“Who do you keep looking at?” Nikki swiveled on her stool, straining to look behind her. Muted light cast a shimmery drape of warmth over the bar, tossing it with shadows and mystery.

But one man stood out amid it all. And he was looking right back at us.

I smacked her leg, my voice a panicked whisper. “What are you doing?”

She had no shame.

She looked at me as if I were crazy. “Um . . . trying to figure out which lucky bastard has already snagged my new friend’s eye. That’s my job, you know. I’m head matchmaker, right, Lily Pad?”

She smirked in Lillith’s direction.

Lillith just wagged her ring finger adorned with the huge rock as proof while she took a sip of her wine.

“No one’s caught my eye,” I said.

Honestly, it was a useless defense. Not with the way I couldn’t stop from stealing another glance at the man who was beginning to consume my every thought. I wasn’t one prone to obsessions. Or stalking. Or spying.

But there was something about him that wouldn’t let me go.

Something that fascinated and enthralled.

Maybe it was his adorable daughter.

It had to be. It was the only explanation.

Nikki followed my gaze. She froze for a beat before her head whipped back in my direction. Her mouth hung open in blatant shock. “Oh my God! Tell me Rex Gunner isn’t the one who has you all spun up over there?”

Before I could give her another futile excuse, awareness dawned on her face. “Holy shit. He lives right across from you.” She rapidly snapped her fingers in front of my face as if she were on to something. “Oh, and his company has the contract for the hotel that’s on Fairview . . . right across from Pepper’s Pies.”

My shoulder lifted as if I didn’t care at all. As if he didn’t actually have me so spun up I could feel the knots lining my stomach. “I went over and introduced myself to him the other day. That’s it.”

I conveniently left out the part where he’d slammed his door in my face. I figured guilt was found in the small details.

The ironic laughter dripping from Lillith’s tongue sounded like a warning. “You should probably leave it at that. The only women Rex Gunner likes are his daughter and his momma. Otherwise, watch out. That boy is as cynical as they come.”

I glanced his way again, snared by the way his throat was exposed when he tipped back his beer, the way the thick muscles rolled as he swallowed, that short, trimmed beard little more than a five o’clock shadow.

God, he was gorgeous in an earth-shattering way. As if I could feel the vibrations coming from him rippling under my feet.

I edged forward, my voice quieted to a whisper, way too eager for my own good. “What happened to him?”

Lillith and Nikki shared a look.

Nikki leaned forward, dropping her tone to match mine. “His wife just . . . disappeared. No one knows for sure what happened to her.”

Was it fear that flashed through my blood? The man screamed danger and peril and risk. But my heart told me for an entirely different reason than the flicker of morbid intrigue that tickled my consciousness. Still, my eyes were round as I leaned even closer to her. “Like . . . do people think she’s . . . dead?”

Nikki howled with laughter and sat back, smacking her knee, obviously thrilled I’d followed her into that trap. “Ha! He probably wishes she was. My guess is she’s just a selfish bitch who walked out when taking care of a baby became too much. Not that anyone knows since he doesn’t talk about her, but I was never a fan.”

She shrugged and took a sip of her cosmo.

Case closed.

“Not about her or about anything really,” Lillith added, back to waving a caution flag. “I’ve known him since we were kids. We went to school together on the other side of town with Ollie and Kale. The three of them have had some horrible stuff happen in their lives. It affected them, shaped who they became. But Rex? He changed after his wife left. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy. Honest. An incredibly hard worker. He grew his small construction company into the most successful contractor in the area. Loyal to the bone, and there’s no doubt he loves that little girl. But I’m pretty sure his bitterness has seeped all the way to the marrow.”

That sense I’d been feeling grew stronger. The need to look deeper inside the man who’d built a fortress around himself. Needing to protect himself from the pain so clearly etched in his eyes.

Mournful eyes I could feel continually flashing my direction.

Scorching me deeper with each hidden pass.

Nikki laughed. “You should see your face right now. Girl, you’re in so much trouble. It looks to me like you’re taking that warning as some kind of invitation. I told you I was the queen matchmaker, but I don’t think even I’m that good.”

Lillith almost rolled her eyes. “This from the girl who’s been trying to get Ollie to look her way for the last five years.”

“Hey! Sometimes these things take time. I’m a patient woman.”

Her attention jerked toward a man who came out from the back of the bar.

“He’s back. Look, there he is. That’s who I was telling you about. That’s my Ollie,” Nikki raved not so quietly as she slapped my thigh a bunch of times to get my attention.

