Page 24 of Stalking His Prey

But there’s clearly no stopping her. Her eyes flash, and she keeps them on Penelope, while slightly turning toward Todd.

“Seriously, it’s no big deal,” Anna continues. “You and I were lost in the woods hiking, and Hawk here found us and brought us back to the car!”

Penelope freezes for a second, then her entire body relaxes, and I have to stop myself from laughing at Anna’s little prank. I wrap my arm around my gorgeous girl and pull her close as she takes a deep breath.

“Yup. That was it,” she says. “Just a couple of dumb girls lost in the woods.”

“Overly ambitious girls,” I correct her. “Who thought hiking trails were for wimps.”

Everyone at the table laughs. Todd stands, leaving his jacket. “Well, that wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. I gotta hit the head. Back in a second.”

As soon as he’s out of hearing range, Penelope leans forward and smacks Anna on the arm, causing her to burst out laughing.

“What is wrong with you!?”

“You should have seen your face!” Anna cackles. “But don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Yeah, it better be! Or maybe I’ll let slip how you told me about him wanting to be pegged–”

“Zip it!” Anna laughs, swatting Pen on the shoulder.

Smiling, I lean in to kiss Penelope, but as I brush her hair aside, I notice a guy leering over at her from the bar. He’s wearing an oversized black T-shirt with a gothic-looking skull on it and torn black jeans. When he sees me looking at him, he quickly turns away.

Instantly, my protective instincts leap to high alert.

“Who is that guy?” I ask, indicating in his direction.

“What guy?” Penelope asks, flashing me a smile clearly meant to distract me from the situation.

Is she hiding something?

All this time watching her and I’ve never seen this guy once, yet she clearly knows him. Who is he?

She rubs my chest and leans in close, but I remain focused, my eyes locked on the man.

“Him,” I say, pointing without shame. “That guyright there. He was staring at you, Pen. Do you know him?”

“Oh, boy…” Anna mutters under her breath.

My muscles clench tight. My heartrate surges.

“What?” I say, doing my best to remain calm. “Is he your ex or something?”

For some reason, my question causes Anna to crack up. She laughs but does her best to stifle it, clearly doing her best to hide her reaction from the man at the bar.

“Absolutely not,” Penelope replies firmly. “That’s Mack. He’s just…one of Todd’s friends.”

“And he’s got a thing for you?”

“I dunno.” Penelope shrugs. “Anna introduced me to him one time, but he was a super-creep, so I just walked out on him.”

“A super-creep, huh?” Now I’m even tenser. I’m suspicious now–even more protective.

Mack glances over his shoulder again, clearly in an attempt to check out Penelope, but I meet him with a cold stare, and he instantly turns back to his beer.

That’s it. Don’t ogle my girl, super-creep.

I rise from my seat and feel Penelope grip my wrist. “It’s okay, Hawk. Don’t worry about him.”

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