Page 24 of Crow Me A River

Vin’s eyes darkened as he stared at her. “Don’t ever say that again.”

Misty blinked, caught off guard by the hardness in his voice.

“You’re not nobody.” Vin’s jaw tightened as he continued to stare down at her. “And I don’t know who made you believe that shit, but they were wrong.”

“You don’t even know me.” Misty whispered watching him closely.

“Maybe not.” Vin paused, his expression softening slightly. “But I know enough.”

“Enough for what?”

“Enough to know you deserve better than what you’ve been handed.” His eyes never left hers. “And before you start arguing with me, I’m not trying to save you, Misty. You don’t need me to do that. You’ve obviously been saving yourself for a long time.”

Misty stared at him, not knowing what to say. Damn him. She’d been doing a pretty good job of holding herself together until he said that. Her throat closed with tears, and she did everything she could not to just break down. It had been a long time since anyone cared enough to even listen to her, and this man she barely knew was starting to feel safe to her. That was dangerous, and it terrified her.

“I’m just offering you a place to stay. That’s it,” Vin continued. “And I’d already paid for it before I met you.”

“I have to give you something.” Misty just couldn’t accept this. She couldn’t even imagine how much two weeks in that house would cost. What she did know was it was more than what she had left of her dwindling cash. “If I get hired at Shift Faced, I can give you whatever I make, but I can’t just not give you something. Please understand that.”

“A thank you,” Vin countered, watching her closely. “And fifty bucks. That’s my best offer.”

A smile broke across her face at his words. “Thank you, Vin.” Her smile grew as some of the heaviness in her chest eased. “And my first paycheck plus fifty dollars out of my next one. That’s my final offer.”

Vin acted like he was thinking really hard about it before sticking out his hand. “Deal,” he finally said with a sigh.

Misty slipped her hand into his, and for a second forgot what the hell she was doing. His hand was huge and warm as it swallowed hers, but it was the strange sensation that ran from where they touched, up her arm and through the rest of her body that left her speechless. It was the same feeling she had at the bar. She reluctantly let go, wondering what in the hell that had been before clearing her throat. “Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome.” Vin’s voice sounded deeper than usual as he stared down at her, and she wondered if he’d felt it too. There was no way she was going to ask him, but something in the way he was looking at her made her think maybe he had.

Then another thought hit her. “Maybe I shouldn’t have offered my first paycheck since I have yet to get the job.” Misty glanced up at him, biting her lower lip. His eyes dropped to her mouth and stayed there long enough that she became very aware of exactly what he was looking at before his gaze slowly lifted back to hers.

“Then I guess we better go talk to Billie Ann.” Vin gave her a strained smile as he stepped back so she could pass him.

Misty headed toward the woods with Vin beside her, but she was much quieter than she had been on the way there. Too much had changed in such a short amount of time, and she honestly didn’t know how to feel about any of it. She should have been happy. Hell, she was happy. She had a safe place to stay for the next two weeks with hot water, a bathtub and coffee. If things went well with Billie Ann, she might even have a job before the day was over.

For the first time since coming to Assjacket, things were actually looking up.

So why did that scare the hell out of her? Because she knew how quickly things could change, that’s why. She’d learned that lesson more than once. Just when she thought maybe things were going to be okay, life had a way of reminding her not to get too comfortable. Hope made you believe things could be different, and hoping was something she tried not to do.

Yet as hard as she tried to push the feeling away, it was there.

Hope.

And Vin had a lot to do with it.

Misty glanced at him as they walked, studying him while his attention was focused ahead. There was no denying the man was ruggedly handsome. She’d noticed that the second she saw him at Shift Faced. She wasn’t dead, and Vin was the kind of man a woman noticed. But there was a big difference between wanting to look at a man and wanting to know him, and somewhere along the way she’d crossed that line without realizing it. That bothered her because suddenly she wanted to know everything about him.

She barely knew him, yet she was going to sleep in a house he had paid for. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he’d been a stranger sitting at the bar. Since then, he’d stood between her and six Crows, stayed outside her shack all night to make sure they didn’t come back and offered her a safe place to live without asking for anything in return. And she believed him. That was the part Misty couldn’t get past.

Trust had never come easily to her, and after Tucker, it sure as hell shouldn’t come easily now. If her stepbrother could hand her over to settle a debt, what did that say about putting her faith in someone she’d known less than a day?

But Vin wasn’t Tucker. She knew that already, and maybe that was what scared her the most.

Misty had spent so much of her life waiting for people to show her who they really were that she didn’t know what to do with a man who seemed to be exactly what he showed her. Vin didn’t make a big deal out of helping her. He didn’t treat her like she was weak because she needed help. He didn’t tell her what she should do or make decisions for her. Even when she’d refused to take the house for free, he hadn’t gotten pissed or acted like she should be grateful. He’d listened to her and found a way she could accept it.

She liked that about him. Actually, she was beginning to like a lot of things about him, and that was another problem she wasn’t ready to deal with.

Misty glanced at him again, her gaze lingering longer than it probably should have. He was nothing like the Crow males she’d known. There was a quiet strength about Vin that didn’t need to be shoved in everyone’s face. He knew exactly what he was capable of, and after watching him take down six Crows, so did she. Yet the same hands that could do that kind of damage had touched her face as if she were something he was afraid of hurting.