Kassern (Archangels Creed) (5 page)

He stepped forward toward another approaching woman, flyer extended.

The moment she looked at him, her cherry red lips broke into a seductive smile. She even met him half
-
way and took the outstretched paper with interest.
"
Whatcha
got here
,
S
ugar?
"
She twirled a jet black curl around her index finger.

"
Well,
"
he leaned and pointed to the informative section.
"
I
'
m working on opening a place to help…
"
not exploited
!
"
…women get on their feet.
"

Her full shiny lips tugged left with mischief, and her eyes roamed his face then continued for a full body inspection.
"
I could sure use some help from you baby.
"
Her sparkling gaze met his wide one and the tip of her tongue peeked out and remained poised for attack.

"
Well, it
'
s a mind and body…um, and spiritual…
"

While he spoke, she stepped closer and placed a hand on his chest.
"
Mind and body…
"
She raked long red nails over his chest.
"
I sure don
'
t mind this body.
"

Troy stepped back, anxious to escape the sharp claws before they drew blood. Stuttering stupidly, he tripped right into somebody.

Small hands shoved him hard.
"
Watch it!
"

He spun.
"
So sorry." Oh crap. The girl who
'
d haunted his dreams stood right there. Right in front of him. With no name. His heart ran in circles.
"
Um, hi. You okay? I mean…
"

"
Who
'
s your friend?
"
The tiny blonde girl on her right aimed a questioning smile at Troy before gasping,
"
Devyn,
is he the
Good Samaritan
?
"

Devyn. Okay. Wait.
Good Samaritan
?

Troy held his hand out to
the petite
blonde.
"
I
'
m Troy. It
'
s a pleasure meeting you.
"

The girl giggled and bit her lower lip
before
sh
a
k
ing
his hand like he
were
some strange circus celebrity.
"
Pleasure meeting you too, sir.
"

Troy stuck his hand toward Devyn, who elbowed her giggly friend and ignored his attempt at friendship. He put it in his pocket, undeterred.
"
Can I see you after work? I
'
d…like to give you a ride home. If…that
'
s okay?
"

The blonde bounced.
"
Yes!
"

"
No!
"
Devyn
'
s loud correction came with a glare at the girl a few inches shorter than her.
"
I mean,
it
'
s
fine. We don
'
t need an escort. Thank you.
"

The blonde
'
s mouth flew open and she scowled back at Devyn,
then
jerked her stern gaze to Troy.
"
Yes we do. We
definitely
need an escort. We get off at two.
"

Devyn rolled her eyes.

"
Fantastic.
"
Troy grinned at the girl who beamed and raked his body with a devouring look.
"
I
'
ll…be waiting.
"

"
Work time Karly.
"
Devyn spun and stalked off.

The Karly girl gave him a tiny wave and mouthed a thank you before running like a bouncy teenager to catch up.

Then Troy
'
s eyes latched on to Devyn. Really latched on. Before he could stop it, the memory of that dream hit him and his gaze lowered to the swing of her hips. Heat filled his body and face. To his horror, she turned and caught him
staring!

Like a naughty child caught with his hand on his pecker, he jerked around, hiding his flaming cheeks from her. God! He could only imagine the look on her face. Preacher boy getting off to the little lambs. How disgusting could he get?

****

Giggling woke Troy and he snapped his head forward, realizing he
'
d dozed right there on the street corner lamp post. He sprung up, immediately awake.
Crap. Trying not to be too obvious, he patted his pockets
to be sure his wallet and keys were still where they belonged. How freaking stupid could he get?

Karly giggled again
and Troy wondered if he had drool running down his chin.
"
Sorry, been a long day.
"
Swiping a casual hand across his face, he cleared the sleep from his vocal chords, his gaze stuck on Devyn.

She looked down, but not before he caught a slight smile on her lips. She wore the same clothes from earlier.

His muscles slowly clenched as he imagined what she did in that club.
A
ll th
ose
sick bastards lusting after her.

"
Good Samaritan
sleeping on the job?
"
Devyn met his gaze head-on for the first time that night. Her eyelids seemed heavier. Was she high? There was something else about those windows to her soul. Sparkly. And…Wow, what were they…Light grey? Amazing.

