“We’re fine. I know why he isn’t watching us,” Mac whispers. “I happened to let it drop that the girl at the coffee shop was hot for him and that she’d be by in a bit to say hello. He’s on the lookout.” He looks back over to me. “Can you tell me why you have a bodyguard, Bryn?”
I shrug. “My father’s a little overprotective.”
He gives me a slow smile, the kind that makes my heart beat faster. “Aye, understood. If you were mine, I’d feel the same.”
I grin, and a lock of hair falls in my eyes. He reaches over and gently tucks it behind my ear, letting his thumb brush the apple of my cheek. “Will the girl come to see him?”
He grins, his teeth perfectly white and straight. He looks like one of those bodybuilders on the cover of a men’s magazine.
“Maybe,” he whispers. “Eventually. It’ll keep him busy.”
A part of me wonders if I should fear him now, when he’s clearly manipulated my bodyguard, come into my shop, and could hurtme if he wanted to. But there’s nothing but pure lust in his eyes as we draw closer.
My heartbeat accelerates. I’ve never wanted to kiss someone so badly in my life. Just as he draws nearer, his breath on my lips, my phone rings. It’s my father’s ringtone. I close my eyes and pull away.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I have to get it. It’s my father and he gets furious if he’s left waiting.”
Goddammit.
I blink back tears as I answer, and I’m embarrassed that I let myself get so affected. I get to my feet and walk to the back of the store so Mac doesn’t need to hear me.
“Where are you?”
“Oh, hello, Dad. I’m good, thanks, and you?” I grit my teeth.
He curses under his breath. “I’m good, Bryn. I asked where you are.”
“In town, why?” He’s got a guard right outside the door, so it’s a curious question.
“I need to speak to you.”
“Something you can’t tell me over the phone?”
“No, my love, I’m very sorry.” My father is not a nice or loving man, but he can play the part. “It’s terribly urgent. Come here within an hour. Please?”
He tacks thepleaseon at the end, unaccustomed to niceties.
The phone disconnects, and I clench my fingers around my mobile.
Mac’s staring at me.
“You alright?” he asks, genuine concern in his eyes. Those blue, blue eyes.
“Oh, I’m fine,” I say with a forced smile. “Figures my father had to interrupt just as—well, just as you…”
My voice trails off, and I’m suddenly self-conscious. He prowls closer to me. I crane my neck to look up at him, since he’s easily a full head taller than I am.
“Just as I what?” he asks teasingly, tipping his head to the side. “Just as I was about to do this?”
Within seconds, I’m pressed up against the wall, his hand at my neck. His touch is gentle but firm, and in that moment, it’s exactly what I need. His mouth meets mine, insistent but tender, and our breaths mingle. His hand on my neck tightens, the firm touch making my mouth part, and as I gasp into his mouth, his other hand presses against the small of my back. There’s a possessiveness about him that makes my knees wobble and my heart beat faster.
It’s just a kiss… just a kiss… and yet somehow this kiss tells me he’s the kind of man who will dominate me in the most delicious ways. He’s holding himself back. He’s a man who knows what he wants and gets it.
The kiss is brief, nowhere near as long as I wish it were. He pulls away and kisses my cheek, whispering in my ear, “I could kiss you all day and not tire of it. But if your bodyguard sees us…” hisvoice trails off. He doesn’t know who I am, but maybe he knows enough.
I nod. “Wow.”
He smiles at me and chucks me under the chin. “Wow’s right. Meet me for a drink this evening, Bryn, will you?”
