Chapter 26

Lawson

There is not enough saliva in my mouth to keep my lips wet at the sight of Delilah Donovan. Two years have transformed the quiet, demure angel of my dreams into a sex kitten with a low riding top and lace shorts that make my mind wander immediately to lingerie that would look best on my bedroom floor.

“Oh shit,” Ivy mutters as she climbs out of the passenger seat and notices me, but I can’t even manage a glance in her direction.

The long tan legs that I remember vividly from her time around the pool seem to have lengthened. She’s gorgeous, my memories not serving her justice at all.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she spits, and the only thing I can do is grin.

She ignores the wind whipping her blonde hair around her face and glares at me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d believe she truly hates me.

“If you ladies wait, I can pull the wrecker around the front and get the car loaded up.”

She shakes her head and with stubborn defiance crosses her arms over her chest.

“I want someone different.”

“I am someone different.” Her eyes narrow at my declaration.

“Another wrecking service,” she specifies, ignoring the implication of my words.

“Not gonna happen, Princess. Now go stand over on the sidewalk and let me work.”

Ivy, having come around the trunk of the car to join her friend, tugs on her arm. She’s reluctant at first, but eventually lets her friend guide her out of the way.

I make quick work of the disabled vehicle, and before long, I’m standing in front of her once again. This moment, being a long time coming, is one I savor. Ivy has a weird, yet happy, look on her face. Delilah? Well, if looks could kill, I’d be a pile of ash on the ground with the fiery daggers she’s shooting my way.

“Your chariot awaits, Princess.” I sweep my arm toward the open driver’s door on the wrecker.

Ivy moves first, climbing in and scooting across the bench seat so she’s against the passenger door. It puts Delilah where she belongs, right next to me where our thighs will be touching the entire way back to the shop. Man, am I thankful it’s a twenty-five-minute drive.

“Not gonna happen, Lawson.” She takes a step back rather than one closer to the truck. “I’ll call an Uber.”

“You’re beautiful,” I whisper and reach out to push some of her wild hair behind her ear. It only serves to anger her more.

When she slaps my hand away before I can make contact, I know it was the wrong move.

“Don’t touch me, and keep your meaningless comments to yourself.”

I shrug, the smile never leaving my face. She’s going to be a tough one to get on my side. “Just telling the truth.”

She takes another step back. “I experienced your true character two years ago. I want nothing to do with you.”

For a split second, my mind races, wondering if this approach is the best way to go about trying to win her back.

“Oh, Princess, don’t be like that.”

“Don’t ‘Princess’ me.”

“Your dad told me to make sure you get home safely. I promised him I would. I don’t break my promises. So.” I scrub my hand over the light stubble on my chin. “You can get in the truck on your own, or I can carry you there.”

Her eyes dart from me to the open door of the cab and back to me. It’s as if she’s evaluating if I’m serious and can’t make up her mind.

“Personally, I hope you refuse. I’ve thought about getting my hands back on you for the last two years.”

She huffs. “And my mouth around your cock, right?”

I stiffen as my past and bad decisions are tossed back in my face.

“We can talk about that right now if you like. I can explain my fucked up reasoning, the reasoning of a boy.”

“You always said you were a man,” she mocks in a lower voice.

“I said a lot of things while trying to protect myself.” I take a step toward her, arms out, my intention to lift her over my shoulder clear. “I’m an open book now. You can ask anything you like, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know, but I’d rather have that conversation in private and not on the damn sidewalk. Now make up your mind, Delilah.”

She glares at me, tension in her cheeks and stubbornness in her jaw.

“Walk on your own or be carried?”

“Asshole,” she mutters as she walks past me and climbs inside.

My hands clench as the need to help her up with a gentle push on her ass hits me in the chest. I think my greasy handprints on her amazing ass would be the best thing ever, but I have a feeling she wouldn’t be receptive.

“No fucking way,” she hisses and tries to climb back out.

Her body meets my chest as I climb in behind her and give her no room to escape.

“What’s wrong? The seat’s clean. You won’t get anything on your clothes.”

“Let me down. I’m not straddling your damn gear shift.”

I press against her, a challenge. She can either sit down, or she can continue to grind against me. I’m fine either way.

“I think I like this even more,” I whisper in her ear, my voice going hoarse when the scent of her lavender skin hits my nose.

She elbows me in the gut but sits down. At first, she tries to position both of her legs to Ivy’s side of the seat, but then she splits them apart when she realizes it won’t work. I notice Ivy trying to take up more room than necessary for her slight frame. I wink at her when my spitfire isn’t looking. It’s great to have someone on my side, because I know I have a very long damn road ahead of me, and I’ll take all the help I can get.

I settle into my seat and shut the door. The intensity of her scent grows in the enclosed space. I do my best not to look like an idiot when I draw her into my lungs.

“Seatbelt, baby.”

She bites her lip so hard I wait for the blood to run from her mouth, but she just looks ahead and uses her fingers to find the belt and click it in place. Safety first has always been her family’s motto, and right now it works for me. No matter how upset she is with the pet names, she wouldn’t purposely put herself in danger just to spite me.

The truck, idling the entire time I loaded her car up, responds immediately when I put it into first and pull away from the parking lot. Not pressing my luck, I keep my hand fisted around the top knob of the shifter. What I don’t do is pull my hand away when I’m at cruising speed with no need to shift anytime soon. The heat of her thigh against my forearm is enough to make me thicken in my pants.

I sense some form of nonverbal communication going on between the girls and watch them out of the corner of my eye.

“So,” Ivy begins, and Delilah freezes beside me. “You live out here?”

“More like lying in wait like some weirdo fucking stalker,” Delilah mutters.

I ignore her. If she only knew that I’ve purposely stayed away from her until a situation presented itself maybe her opinions would be different. I’ve known she’s been close for the last year, but I didn’t press my luck by going to her.

“I’ve been in Providence since shortly after I left New Mexico,” I inform her.

“And Drew?” Delilah shoulders Ivy for continuing to talk.

“He’s not far. Starting his senior year in Fall River.” I keep my eyes on the road but can feel my beauty relax a little next to me. She may act angry that I showed up out of the blue today, but I know she has no ill will toward my brother, and she’s curious about him. “His Aunt Kathy is an amazing woman. He’s adjusted well. Makes good grades. Stays out of trouble, mostly.”

“You’re not here because of me?” Delilah asks softly, confused as if she really had it in her mind that I’m stalking her. The sadness in her voice hurts me, but it also makes my heart smile because no matter how much she wants to pretend she hates me, I know she doesn’t.

“I’m here for you as much as I am for Drew. Never doubt that.”

“Whatever,” she mumbles.

When I look past her at Ivy, she’s the one to wink at me this time. I pull my lip between my teeth to keep from smiling as I drive up to the front of the shop.

“You work here?” Ivy asks as she leans forward to get a better look at the building through the windshield.

“Yep,” I answer. “Almost as long as I’ve been on the East Coast.”

I put the truck in park and open my door. “Need help getting down, Prin—”

I frown when I see that she’s already climbing down behind Ivy.

I have a long ass way to go, but luckily she’s going to be worth every ounce of pushback she gives me.