Read Online Blood & Rust (Lock & Key #4) by Cat Porter - Free Book Online Page A

to compromise and my respect for the pieces, pointing out wear and tear to my benefit and knocking down his prices when I could. Butler agreed with my assessments and didn’t interrupt, only making the appropriate faces as Dave kept glancing at him. Fortunately, Dave was eager to sell, and we quickly reached a mutually happy medium.
    Butler packed my Yukon with our spoils.
    Dave and I shook hands.
    “Thank you for the opportunity, Dave. I really appreciate it.”
    “Sure thing. Glad it worked out.” He tipped his hat at Butler. “You enjoy all that junk now.”
    “Oh, I will.” He waved Dave off as the man headed for his truck.
    Butler turned to me, shaking his head.
    “What? Why do you look so damn smug? Did I miss something?” I asked.
    “I’m not being smug, Scarlett. I’m admiring.”
    A rush of heat flared inside me, and I shifted my weight.
    “You doing the math in your head now?” he asked.
    I smoothed my hair back. “Actually, no. I’m thinking this sort of find might be art gallery-worthy.”
    “And you got here first.”
    “ We did, yeah.”
    “Let’s get the fuck out of here then before Davey changes his mind.”
    I touched his arm. “I’m so glad we got to see it the way we did. Untouched, virginal.”
    “Yeah, me, too. We pretty much got to see what they had seen, give or take a few decades of dust and decay.”
    “Thank you for coming with me, for—” I threw my arms around him and hugged him. I savored the fragrance of ash and soap and sweaty man. I held on to him and inhaled.
    Shit, what’s come over me?
    “I’m glad I came,” he murmured. His hand bunched in my hair, tugging, and my pulse quickened. He let me go, and I stumbled back.
    Butler opened my car door for me, and I settled into the driver’s seat.
    “Thanks,” I said. I started the engine and lowered my window.
    Butler leaned in. “We’re going back to Meager together, okay?”
    “Okay. Let’s go.”
    “You can’t wait to get home and open your goodies, huh?”
    “Something like that.”
    “Let’s roll.”

BY THE TIME WE LEFT DAVE’S and got on the road, the sun was setting. Two hours of driving later, with me behind Butler on the highway, he suddenly pulled off into the parking lot of a steak house.
    He tore off his helmet, a hand digging through his matted hair. “I’ve been riding since sunrise this morning. I need a break.”
    “Of course.”
    He tugged off his gloves. “We’ve still got five hours ahead of us. I say we call it a night here and pick it up in the morning.”
    “Oh, okay.”
    “I’m starved. How about you?”
    My brain stuttered, my gaze hanging on his pale blue eyes.
    Loaded question…
    My eyes flicked up at the huge hanging sign emblazoned with an old-fashioned caricature of a smiling cow. “I could eat that cow.”
    Butler laughed and steered me toward the restaurant’s entrance, a hand at my back as he opened the door for us. A sweet warm ting went off inside me. His tiny bit of chivalry was perhaps trivial, insignificant, but coming from a man like Butler—who, by all outward appearances, did not seem like the polite, caring gesture type—it made an impression.
    We settled into a booth and ordered quickly. The waitress brought us our sodas.
    “Thank you for helping me at Dave’s property,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”
    “I had fun.”
    “Did you? You liked it?”
    “Yeah, I did.”
    “You didn’t think it was boring?”
    “No. I really liked it.” He drained his glass, his eyes on me. “Is that so hard to believe?”
    “A little. But I’m glad. You helped me a lot.”
    “You usually do this shit on your own, right?”
    “I do, yes. It was different to have a partner in crime for a change. You were good. Your eyes kept moving, hunting. You weren’t afraid to get dirty.”
    “Me?”
    We laughed.
    “We found some amazing things,” I said. “Many times, it can be like a really bad garage sale. Or you find something good, but then it’s moldy or