Page 10 of L.O.V.E

“Yep. Me.” She laughed, adjusted her black glasses, and whispered, “The kissing bandit.”

What a beautiful sound, that nervous laugh.

I cleared my throat. Bent to retrieve the stiletto from the ground. “What’s the hurry?”

“Late for work.” She snatched the heel from my finger and tucked it into the bag slung over her shoulder.

She took me in, eyes, nose, mouth, and I knew, deep down, we’d met before, somewhere, somehow. She studied me with recognition, curiosity, and something else I couldn’t quite grasp, but I wanted more of whatever strange connection we shared and,good God, those magnetic gray eyes. Fucking magic.

Plump, pink lips parted. She sucked in a breath. “Listen. Um, I’m really—”

“Tell me your name,” I blurted, interrupting before she could run away. I needed to know, even though I had no right to ask.

“Nats! There you are,” came a desperate voice followed by a large man wearing a black wool jacket and an angry face. Dark jeans covered log-sized legs, and with those thick-soled Timberlands, he could flatten her with one ill-intentioned step.

The woman sidled closer to my side, mumbled, “Fuck my life.”

Her hair smelled like rain, and I refrained from ducking lower to smell her neck.

I recognized the guy from our scuffle in the coffee shop a month ago. If he recognized my mug, he didn’t show it. He did, however, size me up, his chest inflating, fists clenched. Blue eyes darkened and then aimed at the girl by my side. “Babe. Please. We need to talk.”

“Nothing to talk about.”

“Plenty to talk about. Unless you’ve moved on already.” The asswipe nodded in my direction, then ran a hand through his long hair.

Clearly, the guy upset her. He was twice her size, and she trembled next to me. I thought she was afraid and was about to step in when she moved between us and jammed a finger into his massive chest.

Without a lick of fear in her tone, she commanded, “Stop following me. Stop calling me. Stop everything that has anything to do with me. We are done.” She finished with a hard slap to his chest, then marched away, her hips swinging something fierce under her long plaid coat.

I watched, stupefied, then chuckled when she shot me a glance over her shoulder.

The giant, overinflated douche rolled his eyes at me, mumbled, “Little lover’s spat, that’s all.” His brows pinched, he asked, “Do I know you?”

“Can’t say we’ve ever met,” I lied. He’d never pressed charges for the beat down. Maybe because I’d paid for the damages to the coffee shop. Or maybe, judging by what little I knew of his personality, the guy wouldn’t press charges because he’d be forced to publicly admit defeat. Or maybe, he was just that dense. Either way, I wasn’t proud of my fib, but I had a meeting in less than twenty minutes and couldn’t afford a scuffle of any sort.

“How do you know Nats?” he asked, chest puffing again.

He stepped closer. I held my ground. He had me by an inch and maybe fifty pounds and clearly enjoyed asserting his size. Nothing I hated worse than a fucking bully.

“Don’t know her,” was all I offered, and before he could respond, I walked away.

Wasn’t easy. With every fiber of my being, I wanted to tear the man apart for making that lady tremble. And how fucked was that? I didn’t know either of them. They were none of my concern, and I had no business letting that woman into my head.

But, goddamn, the way she looked at me.

Ellis met me at the corner coffee stand, ridiculous grin on his face, two mugs of coffee in his hands. “Can we skip poker tonight?”

I relieved him of one cup and brought the lid to my nose, absorbing the rich, nutty aroma. “What’s up? You got a hot date?” I asked, knowing damn well he did.

“Lacey’s making me dinner tonight.”

We headed north toward the gym, the wet cement slick and growing darker as the annoying mist gave way to heavy drops of rain. “Getting serious with this lady?” I asked, ducking deeper into my coat collar.

Ellis hit me with a big, dumb grin, then lifted his latte to his lips, taking a slow sip for dramatic pause. “Fuck, man. She’s the one.”

“You sure, tiger? It’s only been a month.”

“What can I say? When you know, you know.”

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