“Well- uh- Ross- he- he grew up here. He wasn’t always rich. He actually wasn’t rich until a few years ago. He was pretty desperate, even when he was setting up his company. He was trying to make this app thing- it was what took off eventually. Something about the way people can shop for groceries and price compare online and-”
“I seriously don’t care about his app.”
Amy sighed. “Even up until two and a half years ago- uh- he was struggling. Er- kind of. I think. We- uh- the samples I took were older. So no would miss them. I- I threw them out and marked them as being expired. I- oh, god. Seriously. There wasn’t a lot of choice. This place is small. Usually people have to go to the bigger cities to do this kind of treatment. It’s just because my boss opened the place up here that it’s here at all. I… oh god… Teela…”
“Amy…” Teela’s heart dropped down into her fucking toes. No, it was lower than that. It dropped past her toes, through the laminated flooring and into the unfinished basement to wedge itself in the concrete floor that was always cold, even in the summer. Cold. That was her heart. So. Frigidly. Icily. Frostily. Cold. Nothing was okay. Everything was so far from being okay. “You’re saying what I think you’re saying…”
Amy slowly nodded and it was like a noose tightening around Teela’s neck, cutting off all her air.
“If Ross Day is the devil, you’re carrying the devil’s spawn.”
CHAPTER 4
Ross
What could she possibly want now? Didn’t she cause enough trouble yesterday?
Apparently not, because at the moment, Teela was marching in through the front door of his store, his store, damn it, like a blazing ball of fire, like a wrecking ball, like she damn well owned it and he better watch the hell out.
She stormed right up to where he was standing in front of the dairy coolers and god help him, he wished that he’d double checked that the front door was locked, because it should have been, unless she had a key and of course, she had a key because he hadn’t taken it from her before she’d stormed out the day before. She was a real shit storm. The kind a person drowned in. A big festering poop puddle. Fuuuuuuuck, it’s too early in the morning for this.
It was. Far too early. Just after eight. She could have at least waited until nine to blow through the store like a bloody hurricane of rage.
A beautiful hurricane of epically, unnaturally, incredibly, insanely beautiful rage.
“Good morning Miss McDaniels. Or maybe it’s Mrs. What can I do for you?” He kept his tone scathing, purposely annoying, since that’s what she was to him. She was a burr in his damn ass. The kind you pick up while hiking and can’t work out of your shoe or your clothes and it rubs and chafes and itches all the wrong way.
Because yeah. He hadn’t thought about her the night before at all. No. Way. He hadn’t spared a single thought for her after she walked out of the building the morning before. He hadn’t thought about her soft velvet hair or her luminous green eyes. He hadn’t thought about what she’d look like naked. His cock had obeyed his commands to lay the hell off and sit the fuck down and remain deflated. He hadn’t had to think about granny panties and his balls certainly weren’t blue.
Teela’s hands flew to her hips. Her pearly top teeth emerged and sunk hard into her bottom lip and god help him, he wanted to bite the spot she’d just bitten. Not to draw blood. Just… just because he knew it would feel just right. His cock, which was already at half-mast, roared to full mast pretty damn fast. He rammed his hands in his pockets, puffing out his pants to hide the bulge before Teela’s eyes had a chance to land on it. There was no way he’d live it down if she called his bluff- aka, his bulge of shame.
“What can you do for me? You seriously have the nerve to ask me that?” Teela crossed her arms, which only served to push up her breasts, which were already spectacular even in her loose-fitting t-shirt. Had any woman ever looked sexier in a t-shirt and jeans? Probably not. The image of her was probably going to fuel his spank bank catalogue for months.
“I do have the nerve.” Ross cleared his throat. He did his best to keep his face neutral and his hands over his massively inconvenient erection. “Need I remind you that you were the one who walked out of here yesterday after threatening to ruin me? And you are the one who just busted in here with the key you took with you. Technically you’re trespassing on private property since we’re not yet open to the public, so yes, I have all the nerve that I need.”