Chapter 11
Eleven
Don’t be mad at lazy people. They didn’t do anything.
—Calliope to Jasper
CALLIOPE
“I’m sorry, but I can’t keep working here when you allow my truck to be vandalized multiple times,” I said, giving the sweet lady my notice.
“I can’t afford to get it fixed, and if she does it again, I don’t think I can weasel my way out of getting it fixed by the neighbor next door again.
He already thinks I’m dumb for going yesterday. ”
“This fuckin’ bitch!” my boss groaned. “I swear, she’s ruining my life!”
I gave her a sad smile and said, “I’m sorry.”
She patted me on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
I knew it wasn’t.
That didn’t mean that I didn’t feel bad for leaving her in the lurch.
“I appreciate the help, though. Truly. Even a two-day reprieve was good for me.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you for taking the time to tell me in person.”
After I left, I went straight home, not seeing the point in going out into the fuckin’ nut show that was Dallas Christmas traffic right now.
Plus, I didn’t really have any money to spare.
Yes, I had savings. Yes, I had a trust fund thanks to my sister.
But I wouldn’t be dipping into either one of those. I already felt bad that my sister had paid for my college when she hadn’t had the same gift given to herself.
Not that I felt like I should suffer exactly like my sister, but it did make me feel guilty.
And I hadn’t treated her the greatest my entire life.
That was what happened when you’re an angry ass kid, though.
You push people away.
At this point, it was so ingrained in my psyche that I didn’t know how to stop doing it.
When I got home, it was to see all my decorations moved.
I grumbled under my breath, knowing damn well who was responsible for this.
I marched up to Jasper’s door and knocked, only belatedly realizing that his bike wasn’t there.
The doorbell camera, however, activated and Jasper’s smoky, raspy voice said, “What?”
I narrowed my eyes at the camera, placing both of my hands on my hips as I said, “Why are my decorations in your yard?”
“Thought I’d go ahead and make room for that big ass fire truck blow up that you bought. You were running out of room,” he pointed out.
“I didn’t buy a firetruck blow-up,” I grumbled. “And how do you know about that, anyway?”
“Because your box was delivered to my house, thanks to your switching my sign around. I figured since it was delivered to my porch, I could open it.”
My eye started to twitch. “Opening someone else’s mail is illegal.”
“Taking someone’s food order that isn’t yours is illegal, too. Yet you didn’t seem to have a moral compass last night,” he interjected.
He did have a point.
Goddammit.
“Whatever.” I turned around and left, flipping him the bird as I went.
“You know this is the season for giving, right?” he called out. “It shouldn’t be all about you.”
I didn’t fall for his shit.
Instead, I walked back to my place and wondered what in the hell I was going to do to get back at him.
I was still stewing on what I should do a half hour later when my doorbell rang.
I peeked out of the hole that Doc had installed to “make sure there’s not a fuckin’ psycho on the front porch” and saw a man holding a bag of food.
This, I decided, would be how I’d get kidnapped.
Someone holding out food to me and telling me “delivery.”
“Hello,” I said much the same as last night. “Can I help you?”
“Delivery for Jasper?”
I smiled. “That’s me!”
He handed it over and left without another word, allowing me to look down and see tonight’s spoils.
Mexican again.
What the hell was up with this man’s love for Mexican food? Didn’t he eat any other cuisines?
I mean, damn, Mexican was divine. However, I couldn’t eat the same damn thing every night.
And sure enough, when I opened the bag, it was the same damn food as last night.
“Jesus Christ, Jasper,” I grumbled. “How about you expand your palate a little bit?”
I’d just dipped my food into the queso when my doorbell rang.
I looked up and smiled when I saw Jasper standing at my door, glaring at me through the side window.
The cheese that I’d just dipped my chip in oozed over the sides of my fingers, and I hurriedly shoved it into my mouth.
He poked the glass with his finger and said, “What the fuck?”
I grabbed another chip and dipped that one in hot sauce.
He reached for the door handle and I squealed, taking the bag of food and myself right out the back door.
Only, my damn yard was fenced, and I had nowhere to go.
I stopped at the back of the yard and turned worriedly, hoping beyond hope that Jasper hadn’t followed.
No such luck, though.
I found him at the back door with his arms crossed. “Give it back.”
“Never.” I reached for another chip, accidentally dipping my fingers in along with the chip.
When I brought the delicacy up to my lips his eyes turned to slits. “That’s my food.”
“It was delivered to my address,” I pointed out. “So technically, possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
He drew a deep breath and blew it out. “Calliope Hodges, I swear to fucking god…”
“It’s the Christmas season,” I countered, repeating his words from earlier. “The season of giving.”
I licked the cheese free of my fingers and he hissed in a breath, his eyes narrowing.
He shifted from foot to foot, and I allowed my gaze to take him in.
Jasper was a badass, in my honest opinion.
He was tall, broody, scarred and scary.
He was everything I wouldn’t admit to myself that I wanted.
He wasn’t necessarily handsome. The scars saw to that.
But what he lacked in the beauty department, he made up with sheer sexual magnitude.
He may not try to, but the man could fill out a pair of jeans. The t-shirt he was wearing fit him like a glove, even if it did mostly cover him from neck to wrists.
The only scarring I could see was on his left side—his hand and his face—and even that somehow appealed to me.
I wondered what his hands would feel like—both scarred and smooth—running over my body.
I wondered what my tongue would feel like running over all of those ridges.
“What are you staring at?” he grumbled as he started down the back porch steps and toward me.
I froze like a deer in headlights and wondered if I should try to make a run for it again.
Maybe I could lock him in the backyard…
Except, when my body tensed to make a move, he was on me before I could blink.
He moved at the speed of light, surrounding me and corralling me until my back hit the fence with a soft thud.
“My…” He plucked the bag from my hands. “Food.” Then he bent down and brought my fingers to his mouth, licking what was left of the cheese from my fingers.
My breath hitched, and just when I was about to say or do something stupid—like ask him if he wanted to take my virginity—he backed away and left.
He went out the side gate that I could never seem to get open, and slammed it behind him.
My heart was pounding in my chest as I fought a losing battle with my heart.
There was no coming back from what just happened.
I just knew it.