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“Because you should stay away.” He didn’t even hesitate with his response.
“Why.” Not a question.
“Because they’ll tell you that I’m dangerous. Trouble. Unpredictable and uncontrollable.”
“And are you those things?”
“Oh, sweetheart.” That killer grin of his flashed again. “I am all of those things and more.”
“You’re trying to scare me.”
“You mean you aren’t the kind of woman who falls for the bad guy? With your obsession for killers, I am shocked.”
Was he mocking her? Avalon’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have an obsession with killers.”
He stared straight into her eyes. Seemed to stare straight into her soul. “We all have our obsessions.”
“Oh, really? What’s your obsession?”
“You.”
The room seemed to shrink. Or maybe he just got bigger. It also got hotter. “That’s...a joke.”
“But you don’t know me well enough to determine when I’m joking.”
“I know you well enough to say that you’re not obsessed with me!”
“I’m obsessed with keeping you safe.”
And he sounded as if he meant that. Beau looked as if he did, too. The hard features of his face appeared dead serious. “Why?”
“You ask that a lot.”
“Side effect of my job. I always want to understand motivations. You understand motivations, and you might be able to stop the crimes. The killers.” Wasn’t that the whole reason she did what she did? Not like she enjoyed sitting across the table from sadistic killers who made her stomach twist and her fingers tremble. But the more you knew about monsters, the better you could control them. Stop them.
Maybe even change them?
“I like your optimism.” He swung away.
Before she could stop herself, her right hand flew out and curled around his upper arm.
Heat. It lanced up her fingers, chased across her arm, and drove straight to her core. People talked about electric attractions, but this was different. It was more of a primitive heat that flared between them. No denying. No pretending. When he looked at her and his pupils flared, she knew he felt the awareness, too. “Where are you going, Beau?”
“I do have a home.” His head tilted. “Unless you’re inviting me to stay with you?”
“Of course, not!”
“Well, that was certainly a fast no. Don’t worry about hurting my pride. I’m a big boy.”
Yes, she could see that. “We…I…I don’t have sex with strangers.”
How could dark eyes heat so much? “But I’m not a stranger.”
In that instant, facing off against him was more intimidating—in a way different manner—than sitting across the table from Everett Thomas had been.
“Don’t worry.” Soft. “I wasn’t asking for sex. When I do, you’ll know.”
Her hands went to her hips. “Then what did you mean?”
