CHAPTER TEN
Drew
The words I never wanted to hear fell from her plump lips. The question stung me through to my core and I tossed the truth around in my mouth, not wanting to lie to her but also not wanting to have this conversation.
I wasn’t proud of how this all came about, and I knew it would have been a hell of a lot easier to just tell the truth from the get-go, but I couldn’t bear to feel like a charity case when I’d grown up as a “rich” kid. I didn’t want her, or anyone else for that matter, lookin’ down on me. The truck cab seemed to shrink as her sweet, floral scent filled the small space. My cock jumping to attention in my jeans.
Not today, big guy. Not ever, actually, if I have my way.
Shoving the desires I had for Millie away, I focused on what it was she had asked me.
“What do you mean?” I looked from the road and then back to her again, keeping my expression skewed. Her eyes were angry, but they were softer than when she was usually pissed off at me, and I wondered if she was even referring to the truth I thought she was. Hell, maybe she didn’t know a damn thing and I was still safe.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Drew. Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?” She huffed, her frustration building. I gripped the steering wheel hard. There was no way she could know about me.
“Spit it out then, Millie. What the hell am I not tellin’ you the damn truth about?” The temperature of my blood was rising.
“You lost everything after your grandparents died… You were hoppin’ all around the barns in town just to get a roof over your head, and sometimes you were even sleepin’ in your truck, and what about you usin’ my daddy for a place to stay, a hot meal, and a paycheck. Tell me. Tell me that’s the truth, Drew,” she ordered, her eyes pleading with me to give her the truth she deserved.
I bit my tongue and my hands went cold.
How did she know? Who told her? I was hot and cold all at once.
“I-I’m sorry, Millie. I didn’t want you to know. Honestly, I didn’t want anyone to know,” I admitted, forcing myself to face her so she knew I never meant to hurt her or lie to her. It was easier to hurt someone you didn’t care for, which was why I never wanted the feelings of attraction to bloom between us, because when shit hit the fan, and it would, one of us would get hurt.
“So this is why you won’t be with me?” Millie huffed, her eyes blazing. “It makes sense now, knowing that you’re afraid to take me because you don’t want to lose your job and the roof ya got over your head.” Her beautiful green eyes darkened.
“Or is it that you’re scared of my daddy and what he’ll do to you once he finds out?” She crossed her arms over her chest, her attitude quickly changing back to pissy. I remained silent which only enraged her more.
“Well, which is it, Drew?” she quipped again, impatience lacing her words.
“Working for your dad, I get everything. I get the job, the safe place to sleep, and I get to see you even if I don’t get to touch you,” I muttered, unable to face her after the words had left my lips.
“Oh, good grief! You act like this macho man, but you’re afraid of my daddy. You make me suffer because you don't wanna deal with him. You won’t take me because you’re a chicken!” She started laughing hysterically, mocking me. I sighed, gripping the steering wheel harder, my knuckles turning white with the grip.
Fuck, this little brat was giving me a hard-on, even if she was ripping away at my masculinity with every word that fell from her lips.
Mmm, it was taking a lot out of me not to spank her ass. She needed a good spankin’, that much was obvious, and yet all I could envision in that moment was pulling her hair while I fucked her hard from behind for being such a pain in the ass. I could make us both feel good. I could give us both exactly what we craved.
“Chicken isn’t the word I would use, darlin’. I don’t want you getting hurt in the process, thinking I can give you anythin’ more than a good time, because I can’t.” I paused, releasing the steering wheel, my large frame turning toward hers.
“And something tells me your daddy wouldn’t be very happy with me if I fucked you and left you high and dry?” It was my turn to mock her, and I did, lifting a questioning brow. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she knew I was right.
My heart thumped loudly in my chest, my eyes noticing the hurt that had formed in her eyes. It hurt telling her there could be nothing more than sex between us, but it was the truth. If I was going to give into my cravings for her body, I wasn’t going to drag her down with me. She was too good for a man like me, and I was going to be up front with her about it because if I wasn’t, there was a risk shit could go wrong. There was a risk it could go wrong either way.
