Although it sucked that my car was acting like a piece of shit, there was this little part of me that couldn’t help but feel a little twinge of anticipation at the fact Cannon would be driving me around.
Yeah, keeping my feelings in check was gonna be a lot harder than I thought if getting rides from him made me this excited.
9
Stella
I looked out the windows of the front office of the body shop, the sun starting to set, expecting Cannon any minute. I turned back toward the computer and shut it down, grabbed my purse, and stood.
The sound of the side garage door opening had me glancing toward it. Ryan walked in, a stack of manila folders covered in greasy fingerprints in his hand.
He set them on the counter and looked up at me, his expression stoic. “These need to be invoiced and filed next time you’re in.”
I nodded and reached out for them, but as I tried to pull them back, he kept his hold on the folders. When I glanced up our gazes caught. I should’ve just let go of them, shouldn’t have played in to whatever bullshit he was trying to start.
“Are you going to give them to me, or what?” But I was too damn stubborn for all that. He held on to them for a suspended moment, a smile slowly creeping across his lips, before finally letting go.
I set them on the counter so I could work on them when I was in next, but I could feel his gaze on me the whole time.
“How about you let me take you out?”
This really wasn’t how I wanted to end my night, because I had a feeling Ryan was the type of guy who didn’t take no very easily.
“Sorry, but I have a boyfriend,” I lied easily. It just seemed like a better cop-out than trying to tell Ryan I just wasn’t interested.
But he didn’t move, didn’t even seem to breathe for long moments. “Boyfriend, huh?” He sounded unconvinced. “I’ve never seen you with anyone.”
I shrugged, trying to act like this wasn’t starting to get weird, but it wasn’t any of his damn business. “I’m not sure what to tell you, Ryan. I have one, so…” My words hung between us and then his grin slowly spread, one that made me uncomfortable.
He moved around the desk so he was now right across from me, his hands hanging over the edges, his fingers playing with the chipped Formica counter.
I leaned back in the chair to get further away from him.
“To be honest, I don’t care if you do have a boyfriend.”
The scent of motor oil covered him like a second skin. I was used to it, but right now I certainly wasn’t. Right now, it made my stomach turn. “Ryan, I do care. So thanks, but no thanks.”
He reached out and before I could stop him, he took a strand of my hair that had fallen from my ponytail, and started rubbing it between his fingers.
“How about you and I head to my truck, get to know each other more?” He grinned and looked right in my eyes. “I bet you’re tight as hell. I’d love to—”
“You’d like to what? Say it again and see what happens.”
The sound of Cannon’s voice had my heart beating a little faster. It was hard … angry.
The silence stretched between the three of us and I felt the tension in the air thickening, felt the testosterone grow between Cannon and Ryan.
Ryan turned his body so he was facing Cannon. I felt this thick lump in my throat grow, my heart race, and my palms go sweaty. I knew Cannon like I knew myself. Although he was sweet and gentle when it came to me, he was someone totally different when someone was an asshole to him or others he cared about.
And judging by Cannon’s face, he was ready to cross that line with Ryan.
Cannon took a step forward, as did Ryan. They were both equally matched in height and muscle mass. I didn’t want this escalating.
I stood and walked around the desk, placing myself between the two guys.
“Yeah? And what are you going to do if I say it again?” Ryan was clearly not smart enough to know that this wasn’t going to end well. But then again, he seemed like the type of guy to start shit just to start it.
Cannon took another step forward and I reached out and placed my hand on the center of his chest. He looked down at me, his jaw tight, a muscle working under his cheek.
“Cannon, let’s just get out of here.” He was looking me right in the eyes, and I knew he wanted to argue with me but after a prolonged moment, he glanced back up at Ryan.
“You’d be fucking smart not to disrespect Stella.”