Ideas that Teller was probably good at. Excellent even.
“It was a thank-you,” he said.
I heaved my mind out of the gutter. “What was?”
“You saved me from Riley.”
Oh. The money. So I had read him correctly. “Yeah, well. I can commiserate.” My grudge against her knew no bounds. “But I could’ve covered it.”
“You weren’t prepared to spend over fifty.”
Damn him. “I was too,” I said stubbornly.
He gave me a flat look.
“I don’t appreciate that you thought I needed saving.” I stared out the windshield. He was overpowering otherwise. His size. That determined look in his eye. The way we seemed to be on the same wavelength during the auction. I had nothing in common with him but cheating exes.
Teller Bailey was a sexy man. A fact I’d never been able to deny. My hormones might’ve shut off when I had learned of my ex’s betrayal, but my arousal argued otherwise. Damien and the duds I had dated before him had given me a soft spot for hardworking, honest men intent on taking care of their loved ones. Bourbon Canyon was too small not to notice those traits in Teller.
If I hadn’t had to move back home, I could’ve kept my grudge against him fueled with nothing but memories of his outburst from years ago.
“Well, like I said, it’s a thank-you,” he said gruffly.
I could give him that. If I had to spend a day with Riley, I’d cough up five grand to skip it too. I kept my gaze hard when I faced him. The same fire wicked up my spine as it always did when I was this close to him. “Fine.”
His grin was slow.
A million butterflies took flight in my belly. How bad of a mistake had I made?
“When do you want me to report, boss?” That low growl of his... He was potent. Too alluring for his own good. And he knew it.
“I work the night shift, so I sleep until one.”
He frowned. “What time do you get off work?”
“Seven.”
“And you only sleep until one?”
I was perpetually tired. What could I say? “It’s only three twelves.” Three twelves per week that banked each other and became six twelve-hour shifts in a row, but it gave me a good stretch off to do things like renovate a bar I’d never planned on running. “And then I pick up extra hours if I can.”
“Right. You’re a nurse.”
“I’m not a nurse.” I swallowed my usual shame when I had to correct people. “I’m a CNA.”
He gave his head a brief shake.
“I help nurses.” And I got paid half of what they did.
“I thought you were in nursing school with Wendi.”
“I was.” My stomach cramped. And there was the reason for my mortification. Being a CNA was fine. It was hard, backbreaking work, but it was rewarding. It just wasn’t my choice of a career, but then nursing school hadn’t been either, and leaving school had been my decision. Ultimately.
He waited, but I didn’t elaborate. There had to be some limit to looking like an idiot around him.
“I work all weekend,” I said, “but if you want to stop in anytime between two and six, then I can go over what needs to be done.” I gave him a tight smile. His scent filled the cab to haunt me later. I’d have to drive with the windows down for a week to forget how good he smelled.
“You work tonight?”
My scrubs were in the back. Buy a bachelor with all my money and head to work. A normal day. “Yes. So, if you’ll excuse me.”
He let go of the frame of the pickup. “Monday. I’ll be there after work on Monday.”
“As long as it’s after two.”
He dipped the brim of his hat, and for some reason, my sex drive reminded me that it’d been a while since I had orgasmed.
I had to get away from this guy. “Monday.” I swung the door shut and fired up the engine.
Teller didn’t move as I backed up and drove away. The strong, straight-legged way he stood with the sky and trees would be etched in my brain forever. Each block I put between him and me left me as light as marshmallow fluff. I was finally making progress. I now had a contractor, and it was thanks to my brother’s life insurance... and the bourbon cowboy in my rearview mirror.