Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,29

so it barely cost a thing.”

I had a feeling that wasn’t true, but let it slide. Ellie was so damn happy with the belt, and no way did I want Veego’s caveman pride that required him to take care of his offspring all on his own to kick in.

“Well,” Veego crossed his arms over his chest, and I swore he flexed as he did it, “that was mighty cool of you. I have to get going. My shift starts in a half-hour.”

He gave Ellie a quick kiss on the side of her head, then paused, looked at me, a frown tugging his mouth down, and pulled me into a hug. He never did that when he dropped her off. Most of the time, he rarely got out of the truck since he was usually on the way to work.

He ended the hug with a press of his lips to my cheek. “See you tomorrow night, babe.”

“Babe,” I mumbled as he laughed and hopped back into his truck. He threw me a wave before backing out of the driveway and driving off, leaving the three of us in his rumbly wake.

Ellie clapped her hands together. “So, what are we doing today?”

My eyes met Devon’s. His teeth dug into his bottom lip, and he shrugged, giving me the same feeling I got when my hands slipped off a rock and I began falling. Only…there were no crash pads around this time. If I didn’t watch myself, this could really hurt.

Ten

Devon

I ended up spending a few hours with Kat and Ellie. We took Leroy down to the busier side of Main Street, and the dude tricked everyone we passed into thinking he was an angel. He was obviously angling for pats, and he got them in spades.

When we set out, I’d been tense, worried people would bother me. So far, I’d flown under the radar in this town. No press around, no autograph requests. I knew walking through town was pushing my luck, but no one paid me any attention.

And as much as I didn’t want anything interrupting my perfectly fucking peachy day with my neighbors, I can’t say that didn’t sting a little. It got me spiraling, wondering if the public had forgotten about me in my short absence.

But wasn’t that why I came here? Maybe if I was out of the public eye long enough, I’d be able to wipe away some of the impression I’d made over the past…I don’t know, fifteen years. No, scratch that. It wasn’t until after Michaela had officially divorced me that I stopped caring about keeping my shitty behavior on the down-low. So yeah, it had only been a decade of trashing hotel rooms, flipping off reporters, and performing drunk off my ass.

We had lunch and took it easy, Ellie chattering away about camping and all she did with her dad. I listened and responded—although, Ellie didn’t require much of a response; she was a one-woman show—but kept getting distracted by Kat. Noticing the length of her neck and how elegant her collarbone was. How pretty her teeth were when she smiled so wide at her kid. And when the sun hit her eyes, they became almost clear.

She’d caught me looking, again and again, letting out a little gasp each time. I got the impression she didn’t notice men checking her out a whole lot. ’Cause there was no way men weren’t checking her out, despite what she thought of herself. She’d caught my eye right away…well, the first time I was conscious around her. And even though it took me seeing her scaling a fucking boulder to admit to myself how attracted to her I was, I’d been looking from the very beginning.

I wasn’t the jealous type, but that ex of hers was either in love with her or thought he owned her. He’d nearly snapped the bones in my hand when he shook it. Fucker. He should’ve peed all over Kat’s leg while he was at it. And she probably had no idea he felt that way about her, but a man knows when another man is into the same woman he is.

As attracted to Kat as I was, when we went home, I’d felt nothing but relief. I was into this woman, but I wasn’t staying. That wasn’t an option—not with the career I was planning on reviving as soon as inspiration struck.

Friday morning came around, and I decided to chance Main Street again. This time, without the dog to distract people