However, when it happened the next night and the next and then every night for a week after that, I got suss. Finally, when I had ten of the distinctive green notes in my safe, I concluded that it was a deliberate act. So then one night, I set Dillion up at the front table closest to the counter and pulled my own version of a sting.
I found out that it was Fenixx Hott behind the extravagant gesture, and he meant to give that much. Ordinarily, the tip jar was for the wait staff, rewarding them for a good job by the customers. But Nixx didn’t interact more than order his meal; he didn’t ask for extra food or beverages, didn’t spill anything or make demands. He just sat, ate and stared.
So, I put them away in the small lockbox and stashed them in the safe that had been a year ago, and I was still doing it to this day. Last night being the first time he had missed and that was only because of his brother’s wedding.
I don’t know why Nixx tipped so much, but for some odd reason, I didn’t want to give the money to anyone. Call it selfish or maybe even wishful thinking, but I secretly liked to believe he was leaving the generous amount for me. Not that I had any intention to spend any of the cash. Sitting in my safe was roughly thirty-seven thousand dollars, a fortune that was going to go back to its rightful owner.
“Oh, trust me Farron, Fenixx knows you have a son. There is no doubt in my mind about that,” Mrs Hott announced, her head bobbing up and down, “nothing gets passed that one.”
The conversation was going to a weird place, but I couldn’t stop my curiosity from taking the lead over my discomfort and the scrutiny she had me under.
“Oh?”
“Mmmm Hmmm, Fenixx is different. As different from his brothers as he is the same as them. Just because they all look identical doesn’t mean they all work the same up here,” she said, pointing to her temple.
“Where Lenoxx is hot-headed, Nixx is chilled, and where Hendrixx is intense and sometimes easily irritated, Nixx doesn’t let anything get to him. He goes with the flow, lets things come to him. He has patience where the other two not so much, he also has a very annoying way of observing what is going on around him without calling attention to himself.”
“It stems from when he was a child, certain circumstances he had to live with for years. Things that his brothers didn’t suffer from, but through which he learned patience, tolerance and how to pay attention.”
“Okay,” I drawled out, “What circumstances?”
“That is for Fenixx to tell you, and he will when he thinks it’s the right time,” Mrs Hott answered firmly, giving me the impression that the conversation about Fenixx was over.
“Now, tell me all about your boy.” Yep, definitely over.
Instead, I spent the next twenty minutes telling Fenixx’s mum all about the birth of my son, my struggles with breastfeeding and everything from his potty training to his last dentist appointment. Normally, I wouldn’t have gone into so much detail with a stranger about my son. Still, Mrs Hott asked so many questions and seemed genuinely interested in all the gory details and even laughed when I told her something funny or embarrassing. For the first time since moving to Cattle Ridge, I truly felt accepted, maybe not quite as a local, more like a welcome permanent visitor.
“I can not wait to meet Dillion. We have a shed full of motorbikes, four-wheelers and even golf carts. Not to mention the tennis courts and dams to swim in, which now the summer is not too far off will be getting a work out by everyone on the property.”
The matter of fact way she offered for Dillion to hang out over at the farm warmed me. Dillion in the country was totally different from when we lived in the city. There he had a hard time making friends, just getting him out of his room and away from his electronics was a daily struggle. Here, it was like he was a changed kid. On his first day at school, he made a bunch of new mates, and within a day, he was off to a mate’s house to ride dirt bikes until dark. Fast forward four years, and he was interested in getting his junior gun licence and wanting to join the local gun club. He worked weekends at the restaurant and was saving for his own dirt bike. Watching Dillion come out of his shell and become such a lovely human being made all the shit his dad put us through worth it.
“He would love that Mrs Hott, thank you so much,” I whispered, feeling tears burn behind my eyelids.
“Sweetie, call me Lillian please,” Mrs—Lillian insisted, getting up from the bale and smacking her butt and legs with her hands to dislodge stray pieces of hay that were clinging to her jeans.
