An alpha hero’s attraction to the one woman he can’t have could draw him into a killer’s snare in the sizzling new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster

Charismatic bar owner Rowdy Yates isn’t the kind of man women say no to. So when he approaches waitress Avery Mullins, he fully expects to get her number. However, the elusive beauty has her reasons for keeping her distance—including a past that might come back to haunt them both.

Avery spends her nights working for tips...and trying to forget the secret Rowdy is determined to unearth. But when history threatens to repeat itself, Avery grows to rely on Rowdy’s protective presence. As the sparks between them ignite, she will be forced to choose between the security she’s finally found…and the passion she’s always wanted.

Praise for New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster

“Foster hits every note (or power chord) of the true alpha male hero…a compelling read from start to finish.”

—Publishers Weekly on Bare It All

“A sexy, believable roller coaster of action and romance.”

—Kirkus Reviews on Run the Risk

“Bestseller Foster…has an amazing ability to capture a man’s emotions and lust with sizzling sex scenes and meld it with a strong woman’s point of view.”

—Publishers Weekly on A Perfect Storm

“Foster rounds out her searing trilogy with a story that tilts toward the sizzling and sexy side of the genre.”

—RT Book Reviews on Savor the Danger

“The fast-paced thriller keeps these well-developed characters moving.… Foster’s series will continue to garner fans with this exciting installment.”

—Publishers Weekly on Trace of Fever

“Steamy, edgy and taut.”

—Library Journal on When You Dare

“Intense, edgy and hot. Lori Foster delivers everything you’re looking for in a romance.”

—New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz on Hard to Handle

“Lori Foster delivers the goods.”

—Publishers Weekly

Dear Reader,

I am so pleased to bring you Getting Rowdy, Rowdy Yates’s story! From the moment he showed up on the page in Run the Risk, the first book in my Love Undercover series, he’s been one of my all-time favorite characters. Rowdy is loyal through and through, tougher than nails, dangerous, dark and edgy—but still sexy and sweet with a lot of mystery surrounding him.

I loved how he protected his sister at all costs in Run the Risk. I equally loved how he befriended Alice, the troubled heroine of Bare It All. But mostly, I loved how Avery, the tough-talking waitress at the bar Rowdy now owns, drew him beyond mere sexual attraction—even when he tried to resist.

There’s something to be said for “broken wing” alphas.

Please let me know what you think of Rowdy and Avery. I sincerely hope you end up loving their story as much as I do!

All my best,

Getting Rowdy

Lori Foster

www.millsandboon.co.uk

When writing, I often ask for quick information on Facebook and Twitter. For all the many reader friends who so generously share their expertise in various fields, THANK YOU.

You are my favorite form of research!

For those extra-special reader friends who went above and beyond in supplying feedback:

To Jenna Scott,

Thank you for passing along my many law enforcement questions to your father, and please thank him for taking the time to answer. My favorite bit of feedback, when asking about the situation for my fictionalized criminals, was your dad’s very succinct,

“These guys are screwed.”

To Rhonda Copley,

A key feature of this story was understanding what happens to a child caught in the untenable situation of having bad parents who also happen to be criminals. I told you what I needed to happen, and you told me how it could work. I can’t thank you enough for your patience in helping me with the details.

And last, to Amy Miles-Bowman,

If not for your help, I’d have been trolling the bars for info. As a teetotaler. That would have been pretty uncomfortable for me. ::grin:: Your knowledge of owning and running a bar helped guide my Muse through a few plot points and I’ll be forever grateful.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE

AVERY MULLINS HESITATED outside the entrance of the newly renovated bar. This early in the day, only a dim interior showed beyond the locked, glass-and-oak double entry doors—new doors that had just been installed two weeks ago.

Doors she’d helped to pick out.

Freshly painted signs crowded the big front window, advertising food, two pool tables, dancing and drinks. Overhead neon lights showcased the name of the bar: Getting Rowdy. It made her smile, remembering how she’d suggested the name, and how he’d followed through.

In such a short time, so much had changed. The business had gone from a failing, run-down dump of a place known mostly for its cheap drinks and availability of illicit drugs to a promising, fresh new bar with a fast-growing crowd. Even more notable was her switch of positions, from struggling waitress to head bartender.

