Coyote (Hawks MC Next Generation #1) - Lila Rose Page 0,40
back to the desk. “Heard about the crash. Glad you kicked some arse again and the brothers got there.”
Smiling, I looked up at him and said, “Me too. It’s good that it’s over.”
Texas grinned down at me. “It really is, honey.”
“Well, it’s been good to see you, but I really do have to get back to work,” I told him. Nodding to Clary and Cowboy, I’d started to shift out from under Texas’s arm when Clary’s hand dropped down on mine.
“Just a moment, the boss will be down. He wanted to see you.”
Okay, something was weird here.
Texas started chuckling. I nudged him. “What’s so funny?”
Smirking, he shook his head. “Nothin’, darlin’.”
When “Channa” was called, I glanced to the side, then froze.
Cody Marcus was headed right for me.
“Sorry, have to go.” I waved and ignored Texas’s chuckle when I quickly said to Clary, “Please tell the boss thank you for the business. I hope he enjoys them.”
She smiled softly. “You can tell him yourself.”
“I have to go—”
“Channa,” Cody said, closer now. “Thanks for bringin’ the order. I’m sure the employees will love them.”
Wait… what?
Slowly, I turned to Cody again. “You’re the owner?”
His grin was lazy and cheeky. “Sure am, angel.” His gaze shifted to the man beside me. “Wanna take your arm off her? She’s still healing from the crash.”
Wait… I was?
A headache started to form. Texas snorted beside me. “My arm is fine where it is.”
Cody’s jaw clenched and his nostrils flared.
I scrubbed at my forehead. “You called for an order?” I asked Cody as he stopped in front of me.
“I did. Thanks again. The staff will love it.” He took my hand and stepped back, tugging me to move with him. I did because I was still in a daze. Had Denise known it was Cody on the phone? She must have because she would’ve had to have taken his name from his card. Why didn’t she tell me? Hang on… maybe Stanley knew Cody owned this store as well, which was why he had me coming here.
Were my employees trying to set me up with Cody Marcus?
I was going to kick their arses because suddenly I remembered how I’d acted the last time, and my face bloomed with heat.
Cody’s lips twitched. “Wanna take a look around?”
I drew my brows down. “Um….”
Cody tucked my hand in the crook of his arm. “Come on. It won’t take long.”
“I think I’ll come,” I heard Texas say.
“Tex, I need to talk to you for a moment,” Clary said. But all I could do was look up at Cody because he was grinning down at me.
“But—” Texas started.
“It can’t wait,” Clary quickly said.
“I have to get to work,” I whispered.
Cody nodded once. “You’ll be back there for lunch.” He glanced behind me. “Cowboy, take the stuff to the break room and feed the horde.”
“Got it, Coyote.”
Cody led me around the desk as I asked, “How many employees do you have?”
“Around ten on each day.”
Holy wow, that was a lot. As we walked and Cody explained items he held in the store, I noticed a few looks from said employees as we passed by. When we stopped by a set of stairs at the far end of the shop, I asked, “Storage upstairs?”
“Storage out back along with deliveries. Upstairs are a couple of offices, but behind that is my home.”
My heart tap-danced around in my chest. Cody lived here. Right up those stairs were his living room, kitchen, bedroom.
“Oh” was all I could manage. I hoped my hand didn’t leave a sweaty imprint on his arm, his firm arm when I removed it because all of a sudden, I felt very hot. “Well, um, I better go back to work.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Turning, I dropped my hand from his arm and waved it discreetly to air it out. “But,” he added, which had me facing him again, “before I do, I wanted to talk to you.”
Stop, drop, and roll.
All I could think of was the saying the firemen taught kids at school when your clothes were aflame, and I wanted to test it out. Maybe I’d roll under something where I could hide.
“You don’t need to look so scared. It’s nothin’ bad,” he reassured me with a soft smile.
Still, I was in panic mode, and obviously he could see it from my erratic breathing and wide eyes.
“Right,” I squeaked, and then cleared my throat. I nodded and tried again, “I, ah, should apologise for how I acted—”