Yeah…Jay just needed to bide his time. And he was good at that.

Knowing what he needed to do to make some quick money now and a lot more money later, he unlocked his car and pulled the door open. He was about to get in, but he stopped, quickly scanning the street. It was weird. He felt like someone was watching him. He could feel eyes on him.

He shook his head. It was probably the cops. They were always watching him, trying to find something on him, but never could. And they never would.

CHAPTER 14

Lock parked his SUV in his allotted space under his building and climbed out. He took the stairs to the first floor, checked his mail, and then was heading to the elevator when his nose lifted, catching the air…and that scent.

Honey. Honey shampoo.

Making a quick turn, he walked out the front door and stopped at the top step. She was sitting at the bottom of the building stairs, staring across the street at the twenty-four-hour deli. She didn’t make a move, even as he sat down next to her. His narrow hips had no problem fitting in beside her on that stoop, but his shoulders nearly shoved her off.

Startled, she viciously hissed, but cut it short when she saw his face.

“Do you need to take lumbering classes or something?” she demanded. “Where is the lumbering?”

“I thought I was lumbering. I was definitely not walking on my tippy-toes.”

She didn’t say anything, her attention returning to the deli across the street. After five minutes of silence, Lock asked, “How was work?”

“Found snakes.”

He blinked. “Actual snakes?”

“Yup. The kind that rattle.”

“Are you…are you okay?” He felt like checking her for bite marks.

“I’m fine. Blayne had a nice little hack and slash party and I got to see a couple of cute guys from Animal Control.” She looked at him. “Do you wanna have sex with me?”

“Uh…”

“Good enough,” she said, getting to her feet. She grabbed his hand and pulled. “Come on. Let’s get a hotel room and have sex. Or we can go up to your place to have sex. Let’s go have sex.”

“Or you can tell me what’s really bothering you.”

“Nothing. Nothing’s bothering me. Are you saying you don’t want to have sex with me?”

“Well…”

“If it takes you that long to think about it, I’ll find someone else to have sex with.”

And with that, she headed off down the street.

Lock watched her go. He still felt where her fingers had held his, could still smell her shampoo all around him, and he’d woken up that morning thinking about how he’d kissed her from the night before.

And after all that did she really think that he’d let her walk off?

Gwenwas moving down the street, heading toward a corner where she could see cabs. She needed to get out of her head. She felt trapped by doubt, by insecurity. Even worse, she didn’t think she’d ever escape it.

Would she still be like this in another ten years, another thirty? Would her family still be able to walk in her life and simply fuck it up by their mere presence?

And what the hell did the grizzly mean by “Well…”? What did “Well” mean? She couldn’t figure him out. He kissed her like he could eat her alive, but then he turned down an offer of sex. Why? It drove her insane that she couldn’t figure him out, couldn’t label and box him away appropriately.

“Hey, legs,” some little prick standing on the corner with his friends called out to her. “Where you goin’?

Want some company?”

In the definite mood for a fight, Gwen stopped and turned to them. “What do you want? What have you got to say? What do you think you’ll do, little man?”

The full-human sneered, looking ready to give her that fight she needed, but then he backed up, his friends stumbling away from him. By the time they were charging down the street and Gwen was wondering what the hell happened, big hands caught hold of her and spun her around.

Lock gripped her denim jacket in both hands and leaned over, forcing her to bend back until she was practically U-shaped.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully, because I’ve never liked repeating myself. First off, don’t come here, dump your shit at my door, and then walk away before you’ve even given me a chance to figure out what you’re trying to tell me. Second, don’t ever assume, for even a second, that my pauses imply anything.

I’m a thinker, O’Neill. Thinkers pause. And third, you’re absolutely right that I want to have sex with you, but I’ll be damned if I let you fuck me because you’re in a pissed-off mood and you want to get even with whoever the hell you’re pissed with. When I have you, it’s because we’ll both want the same thing, at the same time. Not because you think you can walk all over me. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

“Hello, Lachlan,” an elderly man said as he leisurely walked by with a female on his arm. The couple appeared to be about the same age, and Gwen could only guess they were married.

“Hello, Mr. Guzman. Mrs. Guzman. Nice night, isn’t it?”

“Very nice night. Very nice.”

They continued on their way, apparently oblivious to Lock intimidating some poor feline with his overwhelming boar-rage.

“I’m still waiting for my answer, Mr. Mittens.”

Gwen’s eyes narrowed, but she checked her desire to punch his face and chose to nod instead.