Satisfaction had her smiling through most of her days. Thanks to the tips she made along with the raise she’d gotten, she no longer had the grind of two jobs just to make ends meet.

She’d kept the same apartment that could only be called modest if someone felt generous. And for the sake of anonymity, she still took the bus to and from work, rather than drive. But...

She had changed.

Before meeting Rowdy Yates—bar owner, boss and scalding-hot temptation—before being swept up in his enthusiasm for turning around a broke-dick bar, she’d...survived. No more, no less. She hadn’t been unhappy, really. Or rather, there’d been no time to dwell on ideas like happiness.

But she hadn’t enjoyed her life, either. Not like she did now.

She loved how Rowdy so often included her in decisions concerning the bar, almost as an equal partner instead of simply an employee. He had final say in all things, but he welcomed her input. He was proud, but not too stubborn to listen. Strong, but never a bully. He made her feel important again.

And of course, every woman who laid eyes on him noticed his appeal—her included.

They got along great, working to make the bar as successful as it could be. Associates, and she liked to think friends, as well.

Rowdy wanted more. God knew he hadn’t been shy in sharing his interest.

And though he didn’t know it, she returned those sentiments. But...did she dare to get intimately involved with a heartbreaker like Rowdy? He was honest with her; she didn’t worry about what he wanted because he spelled it out. His honesty could sometimes be so brutal that it took her breath away.

He wanted sex.

Preferably with her, but every time she refused—and she’d refused every time—he easily found “company” elsewhere. With the way the female patrons came on to him, she doubted he ever had to spend a night alone.

Yet he always asked her first before moving on to second choice—his words, not hers.

Who did that?

Why did he do that?

If she really mattered to him, wouldn’t he wait until he got her agreement?

But, being honest with herself, Avery had to admit that went both ways. If he mattered to her, why make him wait? After the year she’d had, she deserved some fun.

Bad boy Rowdy Yates, with his scrumptious bod, brazen attitude and overactive libido, would be so much fun.

A brisk October wind cut through Avery’s jacket and sent shivers up her spine, bringing her back to the here and now. Daydreaming about Rowdy had become her prime preoccupation. Seldom did a minute pass that he didn’t plague her mind.

Maybe tonight, before he hooked up with someone else, she’d clue him in to how she felt.

With that decision made, Avery unlocked the door. Only she and Rowdy had keys. It still amazed and pleased her that he trusted her so much. She would never do anything to make him regret that.

Without turning on lights, she made her way through the dim interior of the bar. The early-morning sunshine barely penetrated the shadows. Usually she arrived around two o’clock, an hour or so before her shift so she could get set up. But she had errands to run today, as well as an important phone call to make, and she’d forgotten her phone near the register. She figured she may as well combine the trips.

After locating her cell phone behind the bar—right where she’d left it—she started to leave. She’d taken only a few steps when she heard the first noise.

Heart going heavy, alarm prickling, Avery stopped to listen.

There! She heard it again. A slight rustling, a low...groan?

She swallowed hard. Had someone gotten in through the back door? A drunk? A vagrant?

A robber?

Or worse?

No. She shook her head, denying that possibility. No one from her past would ever think to look for her here. There were times when she still couldn’t believe the differences in her life. Differences that, since meeting Rowdy, she no longer regretted.

Besides, Rowdy’s ongoing renovations to the bar had started with updating all the security, installing sturdy new locks to both the front and back door and all the windows that opened. No one could easily break in.

Before her transformation, she’d been an utter coward. Oh, sure, some might have called it circumspect, but she knew the truth. For far too long she’d relied on others...for everything.

A year ago, when faced with an unknown noise, she would have slunk back out the front door and called the police to investigate. If it turned out to be nothing, well, she didn’t mind the possible inconvenience to others.

But a year in hiding had taught her to be more self-reliant, to handle her own problems. Independence had freed her, so she wouldn’t backslide now.

Trying to be utterly silent, Avery crept toward the sound, her ears straining. She heard another groan that appeared to come from Rowdy’s office. Maybe a radio? The creak of the wind outside?

Rowdy’s door stood ajar, when he usually kept it closed. Daring took her only so far, but never beyond common sense. Just in case someone had found a way in, Avery pushed 9-1-1 on her cell and put her thumb on the call button. Inching along the wall, she held her breath until she stood right beside the door.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

Recognizing Rowdy’s rough, whispered voice, Avery relaxed. Thinking he spoke on the phone, probably to one of his lady friends, she rolled her eyes, stepped around the door frame...

