Page 4 of Hyde and Seek
My answer was welcomed by a bunch of smiling, eager faces and murmurings of desserts to come. Most guys were predictable when it came to food. I’d delivered cakes for children’s birthdays, and it was the men that were hanging around, looking for a chance to swipe some.
“Guys, seriously, work,” a rough, annoyed, and very in control voice bit out. I almost jumped up and started working at his order, it was that firm. I, apparently, was the only one since the guys still stood around talking about desserts they liked. Jake looked up and inhaled deeply before going back to his paper. “Moving on. Why do baked goods need better speakers?”
“No, the baked goods don’t. I do.”
“Yours broke?”
“No.”
“Then why the speakers?”
“I spend a big chunk of time making deliveries. Have you ever tried driving without being able to really crank up your music?”
“What do you listen to?” Kase questioned.
“Almost anything. But mostly rock. Can’t listen to rock at a ten when you can have an eleven.”
“Fuck,” I heard Jake mutter softly to himself.
“Did you just make a Spinal Tap joke?” Xavier asked.
Before I could answer, Kase laughed. “Damn, you’re full of surprises. Hiding a body of tats under that sexy librarian outfit you’re workin’?” he said jokingly. Which, of course, resulted in an immediate blush from me. “Oh, damn, I’m sorry, Piper, I didn’t mean to offend you, or make you feel uncomfortable. I don’t have a filter, so I—”
“Fuck,” Jake said again, loudly. I looked over to see him looking more than a little ticked.
“Damn, Jake, relax, I was apologizing. You know me, I didn’t mean to be a dick—” Kase started. Since Jake didn’t seem to like people finishing sentences, he was cut off again.
“That’s not why she blushed. Is it?” He turned his dark, intense green eyes to me.
“Well, no.” I smiled at Kase. “And I wasn’t offended, so don’t worry about it.”
“Ohhhhhkay.” Kase looked between Jake and I. “Well? What is it, then?” He glanced at Xavier and Eli who both appeared to be just as confused.
“He wasn’t wrong, was he?” Jake asked with a softer voice, though his eyes stayed intense. Scorching.
Get your mind out of your pants! Or, well, in this case, out ofhispants!
“He was. I’m not a librarian,” I said, playing clueless.
“The tats?”
“Oh. About that. Well… I’m not covered.”
“No shit?” Warm Eyes asked.
“You can’t leave us hanging like that. We gotta see some ink,” Xavier said, his smooth voice accented slightly.
“Most of them can’t really be seen without me taking off… Well, they just can’t be seen right now. I got one I can show.” I rolled up my sleeve. On the inside of my wrist was a hot pink star with the wordROCKwritten inside it in a very badass font.
“That is fuckin’ rock!” Kase said, complete with sticking his index and pinky fingers out to make the horns. “What else ya got?”
“Uhh, a swallow on each shoulder blade, musical notes down my ribs, shooting stars on the sides of my pelvis, and a heart on my lower back. And, uh, yup, that’s it for now.”
“For now?” Eli asked.
I lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, well, I like ink, so who knows?”
“Speaking ofwork,” Jake growled, though no one mentioned it. Slamming his pen down, he turned to Eli, Xavier, and Kase. “You mind steppin’ back into the fuckin’ garage and getting’ some shit done?”
