Read Online Dirty Little Mistake (Dirty #2) by Amber Rides - Free Book Online Page A

hand.  I couldn’t afford to laugh.  Not when she was still dressed like that.
    “People are staring at you, ” I informed her.
    “ So…You want me to do what? Stop laughing?”
    “I want you to put some clothes on.”
    “Ridley, you’re being ridiculous.”
    “Just indulge me. Please?”
    She shook her head. “Even if you weren’t being a maniac…I didn’t bring anything else to wear.”
    I slipped off my jacket and handed it to her as the light changed.
    “You’re serious?” she wanted.
    “So serious it hurts.”
    From the corner of my eye, I watched as she slipped the coat over her outfit.  The end result was almost worse.  She looked like she had nothing underneath.  And she still had the goddamned pigtails in.
    I reached for the one closest to me, pulled out the elastic at the bottom, and used my fingers to free the hair.  It was smooth as silk and slipped between my knuckles in a way that made me burn.  I let go and slid my hand over her shoulder to undo the second one.  This time I didn’t linger, but her sweet fragrance wafted through the truck and it did nothing to ease my desire.
    “Better?” she asked with just a tinge of sarcasm.
    “ Much,” I lied.
    We drove in silence for a few minutes before her warm palm landed on my arm.
    “Are we cancelling our plans?”
    “What plans?”
    “I don’t know. You wouldn’t tell me, remember?”
    Shit.
    In the heat of the moment, I’d completely forgotten about taking her to see Ian.
    And no way in hell was I letting her into his sights like that.
    To be honest, I was glad to have an excuse to keep her away from him.
    “It’s no longer an option,” I told her.
    “What? Why?”
    “Because I was going to have you go into his all-male, all-sweaty, all-competitive gym and bait him into a conversation. He wouldn’t be able to help but ask you out.”
    “And we can’t do that now?”
    I grimaced. “In that outfit? Hell, no. I was picturing a little sundress or some tight jeans. But in that…Christ, Pancake. You walked past one guy with a little too much to prove and barely got by.”
    She opened her mouth to protest and I cut her off with a cool glance.
    “Save it,” I said. “You can lie to yourself all you want about how you had it under control, but I saw your face. You were scared. Take what that guy had, multiple it by twenty bigger , angrier dudes, and you’ll have Ian’s gym.”
    “What makes you think it wouldn’t have gone wrong anyway?”
    “You would’ve been under my surveillance. In and out in five minutes.”
    “Can’t I just go home and change? Maybe try again?”
    I shook my head. “Now I have to go to work. I’m barely going to make it on time as it is.”
    She pursed her lips. “What about me?”
    “What about you?”
    “How am I going to get back to my car? It’s parked at the pizza place.”
    “I…Dammit.”
    “Yeah, that about sums it up.”
    “ I’ll get one of the hotel cabbies to drive you back. They can take it from my check.”
    “I can catch the bus,” she told me.
    “ Dressed like that? I don’t think so.”
    “You don’t have to protect me.”
    I depressed the brakes and skidded off the road.  Someone behind us honked, but I ignored it.  I turned to face her.
    “Did I say something wrong?” I asked.
    “No.”
    I got the feeling she wasn’t telling the truth.  Maybe not lying, exactly.  Just not being completely honest.  Once again, I wondered what she was hiding.
    But I don’t think you should ask, my gut told me.
    “C’ mon, Pancake,” I said softly. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
    “ And I just don’t see what the difference is between me riding the bus in this outfit or getting into a cab with some undoubtedly male driver.”
    Shit.  She was right
    “You know what? You’re going to get that tour of my kitchen at work a little sooner than I planned.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You’ll have to stick around the kitchen at Serenity until I get a break