Page 3 of Sackett (Demented Souls #17)

S ackett helped Donna back into his truck, determined to take her home and be done with this. He hoped Savage didn’t need last minute help again. Though he wouldn’t turn him down if he did.

Especially if it meant seeing that hot attorney again. He wasn’t sure which appealed to him more, the thick rimmed glasses or her almost uptight skirt suit.

He’d always been intrigued by the idea of the uptight librarian turned sexy seductress by the right guy, but never thought he would ever encounter one.

And while she might be an attorney instead of a librarian, the way she kept her hair pulled back in a severe updo made him ache to be the reason it fell loose.

He wanted to know how long it was. He needed to see if it was curly or straight.

Something in him wanted to see how it framed her face.

He’d done his best to keep from staring, but he’d been able to watch her as she’d explained to Donna what she was signing.

He would swear her makeup was designed to make her look less attractive instead of more. What woman would do that?

He didn’t think he had ever known a single woman who would make herself less attractive, especially on purpose and for work.

Though now that he thought about it, he knew being an attorney could be a cutthroat business, and not the easiest career choice for a women, much less an attractive woman.

Society had such a habit of portraying beautiful women as idiots.

Maybe that had something to do with it. Did she feel like she had to make herself less attractive to be taken seriously?

The idea made him want to break a few faces, and hers was definitely not one of them.

Sackett took Donna home, making sure she made it inside safe, and that she didn’t need anything else before he left.

A glance at his watch told him it was still early, barely four thirty, he could go back to Drifters and see if the chick he’d been hitting on was still there.

But the idea didn’t appeal to him anymore.

Yes, she’d been hot, and he was always willing to get laid any time he could, he didn’t think she would be worth the work.

Oddly, he had the idea of stripping a certain hot lawyer down and finding out what she kept hidden by that dark pencil skirt and those glasses.

He suspected that if he could get past the layers of protection she’d put up, he would find she burned hotter than most. Turning the truck back to the clubhouse, he found himself wondering if Ms. Leighty knew how she’d intrigued him.

How would she have reacted if he’d said the same thing to her that he’d said to the chick in the bar? Somehow, he didn’t think she would slap him, and he’d been slapped more than a few times for saying something before he thought better of it.

No, somehow, he thought the proper little attorney would put him in his place just as efficiently, but she would use her words to cut him down and tell him what she thought of his mouth.

The idea made him shift in his seat as his jeans grew tight at just the thought of her tearing a strip off him for proposition her.

Sackett pulled the truck into his usual spot in the clubhouse parking lot and sat there a moment, despite the heat, as he imagined burying his hand in her hair, knocking that prim little style loose until her hair fell loose around her face and knotted around his fingers.

He could picture the way her eyes would dilate and those plump lips parting. Silently begging for his kiss.

What the hell was he doing? This was not someone he could screw with and not someone who would likely screw with him.

If he decided he really wanted to see if she could be all he imagined, then he at least needed to wait until Donna’s court trouble was over.

The last thing he wanted was to have her refuse to continue the case because she was pissed at him.

No, he owed his brother better than that.

But after it was all final, he might see what he could talk her into.

The idea had made him quirk one side of his mouth and shake his head as he made his way inside.

“Thought you were spending the day away from here,” Maverick said as Sackett stepped in out of the sun.

Sackett paused a moment, blinking several times as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the light inside, then scanned the room. There were more of his brothers here than he’d expected.

“I planned to, but Savage asked me to help him out and I was bringing my truck back, so decided to come on in.” There was no reason to spend the day away from the clubhouse, other than he spent more free time here than at home and had been looking for a change.

He'd spent all of two hours at home, done way too many chores and found himself bored and searching his bookshelves for something new to read. That was not the place to look for something new, and he knew it. Still wanting something new, he’d hit the used bookstore, then stopped at Drifters and that was where he’d been when Savage had called.

At least there he’d been closer to the compound and his truck than at home.

He’d only been in the place a few weeks and hadn’t gotten in the habit of parking his truck there yet.

He’d kept it here while he lived in the apartment complex, because they had a one vehicle policy, and he’d rather have his bike there than the truck.