“Or Mum, totally up to you,” Lillian quipped with a cheeky wink.
“What? No!” I shouted, not meaning to sound like I was attacking her, but seriously. Mum? What the hell! Calling her that implied something was happening between her son and me, nothing was or could happen. No matter how attractive I found him, or how his intense smouldering blue eyes watched and followed me.
Lillian started to walk away, her hand waving over her shoulder. “You just keep telling yourself that, sweetie,” she singsonged, following it up with a burst of laughter that didn’t quite sound conceited but pretty bloody close.
Whatever Lillian thought was happening here, she was well off the mark. The only reason I was here was to pick up my ovens, and maybe a little gawking, but that was it.
No romance, no sweet words of love, and definitely no touching his whisker-covered jaw just to see if it was as soft as I imagined.
Nope, none of that.
FENIXX
Farron looked like she was getting ready to make a bolt as she watched my mother depart back to her ute. I don’t know what Mum said, but hearing her cackling in that way she did when she thought she knew something you didn’t, gave me a clue that Mum spooked my beautiful girl.
My girl.
She was gonna be. Time was all that was needed for her to get on board with my way of thinking, but it was going to happen.
Farron. Fuck, I loved her name, it was unique like mine. One of a kind. It spoke volumes about the lady she was, beautiful, sassy, and mysterious.
Well, not that mysterious. I had already done some research on her, just enough not to be seen as prying but enough to know she was independent, hard-working and fucking stubborn. My stalking found her marriage certificate, her son’s birth notice and her divorce decree. I also managed to hack into her bank affairs and found that she had bought out her ex, then sold the house and moved to Cattle Ridge, where she bought the pizza joint. Her loan was manageable but didn’t leave much wriggle room for luxuries. The house connected to the restaurant was a decent one now thanks to Farron’s individual touch. It was in reasonable shape, with three bedrooms and an average-sized yard. Her car was in need of tyres, but she kept the services fairly routine.
Her son attended the local high school, opting to keep him close rather than sending him to one of the larger ones in Mansfield. He worked weekends for his mum, and according to Dick Welch, the father of Dillion’s best mate was saving to buy a dirt bike.
Yeah, okay, so I was stalking her to the point of obsession, but it was harmless. I liked to know what I was getting into and where I was going before I undertook the journey. Any kind of advantage was better than none at all.
“All loaded and secure Fenixx,” Eddy yelled out to me, bringing me back, “do you need me to drive the truck?”
I thought for a minute on my next plan of attack. Spending time with Farron was my main goal, she was skittish like one of Blake’s broken horses. Whether that was from her ex was still yet to be determined, but I didn’t like the thought that she could be frightened by me.
I had to go slow, let her see that I wasn’t about anything other than getting to know her. Patience was something I had an abundance of, sitting and waiting in my DNA.
“Nah, it’s cool mate, just let me go tell Farron I am set to go,” I said, looking over at her and seeing that she was scowling at me, her lips moving as if she was muttering to herself.
Holding in my laughter, I made a mental note to ask Ma what she said to
get my girl’s beautiful browns glaring at me that way.
Vaulting off the back of the flatbed, I smirked at the way her hand landed on her chest just over her heart. Even from this distance I could see her chest move rapidly in and out.
“You are so interested, Ms Hill,” I declared softly, “and so am I.”
If I was being honest, I loved that Farron liked looking at me. I couldn’t get away from the fact that my brothers and I were good looking, our faces came with our bodies, sticking us with the attention we garnered from the female population.
Never once had I ever felt the need to preen under the scrutiny until now.
Adding a little more swagger in my hips, I made my way over to the beauty sitting nervously on a hay bale.
“All loaded up, my lady. You set to go, or do you have time to take a look around?” I asked, hoping that she wanted to stay.
“Um, I better get moving. The restaurant is being handled by my manager today until the dinner shift, but I want to get home and get to some housework.”
