Free Dirty Desire by M Dauphin Page B

smell envelopes me.
    “Get in.”
    Knox is the kind of guy that doesn’t like to have to take no for an answer…but I’m the kind of girl that loves to make him squirm.
    “And if I don’t?”
    “So help me god, Harper. Just get in the damn car.” His jaw is tight and he’s gripping the car door so hard I think he may be crushing the metal.
    I sigh and roll my eyes, sliding onto the leather seat.
    “Oh good lord,” I whisper, caressing the soft leather. This car is worth more than I make in two years, probably. How the hell does he own something this nice while he’s slumming it up with me in a tiny ass apartment? What the fuck is this guy’s deal?
    When he opens the door, I have full plans on asking him that, but my eyes immediately go to his forearms, the tanned skin peeking out from the rolled up dress shirt sleeves, and my thighs start to tremble a little.
    With a dry mouth, I make it a point to stare out the window the entire drive home. I can’t talk to him without wanting to fuck him, and I’m in no physical shape to be fucking anyone right now.
    “I need to shower,” I mumble, walking through the door he’s holding open for me.
    Maybe I can flick the bean a little while I’m in there and take this edge off. I’ve fucked him, yes, but that doesn’t mean I need to keep doing it.
    Right?
    That’s when it hits me.
    The apartment.
    How I forgot the shape it was in last night is beyond me, but he obviously remembers it better than I do, because after locking the door he just sighs as he watches me take in the sight before me. Our dining room table is overturned, the chairs are broken. The kitchen cabinets are open and everything in them is a mess all over the floor.
    “Jesus Christ,” I mutter, looking at the shape of my home. It’s destroyed.
    “Yeah,” he says quietly, not moving from the door. “The police report has been filed. It sounds like they hit a few places in the neighborhood last night, not just this one. But they got everything, that’s for sure.” He nods over to the TV stand and shakes his head. “We’ll get a new one.”
    I nod silently; taking in the sight before me and cursing the neighborhood I live in. I can’t afford anything nicer…but goddammit some days I just want to leave this hell hole and never look back.
    That’s when it hits me to take off for my bedroom. Running past the living room and down the hall, I ignore the mess until I swing open my bedroom door.
    “No,” I whisper. “No, no, no…” My feet take me over to the box by my bedside, but my heart remains back in my small bedroom as a little girl…the day he gave me my first jewelry box
     

     
    “Here, baby girl,” daddy’s voice is tired. Maybe he needs a nap. He hands me a box wrapped in pretty purple and pink tissue paper tied with a bright silver sparkly bow.
    “What is it?!” I squeal. He never gets me presents like this when it’s not my birthday.
    “Something every girl deserves to have. Just for you, Harp.”
    I rip open the package and gasp.
    “Oh daddy, it’s beautiful thank you!” I throw my arms around his body and he gives me one of his signature bear hugs.
    “Watch,” he whispers, setting me down next to him.
    In his hands he takes the box and slowly opens it to reveal a velvet lining and a tiny gold harp that starts spinning as the music starts to play.
    “I love it daddy. Thank you.”
     

    “No,” I whimper as I grab the final pieces of my jewelry box up. Shards of it are still stuck in the carpet, but all the major pieces are here in my hands…shattered.
    As I watch the last physical memory of my father slip from my fingers and fall back to the floor, I slide down with them, letting the tears flow.
    Who would do this? What good did it do to ruin something as precious as this?
    I’m not sure how long I sit there crying before Knox’s arms come around me. That one, silent gesture is enough to throw me into complete meltdown mode.
    And he lets me cry. Longer than he