Reaper's Fire (Reapers MC #6) - Joanna Wylde Page 0,4
flinched, and I caught hold of myself. Great, scare the shit out of her, why don’t you?
“Sorry,” I said. “You’ve got dirt on your face.”
She gave a bright laugh. “I’ve probably got dirt all over. It’s one of those grubby, sticky kind of days, you know?”
Sticky? In her mouth it was a dirty word, and I wanted to make her stickier. My eyes crawled across her body, watching as a bead of sweat rolled down her neck and into her cleavage. I licked my lips. Tinker cleared her throat, gently reminding me that we were in the middle of a conversation.
“You don’t exactly look like one of my regular customers, so I’m assuming you’re here about the job?” she asked, smiling at me. By then I’d half forgotten why I’d walked into the store—she was that fuckable. Tiny and pretty, but still round in all the right places. Despite the mess, she radiated class—I wanted to drag her down into the dark with me.
Swallowing, I managed not to reach down and give my dick the adjusting it seriously needed, which took real willpower.
“Yeah, according to the sign, you’ve got an apartment available in exchange for work. Still open?”
“Yes,” she said, and I swear her eyes dimmed a little. “But I need to get these chocolates into the basement before they melt. The AC wasn’t working when I came in this morning. The temperature’s rising”—not the only thing—“and I can’t afford to lose product. Can you come back in an hour or so?”
“You call anyone about the AC yet?” I asked, realizing this could be the perfect in. She frowned, those gorgeous lips pouting as I considered sucking them into my mouth. Maybe chewing on them for a while. My dick surged—apparently we were in agreement.
“No,” she told me. “I mean, I tried. But the closest repair place is in Omak, and the guy isn’t available for another week at least. Not much around here, you know?”
No shit.
“Let me take a look at it,” I suggested. This really was a perfect opportunity to get in with her, build up my cover . . . Great, now I was thinking about getting into her. Thank fuck for the counter between us, because my cock was rock hard. “I’m Cooper, by the way. Cooper Romero.”
“Tinker Garrett,” she replied, offering her hand across the glass. Her fingers were delicate and tiny, but not fragile. I felt the strength in her grip, and she wasn’t afraid to look me in the eye. “Nice to meet you. Have you done maintenance work before?”
I considered the question, deciding not to lie more than was necessary—it’s always the extra lies that cause trouble. Keep it simple and don’t volunteer information.
“Not formally, no,” I admitted. “But I’ve done a bit of everything over the years. Generally pretty good at figuring things out, if I’ve got enough time, and it sounds like this isn’t an hourly job anyway. Not so much a cash operation?”
She flushed. I should get the hell out of here—I already had a job to do, and it didn’t involve banging Tinker Garrett. She tugged her hand free and reached up, catching her black hair and pulling it back into a ponytail, jiggling her boobs in the process.
So much for doing the right thing.
She caught my look and blushed, looking uncomfortable for the first time since I’d walked in. “Stupid hair—it’s hot in here, and I couldn’t stand it on my neck for another minute. You’re right—the job is off the books. I know that’s—”
“No worries,” I said, offering her a sly smile. She flushed harder, and I felt a surge of triumph because I wasn’t the only one feeling it. “I’m just a guy lookin’ for a place to sleep. How many hours a week do you need me to work?”
“Um, twenty?” she asked, turning it into a question. That was perfect—enough work to make me look busy and explain my presence, but not enough to get in the way of my real job. “But I haven’t even had you fill out an application yet, and I need to put away the chocolate.”
“Show me the AC,” I replied, figuring I might as well take charge. “I’ll look it over and see if I can fix it while you do that. Sound good?”
She glanced around, and I had to bite back a snort of laughter. She obviously didn’t feel comfortable giving me free rein of the place, but at the same time she wanted that AC fixed.