“Righto, maybe another day?” Hope spewed from me, and I didn’t give a fuck if I sounded like a desperate fool. I wanted to spend more time with her, here or at her place made no never mind.
“Well … your mum kind of invited Dillion and I to come over and use the farm’s facilities.” She hedged, looking at me with some trepidation, but it was her bottom lip in between her teeth that stirred my aching cock to a full-blown boner. Fuck, I wanted to feel those teeth graze lightly down my shaft then have her wet tongue drag along the sting soothingly.
A small gasp of shock left Farron’s pouty lips, her eyes glued to my bulging crotch, and that fucking sexy pink stain was back again.
Smirking like the arsehole I was, I didn’t even bother trying to will my cock back under control. I wanted her to know that I wanted her, wanted her to start to get used to what was going to be hers.
“So, Ma beat me to it, did she? The woman doesn’t know how not to interfere,” I told her, smiling, no heat in my words at all. My mother was the most important person in my world. Growing up the way I did, she and I spent so much time together, and it created an unbreakable bond, much like the one my brothers and I shared.
Some called me a Mumma’s boy, and I didn’t give a fuck. The woman deserved a medal for the love she showered on the three of us. And for putting up with Will!
“She seems to think that there is something …” Farron paused, her lips thinning and her brows scrunching together as if she was in the middle of a mental argument with herself, “no, it doesn’t matter, let’s get these ovens back to my place shall we?” Her voice firm and not inviting me to continue the conversation.
Well, fuck that.
Stepping closer to her, I reached out and with my finger, slipped a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. The softness of that one strand almost made me weep with the need to plough my entire hand into her hair just so I can feel it in all its sexy glory.
I’d never considered hair sexy before, but Farron’s dark mahogany short curls were most definitely very sexy. If memory served, I remember Makena once describing a similar style on an actress as bed hair.
And fuck if my sister-in-law wasn’t right because that was exactly how Farron looked–like she rolled right out of bed after being well and truly loved.
Just like that, the smirk fell off my face and I replaced it with a scowl. I was still to find out if Farron was still seeing that tickturd from Mansfield. Her rolling out of bed with anyone but myself did not please me one bit.
Before I could stop myself, the question slipped out in an angry rush.
“You still seeing that auctioneer?”
“Pardon?”
“The wanker from Mansfield, you still seeing him?” I asked again, the arsehole in me well and truly in control.
“Well, not that it is any of your business, but no. We went out a couple of times, but neither of us were feeling it,” she replied in a sassy huff that made my dick twitch.
“Feeling it? You let him touch you?” I growled out, rage boiling my blood at the mere thought.
“My god Nixx, what is wrong with you? How is this any of your concern? Me touching someone, or vice versa, shouldn’t mean anything to you.”
Quicker than I could blink, I had her face cupped in my hands, her soft cheeks a stark contrast to my work-roughened hands.
“I don’t like thinking about some guy touching you, and I really don’t like thinking about the other thing you said.” My voice was rough, and my jaw was clenching so hard it was a wonder my teeth weren’t turning to dust.
Brown eyes looked back at me, wide and shocked, but there was a cloud of desire sitting front and centre in her orbs.
“Oh,” she breathed, her lips once again being trapped between her teeth.
Running my thumb down the apple of her cheek, I slipped it over her mouth and gently pulled the luscious morsel of flesh free.
One day soon, I am going to bite that lip.
“Yeah. Oh.”
***
I freaked her out. When we arrived back at her place after driving less than thirty kilometres an hour due to the heavy load and potholes littered all over the dirt back road, Farron practically jumped out of her car and bolted for the back gate that led to her house. I had already called her during the drive to ask if I could use her car to hitch up the trailers to so I could get them off the flatbed, she tossed the keys at me over her shoulder as she raced past me to get away.
