Ex-Con: Bad Boy Romance by Shiloh Walker, M. S. Parker Read Free Book Online Page B

to talk with them in there, too. I could just see myself trying to do that. I’d choke on them. Get them stuck in my throat and bleed to death on the carpet, right there in the middle of a couple of rich old bastards.
    “You’ve got a great form, Mr. Cantrell.”
    “Bobby,” I corrected, trying to pretend my arms hadn’t turned into lead weights, oh, five minutes ago. I was in good shape, but no one was made to hold this position for long.
    “Of course, Mr. Cantrell.” He straightened and then took a step back. “Lower your arms.” He gave me a once-over and then nodded. “Yes. That will do for the time being.” He checked his watch, and then turned to Carly. “I can have this one done in two hours. I have a few other pieces I can have complete within twenty-four hours, if you need the rush.”
    “We need the rush,” Carly said, her voice absent, a frown on her face. She was staring at her phone and tapping away furiously.
    “Absolutely, Ms. Prince.”
    Jake moved forward and gestured to the counter. “Why don’t we get all that sorted out?”
    I closed a hand into a fist as I looked down at the pinned and tucked up clothes I wore. The material was softer and finer than anything I’d ever known. I didn’t even want to think about how much it cost. So much for swinging by a Target or something. Or stashing all of that five thousand while I looked for another job. “I can’t afford this.”
    Carly waved a hand. “It comes with the position. I pick up all my employees’ on the job expenses.”
    I opened my mouth to argue, but she turned away, shoving her phone toward Ryan. Her tone was agitated, and the sound made my stomach clench. I didn’t like whoever was making her feel like that.
    “Look at this shit!” she said to Ryan. “She’s at it again . I’m calling my damn lawyer. I can’t keep doing this. The lawyer can handle it this time.”
    Ryan took the phone and skimmed it. He held it out towards her, but Carly didn’t even notice. She was striding across the floor, long strides that did crazy things with her stretchy mini skirt, over the knee boots and those long, long legs. “Why do I have to put up with the crazy, Ry? What did I do to deserve this?”
    “You know what my advice is going to be, Carly.”
    She stopped and raked her fingers through her tousled hair. I wondered what it would feel like to bury my hands in her hair, to see it messed up after a night together. My hands curled into fists. Dammit. This was going to be torture.
    “I can’t...” She stared up at the ceiling, and then her head rolled toward me and she caught sight of me. As if she’d forgotten I was there, she gave an odd little start, a half-jump, half-shiver. Then she smiled. “Sorry. Family freak-out. Ignore me.”
    Like that would ever happen.
    But I shrugged. “No problem.” Then because I couldn’t not ask, I said, “Is everything okay?”
    “Oh, yeah.” She shrugged. “Just typical family crap. You know how it goes.”
    Right. “Yeah. Sure.”
    I turned at the sound of footsteps.
    I didn’t think her idea and my idea of family crap were even close to the same. With my dad, back when he’d still been breathing, an average day had gone something along the lines of this: food wasn’t done, or maybe it was done and it was cold, he’d dump his shit, wash up, and then slap my mother. If his mood had been really foul, she’d gotten a belt across the back or a fist in the face. If I’d been too loud or not fast enough, or if he’d been just feeling mean, I’d gotten a kick in the ass or fist in the face.
    That had been my family until my mother and I left Tennessee. Then, it had been just the two of us…until she died and I’d had no family. It’d just been me. Then, before I’d gone to jail, that had been changing. I’d been looking forward to it, even. But I didn’t have that anymore either.
    “Hey.”
    The sound of Carly’s voice drew me out of the ugliness of the past, and the even