by Lindsey Hart
“Yeah,” Teela admitted. She let out an undignified huff. She refused to let her thoughts go back to the poop train that they’d been on. “Not everyone quit. I was so sure they would. I thought we were a family. I thought we’d stick together.”
Amy’s worried frown said it all. “So, what are you going to do? Get a job somewhere else? No one is going to hire you when they find out you’re pregnant.”
“I won’t tell them. I don’t have to disclose that. I’m only two months along. Barely. I can hide it for at least five more months.”
“You’re thin!” Amy scoffed. She didn’t even bother to shut her mouth, which was gaping open in straight up disbelief. “You won’t be able to hide it that long!”
“I’ll wear baggy clothes. It’s in style to dress all bohemian and wear a bunch of layers. I’ll just make sure that I don’t wear anything tight. That would hide it well.”
“Teela, come on!”
“Amy!” Teela squeezed her friend’s hand, which was still way too cold. It wasn’t even cold outside. It was May for shit sakes. “It’s all going to work out. I can always get a job in Philly and sell the condo or commute.”
“You wouldn’t get anything for it. The market is pretty much the same and everything is way more expensive in Philly. It’s the reason that we came out here in the first place. Well that and-”
“Don’t say it.” Teela warned. “I was already thinking about that earlier. We don’t need to say his name out loud.”
“Would you really move?” Amy’s eyes widened and her lips wavered like she was about to cry. “I can’t move. I have a good job here. Bryan has a good job. I’d miss you so much!”
“There are lots of jobs here. Even if I have to take a little bit of a pay cut, it’s going to be okay.”
“Unless Ross put out the word that people shouldn’t hire you because you’ll go off like a firecracker and make unsolicited threats.”
Teela released Amy’s hand. She shifted and sat on her hands instead. “I’m not going to blame it on the pregnancy hormones. It wasn’t that. He had it coming. He basically made it pretty obvious that we didn’t matter as anything other than things. We aren’t even people to him. We’re just numbers. Things. Easy to be replaced. Dora has worked there forever. She really did depend on that job. He looked right through me when I said that to him. Like he couldn’t even be bothered to hear about it. He’s heartless. The actual fucking devil.”
Something was really wrong with Amy’s face. She was doing that lemon pucker thing again. As in, someone had just opened her yap and stuffed in an entire thing and made her chew and swallow, peel and all. And the lemon just happened to be severely rotten. With worms. And mold. And… and beetles or something.
“What the hell?” Teela ground out. “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like someone just crammed a nasty old gym sock into your mouth.” Forget the lemon, that was far more accurate.
“Well- uh- don’t you know that Ross Day didn’t always have money?”
“How would I know?” Teela asked, irritated. She barely managed not to snap. Somehow Amy’s friendly sympathy visit had put her completely on edge as well. Now they both looked like they were sitting on a bed of rusty nails trying not to puncture their dainty little ass cheeks. “I don’t know anything about him other than that he’s rich and he likes to do corporate take overs and turn good fashioned family owned stores into his chain of machines. He’s a part of the system. You know that I don’t do the system.”
“You’re such a rebel,” Amy responded sarcastically.
“Okay, well, whatever. I don’t like what he does or what he stands for. He’s enemy number one at this point.”
“Yeah, yeah, the devil. I know. I heard.”
“Well- okay- why does your face still look all messed up? What do you know that I don’t? Or are you just as pissed as I am?”
“I’m pissed alright,” Amy assured her, but her voice was off. Like, really off. Like someone had just jammed that nasty-ass sock down her throat. “Er- well- okay. You can’t hate me. Promise.”
“Of course.” Teela knew she was looking at Amy like she’d just sprouted a second arm right out of her forehead. She had no idea what was wrong with her bestie and it was unnerving as hell. “I could never hate you. Just tell me.”
“Well- uh- Ross- he- he grew up here. He wasn’t always rich. He actually wasn’t rich until a few years ago. He was pretty desperate, even when he was setting up his company. He was trying to make this app thing- it was what took off eventually. Something about the way people can shop for groceries and price compare online and-”
“I seriously don’t care about his app.”
