In all fairness, Lynx wasn’t usually the one starting shit, but he was damn sure willing to finish it.And everyone in this town knew that a man should never touch a woman out of anger when Lynx was around.It was the fastest way to find yourself in the hospital.
Two seconds after Billy grabbed my arm, his fingers digging painfully into my flesh, Lynx ripped Billy off and tossed him to the floor.He wouldn’t be there long, I knew.
The one thing I asked of my customers was that they take the fighting outside.I worked hard for what I had, and admittedly, I didn’t have much.Nothing more than the fifteen-hundred-square-foot bar and the permits required to sell and consume beer on the premises.My personal effects were limited mostly to my clothes and a couple of shotguns.I didn’t need much, but what I did have, I fully intended to keep.
Therefore, the boys who wanted to throw down had to take that shit outside.
The Caines had always respected that request.Always.
“Someone call the sheriff!”Billy hollered as Lynx picked him up off the floor with one big, tattooed hand.
“Call the sheriff and you’ll answer to me,” Wolfe announced, moving toward his cousin.
Since the sheriff happened to be my brother, not to mention Wolfe and Amy’s lover, I figured people weren’t going to defy him.Didn’t matter anyhow; Rhys always managed to make his way to the bar about the time the boys decided to knuckle up.
Because this pertained to me, I couldn’t help but try to calm the waters before the storm raged out of control.After all, I didn’t want to see Lynx go to jail.And if it was up to Billy, that was exactly where he’d spend the night.
“Lynx!”I called after him.
The man stopped and turned around, his eyes hard as they narrowed on me.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
He shook his head.“After.”
“No.Now.”I wasn’t intimidated by Lynx the way most people were.
He didn’t scare me because I knew he would never hurt me.He wasn’t built that way.
In fact, because of that—and many other reasons—I was probably more in love with him than anything else.Not that I would tellhimthat.I might have the hots for the sexy, tattooed country boy, but I definitely wasn’t looking to spend my days and nights with a man who went through women more often than he changed underwear.I'd spentfartoo long dealing with Billy and his bullshit, which wasn’t limited to his infidelity, either.However, he damn sure hadn’t been faithful.Not for a minute.
Not that I thought Lynx was the cheating kind, but he’d proven his track record andlove ’em and leave ’emwas synonymous with Lynx Caine.
Now that I'd been single for a whole whopping month, I found it suited me just fine.Less bullshit, more time to watch Netflix.
Knowing he would follow, I slipped down the narrow hall that led to the restroom.A second later, he appeared in the dimly lit hallway.
Okay, so I probably could’ve picked a better location to have this conversation.
Lynx’s dark eyebrows were angled down and his emerald-green eyes glittered with anger.It wasn’t aimed at me, but it was there all the same.
“Don’t fight him,” I said, keeping my tone casual.“It’s not worth it.”
“Oh, it’s worth it,” he countered, reaching down and lifting my arm so he could inspect the spot where Billy had grabbed me.
I jerked out of his hold.It was a survival instinct.The man had put his hands on me once and I had never forgotten it.Mybodyhad never forgotten how freaking good it felt for this man to touch me.And myhearthad never forgotten just what being with him could be like.I seriously doubted I ever would forget it, either.
“Just leave it alone,” I snapped.
“Why?”He put one hand on the wall above my head.
He was significantly taller than I was, a hell of a lot bigger, too.But I still wasn’t intimidated by him.He could offer a pissed-off glare to any asshole in a five-mile radius, but the moment he turned his eyes on me, there was always something softer in them.Something I'd fought to ignore for longer than I cared to admit.
“’Cause I have no intention of bailin’ your ass outta jail.”
“Aww, darlin’,” he crooned, leaning in so that he was far too close.“You worried about me?”
I rolled my eyes and tried not to inhale through my nose.The man smelled so freaking good.He always did and it drove me absolutely crazy.Like sawdust and Irish Spring soap.No, it wasn’t something expensive from a bottle, but it affected me all the same.
