“Nowhere to run to baby!” Lucy sang at the top of her lungs, whirling between a row of washing machines doing a quick two-step shuffle then a slide as she neared the end of the row. “Nowhere to hide!”

She shimmied past the dryers and a folding table then launched herself down another row, dancing with gusto, glad she’d chosen the black platform heels for washing day instead of stilettos. She probably would have been more self-conscious except Alexandr stood in front of the door of the laundromat, like a super scary statue, ensuring her privacy. She’d assured him over and over that she didn’t mind sharing the dozens of machines with other people, but he still scared off anyone who thought to share laundry day with her. And since there was nothing Lucy could do about his over-protective attitude except do her washing as quickly as possible, she took advantage of the privacy and space by turning the laundromat into her own personal dance stage every Sunday morning from 9-11am.

As her song wrapped up, Lucy took a bow, switched her washing loads into dryers and scrolled through her Apple music playlists until she found her next performance, Kings of Leon, Sex on Fire.

She jumped around, playing air guitar and dancing until the chorus came on and then she belted it out, “Yoooouuuu…. your sex is on fire!”

She shimmied down the aisle, swinging her hips, practicing some moves for her next club night with Amber. She banged her hands on the washing machines in time with the drum beat. “Yooouuu… your sex is on fire! Consumed… with what’s to transpire!” She twirled, her short skirt flaring out, her hair swinging wildly.

She was so caught up in her dance routine that she didn’t see Mack step in front of her until it was too late to stop herself from slamming full on into the big man hard enough to rock him back on his heels. His hands came up to grip her shoulders, stopping her from flying backwards and sprawling on the floor. Her mouth fell open and her eyes flew to his face. He scowled down at her, his perpetual look of anger firmly in place. She’d stopped taking it personally weeks ago.

Lucy beamed up at him, flashing him a whole lot of teeth as Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Big Love’ started blasting in her ears. His frown started to melt, and his lips twitched until he was completely unable to hold his sour expression in the face of her happiness at seeing him. He said something, but she couldn’t hear him. She told him as much, but the startled look on his face told her she’d shouted it at him. She couldn’t even hear her own voice, her music was so loud. She knew she should probably do the polite thing and shut it off. But the moment was too perfect… the music, the man, the sun filtering through the grubby front window. She wanted it to last forever.

He was still gripping her shoulders, his long fingers giving just the perfect amount of bite to set her heart and libido going. Summoning up all the daring she could, and just going with the moment, she went up on her toes and brushed his chin with her lips. His eyes narrowed, piercing her with blue daggers. Not anger, but something almost more intense. She reached up, ran her fingers into his short blond hair and tugged his head down. She placed her lips against his and smiled as she kissed him. Not a kiss full of passion or need as he’d once kissed her, but a happy kiss, because seeing him there in the laundromat made her heart melt.

He stiffened under her hands, his body tensing, the air between and around them seeming to ignite with invisible sparks. Lucy fluttered her eyelids shut and brushed her lips back and forth against him, enjoying the sensation of skin on skin, even if it was minimal contact. The feel of his hard, but also soft lips beneath hers, the touch of her fingers against his silky, springy hair sent a flood of heat right through her body pooling in her belly and lower.

Lucy knew she was being unbelievably bold. That she was playing with fire by touching the bounty hunter like this. That she was probably going to get singed by the flames. But she didn’t care. She saw what she wanted, right there in front of her, and she was going to reach out and touch it.

And then he touched back.

Like a trap, he snapped. Her eyes flew open as his hands dropped from her shoulders and he wrapped one arm around her waist, the other around her back. He pulled her tight against his body, lifting her into him and deepening the kiss, taking control. She abandoned herself to him with a moan, the track switching over to ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Valentines. She sighed and opened her mouth under him, deciding the moment couldn’t be more perfect.

She clutched his broad shoulders, loving the feel of every part of his hard body touching hers. She did her best to melt into him as he pressed her full length against him, one large hand splayed across the top of her back and the other, gripping her ass, urging her closer. His lips sipped, caressed, teased and took. He took his time with her, but she could feel the barely leashed restraint.

He speared his tongue into her mouth, forcing it into the heated depths. She opened for him with an eager gasp, bringing her hands up to his cheeks to hold his head exactly the way she wanted so she could taste him back. He had the warmest, sexiest lips. And his mouth! She shoved his tongue back with her own, taking what she so desperately wanted, controlling him in return, sweeping his teeth and the inside of his mouth. He chuckled against her mouth as she explored him with an unpolished eagerness, standing on her booted tiptoes.

