The ire in his eyes and the twist of his soft lips was even more annoying than him being the murderer of my flowers. What annoyed me the most was how my body was responding to him. My eyes seemed locked on his mouth, the swell of hunger unnatural as could be. Yet my pussy was wet, my lacy thong damp and my pulse racing.
“I belong here.” My God, by the sound of my voice, I might as well have stamped my skate on the ice.
When he took a deep whiff, I shuddered inwardly. If the bastard said a single word about my horrible condition, I would knock him out cold.
The bastard kept his smile, his eyes now twinkling as if knowing the uncomfortable condition I was in. Oh, I wanted to slap him hard. Maybe I would.
“Oh, yeah?” he asked while scanning the perimeter. “Says who? For all I know, you broke in and are stealing time on the ice. Maybe I should contact the police.”
The man had managed to crawl so far under my skin he was peeking out through my mouth. I was so angry, spots formed in front of my eyes and for the first time, my comeback wasn’t quick enough.
Which allowed him time to head toward the maintenance offices. Which then prompted me to yank him backward. He careened into me, forced to grip my arms.
And when he did, another shot of electricity tore through every muscle.
He obviously noticed it too, his eyes opening wide. “A little con artist.”
“Not true. Maybe you’re the con artist, casing my neighborhood.”
His laugh was more of a snort. “Yeah, well, not much of a neighborhood to case for jewels or anything.”
Was he making fun of me? “I’ll have you know I have plenty of cool stuff to steal. Plenty.”
My words continued to amuse him, his face lighting up. He was far more handsome than I’d thought before, in a rough and tumble way. He was one big guy with a goofy smile and the most engaging eyes I’d ever seen.
But I wasn’t going to be fooled by the man. Nope.
“That was shitty of me. Your house is pretty.”
“Uh-huh. So why were you there killing plants?”
“You are never going to let me live that down. Are you?”
I thought about his question and answered honestly. “No. Why were you in my quaint neighborhood other than to irritate me?”
He almost took the bait and I could feel inner turmoil deep within. When he answered, the strange moment of seriousness surprised me. “Looking for a place to live. The house next to you is for rent.”
“Great. So I might have an offensive Zamboni dancing menace and flower killer as my next-door neighbor?”
The sweep of sadness that had appeared on his face surprised me. Something or someone had hurt him. Now, why did I care? It wasn’t like we were going to be friends.
“Nah. I’ll find another place, so you don’t need to worry about running into me after whatever heist you pull off.” His goofiness returned, but the haunted look in his eyes remained.
The last thing I wanted to do was tell him the little deal I’d made with arena management since I worked here as well.
“Don’t look so terrified, flower worshiper. Your secret is safe with me. I doubt you’re going to steal anything.”
“Very funny. Do you actually work here?” My question was more of a demand. Why was I so attracted to him? There was no rhyme or reason, but I touched my lips again, which felt as if still swollen after the rough kiss.
The bastard was paying close attention to what I was doing. Of course he was. After another smirk, he took a deep breath, half choking when he expelled it. “Yeah, I do.”
“Oh. Well, maybe I’ll stop coming here.”
“Very funny.” We stood a foot from each other, the strange awkwardness unexpected.
“You’re not sick, are you? You almost fainted.”
It was my turn to laugh. “No, I’m not sick. You don’t need to worry that I’ve given you some horrible disease.”