Amy sighed. “Even up until two and a half years ago- uh- he was struggling. Er- kind of. I think. We- uh- the samples I took were older. So no would miss them. I- I threw them out and marked them as being expired. I- oh, god. Seriously. There wasn’t a lot of choice. This place is small. Usually people have to go to the bigger cities to do this kind of treatment. It’s just because my boss opened the place up here that it’s here at all. I… oh god… Teela…”
“Amy…” Teela’s heart dropped down into her fucking toes. No, it was lower than that. It dropped past her toes, through the laminated flooring and into the unfinished basement to wedge itself in the concrete floor that was always cold, even in the summer. Cold. That was her heart. So. Frigidly. Icily. Frostily. Cold. Nothing was okay. Everything was so far from being okay. “You’re saying what I think you’re saying…”
Amy slowly nodded and it was like a noose tightening around Teela’s neck, cutting off all her air.
“If Ross Day is the devil, you’re carrying the devil’s spawn.”
CHAPTER 4
Ross
What could she possibly want now? Didn’t she cause enough trouble yesterday?
Apparently not, because at the moment, Teela was marching in through the front door of his store, his store, damn it, like a blazing ball of fire, like a wrecking ball, like she damn well owned it and he better watch the hell out.
She stormed right up to where he was standing in front of the dairy coolers and god help him, he wished that he’d double checked that the front door was locked, because it should have been, unless she had a key and of course, she had a key because he hadn’t taken it from her before she’d stormed out the day before. She was a real shit storm. The kind a person drowned in. A big festering poop puddle. Fuuuuuuuck, it’s too early in the morning for this.
It was. Far too early. Just after eight. She could have at least waited until nine to blow through the store like a bloody hurricane of rage.
A beautiful hurricane of epically, unnaturally, incredibly, insanely beautiful rage.
“Good morning Miss McDaniels. Or maybe it’s Mrs. What can I do for you?” He kept his tone scathing, purposely annoying, since that’s what she was to him. She was a burr in his damn ass. The kind you pick up while hiking and can’t work out of your shoe or your clothes and it rubs and chafes and itches all the wrong way.
Because yeah. He hadn’t thought about her the night before at all. No. Way. He hadn’t spared a single thought for her after she walked out of the building the morning before. He hadn’t thought about her soft velvet hair or her luminous green eyes. He hadn’t thought about what she’d look like naked. His cock had obeyed his commands to lay the hell off and sit the fuck down and remain deflated. He hadn’t had to think about granny panties and his balls certainly weren’t blue.
Teela’s hands flew to her hips. Her pearly top teeth emerged and sunk hard into her bottom lip and god help him, he wanted to bite the spot she’d just bitten. Not to draw blood. Just… just because he knew it would feel just right. His cock, which was already at half-mast, roared to full mast pretty damn fast. He rammed his hands in his pockets, puffing out his pants to hide the bulge before Teela’s eyes had a chance to land on it. There was no way he’d live it down if she called his
bluff- aka, his bulge of shame.
“What can you do for me? You seriously have the nerve to ask me that?” Teela crossed her arms, which only served to push up her breasts, which were already spectacular even in her loose-fitting t-shirt. Had any woman ever looked sexier in a t-shirt and jeans? Probably not. The image of her was probably going to fuel his spank bank catalogue for months.
“I do have the nerve.” Ross cleared his throat. He did his best to keep his face neutral and his hands over his massively inconvenient erection. “Need I remind you that you were the one who walked out of here yesterday after threatening to ruin me? And you are the one who just busted in here with the key you took with you. Technically you’re trespassing on private property since we’re not yet open to the public, so yes, I have all the nerve that I need.”
