Erik (Arizona Vengeance 2)

Dominik turns on his heels, walking over to his desk. He grabs a notepad and pen, handing them to me. “Write your attorney’s name and contact info on there.”

I do as he asks, handing it to back to him.

“I’m going to put my attorneys on this. No offense to yours, but mine are better. The best in the nation. I’ll get this worked out for Blue.”

Surprise by the ferocity of his tone jolts me, and I know without a doubt in my mind that Blue will be getting her father’s life insurance payout. I’m betting there’s not much that Dominik Carlson can’t accomplish with his power and money. That life insurance will make all the difference in Billy’s life and I can’t ask for more.

“Thank you,” I say gratefully and stick my hand out.

He shakes it with an incline of his head. “My pleasure. And good luck to the both of you.”Chapter 19BlueGripping tight onto my phone, I keep peeking out through the long pane of glass set into the front-door frame, looking for Erik’s car to pull in. It’s been a languid morning of sunbathing by the pool while he ran to the arena for a meeting. It was seventy-two degrees by the time I made it outside after Erik left, which was perfect for me to lie in a chaise and relax.

I’m not sure what the meeting he had to attend was about, but he seemed perturbed by it. I want to ask him questions like, “You look bothered by this meeting; is there something I can do for you?” but I don’t feel quite right in doing that.

Yes, we’ve been dating for two weeks.

Called a truce and were easy friends for a few weeks prior to that.

I’ve let Erik do things to me that I’ve never even imagined a man doing, and I’ve done things just as dirty to him.

And yet…I was hesitant to poke into his business, despite the fact that he barrels through mine without any regard.

I wonder why that is. Is it because I don’t trust my value to him? And if so, is that because of the way he disrespected me all those years ago. Am I expecting him to do that again?

Or perhaps, it’s merely that I don’t have enough confidence in myself to fully latch onto this relationship that he’s clearly trying to build with me.

The sound of a big engine startles me and I look back through the window to see Erik pulling in. He’s driving his truck—a massive charcoal gray thing with dark tinted windows—and rather than pull it back into the garage, he uses the circular driveway to park right in front of the hacienda-style porch.

I open the door and run out to meet him. I round the front of the truck just as he’s shutting the door.

He turns, blinks in surprise to see me there and then says, “Holy shit. You in that bikini running out to meet me may be the best thing ever.”

I grin at him.

He makes a spinning motion with his index finger. “Turn around, run back in the house, and do it again.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I take a step forward, practically vibrating with excitement. My hands grip my phone so hard, it’s in danger of cracking.

Erik moves in closer and puts his hands to my hips. “You sure look happy about something and I don’t think it’s seeing me.”

“Of course I’m happy to see you,” I tell him primly, but then I start hopping in place because I can’t contain myself. Not the best idea as Erik’s eyes immediately drop to my breasts which are hopping up and down with me, threatening to pop out of my bikini top.

A tiny squeal pops out of my mouth and I blurt out, “I got a raise.”

Erik jolts as his eyes sort of pop before slamming into mine. His voice is both amused and incredulous at the same time. “You did?”

Holding my phone out for him to see, I squeal again. “Just got an email from the front office. Management said we’d had a lot of praise from the team about how well we did our jobs so they decided to not only give us each a 15 percent raise, but they gave us each a five-thousand-dollar bonus.”

“Jesus, fuck,” Erik mutters in awe, before his mouth curves into a huge smile. “That son of a bitch gave you a raise too.”

“Huh?’ I ask him as I let my arm drop down, completely confused by his reaction. “What son of a bitch? And what do you mean by too?”

The crazy fool doesn’t answer me but instead bends at his waist, puts his shoulder to my stomach and hauls me up over his shoulder. My hands grip the back of his T-shirt—a very tight fitted black Meat Puppets tee—and I try to make my voice sound as irritated as possible. “Erik…put me down right now.”