“What Daddy don’t know ain’t gonna hurt him, Drew.” Her words stirred the man deep inside me. She didn’t mean that, she couldn’t mean that. The longing in her eyes told me she wanted more than a random fuck from a guy.
“Don’t tempt me, darlin’. We’re already walking on the thin line, damn near crossing it, actually. If that’s the truth, then there ain’t going to be a damn thing to stop me from takin’ you.”
“That’s all I’ve been waiting for.” Her emerald eyes were washed over with seduction, and my cock pressed against my jeans, leaving me surprised that they weren’t ripping at the seams. I battled with my emotions, trying to decide what it was that I wanted to do with her. It was nearing dinnertime now, and there was no way in hell I was gonna be making dinner. Changing the subject, I let the sexual tension between us ease.
“You wanna chance makin’ dinner or did ya wanna go up to the drive-in?” I kept my eyes on the road, afraid that if I didn’t I may pull over and give her exactly what she was askin’ for. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. Her hands were resting in her lap as she gazed out the window.
“I can’t cook, so either we go to the drive-in, or you starve.” She laughed, but something told me she wasn’t jokin’.
“Drive-in it is then.” I pressed on the gas pedal harder, driving us in the direction of the drive-in. It wasn’t long and we had arrived, taking the last spot. I put the beat-up Chevy in park and killed the engine.
Millie and I hadn’t even had a chance to roll our windows down and a waitress was coming to take our order.
“Hi, y’all. What can I get you two to eat?” The waitress was wearing roller skates and a pink shirt that said Shelby’s Drive-In on it. I looked over to Millie, a groan almost escaping my lips. Her bare thighs and pretty pink pussy were all I was hungry for at this point, but I knew neither of those things were on the menu, or at least not yet.
“I’ll have a cheeseburger and fries. No mustard. Can we share a malt, Drew? I won't be able to finish a whole one.” A smile stretched across both of our faces.
“Yes, a large chocolate malt with extra malt powder, and I’ll take a triple cheeseburger with fries.” The waitress wrote down our order on a small red notepad and skated away.
I directed my attention back to Millie. The attraction was searing through me. “Now…where were we before I was forced to change the subject or pull over and take you in the truck?” I placed a gentle hand on her thigh and almost chuckled as her leg twitched at the touch of my rough fingers.
“Not right here!” she squeaked while looking around nervously. I knew she wanted this as much as I did, but I wasn’t about doing something about the ache between her thighs just yet. I would though, soon.
“Calm down. I ain’t doin’ anything right here. But if I wanted to, I could easily.” My words came out in a stern growl, and I moved my hand further up her dress, zings of pleasure shooting through me as I squeezed her thigh a little bit harder this time.
Glee filled my chest as she let out a husky groan and sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. I’d bet her panties were wetter than the goddamn creek. Fuck, I couldn’t wait to get this little pistol home and give her everything she never knew she needed.
I restrained myself, knowing that Millie deserved more than to be finger-fucked at a drive-in diner, and after a few minutes of teasing one another, the waitress came back to the truck with our food in one hand and malt in the other. I grabbed the food, gave her a twenty, and thanked her before opening up the driver’s side door. Then I walked over to Millie’s side, opening her door for her.
“Come on.” I nodded toward the bed of the truck and made my way there, pulling the door down and setting the tray of food on it along with the big Styrofoam cup that contained the malt.
“My short ass can't jump up that high in a damn dre--” Before she could finish her sentence, I swooped her up in my arms and lifted her onto the tailgate. “Thank you, sir.” She grinned and grabbed her cheeseburger, her teeth sinking into the greasy burger with no effort. Her eyes glazed over, and I knew she was in food heaven.
“Good Lord, Millie. Have you no manners? You’re eatin’ like a cow.”
Millie covered her mouth and giggled with a full bite. “I really love their cheeseburgers, okay?”
“I sure as hell would say so.” I chuckled back and sunk my teeth into my triple. I had no problem teasing Millie, just so long as she gave it back to me, and now that the truth was out and the air had been cleared, I didn’t feel the need to hide myself from her and put on a dickhead front to scare her away from gettin’ too close. So long as she knew I wasn’t husband or boyfriend material, all would remain good.
Millie picked a fry up and dunked it into the malt. I stared in disgust as she did it.