With the way she shivered at the sight of him, I would say her patience was wearing thin. I understood her fascination.

Ollie was rough and hard and incredibly good-looking. As good-looking as the other straightlaced guy who sat on the other side of the table from Rex.

There had to be something in the water, because both of them were almost as beautiful as the man who’d taken my thoughts hostage.

Almost.

But there was something about Rex that completely set him apart. Something that made him shine in all his surly darkness. Something that twisted my belly into a mess of anxiousness, attraction, and intrigue.

This prodding force that insisted I get to know someone who seemed desperate to remain unseen.

Nikki sighed when Ollie grabbed a couple drinks from behind the bar and carried them to Rex’s table. “God, I love him.”

With a sip of her wine, Lillith shook her head. “I’m beginning to think you’re just infatuated with what you can’t have.”

Nikki blinked at her. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

A tumble of laughter rolled from Lillith. “Not even close.”

Nikki’s gaze trailed back after Ollie. Not even trying to hide her stare when he rounded back behind the bar to help the other bartender. “For real . . . love or not, I would eat up that man.”

I giggled quietly. On the drive over, I’d worried I had made the wrong choice. Worried I’d be continually looking over my shoulder. Wondering who might recognize me. If there would be rumbles and whispers and rumors.

But I hadn’t felt it. Not for a second. I loved that these two had invited me out. That they were happy to make me feel a part of their tight-knit world. That they seemed to have no qualms about welcoming me into it.

I startled when a tall figure suddenly cast a shadow over us. I looked up to find a man towering at my side, his brown eyes raking me up and down, a grin riding his full lips.

I would have shrank away if I hadn’t been one-hundred percent sure I’d never seen him before.

Apparently, there really was something in the water.

He was ridiculously attractive. Clearly, he’d discarded the jacket of his dark gray suit, the sleeves of his button-down rolled up his forearms. His stance was so casual and confident as he looked expectantly at me.

“I just noticed you sitting over here, and I thought I could buy you a drink,” he said, his attention fully trained on me. “Name’s Tim.”

Nikki cleared her throat, the words ripe with mock offense. “I do hope that drink buying includes the rest of us.”

He glanced at her. “If that’s what it takes.”

Tim was a little cocky for my taste.

And he wasn’t Rex Gunner.

I lifted my margarita toward him, the green yummy goodness swishing in the salt-rimmed bowl. “I think I’m just fine. But thank you.”

“You sure about that? You look awful lonely over here by yourself.”

Irritation bristled beneath my skin. I was sitting there with my friends. How the hell could I appear lonely? But I was used to these kinds of pick-up lines in San Francisco when Macy dragged me out with her.

So I pasted on a fake smile and said, “I’m sure.”

The guy shrugged. “Whatever. Your loss.”

He turned on his heel and sauntered away.

“What an asshole,” I mumbled under my breath, my eyes trailing him with a special kind of disgust.

Nikki jerked my attention back to her by swatting me on the knee and lifting her spent glass. “Speak for yourself, Ryn-Ryn. I totally could have used another drink.”

I laughed. “At what expense?”

She widened her blue eyes. “Oh, come on. Take one for the team.”

Giggling, I dabbed at the trickle of margarita clinging to the edge of my lip. “He might not be bad to look at, but he was kind of a jerk. No thank you.”

Nikki nudged Lillith with her elbow. “Yet, she likes Rex Gunner.”

Lillith grinned before her expression shifted, swelling with soft affection. “I guess we like what we like. Broderick was definitely an asshole of the worst kind when I first met him.”

I made the mistake of letting my attention wander back to Rex. Ollie was back at his table, and he and the other guy were engaged in their own conversation.

Rex seemed totally removed from it.

Just sitting there.

Glaring at me.

Unabashedly with intense, heated hatred.

“Maybe there’s hope for everyone,” I mumbled.

Tearing my gaze from him, I pushed to my feet, cleared my throat, and pasted a smile on my face. “I need to use the restroom.”

Lillith gestured toward the hall to the right of the stairs. “Down the hall and on the left.”

“Thanks.”

I wound through the crowds huddled around the high-top tables. Voices were lifted to be heard above the hum of the band, laughter loud as people let go of the stresses of the week, embracing the chance they had to unwind.

I took the hall and ducked into the restroom, used it, and then washed my hands. I let a small smile lift the corner of my mouth.

Being there felt so right, even if Rex Gunner was messing with my head.

I dried my hands, swung open the door, and stepped out into the haze of the dimly lit hall. I gasped when the same guy who’d approached me at the bar stepped out in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.

