Chapter Six

Bones

“She yours?”

I glanced at Mickey, who watched me with a knowing smirk.

“Because she looks like she’s yours,” he went on, “even though she walked back into her house.”

Nut appeared at my side, and a cold beer extended toward me. I took it and popped the top with a quick twist. “That’s the first time I’ve ever talked to her.”

“Bullshit,” Wick called from across the garage. “Ain’t no way that’s the first time you’ve talked to her, not with the way she looked at you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Looked at me like what?”

Wick chuckled and shook his head. “Like she was ready for you to throw her over your shoulder and spend the rest of the day in bed, man.”

The guys let out a few whoops and laughed as I took a long drink and tried to keep my face neutral. But the truth was, my mind drifted back to how she’d looked at me—those big eyes widening, her cheeks flushing as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to run away or stay right there. There was a nervousness to her, sure, but she also hadn’t backed down.

“Maybe she was nervous because she thought you idiots were robbing me,” I said with a smirk. “For all she knew, I could’ve been walking into a damn heist.” I was pretty sure that was what Snow had thought, too.

Mickey snorted. “Nah, she was nervous, all right, but that was from being in your presence. You don’t see it?”

“Look, she’s just my neighbor,” I said with a shrug. “At least…for now.”

They let out another cheer. Nut slapped me on the back while Wick grinned and took a pull from his beer. I couldn’t deny that the idea sounded damn appealing. Snow—hell, even her name fit her perfectly—being mine sounded damn good. I’d seen her around, sure, watched her come and go from that little bakery setup she had going. She was always hustling, arms full of boxes, flour in her hair. She was something else entirely up close.

“I’m telling you, Bones,” Mickey said, “it wouldn’t take much to make her yours considering what I just saw.”

I looked out toward her house and caught a glimpse of her through the kitchen window. She had her back to it and moved around with a purpose as she got back to work.

There was a blonde girl who helped sometimes, and some guy too. But she was short-handed right now.

As the guys got louder as they talked about the bikes around the shop, I took another drink and let myself watch her for a second longer. There was something about Snow that got under my skin with a feeling that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Yeah, maybe she was just my neighbor for now. But I wasn’t planning on keeping it that way.