“Fucking idiot Hott,” I muttered, angrily releasing the hitch on the trailer from the tow-ball and pushed it back into position with the other two ovens. Farron had an open carport type structure where she housed the ovens. While Cattle Ridge was generally a safe place and relatively free of crime, six months ago changed my mind on that after a band of rough riders took up a money offer to run the brumbies off Triple H land. The plan didn’t work, thanks to Blake, who acted on her love of the wild horses. Her stupid yet heroic act saved them from being shot off one by one, but unfortunately, it also resulted in Hendrixx being shot. It all worked out in the end, but fuck me, it could have turned out a whole lot differently. A person we considered a mate turned on us.
I was yet to catch up with Dusty and ask him what the fuck he had been thinking going out to run down the mob for some quick cash. Lenoxx and I managed to talk Hendrixx out of kicking his arse, but Dusty’s time was rapidly coming to an end. He needed to explain and it better be a fucking good one.
Casting a critical eye over the structure, I mentally noted what I would need to make it more secure. Farron was most likely going to argue with me, but what the hell ever. She worked hard for her livelihood and the last thing she needed was some arsehole nicking her shit.
The sound of the back gate opening had me looking up to see Farron standing there with two coffee mugs in one hand and a plate of something that looked like mini pizzas in the other.
“Hey, would you like something to eat and drink?” she offered quietly, suddenly looking very unsure of herself.
Did I do that to her with my bullish tactics back at the HHH? Fuck me, how did I make it this far in life and not know a single thing about women?
Dusting my hands off on my jeans, I hurried to grab a mug before she bolted on me again.
“Thanks, I am hungry,” I told her, reaching for one of the small muffin-sized treats that were covered in shredded ham and olives. Walking over to her ute, I placed the plate inside the back then deftly unlocked the tailgate and smiled at her.
“Join me … please?”
Farron’s head dropped slightly in a nod, a small smile that looked more like a grimace followed, but she walked forward, put down the plate and cup, then hoisted herself backward and sat down.
Sighing with relief, I did the same.
“We need—”
“I’m sorry I—”
Both of us started at the same time, both of us laughing at the sudden awkwardness that was between us.
“Y
ou go,” I offered, taking a bite of the pizza and moaning at the explosion of flavours that were bursting on my tongue.
Fuck, my woman could cook!
Acutely aware that Farron was nervous and staring at me, I concentrated on eating the pizza and sipping my coffee in an effort to give her time to get more comfortable around me. Giving up on the idea of being together was not an option for me, so compromise was the next best thing.
I was halfway through the second pizza when she finally spoke up.
“Nixx, you have been coming into the restaurant for a whole year and some months and you never speak to me at all,” she began, “you give an extravagant tip each time before you leave, no mention of it, no hello or good-bye. Then today at the farm, you turn into something completely different. I am confused Fenixx.”
“Nixx,” I growled, “only call me Nixx. And I get that my behaviour has been strange, today and for the past year, all I know is I am done with wasting time. I want us to get to know each other Farron. See if we can be more than friends.”
When she called me Nixx back at the farm, my dick and heart went into hyper-drive. Normally I answered either or names, but hearing the shortened version from her lips drove me wild with need and lust.
“Then there is your growl, Nixx you sound … possessive. And that is crazy because I am not anything to you. And can’t be.”
“Why the fuck not?” I shouted louder than I should have but hearing her say that she was nothing pissed me the fuck off. She was so much, so goddamn much and more.
Farron tossed me a look that basically said I was a moron. Holding up a hand, she started to tick off each and every problem she saw.
“Oh, gee Nixx, let’s see. Apart from the fact today is the first time you have ever spoken to me, and then there is the fact that I run a seven day a week business. Financially we are worlds apart, I am divorced with a fourteen-year-old son and—” Farron ticked off her one more finger with a flourish, “ I am older than you! It would be inappropriate for us to do anything with each other.”
Hott and Handled (The Hott Brothers Book 3) Page 3