“Hey,” I said uneasily, peering behind him at the people loitering at the far end of the hall. The noise level had escalated to a dull roar, the mood becoming rowdy, increasing with every second that passed.

I shifted anxiously on my feet, wondering if anyone would even hear me if I called for help.

Okay.

So maybe I was getting ahead of myself.

But getting backed into a corner by a guy I didn’t know wasn’t high on my list of safest situations. Not when a shiver of apprehension skated down my spine. A cold warning.

“Finally got you alone,” he said.

I took a single step back and to the side, trying to put space between us. “If you’ll excuse me, I was actually headed back to my friends.”

He reached out, running the tip of his index finger down the side of my cheek. “You should ditch them and spend a little time with me.”

Nausea turned my stomach. “I’m really not interested.”

He inched forward. “No?”

“No.” The word shot from my mouth.

I was so absolutely not interested. But this guy didn’t seem to be able to take a hint.

“I think you’re lying. I think you’re really interested and you just don’t want to look like a slut in front of your friends. Let’s get out of here. I won’t tell anyone.”

What the fuck?

This guy was ridiculous. I took it all back. Any appeal he had was obliterated by his foul, offensive character.

I scoffed out a laugh. “And I think you’re a total prick who can’t seem to comprehend the fact I’d rather gouge my eye out with a fork than spend the night with you.”

Anger flashed across his face, and he jolted forward, making me stumble back.

So maybe that was the wrong thing to do. Inciting this jerk. It was a risk. Some guys needed someone to knock them over the head before they got it and there were some who never understood the meaning of no. Apparently, he was the latter.

“Ah. Playing hard to get. I like it.”

“I’m not playing, Tim.” This time, the words trembled with a tiny spurt of fear. “I mean it. Just . . . leave me alone.”

He slipped forward another inch, backing me the rest of the way into the wall. “See? You even remembered my name. Stop playing coy.”

“She said she wasn’t interested.” The voice that rumbled in the hallway was rough. Low and dangerous.

My skin shivered for entirely different reasons.

Tim swung around to look over his shoulder, still keeping his body angled so I was backed against the wall but allowing me to see farther down the hall.

Rex was there. Fists clenched. Jaw rigid. Anger radiated from him in shocking waves. Those sage eyes glinted with hate as his lean, sinewy muscles twitched with restraint.

I just didn’t know which of us he hated most.

It didn’t matter.

I sucked in a breath of relief, succumbing to a feeling of safety so staggering it weakened my knees.

Tim clung to that sleazy cockiness. “Think you should turn around and mind your own fucking business.”

“And I’d suggest you back the fuck away before you don’t have the chance to walk out of here.” It was nothing less than a growl.

Aggression ricocheted between the two of them. Growing and spinning and spiking.

Finally, Tim cracked a flippant, arrogant grin. Though, I could have sworn I saw his quake of fear. The realization that he didn’t have a fighting chance.

Rex Gunner would beat him bloody.

He stepped away from me. “Whatever, man. You want her, have her. She’s not worth the effort.”

I sagged forward, dragging a bunch of cleansing breaths into my too-tight lungs.

Rex glowered at him, never breaking his menacing stare when Tim angled his shoulders to the side to slip past him, his pace increasing the second he was on the other side of Rex’s raging hostility.

He disappeared at the end of the hall, and I pushed my bangs back from my forehead, which was sweaty and slick with the adrenaline.

“You okay?” Rex asked, voice still shaky and rough.

I nodded. “Yeah . . . he was . . .” I trailed off, forcing myself to stand straight. “Rex. Thank you. I—”

He cut me off with harsh, cold words. “You should go home before you get yourself into any more trouble.”

Then he turned around and stalked away.

I stood there, staring after him, wondering what in the hell had just happened. Finally, I shook myself out of it, feet prodding down the hall. At the end of it, I searched the crowded room until my gaze latched on to the back of the man as he wound through the throng toward the bar.

For a beat, I contemplated, wondering if it was even worth it. Putting myself out there when he seemed to shut me down at every turn.

It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion.

I followed the same path, angling through the bodies that seemed to grow thicker with each moment that passed.

I came to a stop behind him. He had gone straight for the bar, arms rested on top of it, gesturing with his chin to Ollie. Ollie only gestured back, as if they spoke some sort of secret language, a fresh beer gliding across the shiny dark mahogany and landing in Rex’s grip.

He brought it to his lips and took a deep pull, that strong throat bobbing again. But there was a new kind of agitation that radiated from the movement.

As if he were upset.

