No I won’t accept that, the shit would drive me crazy. To prove to myself that she did indeed feel something, I let my thumb brush against the inside of her wrist as I looked into her eyes, not wanting to miss anything.

My eyes dropped to her throat as she swallowed hard and her cheeks grew flush under the look I gave her. She tried moving back, but there was nowhere to go since I had her trapped against the bar.

She wasn’t looking so defiant now, in fact she looked like she wanted to run. Maybe she finally sensed the danger, or maybe like me, her body was reacting to our nearness to each other after all.

I saw her shore up herself and fold her little fist as she cocked her head to the side and glared at me. My lips twitched, but I controlled the smile; no sense in encouraging her.

It was the damnedest thing, but her defiance had the opposite affect on me. Instead of anger at her for putting me on display this way, I felt something close to elation.

Was I so enamored of her that even this was better than nothing? I pride myself on being an extremely private person. That comes with having your personal life plastered across the gossip columns once too often.

But here I was doing some sort of dance with her with all these eyes on me and I had no will to stop. I also never argue with anyone, well except mom.

With me the fewer words spoken the better. The people around me know that very well and go out of their way to please me and not get on my bad side.

But our little back and forth made me feel alive in a way I haven’t since my last game of professional ball. I realized that with her I didn’t feel like I was just going through the motions, the way I usually am when dealing with everyone else.

More than that, her outright disobedience made me want to tame her. To put her under me and show her why it wasn’t a good idea to stand up to me like this. That thought snapped me back.

What the hell are you thinking? Where are you letting this slip of a girl lead you? I watched her now as she watched me. Saw the darkening of her eyes and the slight blush on her cheeks.

She wasn’t as unaware of me as she pretended. Her breath wasn’t coming as easy as it had been just a few seconds ago. And her eyes, those amazing eyes, spoke volumes.

Everything in me shifted, I know that look, know very well when a woman is interested. But for some reason I didn’t think she was going to be as easy as any of my other conquests.

That made my dick even harder. What would it be like to possess someone like her? Someone with that much fire? And will she bring that same fiery passion to my bed when I finally take her?

What the hell are you thinking Max? I felt like a dog for my thoughts. After what had happened to her I shouldn’t be letting my mind wander there.

The anger came back when I remembered what had happened to her on my watch, making me more annoyed with myself for being the kind of heartless asshole who could look at her with lust after some asshole had molested her just a short while ago.

Looking at her now, I couldn’t see where the night’s events were still bothering her. Not the way she was willing to butt heads with me. But I was going to need some time to get over it.

I took a step back only then realizing how close I’d gotten to her, until we were damn near touching. Almost as though I’d been drawn to her without even noticing it.

“Drop those off and make this your last table.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I shut her down. “That’s not a request, it’s an order.” She actually looked at her watch to see how much time she had left on her shift before walking away grumbling.

I reached for the bottle of water the bartender had placed there for me without having to be told and took a much needed sip. My throat was dry as hell.

My senses were still humming and I felt a strange kind of emptiness now that she was gone. I could’ve argued with her all night, just to keep her near.

How could you miss someone who was just in the next room? My mind wanted to shy away from this new bombardment of emotions. While another part of me wondered what it would be like to own something that innocently sweet.

It wasn’t something I was used to, this indecision. I’ve had questionable relationships in the past, but nothing like this. I’ve experienced lust at first sight more than once so I know what that’s like.

But this kind of attraction was new to me. I’m used to the quick flame that burns itself out in a matter of days and on rare occasions a few weeks at most. This didn’t feel like that. This felt like it would take a while to get it out of my system.

This confusing mix of emotions was proof that I wanted something more from her. That I was only fooling myself by pretending that I didn’t know what it was that I truly wanted.

I was attracted to her down to my damn toes. But the attraction ran deep and that was the problem. It had been a while since a member of the opposite sex had made me look twice.

Not only did I want to look, I wanted to touch and I had this insane need to be near her. I know that that had been my reason for rushing back to the city so soon after leaving.

It wasn’t because I was worried about leaving her alone in the city, well that was part of it sure. But it was my need to be near her, to have the sense that I could reach out and touch her if I wanted to, when I wanted to.

When I’d been gone for those few days that felt like months, I’d missed her every damn second. It was only now that I felt like I could breathe again, because she was near. The shit makes no sense.

You’ve really fallen into it now haven’t you Max? And it had to be for someone like her. Not the calm demure model that would have given her liver for me to marry her.

Or the starlet who’d lasted longer than all the others, but in the end hadn’t been able to hold my interest for little more than a few months.

But this girl who challenged me. This girl who had blasted her way into places I’d kept hidden and locked off from the world for so long without even trying.

I felt nervous, like I was standing on the precipice of something bigger than myself. My guts twisted in knots as the old fear reared its ugly head again. I battled it back and tried to hold on to that one glimmer of hope that said my brother was right.

I’m nothing like my old man. I can’t imagine hurting her. Just the thought of it felt foreign. I could never put tears in her eyes. Would never make her sad a day in her life.

Damn, is this what it’s like? Will my mind always be consumed with thoughts of her? Will this feeling ever subside or was it here to last?

I looked up and right into Tony’s smirking eyes at the other end of the bar. I’d almost forgotten he was there, or any of the others for that matter.

Though they’d all moved on back to what they were doing before our little display, I had no doubt their minds were working over time.

“What can you tell me about that asshole?” I asked after he walked over to my side.

“Nothing much yet, never seen him in here before though that much I know. I plan to run him tomorrow, but he shouldn’t be a problem I don’t think.”

“I don’t like that he touched her. Something seems off about the whole thing, almost like it was planned.” I kept seeing the video over and over in my mind.

The way he’d moved in on her didn’t seem like some drunken mistake. It was deliberate, calculated almost. But why?

He had to know that something like this was bound to happen. Or hadn’t he expected her to react quite so strongly to his actions? More importantly, who the fuck is he?

“You might be on to something. The manager said he asked for her section specifically, which I find strange. It doesn’t look like she knows him.”

“Of course she doesn’t know him. Why would she know a piece of shit like him?” He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.

“Down boy, I’m just saying. I think maybe someone put him up to it, but who?” He took a swig from the water bottle that was ever present in his hands when he sat at the bar keeping an eye on things.

“As far as I can tell she hasn’t made any enemies here and I went back through the last week’s footage.” I’d just given myself away and given him more ammunition to rag my ass with later.

“Damn bro it’s like that? You might as well hang it up now.”

“Don’t be an ass. Get the car ready, I want you to take her home. I don’t want her walking the streets alone tonight.”

No doubt that asshole would be released tonight and I didn’t want him waiting for her somewhere to get back at her for something that I’d done.

I could’ve given in to her and not get the cops involved, but since I can’t kill him myself that was the next best thing.

It wasn’t just for her. I don’t want anyone thinking they could get away with treating women that way in my place. I probably wouldn’t have reacted so strongly had it been anyone else though.

But because it was her I’m going to go the extra mile and make sure he pays fully for what he’d done. If word doesn’t reach his employer through legal channels, I’m going to make sure they get wind of just what kind of scumbag they’d hired.

The thought of destroying him went a long way to abating some of my anger, but I was still fuming inside. It didn’t escape me that I would’ve been almost as pissed if he’d just touched her hand.

I waited at the bar to see if she was going to obey me this time or if I was going to have to go drag her off the floor and hustle her ass out the door.

No matter how tough she thinks she is, it had to be nerve rattling to go through something like that. I was only trying to take care of her by making her go home early. But she had to give me shit.