I stumble across the biggest, scowliest, and scary-hot man I’ve ever laid eyes on, and he wants my head speared on a pike.
God help me, I can’t stopstaring.
Broad shoulders.
Short, dark hair and sensual scruff around a mouth pinned into a violent, flat line. Cheekbones made to cut you to ribbons.
His face has a craggy look, Henry Cavill-level on the hotness meter. No baby-faced, sweet-eyed celebrity here. He’s all storming testosterone and bristling muscle.
And boy is hepissed.
2
THIS OLD HOUSE (KANE)
What thefuckam I looking at?
No, more like who?
This strange woman folds her arms as she stares up at me in shock. Sophie’s still behind her on the floor, giving me that kicked puppy look I know too well.
There’s murder in my veins, even if the intruder looks harmless enough.
What the hell is she doing in my rental, grabbing my daughter?
The second I heard my little girl scream, I came running like any father tuned to his kid’s distress call.
Now, I’m ready for war to protect her, if that’s what it takes.
“Don’t move,” I bark at the stranger.
Her face tightens.
At least she listens, allowing me to storm past her and take Sophie’s hand. I get her off the floor and shield her behind me.
“What the hell are you doing here? What did you do to my daughter?” I demand, sizing the woman up, raking my gaze over her.
Her blue eyes flash with anger.
For a second, I realize she’s young, maybe double Sophie’s age.
She’s also effortlessly gorgeous, even without makeup. The oversized shades perched above her eyes push her bright blonde hair back from her face.
Her jeans are faded, clinging to shapely legs and hips designed for sin.
In another life, I might keep staring, drinking her in like the tall sip she is.
But in this one, where I’m a father, this prowler has hell to pay.
“Well? Talk,” I demand.
She clears her throat loudly.
“First off, I didn’t doanythingto your daughter. Oh, besides break her fall when she came tumbling down the stairs. You’re welcome,” she adds, rolling a shoulder.
She winces, sucking in a sharp breath.
I don’t feel sorry for her.
