Page 19 of Wilde Shorts
“Oh, well, I’ve refinished several things at the lake house. I’m happy to teach you a thing or two, if you’d like,” Chief Paige said, moving closer to the counter where I stood. His gorgeous gray eyes were so damned kind. I wanted to dive into them and swim around until all of the orgasms happened.
“He’d love that,” Nico blurted loudly, right next to my ear.
I jumped and spun around to kick him in the shins. “Stop that, you dick! I swear togood gravy, the next time you startle me, I’m going to?—”
“Yes,” Sassy said quickly, meeting my eye. “Lord knowssomeoneneeds to teach him about stripping. Contrary to popular belief, the boy has no experience with that sort of thing.”
I felt all the blood rush from my face. Did she… did she just say what I thought she said?
Chief Paige chuckled in his deliciously panty-dropping deep voice. “I can get off this weekend if that works for you, Stevie?”
“I… I…” I stammered at the beautiful creature before me. “I would love for you to get off this weekend. And I would love formeto get off this weekend. We could both get off together… that would be even better… us getting off, I mean. Together.”
Nico looked at me with confusion. “You already got off this weekend. It’s on the calendar.”
West and Sassy burst out laughing. “I don’t think that’s what he meant,” West whispered to his husband.
Thank fuck the chief was too busy looking at the pastries and cookies in the display to notice what was going on.
“S-sounds good, Chief,” I said. “I’ll… I’ll just come to your place Saturday morning, then?”
He looked up and graced me with one of his full grins, the kind that deepened the chin dimple and crinkled his eyes. “Perfect. Be sure to wear clothes that can be destroyed.”
“Uh-huh,” I breathed.
“Oh, and Stevie?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Call me Evan.”
Merciful heavens. I wondered if the precum leaking out of me could be seen through the layers of thong, skinny jeans, untucked sequined T-shirt, and ugly-ass bakery apron. If Goddess gave a shit about me, the answer would be no.
It was all something out of a dream come true until he said the fatal words before walking out of the bakery with his coffee and cookie.
“If you have any friends who want to tag along, feel free to bring them. It’s been a while since I’ve had a youth group at my place. Maybe I’ll pick up some sodas and snacks. Oh, and bring swimsuits. You can all go for a dip off the dock after.”
That cocky-ass motherfucker thought I was a kid.
I stared after him as he sauntered his gorgeous butt out of Sugar Britches. The minute the door closed behind him, I turned to Sassy with smoke pouring from my nose and ears.
“Gas up the car. We’re going to Dallas for that audition.”
If that old man wanted to think of me as some at-risk youth from his volunteering gigs, he was going to get the shock of his life when he learned I was waving around my very adult-sized cock for cash.
I’d spent three years trying to get that man’s attention by flirting with everyone in town. The fact he still thought of me as the little kidhe’d once saved from a bully, and later, the apartment fire, made me mad as hell.
And hell hath no fury like a Stevie scorned.
2
EVAN
I leftthe bakery in much better spirits than I’d entered it. Getting under Stevie Devore’s skin was one of my favorite pastimes. Maybe it was cruel of me to mess with him by implying he was a kid, but he was so damned adorable when he got angry. His cheeks flushed, his little hands balled into fists at his sides, and his nostrils flared.
Stevie in full pique was a sight to behold. He was lovely on a normal day, but when ticked off? Ahh, that’s when he made my heart stutter-step and thunk like a lovesick fool.
Stopping by Sugar Britches for a coffee and cookie had become a daily habit of mine since I’d discovered Stevie working there a couple of years before. At the time, I truly had thought of him as a kid, because I’d actually known him as one. But by now it had been a good eight months of seeing him as the man he was.