Finally, he tugged her back, forcing her lips away from his, but he continued to hold her tight, his hands spanning her waist. She allowed it, flinging her arms back and stretching as though she were about to take flight.

“Wow!” she shouted over her music and grinned.

She felt rather than heard the vibrations of his laughter through his chest. He lifted her right off her feet until she was right over his head. She squealed loud enough to hear it over her earphones and reached down to grip his shoulders, laughing wildly while he swung her around. She reveled in his easy strength.

Oh oh.

She caught a glimpse of Alexandr, who must have come inside when she’d screeched. Mack followed her line of sight and frowned. She watched his magnificently chiseled lips move as he snapped something at her bodyguard while allowing Lucy to slide slowly down the front of his body. Her skirt started to go up, but Mack held one broad hand possessively over her ass and kept her tilted away from Alexandr so he wouldn’t see. She reached up and shoved her earphones back until they rested around her neck. She could now hear the conversation between the two brutal men.

“Not leaving her alone with you anymore, Hudson,” Alexandr snarled, his accent thicker than usual. “Take your fucking hands off her.”

“Get out, now,” Mack growled each word with such deadly intensity that the hairs on the back of Lucy’s neck stood up.

“Let her go,” Alexandr snapped back.

“Not in this life time.”

“Okay boys,” Lucy intervened in a breathless voice, then said over her shoulder toward her bodyguard because Mack wasn’t loosening his grip enough to let her even turn around to talk to the other man. “I’m fine, Alexandr. Mack and I are… we’re sort of… sort of…”

“We’re fucking together,” Mack snarled. “Go tell your boss, if you need to, but stay the fuck out of our business and do your job. Keep her safe, keep your hands off.”

Alexandr glared for a moment then turned on his heel, stormed out of the shop and lifted his phone to his ear, no doubt doing exactly what Mack had suggested and calling his boss. Holy cow. She was probably in trouble now. She was pretty sure she was allowed to date while in the big city. Vladimir hadn’t exactly gone over the rules, but she was a smart girl. She was pretty sure there was a short list. She was also pretty sure the angry bounty hunter wasn’t on that list.

“Whoa,” she breathed. “What was that?” She turned a raised eyebrow on the man gripping her like he had no intention of ever letting her go.

He leaned his forehead against hers and held her tight against him. “I don’t want him getting too close.”

She laughed a little and ran her hands up and down his arms. “He’s my bodyguard, Mack, as in, he guards my body. He has to get within the vicinity of this body in order to do his job. And he is effective at that job.” She rolled her eyes. “Sometimes too effective.”

“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean? Has he touched you?” Mack growled, pushing her back to pin her against a dryer. She felt the warmth of the working machine against her butt.

“I just mean he takes his job seriously,” she said quickly. “He reports on me to Vlad all the time. I can barely go to the washroom without it getting back to the Boss, you know? So, this?” She pointed between the two of them. “Is definitely getting back to Vlad. Hope you’re ready for some serious Russian fallout, my friend.”

“Fuck the Russians, baby,” he growled, nipping at her ear. “I know what I want, and I’ve decided I want you.”

“Okay,” she whispered back.

“Come with me to dinner.”

“Yes,” she agreed without hesitation.

He stepped back, grabbed her hand and started hauling her toward the door.

“Wait, my clothes!” She dug her feet in and tried to stop him from pulling her out the door.

He glanced back but continued to drag her. “Your bodyguard can pack them up and take them home.”

“I don’t want him pawing through my underwear!” she protested.

He stopped walking so abruptly she smacked into his extremely solid, extremely broad back. “Fuck no!” he snarled. “Fucker does not get to touch your panties if he wants to keep his fingers.” He dropped her hand, turned on his heel and reached for a laundry basket.

Lucy giggled and reached for another basket. She decided to keep to herself all the times Alexandr had helped her with laundry and the time she’d had him hold her potential purchases while she was going through racks at Victoria’s Secret. Then there was Kendra’s bachelorette party when she’d been unable to fully navigate herself to the vehicle alone and he’d had to sling her over his shoulder and she’d been wearing a short skirt that night. She was pretty certain that Alexandr had touched her panties on more than one occasion.

Lucy didn’t think now was the time for Mack to find out about her underwear flashing tendencies. He had a solid half foot and probably fifty pounds on Alexandr. Plus, a whole lot more bad attitude and he was armed to the teeth. She’d felt his holster while they’d been making out.