Touching Scars(23)
“What?” He asked.
“Your hair is a complete wreck!” I smirked.
He shook his head, which caused little droplets to fly in my direction. I held my hands up, trying to block them. I squeaked and laughed.
When he stopped, he was smiling at me. Quirking his eyebrow up in a silly fashion, he said, “How about now. Better?”
I tipped my head to the side and tried to hide my grin by biting the inside of my cheek. “Much. You don’t look like a wet dog at all!”
He let out a chuckle and looked over my shoulder. “Wet dog… never heard that one before. I suppose some dogs can be cute wet.”
Huh uh. He was digging for a compliment and he was barking up the wrong tree. Pun intended. I wouldn’t give him one, especially when I was supposed to be guarding myself around him. Rolling my eyes, I bent down, gathered all my belongings, and started the trek towards my car. I heard the shuffle of the sand behind me.
“Hey, Kat?” He walked to his car which was parked next to mine.
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t you come over to my place for dinner? I don’t have much in the way of food, but I could stop at the store real quick and pick up some noodles. I make a pretty mean spaghetti.”
My first instinct was to tell him ‘fuck no’, get in my car, and drive away. However, the look on his face said he was genuinely hopeful I’d say yes. Why was he taking so much interest in me? I still needed to find out if he had an alternative reason for being in Port O’Connor. This place is barely a pinpoint on the map. People don’t just randomly show up here. However, I couldn’t ignore that I was drawn to him. How could I let him down easy? I didn’t want him to look like a wet dog and look like I kicked him. Deciding to offer up something else in a place where I could control the environment, I gave him a different option. It would be a way for me to get some information out of him.
“I think I’m going to pass on the dinner.” His face fell. “But, Mel, Beaver, and I are playing Clubs after the bar closes tomorrow. We don’t bet money or anything like that, but we drink and relax.” I said.
His eye lit up. “Are you asking me to stop by?”
“No, I’m not asking you anything, just throwing it out there so you don’t have to stalk me. I’m telling you my plans. I guess if you just so happened to be there, then I suppose we could make it a four person card game instead of our usual three.” I refused to give him the satisfaction of me actually inviting him.
“I suppose I could see where I end up tomorrow then.” He winked at me before he climbed onto his Harley and rode away.
Son of a bitch! What was I thinking? I’d just invited a shark into a pool of blood. There was no way I was going to walk away from tomorrow night unscathed. He was going to start asking me questions. I was clearly vulnerable around him. My body’s reaction to him was purely lustful. But maybe I could avoid any unwanted inquiries that centered on me. Beaver and Mel would be there to act as my buffers, so I at least had that. I could be the one to mix the drinks, not have any alcohol myself, and I’d be able to stay in control. Yes, that’s what I’d do. Only one problem…my plans seem to go to shit when he’s involved.
I was wrapping up a long day at work later than I normally do. Today felt like it had gone on forever. Of course, I’d been thinking about Kat the entire time. She was consuming my thoughts and it fucking pissed me off. Somehow in the last few days I’d found myself wanting to be around her, just to know what she was doing. I’d gone from being a total hard ass to a pussy-whipped, love sick puppy. Well, minus the whole love part. Maybe I shouldn’t go to the bar tonight. I sighed. I knew that I’d end up there anyway so why even try to tell myself I wouldn’t?
Most of the guys had headed out already, but I had stuck around to fix one of the augers that had broken down last week. The part had come in but we hadn’t had time to replace it, with deadlines hanging over us to drill a certain depth every day. I was just packing up my tools when Roger came walking over to me. Shit. I didn’t know what this was about, but I could only assume it had to do with Kat. His face was impassive as he stopped and stood in front of me. I was squatting down, grabbing the last wrench off the ground.
“Nelson, I have a few things I need to discuss with you. When you get finished here come meet me in the trailer.”
I nodded, letting him know that I heard him. He turned and walked back where he came from. Great. I wonder if somehow word got around to him that I’d showed up at the bar the night after Kat’s birthday and he’s going to rip me a new one. I don’t think he’d fire me because I’m too good. Standing up, I brushed my nearly black hands on my pants and made my way to the trailer. Walking into the cool air, Roger was sitting at the desk that Slim normally occupied during the day, but he had already gone home.