I went breathless at his words and nearly dropped the phone.
“You’re damn lucky you make me hard just rememberin’
the taste of you or I’d think you were a major pain in the ass.”
Holy cow.
“Whisky.”
He talked over me as he gave in. “Try not to burn down Smithie’s. Smithie is a good guy, he doesn’t deserve whatever mayhem he’s got in store tonight.” I couldn’t help myself, I smiled at the phone. “I promised Luke I’d be good.”
“You’re good al right.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that but I found it made me both annoyed and my ni**les went hard.
Then he carried on. “You get home before I do, don’t wear anything to bed. I won’t be in the mood for obstacles.” I was sure what he meant by that and I felt a spasm between my legs.
Final y he said, “Stay safe.”
“You too,” I said back, my voice soft even though we’d had an argument. I didn’t know what his “operation” was about but I didn’t want to hang up the phone with him on angry words.
More silence. So much that I got confused.
“Hank?” I cal ed, wondering if he was gone and didn’t disconnect or something was wrong with my phone.
“I’m here,” he said, his voice had changed, gone husky.
“Hank,” I said again and even though I didn’t mean to let it show, a lot could be heard through my saying his name.
“See you later, Sweetheart.”
Then he disconnected.
I flipped the phone shut and noticed Duke looking at me.
“You’re al right,” Duke told me on an approving nod.
“I am?” I asked.
He turned to me, leaned a hip on the counter and crossed his arms over his black, leather vest.
“You are. These boys need women who can take the heat without meltin’ like butter, and sometimes that heat is fiery. They need women who can give back their shit so they don’t walk al over ‘em and get bored out of their f**king skul s. And they need women who can go soft when the situation demands because they get hard knocks on a regular basis, sometimes literal y, and comin’ home to somethin’ soft is the only way to cope.”
Holy f**king cow.
“You think I’m a woman like that?” I asked him.
“I think there are a fair few women like that in the whole f**kin’ world. And yeah, you’re one of them.” Um… wow.
“I’m not, you know,” I whispered.
He glared at me. “You made a mistake with your old boyfriend. Don’t make another one.”
“Duke –”
“You told Hank that Flynn wasn’t gonna control your life and stil , you’re lettin’ him.”
I felt the wind go out of me, like I’d been punched in the stomach.