“What in the hell are you doing, Millie?” I asked in awe.
“Dunkin’ my french fry in the malt…. What’s it look like I'm doin’?” she said with a full mouth. This couldn’t be the same girl who called me out on eatin’ like a pig just a couple days ago. “Don’t tell me you’ve never tried it! Try it now, Drew. I mean it,” she ordered.
I shook my head no and returned my attention to my burger. Ain’t no way in hell I was mixin’ fried potatoes in ice cream.
“Nope. Not happenin’.” I watched her as she dunked another fry, this time bringing it straight to my mouth.
“Better eat it or I’m gonna drop it in your lap,” she said playfully with her stunning, pearly white smile.
“Are you really threatenin’ me, darlin’?” I furrowed a brow at her jokingly and swallowed my pride. What could it hurt? I let her place the fry covered in our malt past my lips and into my mouth, my lips begging for her fingers to touch them…
It was hot and cold, salty and sweet, and I was instantly addicted to it, just as I had been with Millie.
Fuck. My cock was hard again, and my mind was drifting to a place where Millie was mine, spread out before me, my salty and sweet to devour upon whenever I pleased.
“That good, huh?” Millie teased, her eyes twinkling with amusement as I tried to hide my joy for the French fry, malt combo.
“Actually, it’s horrible, and if you ever make me eat that again…” What would I do to my little pistol? “Let’s just say you don’t want to find out,” I teased with my gaze fixated on her body. Trailing my hungry eyes up and down her, focusing in on her center where just a single piece of thin cotton fabric kept me from devouring her.
Her eyes pierced mine as they followed my stare up and down. She knew I was admiring her body and thinking of all the filthy things I was wanting to do to her the moment I got her alone.
Then her gaze stopped right on my hard cock, exposing itself through my jeans. Her eyes widened and she licked her lips in anticipation.
“If this is still what you want I’ll give it to ya, but we’ve gotta make one thing clear…” My voice trailed off as I waited for her to respond, snapping her and myself back into reality.
“What’s that?” a tinge of an attitude making its presence yet again.
“We can fuck, we can make love, we can do whatever the hell ya want, darlin’, but you cannot fall in love with me. I ain’t got the heart to hurt you anymore, and I don’t want you thinkin’ there’s something more to this when there ain’t. If sex is all you want, then I’ll give you it, but if you want more then…” I exhaled, hating what I was about to say. “Then I ain’t the man for you, sweetheart.”
I watched as Millie squeezed her eyes shut, sucking in a deep breath. A pregnant pause formed between us before she opened them again, the brilliant green in them shining through me. Her body shifting closer to mine.
“Fine. Deal. No fallin’ in love, but only because you can’t handle it.” My little pistol winked at me in a joking manner, havin’ not even a fuckin’ clue as to how true her words were. Love wasn’t somethin’ I could endure, even if it was with someone like Millie.
“I can handle it, darlin’. I just don’t want the burden of being somethin’ I ain’t.” I pursed my lips, lying. When it came to Millie, I would be whatever kind of man she needed me to be. I would protect her, watch her, love her, wipe her tears, and give her unconditional love, but she could never know any of those things because, well, I had the potential to be all the things she would ever need. I carried a lot of baggage that could ruin the both of us, and I refused to drag her down with me.
She was too pure, too good for the kind of shit I had to deal with after my grandparents’ death. If that shit came back into my life, then I would be nothing but a thorn in her side.
“You're more than capable of love, Drew.” Millie’s voice lowered as her eyelashes fluttered against her cheek.
“I might be capable of love, but I ain’t going to bring anyone down with me. So if you can’t handle what I got to offer, darlin’, then tell me now because once I get you alone...there ain’t gonna be a damn thing to stop me from takin’ ya.” I was blunt, crude even, but I wasn’t ever gonna be anything but honest with her again.
Millie leaned into me, her lips almost touchin’ mine. The first lie I ever told myself was that I didn’t want her. The second was that I couldn’t have her, and the third lie was one that I had yet to discover, though I was sure it would be that I shouldn’t have been warning Millie about falling in love with me.
I should’ve been warning myself about fallin’ in love with .