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No, that wasn’t what he thought. He’d explained things to her. Tried to, anyway.
“You made me leave LeBlanc’s.” Avalon sat up in bed and pulled the sheet with her. “That was not an appropriate partner thing to do. We’d literally just had a conversation about working together. Then, bam, you throw me in the back of a car.”
He stepped to the side. The light poured through the doorway and fell on her. That was when he realized she wasn’t wearing anything beneath the sheet. Her shoulders were smooth. No shirt to cover her. No bra. No nightgown.
Silken skin.
“There was nothing there but fire.” His voice came out too rough yet again.
“Wrong. You were there.”
He took a step toward her. Caught himself. “The fire is contained. Wesley said the bar area itself was a total loss. Some of the offices and storage space on the first floor were salvaged. And Ophelia’s office on the second floor was mostly safe.”
Mostly.
Good thing she has backups of all her files at home.
“You’re safe,” Avalon said. “That’s what matters.”
What mattered to him was that she was safe.
And he took another step toward the bed.
“You can’t do this,” Avalon told him flatly. “You can’t.”
His body tightened as he took the rejection. You knew coming to her was a mistake. She doesn’t want to be with someone like you. “I was?—”
“You can’t say we’re partners in one breath, and then shove me in a limo and tell me to get my ass gone in another. That’s not how things will work between us. I’m not a sitting-on-the-sidelines type of person, and I told your buddy Royal that very fact.”
Yes, Royal had mentioned that detail to him. He’d also mentioned… “Royal told you to run from me.”
One hand held the sheet to her breasts. “I recall he mentioned that was an option, yes.”
“You aren’t running.”
“No. Actually, I was sleeping until about, oh, three minutes ago when a man slipped into my bedroom. Had a crazy moment when I first opened my eyes. I was terrified that someone was coming to hurt me.”
Shit. “I’m sorry?—”
“Then I realized it was you. What’s really crazy is that every time I get scared, or even worried or…hell, whenever I’m uncertain, I feel like you’re there.”
I am.
“I feel like you’re watching me or coming to get me and that everything is going to be fine. That I’m not alone.” She eased to the side of the bed. Swung her legs over. Kept the sheet. Most of the sheet. But he could see her trim calves. Her sexy thighs. “I think you’re a big red flag, Beau.”
He nodded. “Probably.”
Avalon rose. She pulled the sheet with her, and as she stalked toward him, the sheet trailed her like a wedding train. “I also think you’re a man I want very, very badly.”
“You attracted to red flags?”
“I’m attracted to you.” She stopped right in front of him. “Ground rules.”
Nope. “I’m not a rule type of guy. You must have me confused with someone else.”
“There is no confusing you with anyone else. An utter impossibility.”
“Now you’re just trying to stroke my ego.”
