Chapter Seven Violet
Chapter Seven
Violet
The last hour had been the longest sixty minutes of my life. I wanted a new car, one with snow tires, and the only place in town to get it was at this dipshit’s car lot.
He’d been hitting on me for months, and I dreaded the idea of spending any time with him.
I’d considered going to Anchorage to avoid this interaction, but I’d noticed the cute white Bronco that was parked on his lot last week, so I decided to just bite the bullet.
Dean Walker was not the first asshole I’d ever dealt with.
I could handle him for a brief time, right?
“You sure you don’t want to discuss the finances over lunch?” he asked, flashing his Cartier watch around his wrist several times to make sure I saw it.
“Yes, I’m sure. I’d like to buy a car, Dean. Are you able to handle the paperwork for me? Otherwise, I’m happy to go to Anchorage and purchase it there.”
He whistled. “Honey, they don’t call me the Car King for nothing.”
I’d never heard anyone call him the Car King, nor did I care what they called him. He had a Bronco that I wanted, and I hoped we could do this painlessly, but he’d already proved that wasn’t going to be possible.
He’d talked about himself ever since I’d arrived. When I said that I liked the tan interior in the Bronco, he suggested that I should take a look inside his sports car and see the red leather interior.
I’d declined the offer and inquired about the snow tires on the Bronco.
He’d then offered to take me to his house to see his garage full of snow tires.
I’d declined the offer.
Again.
The man was working my ever-loving nerves.
“So let’s go over what you’re going to give me for the trade-in and negotiate the price of the Bronco, yeah?” I asked.
He chuckled and nodded. “I like a woman who knows what she wants.”
“Great.” I also know what I don’t want, asshole.
We spent the next thirty minutes going over the price and the financing, and it was painful, but we agreed on everything, and he had one of his employees draft up the contract. He reached down in his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses.
Is this guy for real?
With a wink, he took a wine opener from the top drawer and opened the bottle.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“I’m celebrating with you. You’re a woman who knows what she wants, right? And I’m a man who knows what I want. Don’t be afraid, Violet. You can trust me.”
I intertwined my fingers and rested my elbows on the desk across from him as he poured two glasses of wine and set one in front of me.
“What exactly would I be afraid of?” I asked. “And I won’t be joining you for that drink because I’ve got a half day of work left.”
“All work and no play makes Violet a dull girl.”
My. Blood. Is. Boiling.
“I assure you, no one has ever called me dull. But I’m curious, Dean. Do you harass all of your customers who purchase cars?”
“Nah, just the pretty ones.” Loud laughter bellowed from his mouth, and it took everything I had not to dive over the desk and throat punch him.
“I see. So, you’re not hiding the fact that you’re a chauvinistic pig then?”
“Hey, you don’t need to do all that. I know your secret. You’ve got all this pent-up frustration because you’ve never allowed yourself to feel good.”
Okay. I was definitely going over this desk and kicking his ass if he took this any further.
“Are we talking about cars, Dean? I’m a straight shooter, so how about you just tell me what the hell you’re talking about, and then we can get the keys to the Bronco and I can get out of here.”
“Darlin’, you give such mixed signals with that mouth of yours,” he said, and I had to close my eyes and count to ten because this guy was actually doubling down on this.
“How many sexual harassment lawsuits have you dealt with over the years?” I crossed my arms over my chest and met his gaze.
He took a long sip of his wine before swirling it around and staring at it. It took everything in me not to inform him that he was doing it backward, as you normally swirled the wine before you sampled it, but the man was too clueless to waste my breath on.
“Sweetheart, this is Blushing, not the city. We don’t sue one another. We like to have a good time.”
“I see. And I’m too dull to have a good time?” I asked.
“You have too many rules. And that’s probably why you’ve been avoiding me all this time. I scare you.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m scared of you. But I would say your mere existence is frightening to all females.” I leaned back in my chair.
He let out a full-bodied laugh. “I like this game we’re playing, pussycat.”
“And I’d like to get the keys to my new car before I scratch your eyes out.”
