Saxon's Soul (Haven, Texas 5)

Part of her warned that this maybe wasn’t the best move. This wasn’t keeping her head down and coasting under the radar. This was so far from that it wasn’t even funny.

She certainly wasn’t laughing and, right at that moment, she didn’t give a shit about not drawing attention to herself. She was going to tell that high-handed jerk exactly what she thought of him. Didn’t he know the scare he’d given her when she’d thought someone had taken her car? Not that her car was worth anything, but it was everything to her.

Someone like Joel Saxon seemed to think it was nothing to play around with other people’s emotions. If anything he owned went missing, then no doubt he just went out and bought another one. He screamed wealthy.

He didn’t actually steal your car, though.

But she’d thought it had been stolen. So the end result had been the same.

Well, except for the fact that her car had been returned working better than ever. Her stomach tightened as she remembered Matt telling her the bill had been taken care of. She’d been about to swallow her pride and ask him if she could pay it off over time before she’d discovered that ass had paid for it.

The jerk.

She paused. All right, maybe she was getting a bit carried away. She shook her head. No, she wasn’t going to feel grateful. She was in the right here. Her car. Her business. And she was damn well going to pay him back. Every cent. Somehow.

She started off again. She’d taken an early break and probably wouldn’t have time to eat much. The great thing about working for the diner was the free lunch she got each shift. It was the only time she had a full meal, and she was pretty certain she couldn’t have gotten by without it.

But it was worth going without lunch just to tell Joel Saxon off.

“Well, that clears things up.” Duncan pushed back his hat slightly. “Next time, might be a good idea to tell the owner of the car that you’re, uh, procuring it in order to get it fixed.”

Saxon bit back a growl of frustration. Honestly, he didn’t see what all the fuss was about. It wasn’t like he’d actually stolen it. “It was supposed to be back before she left for work, and I thought Matt had called her.”

“I know you were trying to do the right thing. Your methods might have been a bit high-handed, though.”

He raised an eyebrow. “High-handed?”

Duncan crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing him. “You’re not a man used to being challenged by anyone. Might be quite interesting to see you come up against someone who doesn’t respond with how high when you say jump.”

“No one around here asks how high when I say jump,” he replied dryly. “Would be a hell of a lot easier if they did.”

Duncan shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Always think you know best, don’t you?”

“I’ve rarely been wrong.”

“Your matchmaking and interfering have left a few people with raw feelings towards you. I haven’t forgotten that you gifted my wife a membership to your club.”

“Your wife was a lost little sub who needed help. As a Dom and a male resident of Haven I could do nothing else but step in to help her.”

“You didn’t have to enjoy it so much,” Duncan growled.

Saxon grinned. “Didn’t I?”

Duncan half-turned, his gaze caught off in the distance. “And Aspen? She’s not a sub. What drew you to helping her?”

“She’s a woman alone. It was getting dark, and she didn’t have any way of getting home. Did you expect me to leave her alone while she attempted to find her way home?”

He still wanted to know how she’d gotten to work today. If she’d walked or hitched, they were going to have words.

“And I’m not so sure she’s not a submissive,” he muttered, more to himself.

“That so? Guess you’d know. I know she’s a little timid but she could just be shy. Doesn’t mean she’s a sub.”

Shy? Timid? Aspen? He nearly snorted at the idea. But that had been his first impression of her as well so he couldn’t blame Duncan for thinking that.

“Of course, she doesn’t look so shy or timid right now.” Duncan had a smile on his face as he continued to look over towards the right. “In fact, I’d say she has a full head of steam on her and I’m guessing you’re the intended target.” He chuckled. “Good luck with that, my friend.”

Saxon leaned against the doorframe and watched as Aspen stormed towards the club. Head of steam was right. She was so hot with rage it was a wonder the top of her head didn’t blow off.