The moment stretched on, and finally he broke eye contact. “Want me to beat the crap out of your ex and tell him to be nice to you on your new job? I’ve already been fired, so I don’t have anything to lose. I wouldn’t mind hitting somebody, actually.” Angus took another deep gulp of the whiskey.
She grinned. “No, but that’s a kind offer. We were a bad match from the start, and he wasn’t the nicest guy.”
Angus stiffened, the bottle still at his lips. Slowly, deliberately, he set it down next to him before facing her fully. “That’s a large statement from you. How bad did things get with him? I believe you said his name was Vaughn.” Intensity swirled around him with an intimidating flash of warmth.
She blinked. “Angus, I—”
“What, Nari?” He grasped her arm, his hold gentle but firm, conveying an insistence she felt to her toes. “What did he do?”
She couldn’t breathe. Angus in full-on, protective alpha mode should be a turnoff, but her breath quickened and her abdomen turned over. Where was the easy camaraderie they’d just enjoyed? She tried to diffuse him. “Nothing for you to get irritated about,” she croaked. Jeez. She needed to get herself under control before she just jumped the guy. “He was angry and called me a bad shrink and an emotional bitch.”
“I’d very much like to punch him now,” Angus drawled, his eyes a sharp emerald. “What’s his full name?”
“Why?” she asked.
He paused, his chin lifting. “So I can beat him until he begs.”
The idea perversely warmed her heart—as well as several other places on her body. “Oh yeah? Why?” she challenged, unable to think of another response. This was going somewhere she needed to avoid, but she couldn’t help herself. Didn’t really want to.
He paused. His jaw tensed.
She held her breath. Was he finally going to go there?
His nostrils flared the slightest amount. “We might have been disbanded, but until a few hours ago you worked for me. We were on the same team. I’ll take care of this guy.”
Her lungs deflated. “God, you’re a coward.” She pushed to her feet, shocked when he stood twice as fast.
“Think so?” He angled his body, putting her back to the wall. One of his hands flattened against the chipped paint right next to her face. Heat from his hard body washed over her, and the scent of whiskey filtered through her senses. “I’m doing the smart thing and you know it. We’re not good for each other.”
That was an understatement. With him standing so close, towering over her, bracketing her with his body, her mind struggled to stay in control. “You can’t hate everybody who knows psychology, Angus,” she murmured. “You have to stop pushing everyone away.”
He leaned in even closer, ducking his head to trap her gaze. “Baby, the last thing I want to do is push you away.”
Nobody in her entire life had called her “baby.” She should be insulted. Yet her knees wobbled and desire ripped through her system with a force that stole her voice. He was so much bigger than she, and even that thought spun hunger through her. What would it be like to unleash all that male strength and fire? Angus Force concealed his fire with sarcasm, dogged determination, and intense control. But it was there. Fire, anger, pain, humor, hope. The emotions were visible now in his eyes, fighting one another. Fighting him.
“Angus,” she whispered, feeling for him. Wanting to somehow ease him.
“Stop me, Nari.” He leaned closer, his lips almost on hers. Slow and deliberate. “Please. Stop me.”
She couldn’t. Instead, she closed her eyes and leaned toward him. The second his mouth touched hers, she realized her mistake.
Her body jolted and her mind went blank. Electricity zapped down her torso, landing at her core and spreading outward.
He growled, actually growled, and clamped his hand on the back of her head, kissing her so deeply she could only hold on for the desperate ride. His taste flooded her senses. Whiskey, male, anddanger. She’d known. The danger wasn’t all around him; it wasinhim.
She could taste it. Feel it. Drown in it.
Opening her mouth to take more of him, she grasped his waist to keep her balance. She dug her nails into his flanks, her mind spinning, moaning as his tongue swept along hers.
Angus devoured her like a drowning man seeking air.
His phone buzzed and he jerked. He drew air in through his nose, gentled the kiss, and ended it with a soft nip to her bottom lip.
He straightened, his eyes the color of a dark-green forest. Haunted and dangerous.
She blinked, rapidly trying to fill her lungs. What had just happened? Her lips tingled and her body ached. Heat spiraled into her face, but she still couldn’t move.
He drew the phone from his back pocket and glanced down to read the screen.
