“What kind of cash do you usually have on hand in the register?”

We’re standing behind the counter now, because for some reason, instead of kicking him out ten minutes ago like I should have, I’m still listening to him tell me how I’m putting myself in danger of being robbed or worse.

“Not a lot,” I tell him. “You might not believe this, but a small-town coffee shop is not exactly a huge money-maker.”

I don’t know why I’m even answering his questions at this point. And I’m still pissed that he thinks he has a right to ask them, since they’re none of his business.

“You have a safe?”

“Yes, I have a safe,” I say, a touch angrily, my eyes flicking toward the back office.

“How much is usually in there?”

“Seriously,” I complain. “These are exactly the kinds of questions you’d be asking if you were planning to rob me.”

“If I were trying to rob you, I’d already have walked out the door with whatever I wanted.”

“Is that right?” I stick out my chin.

“That’s right.” He takes a step closer. “You don’t believe me?”

“I think you’re underestimating my ability to defend myself.”

Before I even know what’s happening, Gavin’s hands are locked around my upper arms, pulling me close enough to him that I’m basically immobilized.

“Really?” His voice turns low, slightly menacing. “Looks to me like you might be overestimating your ability.”

A sharp spike of adrenaline jolts through me as my brain struggles to catch up to what just happened. He’s definitely in control now, but I do my best to force my face not to show that I know it. Gavin’s arms are like steel bands, and he’s pinned me against the counter in such a way that I couldn’t even move my legs enough to knee him in the groin if I had to.

“Well, sure,” I say defiantly. There’s a little wobble in my voice, and I hope he can’t hear it. “You’ve got me now. But in a real-life situation, I never would have let you get this close to me in the first place.”

“This is a real-life situation,” he growls. “And you told me yourself, I seem like the most dangerous thing around here. But you still let me into your shop at night, and let the only other person here with you go home. We’re locked in here now, just the two of us, and your phone and pepper spray — which you voluntarily told me all about — are out of your reach.”

“I…” I fight to push down a tiny little spike of fear as I realize what he’s saying. Gavin’s eyes are boring into mine now, his face completely devoid of expression. I don’t know how to respond. He’s not really… I mean… is he? The possibility that I may have actually walked right into a trap like a complete idiot makes my heart begin to thud in my chest.

“Admit I’m right,” he insists.

He’s so close now that the rasp of his voice, deep and husky, sends an electric thrill through me. In spite of myself, my body is actually responding to him. To this. To his rough, callused hands. To the heat of his body, so close to mine. Everything feels like it’s in hyper-focus right now. Down to his full, sensual lips that I can’t help but realize are just inches from mine.

The little spike of adrenaline I felt just now wasn’t fear. Not really. It was something else.

Desire. Lust.

“Admit it.”

If he wants to do something to me, there’s no way I can fight him off, I realize. It’s pointless to struggle. If he really is here to hurt me, then he’s right. I walked right into it.

And if he’s here for something else, God help me but I probably won’t resist at all.

“Okay,” I whisper. “I admit it. You’re right.”

Gavin’s hands release me, and suddenly he’s three feet away from me, like none of this just happened. I lean weakly against the counter I was pinned against just moments ago. Taking a deep breath, I let it out raggedly but slowly, praying he won’t notice just how much being that close to him has affected me.

“Now,” he says, his voice suddenly all business again. “Let’s talk about your safe. How much is usually in there?”

“Honestly,” I say, as we stand in the back office. “If someone wanted all the money in the safe, I’d probably just give it to them. A few thousand dollars isn’t worth enough for me to risk my life.”

I’ve mostly recovered from Gavin’s “lesson,” but I’m still a little pissed off at myself. And at him. And a little flustered about my body’s reaction to his. But I don’t have the energy or the bravado to kick him out right now. It’s like somehow, the last few minutes took all the fight out of me.

“Sure,” he nods. “It’s stupid to risk your life for something as unimportant as money. But that’s not what I’m worried about. It’s that we don’t know the mental state of whoever is committing these break-ins.” He turns to me. “You might think that just handing over the cash would be the end of it. But someone who’s high, or even just nervous, might not be inclined to just let you go. And if they think you’ll go to the cops, and be able to describe them, they might want to scare you enough so you’d think twice about that. Or worse.”