"
I think he
'
s twitter-pated.
"
This from a still-giggling Karly.

"
Oh, sorry, it
'
s just…her eyes are…unusual.
"
He cleared his throat, trying to pretend his cheeks weren't blazing again.

"
You think they
'
re pretty?
"
Karly all but fluttered her own eyelashes at him.

"
Karly!
"
Devyn nearly growled.

Troy grinned at the cute sound.
"
I
'
m parked next to the coffee shop.
"

Karly bounded up to Troy.
"
Well I
'
m ready!
"
She latched her arm covetously in his.

"
So am I.
"
Devyn began walking ahead and Troy quickly followed with Karly hanging on his arm with an excited squeal. Was he that amazing? What had Devyn told her about him
?
Apparently good things, thank God.

The walk to the
coffee shop
was filled with Karly
'
s chatter.

"
Soooo
, you
'
re a preacher?
"
She didn
'
t seem to realize how completely inappropriate it was to boldly explore his biceps with a hand while they walked.

It was distracting, slightly annoying.
"
Uhh
, yeah. No. Not really.
"
He wished she would let go of his arm.

Her fingers slid up the inside of his sleeve, nearly to his armpit.
"
Where
'
s your church?
"
Excited giggles seemed to accompany her every question.

He fought the urge to jerk his arm out of her grasp. If he hurt her feelings or angered her, she wouldn't let him help her. And Devyn.
"
I—no, I don
'
t have a church
. I mean… I go to church,
I just work alone.
"

She sucked in a breath.
"
All alone.
"
She made pitiful moaning noises. Nice to see she could do something other than giggle.

"
It
'
s not bad, I like it that way.
"
Also liked not having strangers running fingers through his armpit hair.

"
No girlfriend?
"
Karly leaned her head, peering up into his face.

"
Uh, no. No girlfriend.
"
Why did he feel like she was trying out for the position?

"
You like it that way too?
"

Good God please, help here.
"
I
'
m not really alone.
"

"
Oh? Who lives with you?
"

"
Karly,
"
Devyn sighed, not breaking stride or turning.
"
Jesus does, okay? The man is married to
Jesus,
now stop drilling him before he throws holy water on you.
"

Troy chuckled, then regarded Karly
'
s
blank
how
do you
marry Jesus
look.
"
It
'
s only metaphorical,
"
he explained.
"
I
'
m committed to serving Him.
"

"Oh." She leaned her head against his arm.
"
That
'
s
sweeeeet
.
"

He rolled his eyes, wishing Devyn would call her off.

"
Mmmm
, you smell so
yummy!
"
Karly
'
s squeaky words came with one hand landing on his chest. She sucked her breath in.
"
Oh my. You work out?
"
Her fingers probed the muscles along his torso.

"
Karly, stop groping the man will you? He
'
s taken.
"
Devyn spoke over her shoulder and continued walking, spine perfectly straight.

Karly
'
s laugh was a little too deep.
"
Metaphorically.
"

"
I
'
m celibate.
"
That word should put an end to her molestations. They drew to a stop at the coffee shop and Troy pointed to his little black car across the street.

"
Celibate?
"
Karly looked from him to Devyn, waiting for an explanation. Troy silently prayed Devyn would give it. He really didn't want to go there. Not with Karly.

"
That means he doesn
'
t fuck, Karly.
"
Devyn headed toward the car.

Troy
'
s ears stung with the crass term while Karly pouted like a child who was told she couldn
'
t ride the…well.

Not
like he expected or wanted Devyn to pretend
to be
somebody else, but
she didn't have to take such pleasure in shocking or embarrassing him.
H
er tone
more than
hinted
that she
relish
ed
in
his discomfort
. A purposeful aggression. Almost testing him. How much could the pristine preacher boy take before he covered his ears and ran off?

It was suddenly a damn good question.

Chapter Five

Damn, when would The Preacher get enough and get lost? The man irritated Devyn just by drawing breath. The way he tried to keep the dimple in his left cheek from showing when he smiled and that little habit he had of sweeping his tongue across his full lower lip when he was trying to decide what to say—he was trouble. Wasn
'
t sure exactly how yet, but he was. Nobody was any kind of good without strings attached, Jesus boy or not.