Page 31

Which all played on repeat in her brain. It hadn’t even been the vitriol and the hatred that he displayed in the argument that had bothered her.

It was the fact he’d just seen her as a damn paycheck.

She hadn’t thought it could get worse than that, but apparently the universe and fate had decided that fucking her over was some kind of competitive sport.

He’d sold her out to Joe to clear his debts so he could fuck off with everything she owned to start a new life with that little bitch from the outpost in the Lastack system.

Now it was happening all over again, because she was too stupid to learn a lesson, apparently.

Closing her eyes, she breathed out, trying to recenter her karma or whatever that woo-woo stuff suggested. It didn’t work, and growling with rage, she slammed the palm of her hand into the locker door just inside engineering.

“Goddammit!” she hissed, as a shard of pain shot up her arm, and that pissed her off all the more.

Okay, forget men. She was getting cats. Lots and lots of cats.

“B?”

She hissed and dropped her head back at the sound of a familiar deep voice behind her. “Fuck off, Rann. Go shove your tongue down Layla’s throat somewhere else and stop bothering me.”

Tensing, she refused to look at him, but he didn’t take the hint. Instead, he moved to right up behind her. Her whole body tensed as she felt the movement of the air and then the heat of his body right against her back. Damn, he was warm. He radiated heat like an engine running at full capacity.

In space, most people were cold. Especially on older ships like this, where the heating systems went from ‘freezing your tits off’ to ‘hahaha, you want what?’. Even she had to crack out the thermals if she was spending much time outside the engine bay, and she ran hotter than most people.

“I wasn’t kissing her, B.”

“Yeah, right.” She snorted and stared at the opposite wall rather than turn around and watch him feed her more bullshit. She frowned, her gaze tracking across the wall and checking the mottled brown creeping across the metal. That crossbeam above the door looked like it could do with a bit of attention. She’d have to drag the welding plant out later and deal with that before it became another problem on her never-ending list. Damn ship was a total rust-bucket.

“Seriously, B, I wasn’t,” he argued, reaching out to put a hand on her upper arm.

Snarling, she slapped it away and turned on him.

”Oh, you weren’t, were you?” she demanded, backing him up across the bay and poking her finger into his broad chest with each step. ”It sure looked like you weren’t,” she snarled, ”what with the way you had her pinned against the wall, hands above her head like that.”

His expression tightened. ”I was trying to stop her touching me.”

She couldn’t help it; she snorted in disbelief. “Yeah, right. No red-blooded man would stop a woman like Layla touching them. Pull the other one. It’s got bells on.”

His eyes darkened with anger. “I would. The only female I want touching me is you.”

She arched her eyebrow. “Looked like you were really pining for me when you had another woman pinned against the wall. Don’t take me for a fucking idiot, Rann.”

His expression tightened, and that was all the warning she got before he grabbed her, spun her around, and crowded her up against the wall by the lockers.

Gasping, she pushed her hands on his upper arms to try and put some distance between them, but it was like trying to move a mountain.

“If you wanted me to pin you instead, beautiful,” his gaze bored down into hers. Funny, she’d never noticed that his pupils were a really odd shape before. “Then all you had to do was ask.”

Oh, the fucking audacity of the man. Spitting feathers, she struggled against his hold. “What the actual fuck? You arrogant piece of⁠—"

He cut her off by grabbing her hand and shoving it down against his crotch. Her eyes widened as he held it there.

My God, he was absolutely huge.

“I’m in the most vulnerable position a guy can be in here, beautiful. You literally have my balls in your hand,” he murmured, placing his hands on the metal wall either side of her head. His gaze searched hers, his expression open and honest.

“Believe me when I say that I have absolutely no interest in Layla. Or any other female for that matter. From the moment I saw you, that was it. You were it for me.”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She shouldn’t believe him. She knew better than to believe a word a man like this—young, handsome, and charming—said, but she couldn’t help it.