“A space rogue?”
He nodded. “A phenomenal one, at that.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Space Rogue Phenom? Really? Maybe I should call you SRP.”
His dark eyes glittered as though I’d just thrown down a gauntlet, and he was more than ready to pick it up. “Only if you want me to call you RLCA.”
Don’t ask. Don’t ask.“And what’s that?”
“Rosy Lips, Cute Ass.”
I stared at him, my heart going berserk in my chest. He stared back.
His brow suddenly furrowed. “Holy shit, you’re turning bright red.” He looked pissed off again. “Doesn’t anyone ever flirt with you? You married or something?”
He sounded aggravated on all counts, as though he thought it was horrifying that no one ever flirted with me, and even more horrifying that I might be married.
He also seemed concerned that I was so obviously flustered, while at the same time, he was the one who had been completely provoking in the first place. The whole thing just flushed me hotter—and I’m sure turned me redder.
Despite having declined a few offers here and there, I hadn’t felt this aware of male appreciation in more than seven years. Well, there had been Dagger Bently, but scrubbing off his lewd looks and comments with industrial-strength prison soap sure didn’t count.
“No. And no,” I finally answered, my voice sounding as though it grated across sandpaper in my throat.
He watched me for a moment from under lowered brows, and then, thankfully, Shade Ganavan, Space Rogue, let the subject drop.
“So what happened to your ship?” he asked, nodding vaguely toward where I thought the Squirrel Tree must have been from here. “The Dark Watch blow it full of holes?”
Nerves exploded inside me. It was a joke. He was joking. I forcibly calmed my racing heart. “Unexpected asteroid belt.”
“You fire your navigator for that?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t her fault.”
He nodded, his hands moving to his hips. I noticed scars on his knuckles and wondered how many times he’d split his skin open punching someone in the face. I had a few of those myself. Prison brawls. They happened.
For his part, Shade Ganavan watched me like a hawk, and I wasn’t quite sure why. I could tell he was interested, but this seemed to go beyond normal awareness. I could have sworn he took in my every blink and breath.
Finally, he said, “I might not have the metal you need for a few days, sugar.”
“You might not have your tongue if you call me ‘sugar’ again.”
His expression flared with a heat I felt branch out into every part of me. The man definitely liked to be provoked, and for some reason, I liked provoking him. I think I even liked it when he provokedme.
His countenance changed suddenly, sharpening. “You know how to carry through on a threat?” he asked quietly.
I frowned. “Youwantme to slice out your tongue?”
“I want to know if your sharp edges can actually cut.”
“Why?” He’d lost me. Was this kinky talk, and I wasn’t getting it? I wasn’t a virgin or totally inexperienced. There had been Gabe. But then he’d run one way that day and I’d run the other, and we’d never seen each other again.
Shade’s voice came to me on a low whisper over the tinkling of the bell I’d just noticed, but there was nothing seductive about it. “Because the Dark Watch just followed you into my shop.”
Chapter 6
Panic iced me over, andI froze. It couldn’t be. How did they know?
“Who?” I mouthed more than said aloud.
