I grab my bat and head outside. Candy follows me, looking amused by my reaction. The woman is fucking addictive, and someone just tore me away from my necessary fix.
The soon-to-be-dead asshole emerges from a taxi, and I’m ready to swing when the car speeds away. My target looks up at the sky and inhales deeply. Does he know he’s about to die?
“No hug?” Moot asks, turning to face me.
My bat stops mid-swing, and I laugh. “Fuck, man, I was about to take off your head.”
As his blue eyes squint in the sunny day, Moot grins at me. “I see that. You’re as charming as ever.”
I shake his hand and size him up. “You got fucking old.”
‘I was just going to say the same about you. I see a couple of grays you missed during your last salon visit.”
“Fuck off, man. When did you get out?”
“Today. That’s what the taxi is about.”
Tapping the bat in my hand, I ask, “Why didn’t you call and ask for a fucking ride, idiot?”
“I wasn’t ready for all your charm, fucker. So can I come inside and get a cup of coffee?”
I gesture for him to follow me, and we walk into the office where Candy stands at the window spying on us.
“This is Candy,” I say, waving between them with the bat. “This is Moot. He just got out of prison. Get him a cup of coffee.”
Candy struts in her sexy way to the break room and reappears with his drink.
She hands him the coffee and asks, “Were you in prison for stealing purses because I can hide mine to prevent you from being tempted?”
“No, I beat an asshole to death.”
“So should I be concerned for Hayes’s safety then?”
“She’s a damn doll,” Moot says, giving her one of his sly grins.
I slam the bat against her desk and shake my head at Moot. “No.”
“All right, all right, no reason to get violent about it.”
Candy smiles at me, and I wonder if she knows I’m still hard from the earlier kiss. I taste her on my lips, and my arms hurt from not having her wrapped in them. Remaining in a state of heat, I need to get out of the office before I lose control especially with Candy still grinning at me.
“I’m assuming you haven’t eaten,” I say, focusing on Moot rather than the irresistible blonde giving me a raging hard-on.
“Not today.”
“Drink up and I’ll take you out.”
“Want to bring your assistant?” Moot says, giving Candy the once over again. “She can take notes.”
“I said, ‘no’ already,” I growl possessively. “Don’t make me say it again with the bat.”
“You really are grouchy these days,” Moot says and then downs the coffee. “Thank you, ma’am.”
Candy takes the empty cup and nods at him. I set the bat on an empty table and follow Moot to the door. Before I head outside, I stop and study my assistant.
“What happened earlier isn’t over,” I tell her.
“We’ll see.”
“Something’s happening here,” I insist, hating her cool exterior.
“Yeah, but is it a love affair or murder/suicide? Might want to consider how you’re the murder victim in that scenario, boss.”
“Think you can take me?” I ask, arching a brow.
“Without breaking a sweat.”
“Then I guess I better hope it’s a love affair, huh, killer?”
As Candy laughs, I walk outside to where Moot waits.
“She’s a looker,” Moot says. “How long you been boning her?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“So not long, huh?”
“She’s Honey’s sister,” I say, pissing all over his good mood.
“Not cool, asshole.”
Smiling, I climb into my truck. Moot joins me, still frowning about the mention of Honey.
“Where do you want to eat?”
“What’s still open?”
“Everything. I keep my town running smoothly. Want steak?”
“Sounds good. A cold beer sounds better.”
“You’re out early. Whose dick did you suck to make that happen?” I ask, pulling out of the parking lot.
“Hell, if sucking dick would have gotten me early parole, I’d have hit my knees within weeks of arriving at the shithole. No amount of pride is better than being locked up.”
I think of how loyalty got him locked up for so long. Despite what he says, Moot has a lot of pride to keep his mouth shut for so long.
“So what’s the deal with you getting out early?”
“Don’t you read the papers? It was in the Nashville ones.”
“Those are run by Commies, so no, I don’t read them.”
“Commies. You’ll be spouting the same shit in fifty years. You never change, man.”
“So what’s the big story?”
Moot grins at me, clearly proud of his story. “I saved a guard who was getting his ass whooped by a few cons. They were planning on doing more to his ass than that too. I’m a big fucking hero. The warden worked his magic and got me out a year early for taking a beating to save one of his guys.”
“Did a good deed and got rewarded. I hear that happens sometimes. Never seen it before but good for you. Why not call and have me pick you up? The true answer this time and not that shit excuse you gave back at the office.”