Teela’s nose crinkled up like she’d just smelled something toxic, him namely and what she’d no doubt term his bullshit, but it was absolutely adorable. It took all of Ross’ effort not to crack a smile. And he didn’t often smile. He had no trouble being intimidating when he had to be. Thanks to all the naysayers and doubters, all the people who stood in his way, all the people against him and all the people who’d used him, he had a pretty thick skin. He was tougher than a leathery old boot. Museum quality. A century old.
So how the hell could Teela pierce so easily through his armor?
“Okay, well… I’m here because- because- uh- we need to talk. Now. Alone.”
Okay, so he certainly wasn’t expecting that. Ross nearly fell over. She’d stunned him completely. Good thing his ass was pretty tough. He recovered by cracking a joke that he probably wouldn’t have used even amongst guy friends on a night of beers and steaks.
“I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse me. You took me by surprise. I didn’t realize we were on that level yet. If you want to jump from the not even friends level to the- well- more personal one, I’m in.”
Teela huffed. “You’re disgusting. That’s not what I meant. I need a word in private. That’s it. You stand on one side of the room and listen. I stand on the other and do the talking.”
“Right.” He indicated the back of the store where the break room was with a sweep of his hand. “After you.”
“No. Not here.” Teela’s eyes danced around like she was a hard core wanted criminal and he had the cops hiding in the back room.
“Uh- where then? I highly doubt you’re going to invite me back to your place, given that you’ve made it perfectly clear that that wasn’t your intention.”
“Actually- yeah. My place. That’s probably the best. No one to overhear there. It’s only ten minutes away.”
Teela inviting him back to her place for any reason got his mojo going. Big time. As if it wasn’t already. His balls clenched hard and jumped from his stomach right into his throat. Which would explain why he was momentarily speechless and choked all at once.
“Uh- yeah- I- what the hell could you possibly have to say to me that can’t be said here? Unless you’ve bobby trapped your house and plan on maiming me and making good on your threats. Or maybe you have an angry mob there. Did you get a petition with a whole bunch of signatures demanding that I leave town immediately?”
“Grow up,” Teela snapped. “This has nothing to do with this place and your level of dickery.”
Dickery. He liked that. He liked the word on her lips and the inventiveness of the term. Had she just pulled that out of her ass? The ass that looked real nice in those tight fitting jeans? Damn it. I did not notice how well her jeans fit. Okay, well… maybe I don’t care. Definitely don’t care.
“You need to hear what I have to say,” Teela forced out, a little less sure of herself, when he didn’t immediately respond.
“So, you’re trying to help me now? Warn me about something? I thought that went against your principles.”
“This is different.” Teela was practically gnawing her lip. Something about the uncertainty tugged at Ross’ heart. Or at least the few splinters that were left.
He was more than a little shocked to hear himself give in. “Alright,” he sighed. “Take me to your place. Do your worst. Skin me alive. I’ll greet the mob with a smile.”
“There isn’t any mob. This isn’t about yesterday. It’s not about work at all. Just to be clear, I still think you’re an asshole and your corporate plan is horse shit, but this is bigger than this.”
“Do you also think that my eyes are nice, and my smile is charming?” Ross deadpanned. He was rewarded by the way Teela rocked forward on the balls of her feet before settling back on her heels. He’d unnerved her, even if her face remained perfectly composed into a mask of distaste. Like he actually smelled like horse shit. He knew he didn’t. He’d just showered that morning.
“I certainly don’t,” she hissed. “This isn’t about that. No matter how full of yourself you are or how confident you are in your skills and stated charm, it’s not about that. It’s not going to work.”
Ross decided to humor Teela. What was the harm? Oh, there’s harm, alright. He knew perfectly well what the harm was. It didn’t have to do with petitions, threats, or angry crowds. Nester Falls was his home too. Though it hadn’t been in years, he’d grown up here and he knew a few people here and there, remnants from his parent’s generation. Besides, he could smooth talk his way out of just about anything. He was confident in his charm and his intellect, to an extent.
Even though it wasn’t working on Teela.
Though that didn’t matter, because he certainly didn’t want it to.
