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Not like the man spent his days and nights playing guardian angel for her. Until that very night, their paths hadn’t crossed in years. So why was she reacting this way to him? What was wrong with her?
Maybe it’s the adrenaline. Or the fear. Or the crazy attachment I’ve always felt to him.
“You’re pissed at me.” Beau winced. “You’re glaring, so it’s pretty obvious.”
Actually, yes, she was angry. Add that to her mix of emotions. “You asked me to lie to the cops. I don’t like lying to police officers.” It was not her standard mode of operation. “Call me crazy, but it feels criminal. Considering I was the victim, lying didn’t make sense.”
He nodded. “I can see that point of view.”
He could? How wonderful. “Talk.”
“I thought we were.” A little furrow—a damn, oddly cute furrow—appeared between his brows.
“Beau.”
“Yes, Avalon?”
She huffed out her breath and strained to keep the little bit of patience that she had left. “How the hell were you at my house?”
“Simple.” A nod. “Try not to get angrier, though, would you?”
“I make no promises. Spit it out.”
“I followed you.”
Goose bumps rose onto her arms. “Say that again.” Wait. Did she want him to say it again? Maybe she wanted to have misunderstood.
“I. Followed. You.” Very clear. No way to misunderstand. His hands fell to his sides. He took a step toward her.
Instinctively, she took a step back.
“Easy.” Soft. As if he were speaking to some sort of frightened animal.
Her eyes narrowed at that particular word. “I don’t see anything easy about this situation. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ve just been told that you followed me to my home. Why in the world would you do that?” And, P.S., she never liked anyone telling her to be easy or to settle down or any of that shit. Phrases like that tended to be the equivalent of waving a red flag right in front of her face.
“One of my bouncers informed me that you had left the bar alone. While the city is certainly gorgeous, danger still waits in the dark. I wanted to be sure that you made it to your destination safely.”
“Isn’t that going a bit above and beyond for a woman you barely know?”
He shrugged. “It was a slow night until you arrived. Not like I had anything better to do.”
He was straight-up lying to her. “There wasn’t any danger waiting.”
A burst of laughter escaped him.
The laughter was oddly warm and deep, and she wanted to hear it again. “Fine,” Avalon bit out. “There wasn’t any danger waiting until I actually got home.” Then there had been plenty of danger.
But he was shaking his head. “You barely escaped a mugging on McGregor.”
Her brows shot up. “What?”
“Don’t worry. I convinced the gentleman of the error he’d nearly made. He shouldn’t be troubling anyone for a while.”
“Not troubling anyone for a while…” Avalon licked lips that felt suddenly parched. “Want to translate that for me?” She was suddenly very conscious of each hard beat of her heart. Impossible not to be when the pounding seemed to echo in her ears.
“Not particularly. He didn’t hurt you. He won’t hurt anyone else. That a good enough translation?”
Her hand pressed to her chest. Her heart raced so fast and hard she just had to make sure it wasn’t about to lunge out. “You stopped me from being attacked near McGregor.” That was what he was telling her?