“Listen, I know I have a reputation.” He held his hands up and smiled, and it was easy to see that the man thought he was charming as hell.
He was not capable of reading the room, because he was too egotistical to see how offensive he was.
“But I’d be willing to bend the rules for you.
Now I don’t know about the five kids, but I’d walk down the aisle with you today if it means that much to you. ”
What in the flying fuck is this man talking about?
“That’s it, Dean. I don’t think our signals are crossing here.” I stood up, because no one needed a Bronco this badly. I’d walk through the snow before I sat here one more minute. “I’m going to call this done.”
“I know you’re a virgin, Violet. I know you’re saving yourself for marriage. I know about the five kids, and it’s not something I’ve ever wanted, but I’d consider it for you.” He was on his feet now with a creepy smile on his face.
I turned around to look at him. “What in the absolute hell are you talking about? I came here for a car. What is this?”
“Don’t be mad at Charlie. He was helping his boy out. He told me about the screen saver. About all of it. And I could consider the rules, if you’d just give me a little something. A sign that you want this too.” He walked closer to me.
Charlie freaking Huxley.
He was behind this.
“Dean. If you take one more step, I will kick you so hard in the balls that you’ll be singing soprano for the rest of your days.” I held up a hand, making it clear that I did not want him to take one step closer to me.
“Tell me what you want, pussycat.” He smiled, like he was conceding to a challenge I was no part of.
“I wanted a freaking Bronco. I want you to never call me ‘pussycat’ again. I don’t want to date you.
I don’t want to get married. I don’t have any desire to have five children, and I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
I came here for a car. And I no longer want a car.
So I’d say your sales skills are as bad as your dating skills. ”
“You don’t need to be ashamed of wanting what you want, Violet. I’m okay with it,” he insisted.
I need to get out of here.
The door flew open, and his assistant walked in with the paperwork. I took the contract from her hands and tore it in half and tossed it on the desk.
“Deal’s off. You’re lucky I’m leaving without causing you physical pain, Dean.” I marched out of his office.
“What if I throw in an extra year warranty on the Bronco?” he shouted from the other side of the door, and I held my hand up and flashed him my middle finger.
I didn’t need snow tires now anyway. I’d made it through the worst of winter, and I had plenty of time to find a car before next winter.
I’d walked here because it was close to my office, but I was going to make a pit stop before I went back to work.
I knew Charlie was working at the hotel today, and I beelined for the entryway. They’d made a lot of progress on the place.
Will smiled when he saw me coming; he usually spent his mornings here and his afternoons at my place. His face straightened when he saw the look on mine. “Where’s your boss?” I hissed.
He thrust his thumb over his shoulder, and his eyes were wide. “He’s in the kitchen, getting the appliances set up.”
I nodded, and my eyes went to the bags from the Brown Bear Diner sitting on the card table. Charlie’s name was written across one of the six bags. “Great. Is this his lunch?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Will looked a little terrified of me, and I only hoped I’d put the same fear in his arrogant, jackass boss.
“I’ll take it to him.” I yanked the sub sandwich wrapped in tan parchment paper out of the bag and stormed toward the kitchen.
A few guys were just coming toward me from there, obviously heading toward the front room, where they ate lunch when they were working here. But Charlie wasn’t in the group, and I hoped I’d catch the bastard off guard.
They all said hello, and I gave them a curt nod, because I was on a mission.
I stormed through the swinging door to the kitchen, and there he was, arms crossed over his chest, broad, muscled shoulders stretching against his white henley as he stared at the commercial refrigerator like he was about to ask it on a date.
His gaze moved to me when I stepped inside, and I pulled my arm back like I was going to pitch a ball in the World Series and hurled the foot-long sandwich of deli meat wrapped in homemade bread at his head.
The bastard raised his hand on reflex and caught it.
I searched the area for something else to throw at him.
“Hey, hey,” he shouted, moving around the island across from me. “What the hell is going on?”
I saw a newspaper still rolled up with two elastic bands around it, so I chucked that at him, hitting him in the chest this time.
“You bastard!”
