the room, slamming the door shut behind me. I glanced over at Joey, who lowered the book.
“Thought it was going a little too well,” he said before raising the book back up and continuing to read.
“I’ll be back later,” I sighed.
“I wouldn’t hurry back,” he replied as something in the room got thrown.
I headed back on my rounds, hoping that I could be done early enough to actually get some lunch that day. I’d barely had time to brush my teeth that morning, never mind get breakfast. The job wasn’t getting any easier, and it was being made all the more difficult by working for Beast, and the fact that Jenna had barely said a word to me once I told her that I was working for the Devil’s Highwaymen.
She hadn’t even let me explain that I hadn’t really had a choice, or that I was going to give her the money since it was her job I’d taken. Unintentionally, but I’d still taken it all the same.
I felt guilty for what I’d just said to Beast, because what I meant to say was that I got it—I was lonely too. And if my shift would have been over, I would have stayed and watched the movie with him.
Chapter Eight
~ Beast ~
“That fuckin’ hurts!” I roared in anger as Belle’s clumsy swipes of the cream across my sensitive skin set every nerve on edge. I wanted to dive up and tear the room apart, smash the windows, tip the bed over, tear this goddamn uncomfortable mattress in half with my bare hands and then put Belle across my knee and spank her ass until she cried.
She looked up at me surprise. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, and then looked back down to my arm, continuing to apply the fiery cream. She rubbed a little too roughly again, like she hadn’t heard the threat in my tone the first time, and a growl rose in my chest like I was an animal ready to attack. I guess I was.
“Goddamn it, what are you rubbing that shit on with? Sandpaper?” I snapped at her.
She’d been working for me for three weeks now.
Her fingers fumbled again but she didn’t stop. She continued moving her hands down and over my left thigh, where the worst of the burns were. My teeth were on edge, my muscles taut, the tendons in my neck were pulled tight as I struggled to restrain myself and not backhand her across the room. I breathed heavily, gritting my teeth as she finally finished her torturous job. Pulling the cool white sheet back up, she began to neaten her little cart while I glared at her like I had lasers in my eyeballs and could burn a hole in her head with just one look. Not that she seemed to notice though. Woman was lost in her own thoughts, thinking of something other than me and the hell she’d just put me through, and it was pissing me the fuck off.
“Okay, I’ll be back after the rest of my shift to check on you again,” she mumbled, moving to the door, half-heartedly dragging her little cart behind her. It almost tipped over, but she seemed in such a hurry to get out of the room that she barely noticed.
“What the fuck, Belle?” I grumbled, even more pissed off then.
She didn’t respond and continued walking away from me, and I lost it. I grabbed my cup of water, trying not to wince as I threw it across the room. It hit the door in front of her, bouncing back and landing at her feet while simultaneously spraying the room, and her, with water. She let out a squeal of fright and turned back to me with those big wide eyes of hers. Her hair was piled high that day, small curls tamed into a mess on top of her head like she hadn’t had the time or patience to make herself presentable for me. Her cheeks flushed, water dripping down her face and onto that god-awful too-big uniform she was wearing, even though I knew she had one that fit her better. I needed Shooter to fix that shit. I couldn’t stand looking at her in that for another damn day.
Woman was my nurse and I needed some goddamn eye candy to look at!
“Oh my god, Beast!” she squealed, her hands on her hips. My nostrils flared at the sight of her: furious gaze, damp chest heaving as she tried to reel