Nash: A Rough Romance by Piper Stone (book series for 12 year olds txt) 📕

“Okay, I didn’t know who Dante was except for a nice guy who flirted with me more than once. After we ran into each other at a coffee shop, we sat down and had a conversation. He asked me out. I didn’t think anything of it. He told me he was some kind of real estate developer. He had a business card and discussed his work, so I believed him. When he asked me to have a drink with him, I agreed. He was a perfect gentleman until…” Her words dropped off.

“Until he tried to make certain you knew you were his property.”

“Yes,” she managed, her voice wavering. “He got so possessive and nasty, demanding I quit my job and come live with him. I laughed. He didn’t like that very much. That was the first time he… Well, it doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah, it matters.” I rubbed my jaw and made the turn off onto the shorter road. “Then as far as he’s concerned, you are his property. Men like him don’t let go of their pets easily. He will keep trying to track you down.”

“He’s a real bastard. I had no idea how horrible he was. If I had, I never would have agreed to coffee, let alone a date with him.”

Now her words held a true ring of sincerity. “What about going to stay with your parents in North Carolina?”

“I refuse to get them involved. They don’t deserve to be in the middle of this mess.”

“How do you know this Giordani guy hasn’t already reached them?”

Her eyes opened wide as if she hadn’t thought about that before. I doubted the DA wouldn’t have warned them. “Where is everyone in your family?”

“My brother is in Canada for work and my grandmother lives in California in a senior living facility.”

“Well, they might be protected given the location.”

“What are we going to do?”

“As I said, get the hell off this mountain. I’ll figure it out after that. You’re going to keep your mouth shut and let me drive. If we’re lucky, there won’t be any additional boogeymen at the base of the mountain.” Luck. Hell, I didn’t believe in luck on any level. But with one vehicle and no communication, they’d have to wait for backup. The shit continued to nag at me. I wasn’t buying her entire story. I’d learned a long time ago that when things had a distinct smell to them, I should follow my gut.

My instinct told me to get the hell away from her.

My cock?

Well, it was telling me something else entirely. Grousing wasn’t going to do any good. Spanking her bottom until it was cherry red then forcing her to start from the beginning would.

And that was going to happen.

Once we got the fuck into town.

She did as I asked, remaining quiet for over an hour. While the road was slippery, the closer we got to the bottom, the less snow had accumulated on the road. If my calculations were correct, we’d make it into Missoula within the next two hours.

“I’m sorry,” Mitch said out of the blue.

“For what?”

“For getting you involved in my mess of a life.”

I chuckled under my breath, able to take a full look in her direction. She remained tense, her entire body hugging the passenger door. “I’ll do what I can to help you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get out of your life soon. That much I do promise.” While she issued the words with conviction, I heard a hint of remorse. We’d shared a few moments together. It shouldn’t mean a damn thing, especially to a man like me. For some fucking insane reason, I liked the girl.

Her pouty mouth.

Her long hair, the kind that made a man hungry to snag his fingers around the silky strands, yanking her face toward him.

Her incredible hourglass figure.

Her long legs meant to wrap around a man’s hips just seconds before he fucked her.

And damn.

I wanted to fuck her.

For hours.

Days.

I rolled my hand through my hair, once again glancing into the rearview mirror. We weren’t out of the woods but our chances at avoiding another attack were much better.

“Like I said to you before, sunshine. You’re going to obey me. Every. Single. Command.” When she didn’t say anything, I glanced over again, huffing.

She’d fallen asleep.

What the fuck was I going to do with her?

Get a grip, cowboy. She’s not yours to keep.

While the voice deep inside my head told me that was the truth, the rest of me thought otherwise. Only playing with this kind of fire wouldn’t end well.

Unless I killed the bastard.

I actually breathed a sigh of relief when we entered the Missoula city limits. At least there were other vehicles on the road, the conditions much improved. While the entire area was covered in approximately four inches of snow, some ice accumulation on the streets, I had no difficulty driving. What I wasn’t certain of was where the hell to go.

I’d left my damn cell phone at the cabin. Given the lack of reception and the fact I hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone, it hadn’t seemed to matter. I didn’t even have my wallet, just a few bucks in my pocket. As far as Mitch, she’d been lucky to have the clothes on her back, the ones she’d arrived in. I wasn’t entirely certain if she could provide any identification. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, noticing a convenience store up ahead.

I had few choices, especially with a runaway in tow. One thing that we both needed, time to figure out what the hell we were going to do. Fuck it. There was no other choice but to seek help from my buddies.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I wasn’t even certain if Scorpion was in town, although from the last conversations I’d had with Hawk, Mustang, and even Scorpion, they were all planning on returning to Montana at least for a while. I’d give it my best shot, even though I