And her stomach did a free fall.

Slouched in the big padded chair behind his desk, his hands gripping the armrests, his blond head tipped back, Rowdy released another low groan, this one deeper, more gravelly. Avery saw him in profile, the large desk hiding most of his lower body—but not the top of the woman’s head moving over him, precisely in the general area of his lap.

Good God, she knew what they were doing; even an idiot wouldn’t misunderstand. Jealousy, hurt, resentment rose up to choke her. Avery wanted to move, she really did, but her feet stayed glued to the spot.

She wanted to look away, too, but...she didn’t.

Rowdy’s body went taut, straining, his expression bordering on acute pleasure. Then, with a final sound of repletion, he released a breath and eased again, his every muscle going lax. With a deep exhalation, he stroked the woman’s hair and said, “Ease up, honey, I’m spent.”

Oh. My. God.

Avery tried to swallow, but she couldn’t find any spit. She tried to close her eyes, but couldn’t even manage a blink.

On her knees before him, the redhead gave her own sound of satisfaction and slowly rose up over Rowdy’s thighs. “My turn.”

Whoa. No way did she want to hang around to witness that. Horrified, Avery shifted to sneak off—and the floor squeaked.

Rowdy’s gaze swung around to pinpoint her there in the doorway. His light brown eyes went from mellow satisfaction to razor-sharp focus. He didn’t straighten, didn’t take his big hand from the woman’s hair.

Maybe he didn’t even breathe.

Their gazes clashed for two heavy heartbeats before Avery got it together and lurched away. Heat scalded her face. Her heart punched against her ribs. Please don’t let him follow me. Please don’t.

From behind her, she heard Rowdy’s low curse, and then the high-pitched laughter of the woman.

No, no, no. Humiliation chased Avery to the front door. Once there, breathless in a confusing mix of emotions, she paused and glanced back over her shoulder.

No one followed. In fact, she could now hear the quiet conversation between Rowdy and the woman.

Fury tightened her chest and burned her eyes. Damn you, Rowdy Yates.

Forcing her chin up, Avery pushed through the door, out of the bar and away from the first man who’d interested her in over a year.

* * *

ROWDY FOUGHT THE urge to call Avery back, to chase after her and say...what? Sorry you busted me getting a blow job. Hardly. She’d annihilate him if he even tried.

He could tell her the truth. I wish it had been you on your knees instead. He snorted at the idiocy of that thought.

Avery already knew he wanted her. Hell, he’d been so open and up-front with her that his pursuit bordered on infatuation, as asinine as that seemed.

Growing uneasiness obliterated the pleasure from release. Damn it, he didn’t owe Avery any explanations. She was his employee. Period.

That’s how she wanted it.

But what if she didn’t come back?

No, he wouldn’t think that way. In the short time he’d known her, Avery had proved to have a backbone of iron, an overload of pride and possibly a chip on her shoulder bigger than the one he carried.

She’d be back, if for no other reason than to fry him with her disapproval.

Besides, she loved her job, and she was good at it. He checked his watch. Why was she here so early?

Whatever her reason, it didn’t matter. She had seen him, and that destroyed all the ground he’d gained with her. For a little while there, she’d been softening to him. Sort of.

Maybe not.

With Avery Mullins, it was hard to tell.

From the first time he’d spotted her in the bar, he’d wanted her. She had amazing red hair, a killer attitude and tons of energy contained in a petite and enticing body. Smart, savvy, observant.

And sexy as hell, though she denied that truth, just as she denied wanting him.

The contrast of her personal pride and work ethic, compared to where she chose to work—with him—intrigued Rowdy. He’d met her before buying the bar, back when it was no more than a dump filled with creeps and criminals. He still wasn’t sure if she’d factored into his desire to have the bar.

Eventually he’d win her over. He refused to accept any other outcome. But even to him, this current transgression looked bad.

The long, lonely night had ended, so he had no reason to continue lingering with...shit. What was her name?

Feeling the sting of Avery’s censure, even though she hadn’t stuck around to share it with him, Rowdy caught the woman’s arms and tugged her to her feet. “C’mon, honey. Fun’s over.”