I swallowed down my reservations and sidled up to him, wondering what had possessed me. What made it impossible to turn away from this man I barely even knew.

That intrigue grew greater and greater with each glimpse that took me a little deeper.

He exhaled heavily when he realized I was there, taking another sip without looking my way.

“I said thank you,” I reiterated just loud enough to be heard over the din.

He sighed, rubbed his fingertips over those plush lips, and barely cut an eye my direction.

“You’re welcome.” It was gruff. Reluctant.

“Am I?” I challenged.

He coughed out a laugh with a quick shake of his head before he looked at me for a moment. Seriously. Genuinely. “Yeah, you are. Would have preferred to take the fucker out, honestly.”

“Then why are you so pissed at me?”

He sighed again, this time as he scrubbed a hand over his face as he looked straight ahead. “It’s just . . . let’s just say today’s not the best of days.”

“What happened?”

He flinched, and his trembling hand ran over his short beard. “Some things are better left unsaid, Rynna Dayne. Only thing dragging history out into the open does is remind you just how fucking bad it sucks that there’s not a damned thing in the world you can do to change it.”

I studied him, trying to make sense of what he said, realizing it was a locked door I had no chance of getting through. Instead, I hiked myself up onto the stool.

Ollie’s eyes went wide when he approached, his attention flicking between the two of us as if he were shocked Rex might actually be talking to me.

“What can I get you?” Ollie asked.

“A margarita would be nice.”

Rex and I sat in silence for a few moments, saying nothing while Ollie mixed my drink and placed it in front of me. “Thank you,” I said, taking a sip before I chanced a peek at Rex.

At his profile.

At his nose and his lips and his jaw.

Shivers rolled and those butterflies swarmed.

“Your daughter is adorable.”

A smile flickered on his lush mouth. “Yeah . . . she’s a handful.”

His words were pure adoration, and for the first time, Rex dropped his shield.

As if just the mention of her had the power to send it tumbling down.

So maybe I melted a little.

“I’d venture that kind of handful is the best kind.”

His chuckle was slow. “Sometimes I wonder how I handle that little hurricane. Barely can keep up most days.” Even though it came out playful, there was an undercurrent of sadness. A suggestion of fear.

I nodded before we both turned away, facing forward and sipping from our drinks. It was as if we both needed a breather, a moment to sort through whatever was happening between us.

It felt like maybe in the silence, we were calling a truce.

The band playing at the small stage behind us at the other end of the bar moved into another song. I’d barely been paying attention to them all night, the songs only a backdrop to the vibe, the band members just as trendy as the bar itself.

But this . . .

This was a song I knew so well.

They were singing a haunting cover of “Awake My Soul” by Mumford & Sons.

Slower and quieter than the original.

The lyrics were full of longing and heartache.

Mournful and somehow hopeful.

I sipped my drink, getting lost in the feel. In the comfort of the soft, scratchy voice of the singer, in the startling warmth that radiated from Rex.

My grandmother’s face flitted through my eyes, her belief a whisper in my ear.

My teeth caught on my bottom lip when I turned to find him watching me.

Intently.

Something fervent rose between us. Alive and potent. It sent my nerves spiraling free.

He took a slow pull of his beer, his words measured. Careful. “I’m really sorry about your grandmother, Rynna. She was a really good woman.” Sadness flashed through his expression. “Don’t know of anything worse than losing someone you love.”

Emotion thickened my throat, stunned by his sudden care and swimming in the stark loss. “I feel like I lost her a long time ago.”

The admission was strangled, ripped from my chest as if I couldn’t keep it in for a second longer.

That stunning gaze searched my face through the shadows. “Had it been a long time since you saw her?”

There was no accusation behind it. Just honest curiosity.

“Yeah.”

“Why’d you stay away so long?”

I choked out an uncertain laugh. “Because I wasn’t brave enough.”

He frowned. “You seem awful brave to me.”

My head shook. “No. I’m not brave. Or maybe I just wasn’t brave soon enough.”

The lyrics lifted in the atmosphere, words about life and death and the impermanency of our bodies. I swore I saw Rex’s spine go rigid.

I touched his arm, unable to stop myself. My skin lit up at the contact. He stared at it before he jerked away and pushed from the bar.

Shocked, I spun around.

His chest heaved and he looked . . . panicked.

“Rex—”

He roughed a hand over his face, cutting off whatever connection we’d shared. “I’ve got to get out of here.”

Then he turned, stalked through the crowd, shoved open the door, and disappeared into the night.

Leaving me sitting there staring at the vacancy he’d left behind, wondering exactly what I’d done wrong.