“Oh my God!” She jumps at my unexpected presence, and her hand grasps at air, trying to hold and slow the rapid breath in her chest. The space between us fills with warm fog from the extra exhalation, and her pulse thrums noticeably in her trim neck.
My mouth waters. Much like pheromones, her blood calls to me.
I avert my eyes from the tempting vibration and pretend to inspect her tire that I don’t need to inspect at all. I already know who and how and why.
“You’ve got a flat.”
“W-where did you come from?” she asks, her voice squeaking. “Why are you here?”
I don’t answer.
If I explain why I’m here, I don’t get to stay quiet—and quiet is the only thing keeping this from turning into something that draws attention.
I run my fingers along the rubber, finding the puncture I already spotted across the parking lot. It’s small and clean and deliberate.Straight from a blade, not bad luck.
My jaw tightens. “It’s definitely flat,” I say, forcing my voice to stay even. “You’re going to need a spare.”
“That’s so weird,” she says. “It was fine when I parked.”
Yes, itwasfine until it wasn’t, because someone made it that way.
Holland and his goons are close by now; I can feel their presence behind me.
“What’s going on? Everything okay?” Holland asks, voice smooth in the way that’s meant to remind me of our disparity in rank and polite to make Kylie feel like his presence is one of comfort and care.
Kylie turns toward him, understandably confused about where we’ve all come from. “I think I’ve got a flat.”
“No kidding,” he says, stepping closer. “That’s rough. It’s pretty late, Kylie. You want me to give you a ride home?”
There it is.Comfort and care and concern.A certified knight in shining armor. Too bad she can’t see his fucking fangs.
“That’s really sweet of you, Holland, but I can’t leave my car here all night. I need it for work in the morning.”
“I’ll call one of my guys,” Holland offers, completely ignoring my presence. “He’ll get it fixed and make sure it’s in your driveway by sunrise.”
I straighten slowly—primarily for Kylie’s benefit so I don’t frighten her more than she already is—standing and letting my six-foot-six frame tower over his much smaller one as I position myself between them.
“I’ve got it,” I say. “Changing to the spare won’t take more than ten minutes.”
Holland’s smile tightens. His gaze searches my face, disdain and irritation bristling in the depths of his cold, dead eyes, but I don’t budge.
Try me, you piece of shit. I’ll tear your fucking head off.
Eventually, he looks back to Kylie with a refined smile plastered across his lips, undoubtedly aimed at broadening the gap between our personalities to win the tug-of-war on Kylie’s instincts.
He’s soft and I’m hard, he’s nice and I’m short-tempered, he’s rich and I’m poor.Anything to stack the deck in his favor.
“You sure?” he asks her. “Ten minutes seems like an eternity when you’re freezing in the cold. It wouldn’t be a problem at all to give you a lift, Kylie. Really. I’d be happy to do it.”
“I said I’ve got it,” I repeat. “If she’s cold, she can wait in the car or the rink.”
For a split second, something sharp flashes in his eyes, but just as quick as it came, it disappears, relegating me to the category of a simple nuisance. He doesn’t see me as a real threat, and that’s his biggest mistake of all.
Kylie blinks between us until her eyes settle on me. She doesn’t understand why, but she trusts me more than him, regardless of the seemingly numerous reasons not to.
“Well…thank you, Rook. The spare would be great. Much more convenient in the end, I think. And thanks for the offer, Holland. Truly. It’s kind of you.”
I’m fucking proud of her for following her intuition.
