Read Dirty Country Love: A Step-Brother Romance Novella for Free Online Page B

it all. Did he actually like her? Is
that what he was getting at this whole time? She wanted so
desperately to believe that was true, but was terrified of it not
being real.
    She got dressed once more, handing the various boxes to the woman
and smiling at Damien shyly.
    “I forgot to check the price,” she admitted softly.
    “Ain’t nothin’ but a thing,” he said with
a wink, touching his hand to the small of her back as he pulled out a
fat stack of bills and let them drop to the counter. The kind of
casual presentation of money she was not used to.
    The wide-eyed clerks hurried to wrap and package the items, then
sort out the change.
    Damien put his arm back around Britney and walked her on out of
the store. But it was then somethin’ real peculiar happened.
    “Big D?” came some man’s hoarse, cracked voice,
and Britney saw a rather rough lookin’ man in a leather vest
come headin’ on over. “Fuckin’ hell! It is you!” he cried and laughed.
    It was nobody Britney recognized, but the leather and his
addressing Damien made it clear it was an acquaintance at least.
    Damien didn’t say a word but gave a long hard stare at the
man as he held her close by his side.
    “Damien?” Britney said softly, her head tilted to the
side as she clutched her gifts a little closer to her body. She
didn’t know why the man gave her the creeps, but he did.
    Maybe it was the scabs on his arms. Or the busted up look he had,
scars both old and new. He looked like he’d been into more
fights than she could count, and if he won ‘em, he certainly
never won ‘em unscathed.
    “Shit, I expected you’d be back in the city by now!”
exclaimed the man, slow to notice Damien’s icy stare. “I
guess you’re on the way there now huh, big night tonight and
all,” he said with a grin, before his gaze went towards her,
and a leer crossed his face.
    With a shrill whistle the rough lookin’ man made no effort
to act respectable towards her.
    “Knew it had to be some pussy that pulled you away from the
club, and damn it’s a fine one,” he said before Damien
immediately untangled his arm about Britney and stepped forward.
    “Don’t you fuckin’ talk that way about her,”
Damien growled in a voice she’d never heard from the man. A
voice darker and more ominous than she even imagined her brooding
Damien could conjure. The fact he punctuated it with a shove to the
other guy’s shoulder only made it all the worse.
    “The fuck, man?!” the guy cried out, looking so
terribly offended by that, as if his words and actions were
completely out of nowhere. As if disrespectin’ a lady to her
face weren’t a thing worthy of mention let alone offense.
    Britney felt frozen in place, too afraid to even move. All she
could do was cling to her goods as if they’d somehow shield her
from the terrifying man, and the fear of what was to come. She’d
never felt so afraid of someone before, especially not just seconds
after meeting them.
    “Damien, let’s go,” she said, her voice still
meek.
    Her words were lost amid the testosterone fueled confrontation
though, and as rough as this new guy looked, Damien weren’t
cowed and certainly weren’t backin’ down.
    “I don’t fuckin’ repeat myself,” Damien
growled, shoulders wide as he edged closer to the man. He had a nice
bit of height on the rough fella, but as big and strong as Damien
was, this scarred man was bulky and built himself.
    “You need to fuckin’ calm yourself down, man,”
the guy said through clenched teeth. “You wanna be nice to the
guys who might have a gun at your back someday. And it’s just
pussy after all,” he said, jabbing a finger at Damien’s
chest.
    But Damien was havin’ none of it. He grabbed the man’s
finger before he could jab twice and a loud, bone-breaking sound
filled the air. It was enough to make Britney squeak in empathetic
pain. But soon after, the new guy cried out and then punched Damien
back in retaliation.
    It was too late then, it