Free Nauti Nights by Lora Leigh Page B

alone was always aware when a man slid into bed beside her.
    Crista was used to sleeping with someone.
    Had that someone held her through the night and kept dreams of Dawg at bay? The bastard. He gritted his
    teeth at the thought of any other man holding her like this.
    She belonged here, curled against his chest, snuggled into his body, keeping him warm.
    It was…interesting.
    He was still harder than hell. Hornier than he could remember being in years, but there was no need to
    hurry. No race to satisfaction so he could be alone.
    His eyes closed as she muttered something again. Something about Alex and the electric bill, and he
    grinned. Female fluff stuff that Rowdy always teased Kelly about.
    Hell, this was nice.
    His eyes drifted closed, his arousal pounded between his thighs, but the edge was tempered with
    exhaustion and a slow easing of the tight sense of cold anger that had gripped him for years.
    He buried his face in Crista’s hair, breathed out slowly, and let the darkness have him, for a few hours at least.
    FIVE
    Some days, it just didn’t pay to wake up. Waking up in Dawg’s bed had been bad enough, but thankfully
    he had been gone. She’d been able to steal a shirt and someone’s smaller-sized sweatpants, call a cab, rush back to her brother’s house to shower and change, and arrive to work on time.
    Only to be fired.
    Fired from a crappy waitress job in a diner that obviously didn’t have enough help to begin with. And it had been more than clear that the owner was reluctant to fire her, which led Crista to only one conclusion.
    Dawg had influenced the owner.
    He had her fired.
    He wasn’t even decent enough to stop at just blackmailing her when she knew he had to know she was
    innocent. But now she was out of a job so he could have his little plaything close by.
    She stood by the register as the manager wrote out her final paycheck and sighed wearily.
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    “Thanks, Madge,” she said quietly when the other woman, concerned and clearly upset with the orders to
    fire her, handed over the check.
    “I’m sure sorry ’bout this, Crista.” Madge sighed, her hazel eyes compassionate. “Owner just called and
    said do it. Nothing I could do.”
    Crista shrugged. The owner was friends with Dawg, she knew that, she knew how it happened.
    Turning from the register, she tucked the check in her purse and made her way across the floor. There
    were few customers at this time of the morning. Some coffee drinkers, an early rising tourist, and Johnny Grace, her next-door neighbor and Dawg’s cousin. Though Dawg admitted to the relationship only when
    he was forced.
    He sat at the back table, a heavy frown on his brow as she moved toward him.
    “Crista.” He stopped her before she could make it to the door. “Is everything okay?”
    “Fine.” She gave him a stiff smile. “Cutbacks, I guess.”
    She liked Johnny. He ran a bakery from his house beside hers and often brought her over fresh bread and
    sweets on baking days, free of charge, just because, he said, they were neighbors.
    His gaze flicked to the manager, the frown still darkening his amazingly clear, soft brow. Dark blond curls framed his face, giving him an almost feminine appearance.
    “Is there anything I can do?”
    Anything he could do? She had a feeling there wasn’t a damned thing anyone could do. She shook her
    head, forcing a stiff smile to her face.
    “I’ll be fine, Johnny. I have to go now, though. I’ll catch you later.”
    Johnny was a good neighbor, but not a confidant. Right now, she couldn’t handle discussing this with
    anyone.
    Her hand tightened on her purse as she stepped from the diner, her gaze swinging unerringly to the big
    black pickup across the street.
    How the hell had she known he would be there? What instinct possessed her that she could feel him
    watching her, wanting her?
    He was a dark shadow behind the