Page 10 of Beating Heart
Good girl.
She shouldn’t take that shit for one second.
They barked out a laugh, and I cleared my throat before they both whipped around and startled when they realized I was standing there.
“Do you think it’s appropriate to be sitting out here talking that way about a woman who hired you? I doubt the owner of your company would be okay with that.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shot them a warning look.
“And who the fuck are you?” Dipshit number one said.
I moved closer, towering over the little shit. “I’m your worst fucking nightmare. So I’ll be watching you closely, and you better keep your eyes and hands to yourself. Do you hear me? And if you speak one more fucking word about her, you’re going to find my fist in your throat.”
They both straightened, and the other guy held up a hand nervously. “We didn’t realize you were with her, dude. No disrespect intended.”
This was the kind of shit that pissed me off. “Listen, asshole, she doesn’t need to have a boyfriend for you not to stand out here like two fucking horny assholes talking like that. Show some fucking respect. She’s glaring at you because she can tell you’re looking at her like a bunch of fucking pariahs. But unless you want to eat your teeth for breakfast, you best put your heads down and get the job done without another word.”
They nodded. Dipshit number one looked more irritated than remorseful, but the other guy looked mortified by what had happened.
Still didn’t trust them, so my Saturday had definitely just gone from bad to worse.
Because there was no way I was letting her go back into that house with these two scumbags.
I jumped into my truck and pulled into my driveway before jogging back into the house. There was laughter coming from down the hall, and I stopped in the laundry room and grabbed a tee and pulled it over my head.
I made my way down to Cutler’s room, and my eyes widened at the sight of Emerson Chadwick lying on the floor beside Cutler, while her giant dog climbed all over both of them and licked their faces.
“I love Winnie,” Cutler said over a fit of laughter.
I let out a loud breath, and Emerson shot up, sitting forward. “Oh, hey. Okay, let us get out of your hair. I’m really sorry about messing up your morning.” She pushed to her feet and snapped her fingers, and her dog shockingly decided to listen this time. “Winnie, let’s go.”
“Cutler, get dressed. We’re going to go fix Dr. Chadwick’s fence.”
Cutler was on his feet, excited, as he ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
“What? No. I don’t need you to fix my fence,” she said, as she tried to move past me in the doorway and paused when her chest bumped into mine.
I didn’t step back. “Listen, I’d like to fix your fence. Consider it my welcome to the neighborhood gift.”
Her gaze narrowed, and she shook her head in confusion. “You don’t need to do that. I can fix it myself.”
“You got us out of bed way too early on a Saturday morning, and your horse-dog came storming into my house. I’d like to make sure that doesn’t happen again, and maybe I don’t trust you to get the job done.” I smirked, letting her know I was kind of kidding but wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“Fine. Do you think you can move your hulk of a body out of the way so I can get back to my house to let the movers get things unloaded?” The corners of her lips turned up the slightest bit, and I took in that little spackle of freckles over her nose.
I nodded and stepped back. “Hey, Chadwick.”
She turned around, Winnie on her heels. “Yeah?”
“Leave the front door and the back door open while they’re unloading, all right?”
She stared for a long moment before nodding. “You do realize I came here from a big city, and I’m very capable of taking care of myself?”
“Can you just do this without questioning it?”
“Fine.” She huffed. “All the doors will be left open, your majesty.”
I laughed as she stormed out of my house.
“Let’s go, Cutler!” I yelled down the hallway, and I had to cover my mouth with my hand not to laugh when he came walking out of his bedroom.
