Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1)(30)
Author: Katie McGarry

She’s a little late with that threat because it already does, but a sinking sensation suggests that she’s going to make things even worse.

Emily

“GET BACK IN the office.” Oz towers over me as if his mere massive height and thick shoulders would freak me out into complying, but after hearing what Eli said, Oz sort of resembles a kitten with his hair spiked along his arched back.

“And if I don’t, what are you going to do?” I probably shouldn’t smirk while saying that, but I can’t help it. This is too good to pass up. According to Eli, the big bad Oz has to listen to poor defenseless me.

Oz leans down and his powerful gaze hypnotizes me. “Are you begging me to put my hands on you to move you? Because I will. We already established last night that the two of us are three seconds away from tearing each other’s clothes off.”

My entire body runs hot. “We did not establish anything.”

He smiles. It’s not happy. It’s not mean. It’s a promise of a million things I’ve never experienced and it’s the sexiest sight I’ve seen in my life. “We established a lot last night and we’re going to establish a few more things now. If you don’t get back in that office, I will not only put my hands on your body, I will also lift you off the floor, toss you over my shoulder and carry you against me until we’re in a room…alone…with a closed door behind us.”

My mouth goes dry and yet I’m able to say the words, “You don’t tell me what to do.”

Oz reaches out and does exactly what he warned he would. His hands land on my hips and I suck in a sharp breath. Strong hands. Warm fingers. And they gently press past my jeans and into my flesh. A tug on my belt loops and in a swift motion, Oz drags me into him so that my body is flush with his. Heat curls along my skin and I have to fight from shutting my eyes with the sweet thrill.

The scent of burning embers overwhelms my senses. His thumb sneaks above the hem of my tank and I shiver with the swipe against my bare skin.

“Next step is to pick you up, Emily. Your body sliding against mine and when that happens I’m seriously going to want to kiss you. Is that what you want?”

Yes.

I blink.

No.

Definitely no.

With a half-numb brain, I shift back and Oz releases his grip. He inclines his head to the office and I half walk, half stumble into it. When I’m in, I slump into a chair.

“Glad we found a solution to the problem.” Oz cocks his hip against the closed door and folds his arms over his chest.

I knead my eyes to wipe away the stupor. “We didn’t find a solution to anything. I want to hear what Eli has to say to my parents.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Yes, it is, or I’ll tell Eli that you made me sad. I overheard what he said to you. You’re not officially a part of this Boy Scout troop and if you want in then you have to make me happy.”

His eyes narrow. “What are you going to do? Lie? You better think of a plausible way I made you unhappy because complaining that I kept you in here will add gold stars to my name.”

This idea sounded fantastic at the time, but I’m evidently not diva enough to pull it off. Sarcasm I can do. Lying isn’t my style. “I want to talk to Eli.”

“You can’t. He’s in Church.”

My eyebrows raise. “He’s where?”

“Church,” Oz repeats. “Our chapter’s board and the Lanesville board are meeting. There’s no disrupting them.”

“What if I’m bleeding?”

“You aren’t.”

“What if I need to go to the bathroom?”

“Not falling for it.”

“Please. I have a million unanswered questions and I want to hear what Eli has to say.”

Oz lazily shrugs one shoulder up and then down. “Not my problem.”

“Sneak me out. I’ll never tell.”

“You telling isn’t the problem.” There’s a serious set to his face that captures my attention. “If Eli asks if I kept you in this room, I need to answer him point-blank yes. Part of being in this club is keeping my word and answering honestly when asked.”

“I hate you,” I mumble.

“Works for me,” says Oz.

I grab a magazine off the desk and yank it open. Of course, it’s full of motorcycles and I flinch. Inside I’m screaming. Naked girls. Very, very naked girls strewn across motorcycles. I toss it onto the desk like it was infested with bugs. Which it probably is. The type of bugs that give venereal diseases. “Classy.”

“It’s a good issue,” Oz says. “And you didn’t even get to the good part.”

“The fascinating articles?”

“No.” His mouth tilts in this teasing way. “The centerfold.”

The centerfold. Gah. “And you didn’t even get to the good part,” I whisper in a high-pitched mock.

Oz actually gives a good-natured chuckle and I’ll be damned if I don’t smile in response.

“I don’t understand it,” I say without thinking.

“What?”

I pause, but decide to continue. I’ll never see him again after today. “Why you make me feel comfortable.”

Lines bunch together on Oz’s forehead as he studies me. “Comfortable?”

I flex my toes in my sandals. “I don’t normally push at guys like I do with you.”

“I have a hard time believing that. Next you’ll claim you’re shy.”

A sardonic twist of my lips. “I’m not shy.”

“No shit.”

I giggle, he grins, then I sigh. Heavily. The events of the past twenty-four hours catch up to me. Being ripped away from my parents, some illegal motorcycle club at the motel, Olivia telling me that my life is a lie, trying to please Eli, the guilt of not pleasing Eli, the anger at Eli… A choking sensation squeezes my throat and I scratch my neck as if I could tear away the invisible noose.

“You okay?” Oz asks.

No. I’m not okay. All of this chaos threatens to follow me home. I’m happy at home. Content. And this visit from hell is going to mess with that.

Olivia said my life is a lie and there’s this dark suspicion that if I ask my mother for the truth, she won’t give it to me. An ache courses through me and my shoulders curve in with it. I’ve never doubted my mother before. Never. The pain that a few hours can shake my faith in her is too much to bear.

A slight, distant feminine voice rises up from the vent below my feet. My skin prickles. She’s here. My mother’s here. I stand and Oz pushes off the door, his eyes narrowed. “Emily, are you okay?”