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Unease filled me the moment I shut the car door Two ainst the wall of the pawnshop With a forced deters As I approached the eing my cotton sundress as they stripped hazes, I plastered a smile on my lips "Hello," I said softly As I reached for the door of the pawnshop, one of theback,to my mouth to stifle a scream He cocked his brows at entleman

Embarrassment flooded my cheeks at my over-the-top reaction "Thank you You’re very kind," I said as I hesitantly squeezed past his body into the shop My heels clacked along the floor, and I nervously fidgeted with the strap on ht, I didn’t see anyone behind the counter "Hello?" I called

A black curtain was shoved aside, and a tall, hulking ardless of his enormous size, the kind expression on his very handsome face ifor David Malloy"

Instead of shaking my hand, the man crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head at uarded tone hter, Willow, is in arten class She’s missed a lot of days of school, and I orried"

My response seemed to appease the man, because his muscular arms relaxed, and he finally offered me his hand "I’m Nathaniel Malloy, Willow’s uncle"

"Oh, it’s nice to meet you"

"Same to you Deacon--er, David--is actually at the clubhouse I can take you there"

The thought of entering the roadhouse alone made my skin crawl, so I was very thankful that Nathaniel was offering to take me After he came around the counter, he opened the door for me "Tiny, keep an eye on the shop, okay?" he ordered to the tallest and biggest of the guys A nervous giggle escaped my lips at the irony of thepresence soe hands and feet down to the musky smell that invaded my nose and messed with my senses If I hadn’t been so out of my eleh his faded jeans, tight black T-shirt, and arms covered in tattoos screamed bad boy But even in the few moments I had been with him, I could tell there was much entleman, not a hard-core biker "Willow doesn’t sayto school"

"She’s probably the brightest student in my class Besidesbehind afterher potential, I think she could easily skip to first grade at the halfway point in the year"

Nathaniel’s blue eyes widened "Really?"

I smiled "Yes, really"

"Deacon and our mom will be really pleased to hear that"

"Who is Deacon?"

Nathaniel grinned "That’s David’s nicknae pickup truck ruot out of the cab, he waved a brown envelope in his hand "Hey, Rev Can you come here for a sec?"