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“You gonna tell me what you’re doing here?”
Even as he says it, he reaches one hand toward the glass shelf above his head. The motion pulls at the bottom of his t-shirt, revealing a strip of his lower abdomen. I try not to stare, forcing my eyes back to his face, where he’s smiling cockily down at me.
A movement behind Theo draws my attention. The little blonde woman is chatting animatedly with several women at the other end of the bar. She looks like sunshine and rainbows, a perfect fit with the Theodore Grady I knew in school. He was always quick to laugh, easy to talk to, and willing to help anyone in need. I was sure he would leave this shithole town the first chance he got, but something must have held him back.
My money is on the human-sized ball of kittens slinging shots at the other end of the bar. Which makes the way he’s looking at me right now a real fucking problem.
“I don’t owe you anything, Dickbag.”
He doesn’t miss a beat, sliding a half-full highball glass in my direction with a wicked grin. “Actually, you owe me twenty-nine dollars.”
“For a single pour of whiskey?”
“For a generous pour of the only whiskey up to your exceedingly high standards.”
My eyes narrow on his perfect fucking smile as I bring the glass to my lips. Sure enough, the whiskey goes down smooth and smokey, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes at him. “You don’t know me like that.”
Even his laughter is like fucking sunshine, warming me from the inside out, right along with the whiskey.
“I suppose you’re right,” he turns toward the shelves of liquor, placing the bottle back on the highest shelf. “It’s been a long time since you’ve graced Forest Falls with your presence. What brings the great and powerful Charity Lawson back to our humble streets?”
I hum around a mouthful of whiskey, rolling the bottom edge of the glass along the bar. “Nothing good ever brings people here.”
“Right again,” he agrees, leaning one hip against the ice chest on his side of the bar. “Tell me what terrible thing brought you here, and I promise to chase it back into the dark.”
Memories flash behind my eyelids, each one filled with a towheaded teenager, too tall for his own good and smiling brightly in the face of danger. Theodore Grady hasn’t run from anything in his life. He wouldn’t understand. Worse than that, he really would try to fix it for me. This isn’t the sort of thing one man can fix, even if he does look like he could crush a person’s skull with his bare hands. My eyes snap open, tracing the lines of muscle in Theo’s arms and chest, dipping down his abdomen to the place where his shirt barely meets the top of his jeans.
I need to get out of here before I do something stupid.
“Nothing worth worrying over.” Digging through my purse, I grab two twenty-dollar bills and drop them on the bar beside my empty glass. “Thanks for the drink, Dickbag.”
“You’re leaving?” There’s a sharpness to the question that surprises me. When I glance up again, he’s looking over his shoulder. The tiny blonde woman nods at whatever look he gives her, waving him away with an almost impatient hand. It screams domesticity, making me huff in annoyance at myself for drooling over this poor woman’s husband.
“I’ll walk you out.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I snap, internally berating myself when his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. It isn’t his fault he’s too attractive for my libido to get the message that he’s taken. “It’s not like I’m going to get lost on Main Street, Dickbag.”
“You’re not walking to your car alone at night,” he insists, reaching out to stop me when I take a step away from the bar. My entire body lights up at the contact, but his hand is gone before I can even register what’s happening. “This isn’t the same Forest Falls you grew up in, Viper.”
Something about his tone makes me think there’s more to the statement than he’s letting on. He doesn’t seem to want to elaborate, so I shrug, hoping he doesn’t hear the sadness in my voice when I say, “I forgot how volatile things are around here.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m around to remind you.” His tone is far too flirtatious for my liking, and I don’t know what to do with it. Before I can come up with a reason for him not to walk me to my car, he’s putting one massive hand on the bartop and vaulting over it like it’s a six-inch curb and not a three-foot-tall counter. I swear every woman in the bar sighs longingly when he lands beside me, but Theo doesn’t seem to notice. Instead, he’s looking around the stools with a furrowed brow. “Where’s your coat?”
“I don’t have one.”
“It’s freezing outside.”
Somehow, I don’t think telling him my only coats are lying in shreds on my apartment floor back in New York will make him feel better about the situation. “I left it in the car.”
Theo sighs, shaking his head as he mumbles something under his breath. He leans back over the bar, grabs a large grey ball of cloth from a hidden spot, and hands it to me. “Put this on.”
It’s a sweatshirt that has seen better days, but I don’t argue when I see the look in his eyes. The sweatshirt is barely over my head when I feel his hand on my lower back, steering me toward the front door.
“Where’s your car?”
“Around the corner,” I start in the direction of the car before I finish saying the words. Theo is on my heels the entire way, his presence like a physical touch on my skin. The moment I round the corner, I plan to dive into my car and speed away, but Theo stops me with a hand on my elbow.
“Why are you here, Viper?”
