Page 23 of Seducer

Still, I’d accepted the assistance mostly because I’d wanted to learn more about the man. Tom hadn’t seemed to mind, even thanking the Phantom for jumping in. The asshole who’d accosted me had been drunk. It happened. Although after what Gina had said, I was jumpy from the interaction. At least he’d been tossed out, but the Phantom had acted like he’d wanted to kill the man with his bare hands.

Sex appeal.

Stop. Stop!It was impossible to do so. The allure of the hunk was far removed from any other man I’d met. When he took a step forward, my instinct told me I should turn away. There was no sense in egging the man on. But I couldn’t.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his tone reminding of soft velvet wrapped around yards of steel. The sound was rugged, yet held more than a hint of charisma.

I was immediately dragged from some crazy fantasy, my thoughts shifting to what Gina had said. I was certain she’d been talking about Jerry. What the hell did the man want with me? And why had she been so terrified of him?

Zach stood quietly as I collected my thoughts.

Almost every aspect of a man’s personality could be ascertained from a few words or even a single gesture. If a woman looked closely enough, she could clearly read his financial worth by the watch he wore and the shoes on his feet. Both of Zach’s were extremely expensive. Even tennis shoes told a story. I’d grown both fond of and good at observing and sizing up men like I could with clothes.

I’d breeze into a store and stay for five minutes until I’d snagged the perfect outfit. However, the mystery man sitting in section nine was clearly an anomaly. Yes, he was rich. Even if I hadn’t known who he was, I’d have easily been able to sense that. The tuxedo was worn with a purpose and fit him perfectly, highlighting his height and muscular physique. His watch and thick ring on his ring finger cost more than I made in a year. And his aura screamed power.

But I’d caught a sense of vulnerability, a man questioning his very existence as well. I wasn’t entirely certain why I feltthat way. He was also extremely dark, as in pitch-black, his eyes harboring secrets and danger. But goddamn, they were beautiful, the blue I’d noticed before even deeper than I’d envisioned. He’d captured a moment in time shared between us and refused to let it go.

“I’m fine,” I insisted. “Just a jerk.”

“You should learn men like Jerry aren’t to be trusted.” Zach sounded as if he knew what he was talking about. Duh. Of course he did. He had his share of enemies.

“I don’t usually trust any man.” Did he know something? I was grabbing at straws now. Great.

He tipped his head, the gleam in his eyes full of amusement. “You don’t?”

“No. I find them reprehensible as human beings.” It was the truth, although I was shocked I’d admitted my beliefs to someone who could buy and sell all of Chicago on the stock market before breakfast.

He moved closer, every step he took purposeful. “Never allow a man to get the upper hand. If and when he does, he’ll believe he owns you.”

His words were surprisingly exactly what I’d been thinking. “I’ll keep that in mind and I’m usually pretty good at that. I don’t need a man in my life. Thank you for the advice.” My words were a touch more caustic than I’d intended, but he pushed one too many boundaries.

When he clicked his tongue, I sensed a hint of disapproval. Maybe he wasn’t used to anyone challenging him. The slight and very husky chuckle he emitted brought flip-flops to my stomach.Forget butterflies. I was lost in an entirely different league of lingering desire.

With a man like Zachariah Blackwell, you could never know what to expect. He certainly didn’t play by anyone else’s rules. So when he folded his fingers, rubbing his crooked index finger back and forth across my jaw, my usual reaction of grabbing his arm and bending his wrist didn’t occur. I was far too mesmerized by the hypnotic effect of his eyes.

“My beautiful, yet very wild kitty.” His words weren’t just laced with the same dark, entrancing velvet tone. They also suggested possessiveness, which for some reason made my pussy clench. “Be careful tempting dangerous men. Very often they strike when least expected.”

My best and only real friend would be having a field day at my inability to react as I normally would with sarcasm and general barbs. I could just hear her words.“Everyone loves a bad boy.”

Not this girl. Not at all. Okay, maybe a little. Christ.

He offered a smile that would light up a room before backing away. I was pretty certain I leaned forward in hopes he would keep touching me.

I tried to shake off the feelings and the intense vibrations as I headed to the bar, doing my best to shake off the insinuations the regular customer had whispered in my ear.

“Be careful tempting the devil. It never ends well. Besides, I know who you are. Imagine if I told the world. What would happen to you then?”

Jerry was a son of a bitch, but he’d never acted this way before, not once in the two years I’d seen him rolling into the bar;sometimes with friends, sometimes very much alone, drinking himself to a point I’d prayed he’d opted for an Uber.

What had possessed the man to alter his behavior? I shuddered from stupid thoughts traveling through my brain like firecrackers. First Gina’s weirdness, then him. At least she’d warned me. I wasn’t certain I wanted to find out why.

Sadly, a horrible nagging remained in the back of my mind.

I wasn’t a whore, my dancing gigs nowhere close to being illegal, yet the menace laced in the man’s words continued to trouble me. What had he been getting at? Dancing and flirting had allowed me to pay my bills, taking care of my brother when no one else had stepped up to the plate. We’d been lost souls, nowhere to turn and not a single state agency lifting a finger to provide assistance.

I’d had no other choice. Even college had been put on the back burner. And why the fuck was some guy trying to destroy all that I’d worked so hard to achieve?

My hero continued to watch me as I moved into the shadows, his eyes penetrating mine in a way I’d never experienced before. He wasn’t just studying me. He was mentally breaking down all my defenses, tearing apart every single layer of invisible protection I’d carefully placed like a cocoon around my heart and soul since the tragedy.

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