I don’t ask him to clarify what the or worse could be. A little tremor runs through me.

“Even with the front door locked, if you’re back here when someone breaks in, you might not have enough time to call 911 or get your pepper spray out. And like I said, chemical agents don’t always work.” His jaw tenses. “And that’s assuming they break in. They might just take an easier route, and wait until you come out — probably with the money from the till in your bag.”

“So, basically, you’re telling me that no matter what I do, I’m in danger of being robbed, or worse.” I sigh and pull the hair tie out of my hair in frustration, raking my hands through my thick mane. “If that’s the case, what’s your point? Sounds like I can’t avoid it, no matter what precautions I try to take.”

“No. I’m not saying that. I mean, yes, there’s always some risk. But it makes sense to try to mitigate that risk as much as possible.”

“How?”

“Well, for one thing, don’t take your money to the bank at night. Take it during the day, when there are more people around.”

“Okay, but how does that stop me from getting hurt?” I say smugly. “I mean, am I supposed to carry a sign every night that says, ‘The money from the till is in the safe’? The bad guys won’t know I’m not carrying it.”

“True,” he admits.

“Ha!” I crow, pumping my fist.

“You like, that, huh? Proving me wrong?” For the first time, Gavin smiles. Not just a half-curve of the lip, or the hint of a smirk, but an actual smile that reveals even, white teeth and crinkles the corners of his eyes, totally transforming his whole face.

It’s dazzling.

“Yeah. I like that,” I smile back, ignoring the sudden thudding of my heart.

For a moment, we just stand there, not saying anything. It feels like something maybe passes between us. But then his eyes flick back toward the safe, and I tell myself it was just my imagination.

“So, you have a good point about the safe,” he nods. “You should definitely start varying the times of day you go to the bank to make deposits. And don’t do it at night anymore. But you need another kind of deterrent. I suggest a security camera or two. And especially a sign in the window that advertises you have them.”

Even though I hate to admit it, all this talk about break-ins and danger has me just a tiny bit spooked, dammit. For a split second, I think about Devon. Would he ever try to take the money I left town with back from me? Would he actually track me down and try to make me give it back, even though he knows it was mine in the first place?

Would he really come to Tanner Springs to find me?

I try to ignore the little hairs that stand up on the back of my neck at the thought.

“You think so?” I ask, wavering.

“I do.”

I take a deep breath, hold it, and let it out noisily. “Okay. You win. I’ll look into it.”

He smirks at me, eyes twinkling. “Good. I was going to win eventually, so I’m glad you decided to see reason.”

“Oh, you were, were you?” I say sarcastically.

“You know I was.” His tone turns teasing. “You’re pretty goddamn stubborn, I’ll give you that, but you’ve got nothing on me.”

I snort. “God, isn’t that the truth.”

“It is,” he agrees. “So, next time, let’s just save ourselves the trouble, and you can just cut to the chase and agree with me. Deal?”

I can’t help it. I laugh out loud. “That’s… unlikely. But a guy can always dream, I guess.”

This is so weird. It’s so confusing, being around him. I can’t read him at all. I have no idea how we went from him being sullen and demanding, to me being scared half out of my wits thinking he was about to rob me or worse, to now the two of us joking around like we actually like each other.

I mean, like we’re friends, or something.

Still, this is way, way more comfortable than being scared of him — or being uncomfortably turned on by him — so I just go with it.

“I don’t really know where to start, though,” I continue. “I’ve never thought much about this stuff before. Do I just go to the security camera store and say, ‘Hi, please hook me up with some sweet, sweet security’?”

“Tell you what,” he suggests, leaning against my tiny desk. “Why don’t you let me take care of it?”

“I couldn’t,” I begin, but he holds up a hand.

“Look, I’m going to win this argument eventually, remember? So you should just give up now and let it happen. You can reimburse me for the equipment. I’ll install it for free.”

As I open my mouth to argue, he seems to know what I’m about to say. He holds up his hand again, and gives me a look that says, I’ve already won this argument, and you know it.

I’m trying to think of some way to put him off — to convince him that I really will get around to contacting someone about coming to the shop and setting up cameras — when suddenly, my mind flashes back to Devon.

Dammit.

“Okay,” I say.