Sackett was still unpacking things and getting settled in, but he’d have to get one of his brothers to drive his truck over to the new place so he could free up the space here soon.

“You busy?” he asked Maverick as he joined his brother at the bar. He waved at Demon, who was cleaning up behind the bar, to bring him a beer, then turned his attention back to Maverick.

“Waiting for Dana, then going to take her out tonight, why?”

“I’ve decided it’s time to stop monopolizing too many spaces here, but I could use someone to drive my pickup to my place.”

Maverick stared at him for a moment, as if debating whether or not to say how stupid he thought Sackett was.

“I did think about loading the bike into the truck, but finding a ramp, loading and all that seemed a lot more trouble than asking for help.”

Maverick bobbed his head from side to side for a moment. “Now I’m trying to decide if you’re smarter than I am or just not as hardheaded.”

Sackett was willing to say not has hardheaded, because if anyone knew where his thoughts had been before walking in here, they’d be ready to send him for an IQ test to see just how stupid he was.

But he didn’t say any of that. Instead, he waited and watched, hoping his friend would give him an answer, even if it wasn’t today or was just no.

At least with a no he could go find someone else.

“Do you want it done right now or just soon?” Maverick asked after a moment.

“No, no hurry. It occurred to me as I pulled in to get my bike that there’s no reason I can’t take the truck home now.

When I came in, I thought to ask if you can help.

” He was only fudging the timing a little and there was no way he was going to admit to what he was really thinking about when he’d pulled in. “It can wait a few days if we need to.”

Maverick looked up at the clock on the wall over the bar. “Dana’s due in the next little bit or I’d say let’s do it now.”

Sackett lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “No big deal. It’s been here this long. A few more days won’t hurt.”

Demon brought Sackett his drink and paused long enough to ask if either of them wanted anything else.

Maverick shook his head. Sackett considered it for a moment.

It was late enough he could get dinner, then not have to deal with it later, but while Demon wasn’t as bad as Puck in the kitchen, Sackett wasn’t in the mood for something barely edible, even if it meant having to cook for himself later.

“Something special with Dana tonight?” Sackett asked after waving Demon off.

“Not yet, but I have high hopes,” Maverick said.

“What? Are you planning to propose?” Sackett threw out the most far-fetched thing he could think of.

When Maverick only blinked and stared at him, it took Sackett a moment to realize that was exactly what his brother had planned.

“No shit?” Sackett’s mouth fell open and his eyebrows tried to hide in his hair line while he tried to regain his composure. “Wow.”

His brain scrambled for something more to say. Congratulations was out, at least until she said yes, and Sackett assumed Maverick thought she would, otherwise why ask? Good luck made it seem like he thought his brother would need it.

“That’s great. You already have a ring, or you plan to let her pick one out?”

“I have one. I enlisted her friend Sean to help me find one she’ll love.”

“That’s great. We’ll have to celebrate.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. She has to say yes first.” Maverick rubbed one hand against the right side of his chest. Sackett suspected that was where he’d hidden the ring, in the inside pocket of his kutte.

The door opened, drawing both of their attention. Dana stepped inside and paused to scan the room, obviously looking for someone. The way her face lit up when she found Maverick gave Sackett no doubt what her answer would be later that evening.

“That’s my signal.” Maverick tilted back the mug he’d been drinking from and drained it before setting it down on the back side of the bar and sliding off the stool.

Sackett watched as he went to Dana, hooked an arm around her waist and tugged her close for a kiss.

The two of them seemed lost in their own world for a moment, then they broke apart, smiled at each other, and went upstairs.

Sackett shook his head and wondered what it would take to make him trust someone like that.

Well, someone other than his brothers. He’d learned a long time ago that the people you were supposed to be able to trust were often the ones who let you down the hardest. It had taken a lot for him to learn to trust his brothers, first in the military, then here with the Souls.

He still had his moments but nothing like he’d once had.

He picked at the label on the bottle Demon brought him and found his mind turning back to the attorney.

He wondered what she would taste like. What was she like away from the office, or courtroom, where she had to be professional and strong.

Was she soft? Was she a ball buster? Sackett shook his head and pushed the ridiculous thoughts from his mind.

He’d likely never see her again, so there was no point in wondering.