Page 14 of Savage

While I hadn’t been lying about that, I hadn’t given them the whole truth—the part about wanting to find the people responsible for his death and bring them to justice. But to do that, I needed to stay alive myself.

This headspace was not going to help me fall asleep anytime soon, no matter how tired I was. I needed to think about something more carefree, more positive, and when my eyes fell to the empty coffee mug sitting on my desk, the image of Lachlan Stone immediately came to mind.

Now there was a positive. One I’d never expected to find. But every time I needed to pull myself away from the dark side of this city, his sexy smile and obvious attraction to me was my new go-to.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so drawn to another person. It’d been almost instant—the chemistry, the ease, the comfort I felt with him. But it was even more than that. He’d made me forgetwhyI was here in the first place, to just stop and enjoy the moment. Stop and enjoy him.

And boy had I.

From his coffee-colored eyes to his tousled brown hair and stubble shadowing his lips and strong jaw, he was difficult to sit across from and actually form coherent sentences with. But somehow I’d managed. I’d even flirted with him, which was insane. I wasn’t the kind of guy who just ran into some random person at a coffee shop then sat down and eye-fucked him across a table, but I wasn’t alone with that. He’d come on to me as well.

At least, I’d thought he did. I still couldn’t believe it had happened, not really, and if it wasn’t for the business card sitting by my laptop, I probablywouldn’thave believed it.

A quick way to confirm it would be to give him a call, but something was holding me back. I wasn’t sure if it was the circumstances of how we met, the fact I would feel guilty doing something fun when I knew the real reason I was here, or thatmaybe, just maybe, there was something niggling in the back of my mind about how Lachlan seemed a little too good to be true.

Maybe that was the cynical side of me. Or the paranoid one.

I reached for the card sitting on my desk and ran my thumb over his number, Lachlan’s confident smile flashing through my mind as his gorgeous face appeared in vivid detail. My eyes drifted shut as I slumped back in my chair, imagining his wicked chuckle as he teased me about getting into trouble.

I shifted in my seat, propping my feet up on the small footrest beneath the desk, and allowed the dream to take over, to pull me in deeper to a place far away from my tiny-ass apartment. Back to the coffee shop where Lachlan sat across from me, his darkened eyes roaming over my body.

My fingers tightened on the small card I held connecting me to reality as I slipped further into my dream, and my head fell back against the headrest.

It felt like déjà vu, reaching for my coffee at the café’s pick-up counter, only for the sinfully sexy man beside me to reach it first.

Only this time, he didn’t pick it up but turned his attention on me instead.

Oh fuck.The man was even more handsome up close. His eyes practically smoldered as he ran them over my face and down the length of my body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

He moved, cornering me so my ass hit the counter, and I let him, too stunned by all that intensity focused on me.

He was just…Wow.

And then he licked his lips, drawing my attention to them, and said, “So, what do you say we get out of here?”

My pulse began to race with need as the mysterious man gave me a sensual smile. There was no way anyone said no towhoever he was, and the knowing look in his eyes told me he knew I wouldn’t either.

I had to at least try to play the game.

“I don’t even know your name,” I said.

“Lachlan Stone,” he replied in that smooth, deep voice. “And you’re Cooper.”

“How do you?—”

“It’s on your cup.” He shifted his stance so his arm brushed up against mine. “Looks like we’re not strangers anymore.”

I heard the question again in what was left unsaid:do you want to get out of here?

Did I? Even though I knew nothing about him but his name?

Fuck yes I did.

I didn’t even have to tell him to lead the way; he already knew I was ready and willing.

Leaving our coffees on the counter, he took my hand and led me out of the café, and a thrill raced through my body at doing something so spontaneous. Back home, many would even call it reckless, just going off with a strange man I barely knew. It wasn’t like me at all, but that only added to the high as he steered us into an alley that felt…familiar. I couldn’t place why, but I didn’t have time to think on that, because Lachlan spun me around so that my back was up against the brick.

“Finally getting you right where I want you,” he whispered as he pushed his leg in between mine.

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