the surface. I push from my chair and it scrapes the floor loudly as I stand. I take a step toward her, my scuffing boots drawing her attention. Her gaze jerks to mine, and she takes one last glance over her shoulder, like she expects someone to rip the door from its hinges, before she comes running my way.
What the fuck?
Worried blue eyes latch on mine as she goes up on her toes and slides slender arms around my neck. “Please just go with this,” she says quickly, breathlessly.
“Go with what?” I ask, my gaze roaming her worried face.
The door creaks open, and she gasps as she steals a glance over her shoulder. With her eyes back on me, she says in a loud voice for all to hear, “There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
What the ever-loving fuck is going on here?
Before I can ask, or even make sense of what’s happening, she quickly pulls my head down, cutting off my words, as well as the flow of blood to my brain. My mouth slams against her soft lips and one strange thought hits. It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. But holy hell, this woman is all over me—her softness snugly against my hardness in mind-fucking ways. My dick thickens, grows, jumps up for a front row seat. Okay, screw permission or forgiveness.
I go with it, hell, there’s no way my cock won’t let me, and savor the sweetness of her mouth with my tongue, a hurried exploration that I’d love to slow down. But she’s frantic, and since I’m clueless, the only thing I know is she asked me to play along, I match her pace and actions.
For now.
With my arms around her waist, I anchor her to me, and don’t miss the little tortured moan rising in her throat—as though momentarily forgetting she’s kissing a stranger. Then again, maybe I’m not. Maybe she does know me. She links her arms around my back and holds on as I lift her clear off the floor. I turn her slightly, to glance at the door in time to see my oldest brother, Sean, enter. He’s a big, bad-assed mother fucker who’d scare any woman in a dark parking lot. Wait, was she running from him? One of the lights in the lot is broken. Is it possible he’d scared her?
I break the kiss, and set her back on her feet as Sean comes our way. A strange noise, something that resembles a wounded animal caught in a trap, catches in her throat as my bro drops down into the chair next to Jared. All eyes, including Stacey’s as she brings us our beers, are on the girl clinging to me like dryer lint.
I put my hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
She’s breathing fast and hard, her gaze going from me to Sean back to me. “Yeah, I just…”
My gaze narrows in on her. “Did my asshole brother frighten you or something?”
“He’s your….your brother?”
“Yeah, Sean. Did he frighten you?”
She shakes her head fast, too fast. Okay, something strange is going on here and I damn well plan to get to the bottom of it. Women don’t come running up to me, wrapping themselves around me and holding tight like two MMA fighters grappling in the ring. Not anymore, anyway.
“It’s just…” She bites down on her bottom lip, no doubt trying to come up with a plausible story—unless she goes around kissing strangers for sport. I don’t even bother entertaining that idea, though. This one has innocence written all over her. Yeah, something or someone has frightened her.
“Do I know you?” she asks, her eyes narrowing. I study her face, her perplexed expression, and I’m instantly aware the second recognition hits by the way her body stiffens, and those soft blue eyes go wide.
“Oh My God, you’re Tyler Owens. The Hammer.”
“The one and only.” I dip my head, my lips once again inches from hers. “And you are?”
“Um…”
“You’re Haven!” Stacey shrieks after setting the last beer on the table. “Haven Roberts.”
I nod, as all the pieces fall into place. Haven Roberts. Sister of my MMA nemesis, Rock Roberts. I should have known it the second I saw her, considering how much Rock talks about her, and admires her acting abilities—and defends her when people call her a diva.
Movie trailers have been rolling down Main Street all week, a Hollywood cast and crew taking up residency in our small town to film some summer blockbuster. You’d think