His dark hair is short and perfectly styled into place. After he orders a coffee with two pumps of vanilla, he turns to step out of the way while the girl behind the counter prepares his drink. When he notices me, his eyes rake over my body, lingering a little too long on my chest, and then he gives me a lopsided grin. I do my best to ignore him, but it’s hard when I can feel the heat of his stare.
“Next!” the girl behind the counter yells out as she hands Mr. Suit Man his coffee.
I step up to the counter. “I’ll have a large iced coffee, please.”
The girl pushes a couple of buttons on the register. “That’s four sixty-eight.”
I reach into my back pocket to grab a few dollars, but before I have a chance to pay, the stranger watching me swoops in and attempts to hand the girl a five-dollar bill. “It’s on me.”
I pull out my own money. “No, thanks.”
That does nothing to deter him because he keeps his money out. “I insist.”
My lips pull into a tight line. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t want you to buy my coffee.”
He smirks, and he turns toward the girl. She now looks completely confused on whom she should take the money from.
“Would you tell the beautiful lady to allow me the honor of buying her a drink?”
The dark-haired barista rolls her eyes at him, and when she turns her attention back to me, she takes my money.
“Thank you,” I say to her.
I stand there, waiting for my drink. For some reason, a blunt no-thank-you didn’t seem to work on the persistent businessman, as he is still standing next to me, but I do my best to pretend he’s not there.
“I’m sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m—”
“Leaving,” Xavier’s voice cuts the man off mid sentence.
As he takes in my tall, broad-shouldered boyfriend, the man’s expression morphs from surprise to determination. His eyes narrow. “Excuse me?”
It’s clear this man isn’t used to being told no, and by antagonizing Xavier, it’s also clear that he has a death wish.
Xavier rolls his neck and glares down at him with a stare so intense that it’s downright scary. “Do you have a fucking hearing problem? I told you to beat it.”
The man squares his shoulders. “I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.”
With a sharp tug, Xavier pulls me behind him. He has at least four inches and about sixty pounds on Mr. Suit Man.
Xavier’s fingers flex into fists at his sides. “That’s where you’re wrong, motherfucker. You’ll leave when I fucking say you will.”
Flashbacks of what happened with Rex hit me hard. I will not allow Xavier to get into a fight in the goddamn airport because a guy hit on me.
I grab Xavier’s wrist. “No. Don’t be crazy.”
Xavier jerks his gaze to me, and his thick eyebrows knit in confusion. “No?”
“No,” I say again.
I stare into his eyes as I cling to him, remaining coolheaded in order to defuse this situation. The last thing we need is for Xavier to end up in handcuffs again for killing a man while defending me. Tension wouldn’t be able to make this one go away because this guy isn’t on their payroll.
Xavier swallows hard as the intense connection we always feel toward one another flows between us.
“Don’t do something that could separate us again,” I plead.
His jaw muscle flexes as he blows a rush of air out of his nose, attempting to calm himself.
Xavier directs his attention back to Mr. Suit Man. “You’re lucky my girl here is a saint because I’m allowing you to walk away right now.”
The man’s face twists with disgust. “Allowing me? Do you know who I am?”
“No, and I don’t give a fuck either.”
The man opens his mouth again to fire off another snide remark.
I can see in Xavier’s eyes that his cool won’t last long, so this time, I cut the guy off, “Mister, if I were you, I would leave while I could. He just got out of prison for nearly beating a man to death.”
All the color drains from the man’s face. He doesn’t say another word. He simply heeds my warning and walks away.
Xavier never takes his eyes off his retreating opponent. “Fucking pussy.”
I let out an exasperated sigh as I grab my bag Xavier wheeled over from the carousel and walk away from him.
“What?” Xavier calls from behind me as he gathers up the other bags