Narrowing my eyes at him, I get ready to jump down from the counter, but he steps right in front of me and stands between my legs blocking me. “What kind of a question is that? Is there something else you assume I can’t do on my own?”

Running his hands up my thighs, he looks me dead in the eyes and smirks. “Yeah. Get off. I do believe you needed my help there as well.”

“Fuck off, Slade. I don’t need you to get off. Trust me.” I place my hands on his chest and give him a little shove. Damn him; his body is pure muscle. “I can do it fine by myself. Now move.”

He slides his hands up my shirt, lifts my body up and grips my ass in his hands. The skin on skin contact causes my breathing to slightly pick up. “Is that right?” Pulling me closer to him, he squeezes my ass and runs his lips up my neck. “Not from the frustrated sounds I heard coming from Cale’s bedroom this morning. Those were definitely moans of frustration and not pleasure. Trust me. I know the difference.” He slides his finger under the fabric of my panties and instantly I can feel the need for him to be inside me. He isn’t even touching anything but the crevice between my leg and vagina.

What the f**k?

Gaining my composure, I pull my neck away from him and shove him until he’s out of my way. “You are so infuriating. Why are you such an ass?” I hop down from the counter and start walking away. “I’ll clean this mess up later. I’m not in the mood to eat-”

“Get dressed and meet me outside in ten minutes,” he says trampling over my words.

I stop when I get to the doorway and turn around to face him. “And why the hell would I do that?”

“So we can eat breakfast.” He pushes the pan across the stove and picks up the spatula, tossing it in the sink. “Be ready by the time I’m dressed.”

“Yeah. You’re funny,” I huff. “I’m good. I’m going back to bed.”

“Suit yourself, but I can hear your stomach growling from over here. Stay if you want. I just want to satisfy your . . . hunger.”

He walks past me and then jogs up the stairs. The muscles in his back flex and the deep scratches in his skin stand out, making me hate my damn body again for the reaction it gets from him.

Son of a bitch . . .

* * *

Against my better judgment, I’m sitting across a booth from Slade with a piece of bacon hanging from my mouth. We both just sit here in silence eating breakfast and I’m thankful for that. I really don’t feel like chatting with him. Not that he seems like the chatty type person. Actually, he’s pretty far from it.

“Are you going to sit there and play with that bacon all f**king day?” He takes a bite of his hash browns and then leans against the back of his booth. “It has to taste better than that crap you were catching on fire when I walked in.”

Rolling my eyes, I point my bacon at him and start waving it as I speak. “I wasn’t catching it on fire, dammit. Why are you-”

The bacon slips out of my hand and hits him on the cheek, causing me to stop and cover my mouth to keep from laughing.

Watching me stifle my laughter, he grabs for the piece of bacon, smiles and takes a bite out of it. “You think that’s funny, huh?”

I nod my head and laugh. “Yeah. You should have seen the way your eye twitched when it hit you. It was pretty damn hilarious.”

“I bet,” he replies before shoving the remainder of it in his mouth. “Now eat. I have things I have to do today.”

“Yeah. Like what?”

He takes a drink of his coffee and then holds the mug under his lips. “Lots of things. Some of them include: work out, run, grocery shopping, clean the house and then go to work tonight. The things that adults do. In between, I plan to just ride and get away. Get out of my f**king head and breathe a little. That’s what I have to do.”

I look at him a little stunned. For some crazy reason I just didn’t take him as the responsible type. I expected that Cale took care of the things around the house. I have to admit, it’s pretty sexy. I almost like this side of him.

“I’m done anyways.” I reach for my purse and get ready to pull out my wallet, but he reaches over and snatches my purse away. “Umm . . . my purse.”

Shaking his head, he sets my purse down and pulls out his wallet. “Never expect to pay when I ask you to eat with me. I asked you because I wanted to treat you to breakfast.” He pulls out two twenties and sets them on the table. “Let’s go then.”

He stands up right as the waitress walks over. She’s a young woman, maybe in her early thirties. She looks a bit stressed out as she keeps looking back at the counter. “You guys are all set?” She picks up the money and her eyes go wide when she looks at the tab. “Sir, it’s only fourteen dollars. Let me get your change.”

Looking over at the counter, he watches the two kids that our waitress has been sitting with in between her running around like crazy. “No, ma’am. Keep the change.” He pulls out another twenty, drops it down and grabs my hand. “Have a nice day.”

I don’t even get to see the woman’s reaction because he pulls me out of the diner too quickly and then jumps into his truck without another word.

I keep wanting to say something, to maybe get a reaction out of him, but I can’t think of what to say. I’m still stunned speechless by his generosity back at the diner. He did seem distracted while we were there. I noticed he kept looking away from the table as if something was catching his attention. Now, I know why.

“Slade,” I say softly. “That was a really nice thing you did for that lady back at the diner.”

He looks away from the road with a distraught look on his face. He looks like he’s beating himself up over something. “Yeah, well she needed it more than me. Those kids shouldn’t have to be at the diner while she works her ass off for three dollar tips. It’s not f**king right.”

I sit here and watch him as he drives. He seems a little worked up and I can’t help but want to comfort him. I don’t even know why. The urge just comes out of nowhere. His side profile is strikingly beautiful and the act of kindness that I just witnessed makes him even more beautiful.

Without thinking, I reach out and grip his knee, running my hand up and down his leg for comfort. He stiffens at first and glances down at my hand with a surprised look, but doesn’t say a word. He just drives in silence, keeping his eyes on the road. For some reason, I keep my hand there the whole way home.