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“It was my pleasure.” Rowdy got the feeling that Cannon took the cleanup of the bar as a personal favor. For a young guy, he had his nose in a lot of business. Interesting. “If you’re ever in the area, stop in for a drink on the house.”
“I just might take you up on that.” He shoved one card into his back pocket and went to his friends to hand out the other two. “See you around, Rowdy.”
Watching the three of them cut across the lot and disappear into an alley, Rowdy decided he’d do a little research on Cannon, as well as the car that had tailed him.
Funny that making a smidge of headway with Avery had unearthed more questions than answers.
Walking off, Rowdy wondered if Avery had locked him out or if he’d be able to tell her good-night. She surprised him by opening the door again before he reached it.
Brows pinched, she greeted him with, “Are you insane?”
Could be. She had that effect on him. “Calm down, honey. Everything’s fine.”
“Fine? You could have been killed!”
He snorted, which only seemed to infuriate her more. “Those guys could barely stay on their feet.” He stepped in and secured the door behind him, noting again what a crappy lock it was.
“What if one of them had been armed?”
Apparently a shrug wasn’t the right answer.
“Ohmigod,” she said dramatically. “You are insane. And that second group was not inebriated.”
“They weren’t hostile, either.”
“Something you didn’t know until after you’d faced off with them.” She thrust up her chin. “What did you and the hottie talk about for so long?”
Oh, hell, no. Slowly, Rowdy gave up his inspection of the lock to face her.
Bristling head to toe, he stiffened his shoulders and stared down at her with intimidating heat. “Hottie?” he whispered.
The glare was wasted on her. “You know who I mean. The good-looking kid? The one built like an athlete.”
Jealousy sucked, adding pure gravel to his tone. “He’s only a few years younger than you, so hardly a kid.”
Her turn to shrug, and damn it, he didn’t like it much more than she had. But when she patted his chest—presumably to reassure him—Rowdy felt compelled to let it go.
“I gave him a card and told him to come by the bar sometime.” Before he made an even bigger ass of himself, Rowdy put an arm around her and steered her away from the front door. “If he does show up, let me know immediately.” Rowdy didn’t have reason to distrust Cannon, but he didn’t take chances unnecessarily.
And with the way Avery had described the guy, he was even less inclined to risk leaving her alone with him.
“Okay.”
“By the way.” He kissed her temple. “Thanks for staying inside.”
“I’m not an idiot.” She lifted her hand with the cell phone in it. “But I almost called the police.”
Definitely not what he needed. “Don’t ever do that.”
Stubbornness sharpened her expression and launched her to her tiptoes. “I will if I think it’s necessary!”
Damn it. Again Rowdy tried to stare her down, but it didn’t even come close to working. On a tight exhalation, he took her phone from her, saying, “If you ever need the cops, call 9-1-1. But if it’s for me, just call Logan or Reese.” He pressed several buttons. “Their numbers are now saved in your contacts.” He dropped her phone back in her purse.
“Really?”
“Sure. Why not?”
For some reason Rowdy couldn’t understand, Avery smiled in pleasure. “Thank you.”
That smile of hers could work magic. Forcing himself to look away, Rowdy took in the main floor of the building. He now understood the reason she came in the back door instead of the better-lit front. The house had literally been divided in two with a wall erected in the middle to separate the halves.
A door to his right led to the first apartment, with stairs leading up the second. He assumed the layout would be the same in the front. “Do you know your neighbors?” Please let her say no.
She shook her head. “I keep to myself.”
Just as Cannon had claimed. “Glad to hear it.” Even here in the foyer, the building looked run-down with chipped, dirty paint and carpet so gross he hated to walk on it even in his shoes. Praying it’d be the latter, Rowdy asked, “First floor or second?”
“I’m up.” She started ahead of him, her keys in hand. “I understood the first exchange easily enough. But you did more than exchange cards with that second group of guys, right? So what did you talk about?”
Fudging the truth just a little, Rowdy said, “I told them you were off-limits.” At the top of the stairs, he took her arm. “You’ll let me know if anyone bothers you, okay?”
“No one will, but thank you.”
Though it’d soon be morning and her eyes were a little tired, she was still so incredibly sexy to him. That abundance of red hair trailed around her shoulders and over her breasts.
He brushed it back. “Let me have your keys.”
Suddenly shy, her gaze dropped away from his. “What are you going to do?”
“Check it out, make sure you’re alone.”
That brought her attention back with startled worry. “You think someone could have gotten in?”
He squeezed her shoulders. “Probably not, but I’ll feel better once I see how safe your place is.”
A pulse fluttered in her throat as she stared at his mouth. “I’m not sure...”
Damn but she could tempt a saint, so what chance did a sinner like him have? “I’ll look around, check on things and then leave.”
“I suppose you’re good at picking out security problems.” Looking at the door again, she made up her mind. “Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.” She handed over her keys.
Rowdy was so used to her stubborn streak of independence, he didn’t quite trust her when she was like this. She hid something—but what?
The setup of the building sucked. Here on the landing, she was trapped. No window, no door but into her apartment. He unlocked and opened the door, reached inside and found a light switch. Unlike at his place, lamps came on beside a stuffed couch.
Rowdy brought her in with him, left the door open and said, “Wait here.” Before she could protest, he went through the apartment, glancing long enough at the small open kitchen to see a box of Cocoa Puffs sitting on the counter. Cold, sugary cereal, huh? Somehow that fit.
The first door led to a miniscule bathroom with a cluttered counter. Makeup, blow-dryer, a basket of girlie-looking headbands and hair ties. He pushed back the shower curtain and found an array of bottles surrounding the narrow tub—shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, bubble bath.
