Slade(46)

A few minutes pass before she pulls away from the kiss and places her forehead against mine. We look into each other’s eyes and I run my finger over her cheek.

“What,” she asks. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking about how beautiful you are and the way you make me want more than what I have.”

She sucks in a deep breath and turns her head away from me. Right before she turned away, I caught a look in her eyes that made my chest ache. There’s something she’s not telling me. I can tell.

“We should get going, Slade. You have to be at work soon. Okay?” She forces a smile and taps my chest so I know to set her back down to her feet.

When her feet hit the ground, she goes straight for my motorcycle and slips my helmet on. She’s ready to get away from me. I don’t like that feeling. Not one fucking bit.

I stalk over to her, pull her into my arms and make her look me in the eyes. “Tell me something about yourself that I don’t know. I don’t know shit about your life back at home.”

She swallows hard and tries turning her face away, but I don’t let her. I need to be able to read her eyes when she talks. “I work at a hair salon. I’ve been there for four years. I love it. Doing hair makes me happy. I just turned twenty three a few months ago and I have a cat named Puma. He’s black and white and a pain in the ass, but I love him. I hate seafood. I eat ranch sauce on everything and have a passion for reading. I’m not much for the party life and would rather curl up with someone that cares about me and watch a movie instead of going out.” She pauses to look down at my lips before looking back up. “There’s not much else to tell.”

I release her face and we both just stand here in silence. Something feels a little off about the way she’s acting. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t blame her for not wanting to get close to me; especially, not knowing my intentions. I don’t even know them myself. This is all new to me.

“Okay.” I turn and walk to my bike, unsatisfied. “Let’s go.”





* * *





Sarah has been giving me weird looks all fucking day. I’m not really sure what’s on her mind, but it’s starting to get on my damn nerves.

“Say it,” I mutter.

She sets her towel down on the bar and begins wiping it off. “Say what?”

I look up from putting the glasses in the cooler and study her face. She definitely has something on her mind. She knows I don’t like playing these games. I’m not a fucking mind reader. “You have something you want to say. Since when do you hold back?”

Shaking her head, she turns away and starts working faster at wiping down the bar. “Okay, then.” She drops her towel, leans against the bar and smiles. “You broke your fucking rules.” Pushing away from the counter, she walks over to me and kneels down next to me. “Someone finally broke you. I’m in total awe of this woman. She’s a goddess. I’m definitely jealous, Slade.”

Grunting, I slam down the glass in my hand and stand up before rubbing my hands over my face. “Fucking, Cale.” I reach for her arm and pull her up to her feet. “I swear he gossips just like a fucking chick.”

She quickly grabs for a beer and places it in front of one of her customers before rushing back over to me. “He called me this morning to see if I wanted to get off work early; said he needed some extra cash. He got on the subject of Aspen and it came out. He’s just as shocked as I am. Believe me.”

“Yeah. Well, you’re not the only ones. Don’t even ask me to explain it because I can’t. I wouldn’t even if I knew how so back off.” I lean against the register and watch as a few girls look at me from across the bar, smiling to each other. They’re both looking desperate; watching my every move as if their lives depend on it. I’m sure it won’t be long before they approach me and try to pull me into the back. I’ve had it happen more than once while working. It used to get me all worked up. Right now, I’m not even feeling it.

“Do you need to take a break?” Sarah stands next to me and eyes the two girls before nudging me. “I can handle the bar. I don’t need you.”

“Nah.” I push away from the register and start checking the bottles of liquor to see if any need to be replaced. I need anything to keep me busy. “Not this time.”

“Wow. Two surprises in one day,” she says teasingly while walking back over to clean the bar. “I don’t know how to take all this in.”

“Yeah, well I can be full of fucking surprises. Trust me.”