Page 9

CHAPTER NINE

ATLAS

What.

The actual. Fuck .

When I’d called this woman trouble last night, I hadn’t realized exactly how fitting it would be.

Last night had been one of the best nights I’d had in recent or even distant memory.

I’d let my guard down for the first time in forever because I’d figured, what could it hurt?

A single mom who wasn’t from my hometown?

She hadn’t wanted to spend more than an hour in my hotel room, so it was safe to assume she wouldn’t be a clinger.

It had felt like a no-brainer to me.

And look where that had gotten me.

My one-night stand was now my new tenant, living in my backyard for the next six months.

When my mom had told me someone needed a favor since I wasn’t using my guesthouse anyway, I’d been an idiot and agreed.

If there was something I wouldn’t do for my mom, I hadn’t yet found it.

Besides, I’d figured there was enough space between the two houses that I wouldn’t even know they were there.

Now, I wasn’t sure even ten miles between the residences would’ve been enough.

Since moving back home to Starlight Cove, I’d made very deliberate decisions not to shit where I ate.

I didn’t fuck around with the women in town because I didn’t want them to fuck around with me.

That was a flat-out rule.

One I hadn’t broken—or even been tempted to—in five years.

And then in waltzed this tornado of a woman, gorgeous and charming…

trouble with a capital T.

Ruining the very foundation I’d so carefully laid.

Because, while we hadn’t fucked in Starlight Cove, I had no doubt her being not just here in my town, but here , in my backyard, was absolutely going to fuck me.

“ You’re the one who called us . Are you even listening, jackass?” Lincoln asked from the other line.

Declan snorted. “He hasn’t yelled in a full minute, so I’m going with no.”

“’Course I am,” I grumbled into the phone.

And then went right on ignoring everything the two of them were saying about our mom’s wrecked pipes in favor of glaring out the window at my new tenant.

Same as I’d been doing for the past thirty minutes.

In all that time, she hadn’t once glanced my way.

Probably because she was too busy being a one-person moving company.

She hauled the shit out of the little trailer, a younger version of herself following behind and matching her every effort.

So, the whole daughter thing hadn’t been a line.

Which meant she probably hadn’t been lying about anything else either.

Which also meant I’d shoved my whole damn foot in my mouth when I’d accused her of stalking me.

Probably one of the worst conclusions I could’ve jumped to.

But I’d been on edge after going through the fan mail at my mom’s—there had been panties in the bunch, not to mention a voodoo doll and a lock of hair—so this timing was just plain old bad fucking luck.

Watching her now was a wholly different experience from last night.

The woman I’d had beneath me had been flirty and playful.

Now, she was nothing but determination and grit.

And, if I wasn’t mistaken, a whole lot of pissed-off energy.

All thanks to me.

That energy was serving her well, though.

I hadn’t seen her so much as pause in the act of unloading boxes and moving various pieces of furniture into the cottage.

I’d had to stop myself more than once from storming out there to help.

It wasn’t my place. And I definitely didn’t need to interact with her more than the bare minimum.

That would be best for everyone.

But that plan was shot to hell when she rested one end of an overstuffed chair on the seat of a rolling chair, hefted the other side, and began pushing it toward the front door of her cottage.

Alone .

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I muttered.

“Oh, now you’re listening?” Linc said.

“Gotta call you back.”

“For fuck’s sake, not again. Let’s just?—”

I ended the call with my brothers and tossed my phone onto the kitchen counter before storming out the back door, glaring the entire way.

As soon as I was close enough to her, I barked, “What the hell are you doing?”

It was the same tone I used out on the field.

The one that snapped my players into shape when needed.

The one that said I wasn’t here to fuck around.

But this little cyclone of mayhem didn’t even spare me a glance.

She continued on her way, guiding her moving partner—aka the rolling chair—toward the cottage’s front door.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You aren’t giving me a choice. If you hurt yourself on my property because of your own stupidity, I’m the one who’s going to get sued,” I snapped.

“Oh my god . You’re ridiculous. I’m not going to sue you. Get over yourself.”

“Why didn’t you just ask me for help?”

She barked out an incredulous laugh.

“Oh, because our last interaction went so well? I didn’t want the guy I’m stalking to call the police.”

“And in a town this small, it’d probably be the sheriff who showed up,” Trouble’s sullen-looking doppelg?nger said.

She eyed me suspiciously, giving me a once-over and dismissing me just as quickly.

“That’s my daughter, not another stalker,” Trouble said.

“Just want to make that clear.”

Groaning internally, I clenched my jaw.

I’d fucked up, and I needed to own that.

“Look, it was an?—”

She held up a hand, stopping me.

“Save it. I’m not interested in whatever excuse you’re going to give. You were an asshole, plain and simple. The only interaction I want to have with you is once a month when I pay rent.”

With that, she pushed forward, rolling the piece of furniture straight over the threshold and into her new home.

Trouble’s daughter strode past me toward the trailer.

“Damn. I haven’t seen her that mad since I borrowed her favorite pair of jeans without asking and ruined them. If I were you, I’d run for my life.”

That was exactly what I should be doing.

Running as fast and as far away from this woman as I could.

Problem was, I couldn’t stop thinking about her or how good our hour together had been.

How it had been the first time I’d actually wanted a woman to stay the night.

I’d watched her walk out of my hotel room with an ache in my chest that absolutely did not belong there.

And that scared the hell out of me.

This woman was trouble, and I didn’t do trouble.

There was no space in my life for it.

So I planned to do exactly what she wanted and stay away.