Dirty Working Hero (Hard Working Hero 2)

Let's make this a little more interesting.

Stripping my shirt off, I wipe the sweat off my forehead. I let my eyes fall on hers, giving her a toothy grin. She darts her eyes away, rubbing nervous palms on her thighs.

Her parents are barely paying attention to her, they're consumed by the conversation. But not Millie, she's consumed by me, and I'm loving every second of it. I like this little game. Maybe too much.

I can feel her eyes on me as I mix the concrete. She's gawking, even if she's trying not to. From the corner of my eye, I catch her gaze as it moves up my back and over my arms. Her gorgeous big brown eyes trace the muscles of my shoulders. She crosses her legs and gently bites her bottom lip.

Checkmate. I think to myself as I see her getting turned on from just watching me.

I'm on my hands and knees, smoothing the surface of the cement. The sun is beating down on me, sweat is trickling down my temples and my arms, over my chest and down my spine.

With every move she follows me. Her eyes always there.

“Want some ice water?” Mrs. Chambers asks as she walks toward me with a glass in her hand.

“Yes, thank you.” I take the glass and I sip it slowly. Millie's glaring at me, her eyes firmly planted on mine. I smile at her and pull a cube of ice from the cup. Running it across my lips, I suck on it gently. “Millie, you hot? Want an ice cube?” I hold out the ice, letting it melt down my fingers.

Mrs. Chambers doesn't notice the sexual gesture, going back to the patio table, and talking with her husband again. Millie pops up from her seat and storms down the hill.

She looks back over her shoulder at her parents, before saying, “What the hell are you doing?”

“What? I'm not doing anything.”

“Yes you are. Stop playing games, Hardin. My parents are right there. If my father even thinks he catches a whiff—” She cuts herself off before she can get any louder. Lowering her voice, she looks up at me. “Look, you don't understand my father. I'm warning you, knock it off before you get us both in trouble.”

I take a firm step in, still holding the ice between my fingertips. “What's he going to do? You're an adult, I'm an adult, we're not doing anything wrong.” Sucking the ice into my mouth, I smile. “Not for nothing, but he can't control me.”

“Yes he can,” she says, flicking her head over her shoulder again to make sure they're not paying attention to us. “He can ruin you, and he can take everything away from me. You have no idea what he's capable of.”

“I'm not worried about me, but what do you mean take everything from away you?” I cock a brow. “You're his daughter. Why would want to take anything from you?”

“This is all his. This is his money and his reputation. If I step the wrong way, he'll strip me bare. I'm not entitled to shit. I didn't earn any of it, he did. My car, school, the clothes on my back, everything is in his name or was a gift from him. I can't afford to lose it all because you want to fuck around. I won't risk it for a fling.”

Would he honestly do that to his own daughter?

The thought that a father would strip their own child and leave them with nothing just is terrible. I could never do that to someone, let alone my own blood.

Just the thought of it pisses me off. I hate when people use money to get what they want. It turns my stomach to think this beautiful girl could end up homeless and broke all because she did something her father didn't like.

How could he do that to her?

“But you just graduated. You've barely started living your life yet. Aren't you going to start working and earning your own money now?”

“Didn't you hear my mother? They both see my degree as some type of hobby, not a career. It was my dream to help people with food supply and farming. Not his, not hers, mine. Their dream is a lot different.”

“That sounds like bullshit to me. This is your life, not theirs.”

“Bullshit or not, they're not giving me much of a choice. There's nothing I can do.”

My lids lower as I crook my jaw. “Yes there is, you have a voice, use it. Tell them what you want to do. Make them hear you. Leave and do what's right for you.”

Millie rolls her eyes. “You don't get it. I can't walk away.”

“Yes you can. You're not a victim here, you can leave any time you want to. No one is holding you hostage. If you work hard enough, if you put in some actual effort like I do, maybe you wouldn't be in this position.”