“I didn’t get back to you about the tile you want to change on the kitchen backsplash, because I need to see if it’s even in stock.” He set the sandwich down beside the newspaper now resting on the stainless steel island and stared at me.
“This isn’t about the freaking tile, you asshat!” I shouted.
“Asshat’s a new one. You haven’t called me that yet.” He smirked, and I wanted to wipe that smile right off his handsome face. “What did I do now, Firefly?”
Damn him with the cute nickname. Although it probably had some sort of offensive meaning, for all I knew.
His hair was a disheveled mess. Ocean-blue eyes locked with mine. He was enjoying this.
I stormed around the island, stopping in front of him. “Well, buckle up, buddy, because I have a slew of names for you.”
“How about you tell me what you’re so pissed off about first.”
“You don’t know?” I moved closer.
“I don’t know.”
“Charlie.”
“Violet,” he said, mimicking me.
“Does me being a virgin, saving myself for marriage, and holding out for five kids ring a bell?”
I saw it on his face the minute the words left my mouth. He winced. “Oh, that. I can explain.”
I shoved at his chest. “You can explain? I highly doubt that.”
“He was telling me that you’d agreed to go on a date with him tonight, and—he didn’t have your best intentions in mind.” He shrugged, wrapping his hands around my wrists to hold them still.
“Ah . . . the womanizer didn’t have my best intentions in mind? What a shock.”
“You know he’s an asshole?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah, genius. Everyone knows he’s an asshole. We were never going on a date. I was buying a car from him this morning. But that did not happen after he proposed marriage and offered to take my virginity and allow me to birth his demon spawn.”
A wide grin spread across his face, and he chuckled. “All right. Well, he misled me a bit on that, and I was trying to help you out.”
“You were trying to help me out by telling the biggest perv in town that I’m a virgin waiting to be deflowered?” I yanked my arms away and stomped on his foot, because it was the only thing I could think of.
He yelped, and I turned on my heels to walk away, but he wrapped both of his big arms around my waist and held me still. My back to his front. “Will you just relax and let me explain?”
I wrestled to get out of his hold, but the man was strong, yet he managed to be gentle at the same time. I didn’t feel threatened or nervous, and I stopped fighting him.
“Fine,” I huffed. “Let me go, and I’ll listen to what you have to say.”
His arms relaxed, and I moved out of his grasp and turned to face him.
“I hate that guy,” he said. “I didn’t like the way he was talking about you. I thought if I told him those things, he’d leave you alone.”
“But you thought I was willingly going on a date with him?”
“Yes, that’s how he made it sound.”
“Yet you were trying to ruin my date?”
“Wait a minute. One minute you’re mad that I said those things to the biggest asshole in town, and now you’re mad that I was trying to ruin your date?” He threw his hands in the air.
“Well, if you thought I wanted to go out with him, and you told him what you told him—that was a dick move. Either way, you’re the asshole.”
“I’m the asshole?”
I glared at him. “You’re definitely the asshole.”
“You can twist this however you want, Firefly, I was trying to help you out.”
“Well, that’s a funny way of helping someone out.”
“Did you get the car?”
“I did not. After he talked about my virginity and tried to woo me with a glass of wine, I got the hell out of there.” I shook my head with disgust and then glanced over at his sandwich and reached for it.
“I haven’t had lunch yet, so I’ll be taking this with me.
I would suggest you watch your back, Charles. ”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he grumped.
“I’m just saying . . . karma is a patient gangster. And this mother of five will be waiting for the right moment to strike.”
He groaned as I stormed out the door.
But I had a big smile on my face when I reached the guys who were all sitting around the large card table eating.
Will looked up at me, his lips turning up on one side. “Everyone alive in there?”
I glanced at the empty chair that I assumed was for Charlie, and I made my way over and sat down. “He’s alive for now. But I can’t promise that will last long.”
They laughed as Charlie walked out of the kitchen, his gaze moving to each of us.
“I’ll be back. I’m going to grab a sandwich,” he growled as he walked past the table. “You’re all a bunch of traitors.”
The group erupted in laughter as I took a bite of the sandwich.
I wasn’t sure how I’d pay him back, but I was determined to think of something.