The woman took her bathing very seriously.
He left that room and glanced into a hall closet that held her towels, extra blanket and pillow and more toiletries. Avery said not a single word as he went into her bedroom.
First things first, he checked her closet, moving her clothes around to look behind them. She had a wardrobe of T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters and jeans, with only a few dresses and skirts thrown in. A pile of shoes and boots littered the floor of the closet. He never would have pegged Avery to be so messy, but he kind of liked it.
He didn’t see any real dirt, just a whole bunch of disorganization.
Her bedroom window overlooked the convenience store and the now-empty lot. After checking the lock on her window, he closed the curtains and bent to peek under her unmade bed. Nothing but dust bunnies, a stray sock and a suitcase. Too curious to let it go, Rowdy tugged at the luggage handle.
It wasn’t empty.
So Avery kept a packed suitcase under her bed. For an emergency exit?
Straightening again, he took a moment to look over her room. Not as utilitarian as his; she had knickknacks everywhere. Change and a few pieces of jewelry littered the single dresser. A scented candle and a book rested on her nightstand. He touched the fluffy comforter and supersoft sheets on her bed. She had three pillows.
“Rowdy?”
“Be right there.” Trying to remove the image of her curled up all warm and sleepy in that bed, he walked out feeling strangely...enlightened.
His bartender didn’t live like a woman from a pampered upbringing. In fact, her messy apartment didn’t look much different from where his sister used to hide out.
Secrets. Avery had them in spades. How hard would it be for him to uncover them?
* * *
WITH A STRANGE sensation of anticipation humming in her veins, Avery watched as Rowdy prowled her apartment. She shouldn’t have left it so cluttered, but there never seemed to be enough hours in the day to do everything that needed to be done.
She had Sundays off, but usually slept late and then spent the day running errands and doing laundry. Who had time to clean?
When Rowdy emerged from her bedroom, her heart thumped harder. “Done snooping?”
“Almost.” He checked out the window in the main living area, and then the smaller window behind her kitchen sink.
She checked out the flex of muscles in his shoulders and the way his butt looked in those threadbare jeans. He had such strong thighs, and such a terrifically muscled backside.
He met her gaze. “They’re locked.”
She knew it, because she kept them that way. In the summer, when it had gotten hot as Hades, she’d run a portable room air conditioner that hadn’t quite cut through the humidity, but at least offered a little relief. “It’s okay?”
“As good as it can be here, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to your landlord about changing the lock on the entry door.”
“I already did.” She felt a little out of control. Surely she wasn’t one of those women turned on by a macho display of violence? Not that there’d been much violence, not with the expedient way Rowdy had handled the bullies. “He told me to go for it.”
From across the room, Rowdy looked at her mouth, then her throat and finally her breasts. In a distracted way, he said, “I’ll take care of it before work.”
Her breath caught when she inhaled. “You don’t have to do that.”
Holding up his hands to prove that he’d keep his promise, he stalked toward her. “I want to do it.”
Oh, the way he said that. Her mind conjured all kinds of things other than replacing an old lock. “Okay, then.”
Casually, he leaned a shoulder on the door frame next to where she stood. “So.”
She started to thank him again, but he cut her off.
“You didn’t like seeing me with another woman.”
She stepped away from the open door—and away from temptation. “Seriously, Rowdy, I see that every night.” Lying through her teeth, she said, “Not a biggie.”
He thought about that, nodded. “You didn’t like seeing a woman with her mouth on my—”
“No!” Jerking back around, Avery broke her own rule. She stretched up to smash two fingertips against his mouth. “Don’t you dare say it.”
Slowly, Rowdy wrapped his much-larger fingers around her wrist and lowered her hand to his chest.
And, oh, God, that wasn’t much better than touching his mouth. He felt so hot.
His thumb brushed over the back of her hand. “I can promise you that it won’t happen again.”
She curled her fingers against him, a little embarrassed that her nails were clipped so short, her hands rough from so many washings during work. The smell of the bar probably clung to her.
Then she remembered that it didn’t matter; she’d never again be that manicured woman from her past. “At work, you mean?”
His mouth tightened. “I won’t lie to you, Avery. I’m not going to become a monk.”
Thank God. That would be such a waste of raw sensuality. Unsure what his point might be, Avery said, “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“Good, because now I have a question for you.” He released her, took a step back so that he stood outside the door and asked, “How long do I have to wait, honey?”
Avery’s heart jumped. She could have pretended that she didn’t understand, but she knew exactly what he meant.
Rowdy didn’t rush her, and he didn’t joke. That told her he was serious, so she gave him a real answer.
“I don’t want to be an available convenience. I don’t want to be interchangeable.”
His gaze darkened, grew more intense.
“So...” She screwed up her courage. Not to say it, but to mean it. To commit to it. “I guess you have to wait long enough that I know you want me, specifically, more than you want easy sex.”
He touched her jaw, the side of her throat, and opened his hand on the back of her neck. “I think I can handle that.”
He thought he could? That was the best reassurance he could give? She started to protest, but he put his mouth over hers in a kiss that was deep, soft and consuming. His warm tongue lightly teased, and his hard body stole her breath.
When he ended the kiss, she more or less hung limp in his arms right outside her door. “Damn, woman, you do know how to drag out the suspense.” He kissed her once more, firm and quick—then lifted her over the doorjamb and back into her apartment. “Lock up behind me. I’ll see you tomorrow. And remember, anything at all happens, I want to know, no matter what time it is. You call me.”
She nodded. What in the world did he think would happen? “Thank you for...well, everything.”
He had such a gorgeous smile. “My pleasure, Avery. Always.”