“For you,” she complained, and tried to crawl into his lap.

“As I recall, you had your turn at least twice already.”

“At least.” She gave him a sultry, satisfied smile and rubbed up against him.

Her hair, red but not the rich, natural red of Avery’s, trailed over his arm. She was a small woman also, but without the same proud stature as Avery.

And when it came to outlook, the two women were worlds apart.

Had he really imagined a similarity of any kind? Dumb. Maybe even desperate, but he didn’t like that idea, so he snuffed it from his mind.

Holding the woman away, Rowdy stood and then turned from her so he could refasten his jeans. “It’s later than I realized. Time for you to go.”

“Because of her?”

On the nose. “No.”

Snuggling up to his back, she rubbed her breasts against him. “I had an incredible time.”

Now, after seeing Avery, the purring tone and brush of body on body left him cold. “Glad to hear it.” Though he felt like a bastard, he skirted around his desk and went to the door to wait, his impatience plain.

She pouted before accepting the inevitable. With a slow lick to her lips, she sauntered toward him, tried to kiss him—but he dodged that—and started to head through the bar.

Rowdy caught her arm and redirected her. “Back door is closer.” On the off chance that Avery lingered out front, best not to push his luck.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, sure.” He’d tried to win Avery over last night but as usual, she’d turned him down in her no-nonsense way.

He hadn’t wanted to, but he’d accepted an alternate.

“I need cab fare.”

“Not a problem.” The lady was from out of town and staying with her family, which meant going to her place hadn’t been an option. Rowdy hadn’t wanted her in his new apartment, either...so he’d taken her to his office instead.

Not good. He should have just rented a room for the night. Next time he would.

Because the nightmares never went away for long, he knew there would be a next time, and a time after that.

He was a twenty-nine-year-old man, and he’d been on his own for most of his life. But sometimes the ugliness of long ago closed in around him with the suffocating discomfort of a boy’s desperation.

Damn it, he hated his own weakness.

Disgusted, Rowdy dug out his wallet and retrieved two twenty-dollar bills. Now, with a new day ahead, he craved a few hours’ sleep. “Will that do it?”

“Thanks.” She curled her manicured fingers around the money and said with suggestion, “I get into town every couple of weeks.”

Rowdy unlocked the back door while saying, “Sorry, honey, but I already told you this was a onetime deal.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“Yeah.” His thoughts already moving ahead to what had to be done before he opened the bar, he held the door wide open for her. “It does.”

“If you change your mind...”

As gently as he could, he nudged her along. “I won’t.” She’d been a nice distraction, but nothing more. At the moment, he wanted to concentrate on the bar...and on Avery.

The woman left reluctantly—but she did leave.

Just as they all did.

And that’s the way he wanted it. Usually. But odd as it seemed, even though they hadn’t yet hit the sheets, he enjoyed Avery’s company.

Hell, he liked it so much that he’d made her the bartender as soon as he’d bought the bar. If he wanted her to stick around—and he did—there’d have to be no more sex in the office.

Unless it was sex with Avery.

And wasn’t that one hell of a nice idea?

* * *

IN THE PAST year, Avery had learned all sorts of things about herself. She was stronger than she’d ever realized. More determined. More resilient.

But it took every bit of her confidence to walk back into that bar before her shift. She couldn’t rid her brain of the darkly sensual image of Rowdy involved in such an intimate act. How he’d looked, how he’d sounded. So hot.

Being honest with herself, she knew that jealousy ran hand in hand with curiosity. They didn’t have an agreement, so he hadn’t betrayed her in any way. But she still felt...a lot.

Rowdy lived life by his own rules. How freeing might that be?

He took care of his business and accepted his responsibilities, but when it came to personal relationships, he avoided commitments and instead indulged a healthy sexual appetite. She wasn’t as pathetically naive now as she’d been a year ago, but she knew a badass bad boy like Rowdy was so far out of her realm of experience that it left her dizzy.

She couldn’t play with him without getting burned. She couldn’t indulge him without risking a broken heart.

Sadly, there wasn’t anything she could do with him—except work—so she might as well put anything more intimate from her mind.

But now that she’d seen him during a release...

No, Avery told herself, stop thinking about it!

