More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
The bad-tempered, sexy man-beast held up his finger in Justice’s direction. “One second, bud. Looks like I gotta take out the trash.” “The trash?” I gasped. I thought Virginians were supposed to be friendly. Instead, I’d been in town barely half an hour and was now being rudely accosted by a Viking with the manners of a caveman.
What the hell kind of name was that? Was it a hard Knox life? Did he tell a lot of Knox Knox jokes? Was it short for something? Knoxwell? Knoxathan?
“My problem is while I wasted five minutes of my life getting to know you, my car was towed.” “You sure?” “No. I never have any idea where I park my car. I just leave them everywhere and buy new ones when I can’t find them.” He shot me a look.
“Are you seriously counting to ten?” I was the one who was wronged. I was the one with a reason to pray to the heavens for patience.
I was still shaking my head when he spoke again. “Let’s go, Daisy. I don’t have all day.”
Eyes that made me think of forest floors and open fields.
Lucky for her, I didn’t do drama. Or high maintenance. I didn’t do doe-eyed princesses in need of saving. I didn’t waste time with women who required more than a good time and a handful of orgasms.
She took a long hit of coffee while looking up and down the street like she was debating escape. “Don’t even think about it,” I told her. “You’d spill your coffee.” When those pretty hazel eyes went wide, I knew I’d hit the mark.
Today was not the day Little Miss Daisies in Her Hair would take a walk on the wild side.
“Can we get back to the part where you tell Naomi you’ll be in touch if you find her car, which we all know you won’t,” I snapped. “Well, not with that attitude, we won’t,” she chided.
My fight or flight instincts kicked in. I fucking hated tears. Especially tears of the female persuasion. A crying woman made me feel like I was being ripped to shreds from the inside out, a weapon I’d never make public knowledge. “Do not cry,” I ordered. Her eyes were damp. “Cry? I’m not going to cry.” She was a shit liar. “Don’t fucking cry. It’s just a car, and she’s just a piece of shit. Neither’s worth crying over.”
My heart shivered. Her life, all her treasured possessions, fit into two trash bags. And not even the good kind with drawstrings.
“Uh… You smiled. And it was just seriously wow. I had no idea you could look like that. I mean, you already look like…” I waved my hand awkwardly in front of him. “You know. But then you add the smile, and you look almost human.”
Warner. Grr. Tina. Ugh. Car. Damn it. Waylay. Holy crap. Cottage. Adorable. Knox. Grumpy, sexy, horrible, yet helpful.
The chief of police had seen to delivering food that I’d been too unconscious to provide for my niece. I was not going to get a gold star in guardianship today.
“Why are your arms and knees all scraped up?” I glanced down at the abrasions on my skin. “I climbed out of a church basement window.” “Cool. So, we’re going into town?”
“What’s your middle name?” I yelled back. “Regina.” “Waylay Regina Witt, you put both hands on your handlebars this instant!” “Oh, come on. You’re not one of those fun hatin’ aunts, are you?” I pedaled harder until I caught up. “I am lots of fun,” I huffed, partially because I was offended but mostly because I was out of breath.
I raised the beer to my mouth. “Saw her first,” I reminded Nash. The flash of anger I saw in his eyes was gratifying. “Oh, fuck you, man. You pissed her off first.”
“Never used to need to warm up before,” Nash observed, adopting a boxer’s stance. I loosened up my neck and shoulders. “Fuck off. We’re over forty. Shit hurts.”
“She hates your guts. You don’t even like her,” he pointed out. I used the hem of my t-shirt to stem the flow of blood from my nose. “Not the point.”
“She’s needy as fuck. Right up your alley,” I shot back.
She was carrying a bouquet of flowers, and for a second, I wanted to know who the hell had given them to her so I could kick their ass.
My nose burned. My face fucking hurt. My knuckles were bleeding. But looking at her petting my needy-ass dog with an arm full of flowers made everything else start to fade away. Fuck me.
I knew what attraction felt like. Knew what to do with it too. But not with a woman like this. One who didn’t know it was smart to be afraid of me. One with a wedding dress and no ring. One with an eleven-year-old. This was the kind of situation that had me heading for the hills. But I couldn’t stop looking at her.
