Sweet (Landry Family 6)

ONE

NATE

“Put some clothes on!”

Paige Carmichael looks at me over her shoulder, wearing nothing but a bra and panties. The garments are white and lace—practically fucking see-through—and it takes me longer than I care to admit to rip my eyes away from the curve of her ass cheek.

And even longer to back out of my office.

“Sorry, Nate,” she shouts as I pull the door shut.

Dammit.

I rub a hand down my face and blow out an exasperated breath.

I’ve never yelled at a woman to put her clothes on, least of all one that I’ve thought about fucking in every position every single day since she walked into my bar eight months ago and asked for a job. But there’s a first time for everything, I guess.

“Okay, I’m decent,” she calls out. “You can come back in.”

I swing open the door and enter the room.

Two bags are piled on the ratty couch that’s seen better days. My desk has turned into some kind of cosmetics counter, and there’s a curling iron plugged into the power strip by the window.

What the hell?

“I have so many questions that I don’t know where to start,” I say.

Paige bumps my arm as she walks by.

“Make yourself at home,” I say.

“I did.”

“Clearly.”

She sighs. “Look, I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Home, maybe?” I toss one of her bags off the couch and sit. “What’s going on?”

She glances at me out of the corner of her eye. “Before I say anything, promise me you won’t judge me.”

“It’s a little too late for that.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine. In one of my un-wisest moments, I took my roommate’s word that she was paying our rent …” She grimaces. “And she wasn’t. We were evicted today.”

This girl is a train wreck.

“I had nowhere to go, Nate,” she says, sticking her bottom lip out. “But I knew my friend Nate would be more than happy to help me out of my bind. You weren’t here, so I came on in. I waved to Shaye as I walked through the front door, so it’s not like I was being sneaky.”

Like that makes it okay.

“What would you have done if someone else would’ve walked in here and saw you naked?” I ask, quirking a brow.

She laughs. “Nate, no one else has the balls to walk into your office but you.”

“And you, apparently.”

“Well, and me.” She grins and picks up the curling iron. “I’m glad you’re here. I kind of need a favor.”

I recline against the couch and prepare myself.

“Now’s a little late to be asking for favors, don’t ya think?” I ask.

She watches herself in the mirror that she’s propped up on my desk. In small sections, she wraps her hair around the iron and then drops the strands into her hand. When she releases them, they’re curled into soft waves.

I fight the urge to smile and fail miserably.

Paige is one of those people who you can’t be mad at. No matter how hard you try, and I have, you can’t help but like her. And it’s dangerous to like a girl like Paige.

The girl is as sweet as she is tough. I’ve witnessed her threaten to shank a guy who tried to roofie a woman one night in the bar. She’s bought Joe, the homeless guy who comes in regularly, soups and sandwiches a hundred times—even paid for a hotel room when it was cold last winter—and she consoled a woman who works here when two men had a showdown over her in the middle of the dining area.

She’s also ridiculously hot. That’s great for her ability to earn tips, but not so great when you’re her boss and she’s off-limits.

She grins back at me and then continues curling her hair.

“What are you getting all dolled up for?” I ask.

“I have a date.”

A date?

My jaw clenches as I imagine some asshole seeing her in the see-through white panties that I now know she’s wearing under those tight, ripped jeans. He won’t give a shit about her modesty.

“Who with?” I ask as casually as I can.

“A guy.”

“Does he have a name?”

The corner of her lips twitches. “He does.”

My jaw tenses. “Who is it, Paige?”

She doesn’t answer me.

If she thinks this is a game, she’s wrong. I’ve watched her parade a handful of losers through The Gold Room without saying a word.

Why can’t I say a word? Because she’s not my girl.

And why is she not my girl?

Because the world hates me.

Why the universe dropped Paige into my life at the exact moment that I thought about dating again is simply cruel. I’m not needing someone per se, but if I was considering what I’d look for, it would be maturity and responsibility—not just a quick fuck. My life is busy, jam-packed with running my bar, working part-time for Landry Security, and being the best damn single dad that I can be.