Getting Rowdy

Meaning they’d ended up separated after all? It felt like her heart shattered. “I’m so sorry.”

“I covered our trails the best I could...” He locked his jaw and turned away. “But not good enough, since Logan Riske still found us.”

Logan, the detective his sister fell in love with, and vice versa. “I thought that was a good thing.”

“They’re in love. But it could have easily gone south, without the happy ending.”

Avery tried to take it in, but it wasn’t easy. “You said you won a building in a card game?”

“I have all kinds of talents.” He slid a finger along the neckline of her shirt, seducing her almost out of habit. “Want me to show you a few?”

His resourcefulness, his dedication to his sister, astounded her. She tipped her head. “Have you ever been arrested?”

He blew out a breath, and for the moment at least gave up on his seduction. “A few times when I was underage. Shoplifting and stuff like that.”

She wanted to ask him what he’d stolen, but it didn’t matter. Survival. Somehow she knew whatever he’d taken had been inspired by need, not greed. “And since then?”

His smile hardened. “I’ve gotten better—at everything I do.”

Knowing the outrageous comment was meant to distract her, Avery snorted. She had a feeling Rowdy was more honest than most. “What sort of illegal stuff do you do now?”

He opened his hand on the side of her neck, bent to kiss her temple. “Whatever I have to.”

“To protect the people you love?”

“What the hell, Avery?” He sat back from her. “Don’t make me out a saint, okay?”

“I would never make that mistake.” Rowdy was better than a saint, more solid and real. An honest-to-God tough guy, here in the flesh. She’d take that over an ethereal saint any day.

No longer caring what Rowdy thought, Avery slipped her arms around his neck and nestled against him.

“Damn it.” He stiffened without returning her embrace. “Here I am, getting more turned on by the second, and you want to slap a halo on my head.”

With her nose pressed close to the skin of his throat, she breathed deep, filling herself with his potent scent. He smelled so good, felt even better, and she admired him so much. “A halo would never fit over your massive ego.”

It’d be so easy to fall in love with him—and that was a problem. Rowdy wasn’t an emotional man looking for commitment. For the most part, he was a loner with an overactive sex drive and a lack of respect for boundaries of any kind.

“True, so don’t act like I was noble or something.” He caught her shoulders and tried to pry her loose. Avery held on until he finally gave up. Tangling a hand in her hair, he gently drew her head back. “I fucked up, you know. Pepper and I ended up living off the grid for more than two years. It was hard on her—”

Avery touched her mouth to his, saying, “She’s alive.”

His breathing quickened. “Thank God.”

“Thank Rowdy.” Smiling, she brushed her mouth over his again. Her fingertips touched his now-bristly jaw, moved down to the side of his hot neck then under the neckline of his shirt to his solid shoulder. Need unfurled, but she sat back before she got carried away.

Rowdy looked stunned.

And interested.

She wanted more. So much more.

Did she dare take a walk on the wild side?

She had a feeling that Rowdy would be more than worth the risk. As long as she kept her heart safe, what was the worst that could happen?

No, she didn’t want to think about the worst. Not now.

With Rowdy watching her warily, she forced herself back on track. “Since your sister is happily settled here, you’re going to settle down, too?”

Apparently uneasy with the idea of settling down, he shifted his shoulders and glanced around at the apartment. “For now, at least.”

He didn’t sound entirely set on the idea. But he’d bought the bar, and she knew he loved working it. He couldn’t pick up and disappear without her knowing. “Can I ask you one more question before we go?”

“Do I actually have a choice?”

Beneath his teasing tone, she heard the agitation. He worried that she’d dig too deep, that something he said would drive her away.

He couldn’t know how much she wanted him, because she’d taken pains to hide it from him. Maybe it was time to stop doing that.

“I want to know everything about you.” For most of his life, choices had been taken away from him. She’d never do that to him. “But I won’t pry anymore if it bothers you.”

That surprised him, too. He scowled at her. “Let’s hear it.”

Enjoying him like this, in this particular humble, grumbling mood, she rested against his chest again. “You said you didn’t want to bring a casual hookup here.”

“It’s bad enough that the ladies in the building keep bugging me. Some women don’t know how to take no for an answer.”

Few men would complain about that situation. “So...why is it okay if I’m here?”

Avery felt his sudden stillness, heard the heavy thumping of his strong heart along with his softly muttered curse.

She stayed close, waiting.

He let out a strained breath. “With you, Avery, I never really know what the hell I’m doing.”

* * *

THE COLD NIGHT started to seep into his bones. All around him he heard unsettling noises that made him jumpy. He wouldn’t be surprised if murder and mayhem happened on a regular basis in such a downtrodden area. It was time for him to go home. He had what he needed now.

He knew where she worked, and he knew who she fucked.

Putting a plan in place would be oh-so-easy.

Soon, Avery, he silently promised. Very, very soon.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE MOON, combined with dashboard lights, sent a soft glow over Avery’s profile as he drove her home. His awareness of this one particular woman throbbed through his veins, leaving him on the ragged edge. It wouldn’t take more than a single agreeable look from her to get him hard.