“Ex-fiancé,” Naomi corrected. “We’re no longer together. And we didn’t get married.” “‘Cause she left him at the altar,” the girl added knowledgeably. “Yesterday.” “Waylay, I told you that in confidence,” Naomi hissed. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of scarlet.
“Oh, I can tell. Word of advice, maybe don’t tell him about the new job. He might have opinions and if he does, he’d definitely share them.”
Both of which I blamed on Naomi “Flowers in her Fucking Hair” Witt.
“Get rid of her, Fi. I’m not working with some uppity, needy pain in the ass.” His words carried to me outside the door. My cheeks flamed. An uppity, needy pain in the ass. So that’s what the gorgeous, bad-tempered Knox Morgan saw when he looked at me.
Sherry elbowed me in the gut. “Somebody’s got a crush,” she sang. I grunted. Two somebodies had a crush, and if I had anything to say about it, neither of us was going to get the girl.
You would have thought my brother had just whipped out a solid gold 10-inch dick with the way Naomi flew into him and wrapped him in a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you!” she chanted. “No man-handling the customers,” I snarled. She rolled her eyes at me and gave Nash a peck on the cheek that made me want to set my own brother on fire.
She didn’t have a car. She probably rode her goddamn bike here and planned to ride it home after closing. In the dark. Over my dead fucking body.
Working with Naomi day in and day out? How long would it take before she’d spout off something smart, and I’d pin her to a wall and kiss her just to shut her up?
“I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted to you. I said you’re not my type.” She groaned. “I’m definitely going to regret this, but I think you’re going to have to break it down for me.” “Well, Daisy. It means my dick doesn’t care that you’re not my type. It’s still standing up, trying to get your attention.” She was quiet for a long beat. “You’re too much work. Come with too many complications. And you wouldn’t be satisfied with just a quick fuck.”
There were cars parked in front of the cottage, music playing. Great. The woman was a socializer. Another reason to stay far the hell away from her.
She looked like summer.
She looked at Waylay. “Nerds are definitely good.” The tops of Waylay’s ears turned pink.
“I have a phone,” I said, digging out Liza’s old Blackberry and holding it up in his face. “The letter E just fell off the keyboard.” Damn it. E was in a lot of words.
“If this is what it takes to get out of this fucking store without passing out from a goddamn hard-on, I’m buying you the fucking underwear.”
“Knox very graciously took us shopping today,” I explained to Stef. “He bought me pink sneakers and he bought Aunt Naomi underwear and a phone.” “Thank you for that information, Way. Why don’t you go inside and not talk anymore?” I suggested, giving her a shove toward the house.
When I turned to leave, his hand shot out and caught my wrist. “Future reference, Daze. My problem is always you.” I don’t know why I did what I did next, but I did it. I raised on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Oooh. Grumpy next-door neighbor. That’s one of my favorite tropes.” “The first time he met me, he called me trash.” “That bitch.”
“Well, technically he thought I was Tina when he was yelling at me in front of an entire cafe full of strangers.” “That vision-impaired bitch.” “God, I love you.” I sighed.
“You’re telling me he’s a grumpy, overprotective hottie next-door and you’re not going to sleep with him? How wasteful.”
“Warner used her. And I tried to warn her. Hell, I even warned him. But Naomi did what she’s always done.” “Cleaned up everyone else’s messes,” I said.
Stef took a long sip of coffee. “Right now I’m letting the humiliation of being left at the altar by the woman he told his friends was ‘beneath his class’ do its work. But if he comes near her again, I’ll ruin him.”
Single moms were the world’s unsung fucking heroes.
Reluctant bastard liked having his own place. Especially since Naomi cleaned it for him and took care of his meals and laundry. I hope that fucker is sitting in a pair of dirty underwear sobbing into a pot of Campbell’s.” I stared at him a beat. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Naomi’s been my ride-or-die before ride-or-die was a thing. She has never once let me down and she’s forgiven me for the handful of occasions that I’ve let her down. She’s the most amazing woman I know, and that’s counting her mother, who’s pretty fucking awesome too. I don’t like it when people fuck with my family.”
Stef: Growly Tattoo Guy deserves to get laid after that speech. Also, Jer is fifty shades of gorgeous.
Why the fuck the entire town suddenly decided winking at Naomi was a good idea was beyond me, and I was going to put a stop to it as soon as possible.
