Page 28 of Dancing with the Devil

“You can hold my hand if you get scared,” I teased, putting my elbow onto the center console with my fingers spread, wiggling them. He simply glanced at my hand, then at me. “No? Okay,” I said before using that hand to put the car in drive.

I sped out of the parking space and seconds later Sylvester’s SUV appeared in the rear view mirror. My eyes darted between the road and the rear view mirror as I watched them almost catch up to us.

Stepping on the gas pedal, my eyes shot down to the speedometer. 3… 4… I took a sharp right then left.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins and short after, he showed up in my rear view once again and my hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you” he suddenly asked from beside me and my peripheral vision caught his eyes lingering on my thighs as I shifted gears.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” I faked a gasp. 5… 6…

“Lucky guess.”

I smiled at his answer, glancing up at the rear view. Taking another left we got onto the highway and I stepped onto the gas pedal. “How much do you love this car?” I asked, looking at him for a second.

“Go for it,” he encouraged me and an ear to ear grinned danced on my lips.

His stare burned into the side of my face and I couldn’t help the tingling sensation that shot through my stomach.

The car sped down the highway as I swerved between cars, desperate to not only escape Sylvester, but not to kill us both.

I finally lost Sylvester and took a few more turns as a precautionary measure. I parked the car at an empty parking lot and turned off the ignition.They’re gone, breathe.

“In heels?” His voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned to look at him. “Impressive.”

“It’s not my first rodeo,” I shook my head and the corners of his lips lifted into a grin. I had clearly piqued his interest. “Woah,” I playfully put both hands out in front of me. “Before you fall head over heels in love with me, you should probably know that I’m an ex-con.”

He looked taken aback and I pressed my lips into a thin line.

“Deal breaker, huh?” I mused.

He fully grinned this time and my stomach did a million somersaults. Heat rushed to my face and I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful his smile was.

He turned his body towards me. “Please enlighten me on what my little vixen had done,” he said with so much interest and amusement.

“I might have, maybe, kinda, sort of…” I trailed off and he raised a brow at me, waiting. “I beat a man nearly half to death with a sledgehammer—but I can explain!” I quickly blurted out and he crossed his hands on his lap.

I sighed, suddenly feeling like an awful human being.

“Well, it’s notmyfault that men don’t understand a simple two lettered word. I doubt you’ll be familiar with it with that pretty little face of yours, but it starts with ‘N’ and ends with ‘O’. Ring a bell?” I asked and he scoffed with a timid smile.

“Yeah. I heard it a couple times, and all of those times I heard it, it was all coincidentally byyou.”

I tilted my head slightly. “You’re funny.”

“And you’re cruel. What did he do?”Am I going to trauma dump with a really hot stranger right now? Yes. Yes I am.

Mentally I was praying that I do not scare this man off. I needed a ride to the club, after all.

“He forced himself on me and after three ‘no’s’, I kicked him between his legs and he fell beside me. And we were outside—mind you. He wanted to have sex with me in the backyard ofa strangers house, on the cold ass ground—can you believe the nerve of this jackass?” I asked in disbelief, shaking my head.

“The nerve,” he breathlessly said, shaking his head too.

“Right!” I nodded. “Well, as I tried to move away from him I tripped over the sledgehammer and when he tried coming back, I hit him,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I know this might sound fucked up but hearing the bone in his arm crack was oddly satisfying. So I didn’t stop. His arms, legs, hands, feet and when his cries became to loud, his mouth.”

Something unfamiliar—yet hot—took over his face. As though he was oddly impressed with me right now but I could not tell why. “So you have a thing for beating up guys?”

“Only assholes who deserve it.”