“If I give you my address, you’ll meet me there? Twenty minutes?”
“If you promise not to maim me in any way, I suppose that I’ll listen to your brand of crazy.”
Surprisingly, Teela seemed to curl up on herself. There went his heartstrings again, playing that rancid tune he didn’t want to hear. His hide wasn’t leather after all. It was like the squishy water bed his mom had growing up. He’d punctured a hole in it once with one of his toys and the thing spurted water three feet into the air. That was him. Pierced and leaking and squishy and pathetic.
“Why? I mean, why would you agree, just like that?”
Ross glanced around the store. He was currently the only one there, the rest of the staff set to arrive at noon. That gave him a good two hours to get his ass kicked by angry towns people dead set against his corporate brand. And here he thought Cheryl and Bob would be the worst of his problems.
He hadn’t anticipated Teela.
Or last night’s sleepless night. Or his fucking cock that refused to stand the hell down. Or his balls that refused to dislodge from his air passage.
“Honestly, it doesn’t look like I have a choice. I want to keep the threats to a minimum. I don’t want bricks thrown through the store’s windows. Despite it all, I like to run my operations safely and problem free. I do care about my workers, whether you believe it or not.”
“Doubtful,” Teela shot back, some of her verve returning.
Annnnnnnndddd there went his cock, shooting even harder up to the sky.
“Doubtful or not, I have an hour. I hope it won’t take longer than that. After, I require that you surrender your key, since the locks won’t be changed for a few more days and I don’t want any trouble and cease and desist from giving the store a bad name.”
“But it deserves it. And I didn’t realize this was a bargain.”
Ross wished he could cross his arms. He couldn’t because his hands were shoved in his pockets, hiding his rock hard joyful joy stick. “It is now. That’s the deal. I come to your house and hear you out. You stop making threats and stop being a hater.”
“A hater? Seriously?”
“What? You didn’t think I could use common slang like the average person?”
As Teela turned on her heel and stalked out of the store, he could have sworn she muttered something about him being a troll right before she all but shouted her address over her shoulder.
CHAPTER 5
&nbs
p; Teela
Ross was in her house. The devil was in her house. Staring her down. Sitting in her living room. He was actually perched uncomfortably on her well broken-in leather couch and the thing hadn’t yet combusted into flames.
The devil had a pleasing form. Just because he was unfortunately smoking hot, didn’t mean he was actually smoking hot.
He’d managed to hide his tail and horns beneath another tailored, expensive looking suit. His hooves were shot in leather shoes he hadn’t bothered to remove at the door, though he had wiped them on the mat.
Maybe in his time on earth, he’d developed a few politer traits.
Okay, who was she kidding? The guy was the father of her child. A child that was at the very moment, growing inside of her womb. She’d conceived his baby and she hadn’t even slept with him. It was unnerving as fuck. Stranger than being abducted and impregnated by aliens in her sleep. Or… maybe not that strange, but it was just a few shades below that.
“I’m not going to offer you a drink. I don’t have anything but water anyway and I’m sure you wouldn’t like that.” Teela sunk down on the uncomfortable upholstered chair that she had in the room for sheer decorative purposes. It had been sat on maybe once in its seven-year life. The springs dug into her ass.
Ross flashed her a smile, and for shit sakes, it was charming. It was flashy and pretty, just like he’d joked about earlier. He was just trying to throw her off her game. She didn’t appreciate it at all.
“Actually, water would be great.”
“Too bad. I’m not getting you one.” Teela pointed towards the kitchen, which was on the other side of the wall that backed the living room. “If you want, the kitchen’s through there. Help yourself.”
Ross folded his hands on his lap. “That’s alright.” He leaned forward. “Maybe we should just get right down to it.”
“Er…” How exactly did one get down to it? She couldn’t just come out and blurt that she was pregnant with his child. She’d done anything but think this through. Amy would be appalled with her. She promised her best friend the night before that she wouldn’t do anything rash, especially where Ross Day was concerned.