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Growls weren’t sexy. She’d certainly never found them to be. Until now. Dammit.
Beau stalked back toward a narrow hallway. Then turned into an office. His hold on her never wavered. With quick steps, she crossed the threshold. He slammed the door shut and used his grip to immediately haul her against the wall.
Where he proceeded to cage her with his muscled body.
Oh, boy.
Her breath heaved. Her hands rose to press lightly to his chest. Yep, lots of muscles. Incredible power. And the way he was glaring? She might have been afraid were it not for two important points.
Point one. She spent her days and nights talking to the most sadistic serial killers out there. As far as she knew, Beau was no killer. He was a bar owner.
Point two? He’d saved her life when she’d been a teen. People who saved you didn’t typically turn around and hurt you. At least, she certainly hoped they didn’t.
“What the hell kind of game are you playing?” Beau gritted out.
Her brow furrowed. “What makes you think I’m playing?” The kiss had been dead serious. Way better than her teenage fantasies. Should she mention those fantasies? Tell him how many times she’d thought of him over the years?
One day, he’d been recovering in the hospital.
The next…
He’d been gone. And no one had any clue how he’d vanished. She’d been left standing there, holding a bouquet of silly flowers that she’d bought for him, and Beau had been nowhere to be found.
“You waltz into my bar…”
Right, his bar. Which did bring her back to the serial killer problem she faced.
“And you come straight to me. You kiss me.” He glared. As if she’d committed some horribly vile offense.
She waited and restrained herself from pointing out that he had kissed her back. After a tense moment or two.
A muscle flexed along his jaw. What a jaw. Square and covered with a light layer of stubble.
“Avalon.”
The way he said her name sent a shiver over her. She realized that she was supposed to respond. She wasn’t normally one to stay in silence. Fast retorts were her specialty. But never in a million years had she expected to find her hero that night. “Ah, that was…an incredible recap,” she finally told him. “Top notch.”
His eyes narrowed even more. “I don’t play games with bored debutantes.”
“Oh. That hurts.” It actually kind of did. Sure, he didn’t know her, but…still. “First, I’m not bored. I don’t get bored. I find ways to amuse myself. I’ve always thought life is too short to waste being bored.”
“So what am I? Your latest amusement?”
Not at all. “You’re the man I’ve been searching for since I was a teenager.”
Yep, that shut him up. He looked down, seemed to realize he was, in fact, caging her tightly. Hotly.
“So…” Her voice came out rather like an invitation. Whoops. Oh, well. “Either kiss me again or give me some space. It’s a little hard to think clearly when your past comes racing back at you,” Avalon told him. She meant those words. He had completely thrown her off. Because when she’d known him before, LeBlanc had not been the last name he’d given at the hospital. So she’d walked into the bar, expecting to gear up for a question-slash-grilling session with the owner and staff. But when she’d spotted him through the crowd, her world had turned upside down.
Of all the bars, what are the odds that I find him? Now?
“You don’t want me to kiss you again.” His eyes were on her mouth.
“What makes you so sure?” Her right hand rose and pressed to the stubble along his jaw. “I was the one who kissed first a few minutes ago. You were the one all stiff and cold. Took a bit to thaw you out. But I finally managed to get the job done.”
Lightning fast, one of his hands rose and curled around her wrist. “This is the last warning I’ll give you. Don’t play with me.”
His hold was tight, but not at all painful. As if he had complete control of his strength. Good to know.
