5. Austin
Austin
M cKenna did as she was told after I’d disposed of the crow and trailed her to work.
I was sitting in a booth by the far wall, where I had a perfect view of the entire restaurant and the giant windows looking onto the street.
I didn’t drink, eat, or so much as glance at the menu while McKenna strutted that little ass of hers in her tiny skirt.
She made it a point to bend over—multiple times—just far enough that the bottom of her cheeks would peek out in my direction.
My dick knew exactly what she was doing, and fuck, all I wanted to do was punish her.
For insisting she go to work.
For wanting to act as bait.
For teasing me.
For looking as devastating as she did.
Her tight ponytail bobbed with every step, her breasts nearly spilling over the top of her uniform.
She’d left an extra button open today—I knew because I’d taken my fair share of looks many times in the past, you know, when we used to flirt and she didn’t hate my guts—and the sight was fucking distracting.
My attention couldn’t afford to be diverted by her perky fucking tits or her cute little ass right now—not when I had a target to find and rip limb from limb.
But it wasn’t only me she’d garnered interest from.
It was her sleazy fucking boss, too.
Make that two people I needed to rid Whiskey Ridge of.
Marv, the pig owner of the diner, stood behind the bar.
He pretended to mess with the register for hours, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes constantly took in McKenna’s body when she took orders or passed him.
Or how he adjusted himself many, many times.
That seemed to be a daily fucking occurence at this point.
I ought to cut his fucking dick off for looking at her like that.
McKenna was mine to eye fuck, even if she didn’t want me in that way.
Clearly she was enjoying it. Though she never glanced my way, I knew she was hyper-aware of everywhere I looked. Every part of her body I visually devoured.
Five hours in, and her blue eyes finally found mine.
And that pissed little look on her face? Well, for as long as I’d known her, it was never good.
Her tennis shoes tapped on the linoleum as she aimed my way, and I didn’t hide the fact that I was staring at her tits. A little blush bloomed on her chest the closer she got.
Good. Come get mad at me. Give me a little attention, kitten. I’ve been craving it.
“You need to leave,” McKenna demanded as she came to a stop before me, popping her pink gum. The smell of strawberries wafted down as she stood there, the sweetness making my balls ache.
I leaned forward, setting my elbows on the table. “Not happening.”
She placed her palms flat on the surface, only an inch from mine, and leaned down. This time, I gave her the respect of looking her in the face. Even with how she pressed her upper arms together and made her chest eye level with me. What a fucking tease.
She blew a small bubble with her gum, bursting it right in my line of sight. “You’re making the customers uncomfortable with that fucking look on your face.”
I leaned closer, inhaling her addictive scent. “What look is that?”
Her eyes nearly crossed as she inched forward more.
I wanted to bend her over this damn table and spank the fuck out of her for looking the way she did today.
I want to be bait , she’d said. Well, she was doing a damn good job of gathering everyone’s fucking attention, and all it succeeded in doing was pissing me the fuck off.
“The look that tells everyone you’ll put a bullet in their head just for talking to me.”
I almost smirked. That was exactly the point of me being here.
“Why don’t you just play your part, and I’ll play mine?” I asked, eyes darting to her pink, plump lips.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, cowboy?”
I shrugged, folding my hands together in front of me. My pinky brushed her hand, and I didn’t miss the way her eyelids fluttered the slightest bit at the contact. “You wanna role-play a little, just ask. I’ll let you ride me right here if you ask nicely.”
She rolled her eyes, straightening and snatching her hands off the table. “Leave.”
“Nope.” I popped the P and sat back in the booth.
McKenna crossed her arms, and I had half a mind to tear them back down. She needed to stop doing that in front of me if she didn’t want me ruining that little uniform of hers.
“The last thing I need you doing right now is stabbing a person’s eyes out at the place I work simply because they look a little sketchy.”
I sat forward again, opening my mouth to retort, but stopped as she pressed a finger to my lips and made a shushing noise.
“It’s not up for debate.” She trailed her pink-painted nail down my bottom lip to my chin, caressing right underneath it.
She watched her finger the whole time before meeting my gaze as she said, “Now be a good boy and get some beauty sleep. Those bags under your eyes couldn’t get any worse if they tried. ”
She dropped her hand, and before I could utter a word, none other than fucking Marv sidled up beside her.
Instantly, she stiffened. She might’ve thought I didn’t catch it, but how could I miss the way her spine went ramrod straight and her lips pursed ever so slightly?
After studying her all day, I was becoming well versed in everything about her, including when she was uncomfortable.
“Are you flirting with the customers again, sweetheart?” Marv asked, trying to make his question sound more like a joke, but really, all I detected was jealousy. Pathetic fucking jealousy.
She forced her lips into a small smile, her teeth not making an appearance as she kept her eyes locked on me. “This isn’t even close to flirting. I’m only trying to convince him to order a drink. Poor guy looked thirsty.” Even her voice was higher pitched, showing her discomfort at his intrusion.
“Oh, I know.” He set a hand with dirtied, low-bitten fingernails on her shoulder, and she flinched.
Anyone else would’ve missed it, but I didn’t.
Saw it clear as day with the way my vision nearly went red at the sight of him touching her.
“Couldn’t miss it if you were.” His slimy gaze landed on me.
“She giving you a hard time about your order?”
I slid out of the booth easily, grabbing my cowboy hat from the seat beside me. I plopped it on my head, tilting the front down slightly. From where I stood, towering over the pathetic excuse for a man, it gave me the perfect view of his balding head. “No.”
Marv’s mouth twitched as he notably grew wary of me.
His hand tightened on McKenna’s shoulder, and I was five seconds away from ripping it off his fucking body.
“Well, whatever it was, my waitress has to get back to her job now.” He looked at McKenna, who still wouldn’t so much as glance at him. “Don’t you?”
She nodded, the act barely visible, before sliding out from under his touch and striding away. That playful sway of her hips was now gone, like his verbal acknowledgement of her for the first time today ruined her fun.
“She’s a real looker, huh?” Marv asked, having turned to watch her go .
I stayed silent for fear that if I spoke, it’d end with my fist down his throat, ripping his esophagus clean out. Without my response, he finally got the message to walk the fuck away.
But I wasn’t done here.
I beelined for the blonde that made my dick ache and my mind wander, not giving a shit that she was taking someone’s order as I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the front doors of the diner.
As soon as we were out in the cool pine-scented air, passing a man wearing a plumber’s uniform who was heading inside, she shoved me off of her, pinning her fiery gaze on me.
“I need this job, Austin.”
I stepped toward her, not giving her the space she likely wanted. “So you let that asshole eye fuck you all damn day just to keep it?”
Her nostrils flared before she flung a hand toward the door. “I have to go back in there.” Then she pinned a finger right in the center of my chest. “And you need to get your shit together. Don’t come near me again until you do.”
And then she was gone, disappearing back through the doors and leaving me standing on the sidewalk like some leashed dog.
It took all the restraint I had to walk the few yards to my truck and not go back in there and drag her ass outside. If I could lock her in my house, I would—but unfortunately, her best friend lived there, and Booker would have my head for upsetting his girl.
So for now, I stayed put in my truck, watching her through the windows of the diner. She’d already buttoned her uniform back up and tugged her skirt down an inch .
Marv was nowhere to be seen for the next two hours, likely in the back with that plumber or sitting his ass at his desk and doing no work whatsoever.
For the rest of McKenna’s shift, I watched her.
And for the entirety of that time, I got the feeling I wasn’t the only one.