Page 3 of He Likes it Spicy

The man before me now, the man pinning this fake cowboy to the table with ease, is a true behemoth. He’s the type of big that requires special shopping trips to special stores to find shoes that come in abnormal sizes. His clothes hug his body like someone managed to get a set of blue jeans and a white t-shirt onto a bull. The muscles in his cannon arms are taught with effort, ready to fire. He smiles down at me as if the fake cowboy isn’t doing everything he can to break free.

“Sorry about him.” His voice reaches a depth that shakes me, seems to rise up frominsideof me. That accent is strange—country with a Nordic twist. “Some folks have no manners.”

I stare into eyes so crystal-clear blue that I feel like I’ve been plunged into the cleanest lake water in the highest mountain. Two precious gems placed perfectly into a face chiseled from granite, still slate-like in its angles and cliffs.

I nearly forgot about the idiot drenched in lemonade.

“Let me go you son of a bitch!”

The big man still smiles at me. “You going to behave?”

Who exactly was that question for? Right now, behaving is the last thing on my mind…

“Fuck off,” his hog-tied prisoner squeals.

He twists the man’s arm.

“OK! OK! I’ll behave!”

My bodyguard releases him and immediately steps between us. I feel like I’ve just been eclipsed. A great wall of man meat has formed before me. The asshole cowboy must be as shocked as I am by the size of my rescuer because he bolts without another word.

People who stopped to watch a fight all disperse, disappointed and off to find the next most entertaining thing. The big man turns around, smiling like a gentle giant.

“I’m Thor.”

Of course, he is.

“Sam…”

Thor cautiously runs the tip of his finger up my right arm. It drags along my skin, trailing goosebumps in its wake as he slips the strap of my dress over my shoulder.

I’ve never wanted someone to keep touching me so badly.

“There,” he hums. “Perfect.”

“T-thank you…”

“Of course,Valkyrie.” He winks. “May I buy you a lemonade, Sam?”

See? Is that so hard? Why can’t men justaskinstead oftellingme what’s going to happen?

I turn to the vendor; she’s already handing me another plastic cup. “You gonna throw one at him, too?”

“That remains to be seen.” I’d love to see Thor soaking wet but under wildly different circumstances. “You know who I am?”

“Your picture is everywhere,” Thor says. “Our little fair doesn’t usually draw such celebrity.”

Without even thinking about it, I start walking with Thor. Strolling, really. He slows down his giant’s gate to keep pace with me.

“Celebrityis a strong word.”

“Looks like you’re getting plenty of unwanted attention.” Thor stares down a gaggle of guys as we pass, forcing them to pretend they aren’t staring at my legs. “I’d call that celebrity.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s part of the job. Thanks for helping me out back there.”

He shrugs those broad shoulders as if no weight could hold him down. “You had it handled. I was saving him from you.”

“Is that so?”

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