Once the driver’s side door of the cab has slammed shut and tires squeal as the coward flees, I glance at the girl I’ve been trying to catch for weeks on end.
Our eyes meet, hers wide, big, and jumping between mine... her lips are parted, swollen. Add the tears drying on her cheeks into the mix and that primal, feral darkness stirs inside me once more. So potent I can taste it.
An invisible hand appears on my back, pushing me forward to... I don’t really knowwhat.
Grab her? Hide her in my arms? Kiss her?
Maybe all the above.
But before I can, her features lose their softness, hardening under my gaze. She drops her hand, squares her shoulders, and lifts her chin, defiance bleeding into her features.
The sudden change freezes the unnamed warmth blooming inside me.
“You okay, Bianca?” I ask, confused by not only her behavior but also my own reactions.
She doesn’t frown at the sound of her name. She doesn’t look surprised. No, she looks... triumphant. “I’m fine.”
She didn’t seemfineten seconds ago. Far from it, but now she’s a brand-new person. No sign of the helplessness she displayed when exiting the cab. No tentative, charming delicacy. No uncertainty.
She’s cold, detached, and confident.
That’s hardly the reaction I expected. She doesn’t know me. Most girls would scurry away after witnessing that little power play between me and the cab driver. Some would breathe a theatrical sigh of relief at being rescued, some would swoon, others would wipe away relieved tears.
Bianca does none of that.
She stands her ground, unaffected, gaze almost challenging.
The initial heart-stuttering reaction I had to her pink-rimmed eyes and innocent face fizzles further.
“Why are you here?” I ask, my tone matching the hardness of her features.
“Looks like I found what I’ve been looking for.”
“The feeling’s mutual, trust me. While I do have at least nine more questions, I should take you to Carter. He’ll want to hear the answers.”
A small frown dents the space between her dark eyebrows, but that challenging edge doesn’t falter. “So, if you’re not Carter... Which one are you?”
“The one who’s been sitting in front of a laptop, trying to find you.” I reach for her luggage, expecting she’ll yank it out of my reach.
Wrong again. She goes rigid when I enter her personal space. Schooling her features, she exhales, lets her shoulders sag an inch, and hands the suitcase over willingly.
I’m in her space for three seconds tops, but the sweet scent of her body blasts a wave of heat through me, annihilating the cold chill she induced a moment ago. She smells like a day at the beach. Sea salt, coconut, some exotic flowers...
Turning abruptly to inhale the crisp evening air, I head for the club’s entrance, pulling her suitcase behind me, irritated by the confusing hot and cold.
“Oh, we’re walking, are we?” she mutters, falling into step beside me. “Ryder. Ryder Blackwood, is it? The tech whizz.”
“I see Vaughn filled you in.” I motion at the bouncer, watching him scramble to open the door.
Koby bursts through it, a jacket hanging from the tip of his index finger. He pauses mid-step, glancing between me and Bianca. I smirk, enjoying one of those few-and-far-between moments when Koby’s truly stunned.
The pleasure I get from catching him off guard is immense... but it doesn’t last long. He shoots Bianca a slow, flirty smile that sparks a fresh, violent streak inside me.
Back the fuck offsits on the tip of my tongue and stays there because Bianca still looks cold. Defiant. Unapproachable.
Not my type.
“I see you found the little rebel,” Koby drawls, roving her from head to toe.
