Page 20 of Kilo's Edge

“I’m seeing someone,” I lied. Kilo and I weren’t official or anything, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I didn’t say that I was going to date you or anything,” he replied, sounding offended. “I just wanted to talk to you a little.Does your man not let you speak with other men? Do you really want to be with someone that controlling?”

This was going downhill fast. He’d absolutely been hitting on me, but now he was trying to spin it as if he was just being friendly. What was wrong with him? And why wasn’t he taking my disinterest to heart? “I’m not interested,” I told him, thinking maybe if I was more direct he’d take the hint.

“You have so many friends you don’t want another?” he sneered, raising an eyebrow.

“Exactly,” I snapped, getting irritated with him. “Now please leave me alone.”

“Camila.”

The deep voice sent a thrill down my spine, and I looked over Shawn’s head, and saw Kilo coming toward me. The relief was bone deep. “Kilo, hi. I was just-”

“Back off. You can’t have them all,” Shawn said, interrupting me as he turned and faced Kilo. “You can talk to her after I’m done with her.”

My mouth dropped open at that and I shook my head. It was an automatic reaction. I didn’t want Kilo to leave me with this creep. I didn’t want to speak with him, or be anywhere near him. And I didn’t want Kilo thinking I did.

Kilo’s gorgeous brown eyes narrowed on Shawn. He hadn’t looked at me, but he didn’t seem to need to in order to know this guy was unwelcome. “Shawn. You keep making it a habit to bother women who aren’t interested and I’m going to teach you some fucking manners.”

“Who said she’s not interested?” he asked, stepping backward and throwing an arm over my shoulders before I had a chance to avoid him.

My skin crawled where Shawn touched me and I reacted without even thinking. I swung the case I was holding and hit him in the stomach with it.

“Ommmph,” Shawn grunted as I scurried away from him.

Strong fingers caught my bicep and Kilo pulled me behind him. As soon as he was between me and Shawn, he released me and moved forward. I gasped as Shawn’s head snapped backward from the force of Kilo’s punch.

Shawn stumbled back, then fell on his ass. “You stupid bitch!” Shawn snarled, glaring at me as he wiped blood off his lip. “I'm going to-”

“You're going to what?” Kilo asked, his voice deadly quiet as he stepped closer to Shawn, who was still sitting on the sidewalk. “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do,” he said as Shawn fell silent. “You’re going to get your piece of shit ass away from my store and my girl. Come near her again and I’m going to do a lot more than just fucking hit you once.”

Shawn’s eyes danced between us, but he seemed to realize it wasn’t a good idea to test Kilo further. He got to his feet, glaring at us the whole time, and took off across the parking lot.

“Thank you. I-” The words caught in my throat as Kilo tugged me against him and laid his lips on mine. How was a girl supposed to speak, breathe, or even think when he was kissing her?

“Sorry,” he muttered when he finally pulled away, leaving me breathless. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Thank you for helping me.” My free hand was on his chest. It was rising and falling rapidly beneath my palm. I wasn’t sure if it was from desire from the kiss, or anger from dealing with Shawn.

“When you were late, I thought I’d better come take a look outside.” He scowled over where the other man had disappeared. “He’s making himself a nuisance.” He pulled me against his chest, his hand resting on my head, my cheek against his cut as though he needed to know I was safe to calm himself.“Come on,” he said after a moment of holding me close. “Let’s go inside.”

His hand went to the small of my back as he guided me into his store. He shut the door and locked it behind us. “Overdrive will be in soon,” he explained. “He'll open back up for the rest of the night.” His eyes searched mine. “You alright? Would you rather do this some other time?”

“No,” I replied. “I mean, I'm alright. This is the perfect time for this, I think.” I gave him a tentative smile.

“That was a great idea to hit him with your gun case.”

“I didn’t exactly think,” I admitted. “I just didn’t want him touching me.”

He stepped forward, his huge hand cupping my cheek. “Good, ‘cause I fucking hated seeing his hands on you. Even for a second.”

His hand was warm and I let my eyes close as I leaned my head into his touch. I may not have wanted Shawn to touch me, but I really didn’t mind when Kilo did.

“Come on,” he said, his voice husky and deep. “Let’s go do some shooting.” He took my gun case from me and motioned toward where he wanted me to go.

Maybe it was my imagination, but it sounded like there could have been more to that sentence. Like, ‘let’s go do some shooting, before I kiss you again.’ My eyes dropped to his lips, but I forced my body to move. I brushed past him toward the black door behind the counter. He walked over and held it open for me. I sucked in a breath as I walked into the shooting range portion of the building. It was bigger than I expected. And empty. We were completely alone in here.

CHAPTER 9

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