His thoughts were out of control and he hated the idea of Violet actually being a prostitute. It seemed impossible, but could any woman really be so…amazing?
“I’m out of here,” he growled and turned around, intent on getting the hell away from this conversation. He couldn’t believe that the man was actually pimping out his stepdaughter. It seemed…foul. Disgusting.
“Call me when you change your mind,” George said before the door slammed shut on Creek’s departure.
Creek slapped his helmet onto his head, not bothering with his gloves in his need to get away as quickly as possible. He needed a shower, he thought as he slammed the power on and sped away. He took the corners fast, angling through the narrow streets. It took the entire ride back to his place before he could calm down.
Chapter 5
“Was that Creek who just drove away?” Violet said as she slipped into the shop with another box of product balanced precariously on her hip. This one was heavy, she thought. Her eyes looked out the store window, wishing that she’d been a few minutes earlier. In just a short period of time, she’d gone from feeling nervous and anxious around Creek, to feeling like she was a princess in his eyes. The man was such a sweet guy, always concerned about her feelings, holding her hand and making her feel…alive.
Maybe it hadn’t been Creek, she thought. Maybe it had just been another handsome guy on a dangerous looking motorcycle with broad shoulders and….
“Yeah, it was him.” George rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing his stepdaughter carefully.
Violet looked at the man, wondering about the look in his eyes. It was strange and…she didn’t really like it.
“Honey, he’s on the edge. A man like that, he has needs. You can’t keep stringing him along. Either give him what he needs or cut him loose, Violet.”
Violet placed the box on the shelf, not bothering to open it up. What George was suggesting was both terrifying and exciting. Make love with Creek? Could she do it? The way he kissed her and the way she reacted, she knew that it would be a glorious night. But she’d always thought she’d be married, or at least in a committed relationship before she had sex with a man.
She had been dating the man for only a week and already, she couldn’t wait to see him, loved just holding his hand and being with him. With a sigh, she accepted the truth about her feelings for the tall, mysterious man.
She was in love with Creek. Every part of her admired the man, enjoyed talking with him and just being with him. He was so tall and strong and just his voice sent shivers down her body in all the strangest places. The last time they’d been together, well, things had started to get out of hand. If she hadn’t gotten nervous and if that phone hadn’t rung…well, maybe she’d be in his bed already.
She glanced at George and shuddered. George had been her mother’s idea of wonderful at one point. Now the man just hung around, not really contributing anything and ate all of her food. She’d like to kick him out, but she didn’t have the heart. He was a mooch, yes. But he didn’t have any other place to go.
“Creek is a nice guy,” she told him, not wanting to discuss her personal life with George. He wasn’t very good with relationships. Or selling merchandise. Or being a good human being, she thought with increasing frustration. She had to get him out of the store before the tourist season started. The man scared away customers, growling at them and just being rude. And her other employees were starting to complain too. They said he was bossing them around when she was gone. That was just not allowed, she thought.
George moved closer, placing his pudgy hand over hers and she had to fight the instinct to pull her hand away. She felt dirty just with his touch and it had nothing to do with the grease that rubbed off from his fingers to her own. Ick!
George was trying to tell her something and she looked up at him, trying to listen and not cringe away from him. “Creek is a man. If you don’t start thinking of him that way, you’re going to lose him,” he said and reached for his coat. “I’m going out for a beer,” he said and snuck Violet’s tuna sandwich into his coat pocket. He’d already stuffed a twenty dollar bill into his jeans. A man needed sustenance, he told himself as justification for his theft. “Let me know if you want me to talk to him, honey. I know what a man wants and I can make sure he knows to take it easy with you.”
A moment later, he was gone, walking down the street and whistling. It was the first time that Violet had seen the man with a spring to his step.
Violet tried hard not to cringe as she watched him, even as she took some Lysol out and cleaned the counter as well as the stool he’d been using all morning. Why that man wanted to hang out here all day long, she didn’t understand. Couldn’t he find a job somewhere?