Page 7 of Brutal Savage

“I don’t know. How?” Chris grins.

“If you have a great hand, you don’t need a partner.” She bursts into a laugh. “Isn’t that hilarious?”

“That’s her: hilarious.” And mildly uncomfortable. “Anyway, this was fun. I’ll tell her you said hello. See you Monday, Alice.”

“Okay, sure! I’ll see you!”

I give her one last look, waving back and heading for the counter.

As I do, I run straight into a wall and all the air leaves my lungs.

“What the…” I stare up at said wall.

Well, not exactly a wall, it appears, but a man. A tall man with a body that may as well be made of bricks.

Not into bricks—or men, for that matter. Not anymore, anyway. Not into women either. Kinda in my “not into adult humans” era.

I rub my shoulder as I mutter a curse, pain shooting down my arm.

He quirks a brow, his bright green eyes filled with mirth.

“You should probably watch where you’re going next time,” his deep, guttural voice reprimands, and I decide I already hate him.

Behind me, Alice gasps and the cashier stops moving, staring at the both of us like we’ve suddenly entered a very exciting TV show. And when I look around the café, I find the patrons all gaping at us too.

What the hell is this about?

He stares down at me with an amused expression.

Being five-two, I’m not exactly on the tall side, and standing next to this man, who’s definitely over a foot taller, is making me feel even smaller.

Popping my chin, I zero an intense gaze at the man who has his eyes still set on mine. “Thank you so much. I’ll be sure to take that under advisement.”

“That’s a good girl.” His eyes play as he cracks a smirk.

I shift uncomfortably, his hypnotic tone dropping into my gut and spreading warmth throughout my limbs.

Never had a man say that to me.

Never even thought I’d like it.

Until now.

He meets my stare with equal fervor, like he won’t be the first one to relent.

Don’t worry. I don’t like to lose either.

His smirk deepens, and I can’t stop looking. I take in those vivid green eyes, the high cheekbones, and that hard, angled jaw with just the right amount of stubble I’d love to run my fingertips over.

His hair is combed back, and I bet it would look just as sexy if I ran my hands through the deep brown hue and messed it up a bit.

My stomach clenches at how attractive he actually is. How dominating.

He commands a room just by entering it.

I try not to continue checking him out, but that’s becoming quite impossible.

He’s dressed like he’s going to a business meeting on Wall Street. And something about those gray dress pants and the white button-down with that gray silk tie really turns me on. His shirt easily shows off every indent, every inch of muscle. His hard, defined chest jerks when he notices that my line of vision has inadvertently stopped there.

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