Page 7 of Smoke
“You must have on your sassy pants today,” I said after sipping my black coffee.
She nodded, her sleek hair catching the sun as she moved. It made her look almost angelic.
“The sassiest.” She grinned.
I was glad we’d been able to work things out yesterday even though I still felt a lot of guilt for hurting her.
“What are your plans for today?” she asked after we placed our food orders.
“Well, I’m taking a very naughty Little girl to the pharmacy to pick up her medications, and then driving that same naughty Little girl to work,” I teased.
She responded by sticking her tongue out at me.
Laughing, I continued, “Then I am going home to help Bash put together a dollhouse for Allyson. Pray for me, if you’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing Bash with power tools, you’ll understand why.”
“Thank you,” she told the waitress as she set down our plates.
“He’s not the…”
“What happened to your arm?” the waitress interrupted her.
Ash’s entire body tensed, her fingers curled so tightly around her cup of juice that her knuckles turned white.
Heat rushed up my neck and I slammed my coffee mug down on the table with enough force it cracked. The waitress gasped ascoffee poured from the side. She grabbed the cup and set it on her tray before wiping the table with a cloth she had tucked in her apron.
“We would like another waitress,” I said, instead of the words I wanted to hurl at her. Curiosity killed the cat, but it could also kill a nosy ass waitress.
“Now!” I barked when she didn’t move. The old hag finally scurried off.
“I’m sorry,” Ashley said, ducking her head.
I pushed my chair back and went around to sit on her side of the table. Cupping her chin in my hand, I forced her to look at me. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Ash. She was very rude. I’m sorry she upset you.”
She tried to avert her eyes, but a gentle squeeze to her chin brought her eyes back to mine. “Look at me, baby.” I didn’t miss the way her breathing hitched or the wonder that passed through her eyes. Fuck me. Could she be as attracted to me as I was to her?
When I had her attention, I repeated, “You have nothing to be sorry for, baby. What just happened was because of someone else's carelessness.” My jaw ached from how tightly I was clenching it and my hand that wasn’t holding her chin shook from the force of the rage I was holding back.
Not wanting her to notice, I released her chin and started to cut up her food. She rubbed over her arm and I swallowed the sharp words I wanted to yell at the woman who caused her discomfort.
“Here, baby. I bet your pancakes are yummy. Try a bite.”
Misty hazel eyes met mine before she opened her mouth and did as I asked.
“How does it taste?” I asked, trying to distract her.
Her face was pink from embarrassment and she was rapidly blinking back tears. “It needs syrup.”
Grabbing the bottle, I poured a tiny bit onto her plate and cut another bite before putting my arm around her and stroking her shoulder with my fingertips. I wished I could hold her like this forever, protecting her from the cruelness of the world.
“How about now?” I asked, feeding her another bite.
She chewed slowly.
“A little more.”
She was eating just sugar at that point and the Daddy in me screamed to put an end to it, but she was so sad.
I poured a bit more and offered her another bite.
