Mister Dick

“That’s the same as distracting.”

“Not really.” I paused. “When are you leaving?”

“I don’t know.”

Okay. That wasn’t the answer I was looking for. I took a step toward her. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

She raised her chin. “Figure it out.”

“Echo.”

“Let it marinate and figure it the hell out.”

I was close to losing my shit. “Your cabin doesn’t have any power or water or heat. And no way in hell are you staying here with me.”

“Do you hate me that much?”

“I don’t hate you, Echo,” I ground out. “I just don’t like you is all.”

I stared down at her for so long, my neck began to ache. Her makeup from the night before was mostly gone, save for the false lashes and a smudge of liner. Her lips were bare, but then they didn’t need anything on them to get a guy going. They were soft and full and—

I gave my head a shake and moved back. What the hell? Echo Mansfield was not a thing. She would never be a thing.

“Don’t worry,” she finally said, her voice soft as butter. “I’ll be gone as soon as I can charge my phone and call my driver.” Her words were muted and the fight had left her. She looked exhausted. Kind of sad. Pathetic, really. It made me wonder. What the hell had happened? Why was she here?

“Can I borrow your phone?” she asked.

“No.”

Her head snapped around, and surprise lit up her ice-cold eyes turning the hazel liquid gold. “Are you kidding me?”

A buzzing began in my head. I heard it, skirting the edge of my brain, sinking into my skull and locking my jaw so tight, I could barely speak.

“I came here for the quiet, Echo. To get away from everything and everyone. I don’t have a computer. I don’t have a phone. I have two guitars, a keyboard, and a bunch of notebooks.”

“You’re an idiot,” she replied, eyes wild as she looked around the cabin.

“And you’re the biggest pain in my ass, so you need to leave. Walk that pretty little butt of yours back to your cabin, grab your cellphone, and call your driver. Get your squad out here to pick you up.” I frowned as something I hadn’t considered crossed my mind. “You ditched your security?”

“Do you have a charger?” Her voice was subdued, and she ignored my question. That should have been my first clue.

“I don’t have a phone, so why in hell would I have a charger?” That buzzing was louder, and I clenched my fists. I knew where this was going before she opened her mouth, and damned if I didn’t feel pissed off, frustrated as hell, and more than a little…something else.

It was the something else I didn’t want to think about, because that something else had lit a fire. And Echo and me? We were combustible.

“Well then,” she said carefully, licking her lips in a way that drew my gaze. The woman was the devil. “Guess I’m stuck here until Mr. Davis comes back.” She pasted a fake smile to her face. “When is that exactly?”

“You’re kidding, right?” I snarled.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?”

Un. Fucking. Believable.

“Davis isn’t due back for a week.”

Her smile fled. Her face went white. “Oh” was all she said.

Yeah. Fuck my life.