Not even Rowdy was around when she returned and began rushing through her setup. She had enough to do that for a while, she managed not to stew.

At 3:00 p.m., only half an hour before he needed to open the doors, Rowdy strode in. Wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt, freshly showered and with his hair still damp, he looked as delicious as ever.

She braced herself for the inevitable awkwardness, what Rowdy would say, what she would say.

It didn’t happen.

Rowdy went right to work setting up. Jones, the newly hired cook, and Ella, one of the three waitresses, also bustled about. The prep work kept them all too busy for chitchat.

She looked away as Rowdy stocked the cash register with small bills and change. She occupied herself elsewhere when he set up the dry-erase board with the day’s specials. She chatted up Ella while Rowdy did a general run-through of the bar.

But all the while, she was far too aware of him.

Rowdy, damn him, acted as if nothing had happened.

Maybe, for him, it hadn’t been a big deal at all. Maybe getting busted in an intimate sex act was something he took in stride.

He did repeatedly look her way. Avery knew because she felt it every time. The man had a way of looking that felt more like a hot, physical touch.

As the night wore on and customers crowded in, Avery’s tension grew. She’d expected Rowdy to confront her, at the very least to ask her why she’d been in the bar so early.

But he didn’t.

Was he avoiding her? Well, he’d have to eventually talk with her, but she wanted to put it off as long as possible. She still had to figure out what to say.

Best-case scenario, she’d follow his lead and play it off like it hardly had an impact at all.

During the dinner hour, while much of the crowd ordered off the limited menu, Avery took the time to tidy her work area. She didn’t have a barback so keeping the bar prepared was one of her main responsibilities. Whenever possible, she reorganized things.

Hustling along the length of the countertop, she grabbed up empty straw wrappers and cocktail napkins and wiped up a few spills. When she turned toward the sink, she almost plowed into Rowdy. Stumbling back two steps, taken off guard, she scowled up at him. “What?”

He didn’t seem to mind her acerbic tone. “Going to ignore me all night?”

A deep inhalation didn’t help. She said without thinking, “You were ignoring me.”

“No.” He turned them both so that he blocked her from view of the customers. “But every time I looked at you, you got so red faced I thought you might faint.”

Yeah, and now that he mentioned it, heat scalded her cheeks. Hoping to exude disinterest, Avery tried to elbow him out of her way. He was so rock solid that she didn’t budge him a single inch, so she stepped around him with haste. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bull.” He crossed his arms and leaned back on the bar. “We have to talk about it.”

At the breaking point, she started to blast him, but instead got caught up in the flex of his biceps, how his soft cotton T-shirt stretched over his chest, how the denim of his jeans had faded over his...fly.

Stifling a groan, she set out more napkins and clean glasses just to give her hands something to do—other than reach for him. “About what?”

“Avery,” he chastised. “You know what I’m talking about.”

A spark of temper smashed through some of her embarrassment. She gave a quick glance around, but no one was close enough to overhear. “Are you talking about your inappropriate behavior in your office?”

“Yeah.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “That.”

Well, if he could be so blasé, she would be, too. “Sorry about interrupting. Hope you didn’t—” she almost choked “—stop on my account.”

“I’d just finished anyway—but then, you know that, don’t you?”

Breath strangled in her throat.

He lowered his voice to a husky rumble. “I mean, since you watched.”

Shooting up to her tiptoes, Avery growled, “I was shocked! And actually, I figured you two had stayed at it for hours after I fled the scene.”

“No.” His humor faded until he looked far too serious. “I’m sorry you walked in on that.”

Before she could censor her mouth, she heard herself say, “But you’re not sorry you did it?”

As if sizing her up, Rowdy watched her without replying.

Good grief. Rushing, Avery pulled out the bags of peanuts and pretzels to refill the bowls. “Forget I said that. Not my business.”

“I’ve asked you—”

“I know you have,” she said, a little too loud and way too fast. Her rusty laugh wouldn’t convince anyone. “And if not me, then someone else, right?” Anyone else.

Way to make her feel special.

“Avery—”

She plopped the bowl up on the bar so hard that peanuts jumped out. “Believe me, Rowdy, I get it.”

“I don’t think you do.”

For whatever reason, that really annoyed her. Hands on her hips, her cheeks hot, she faced him. “You want sex. Constantly.”

He glanced around, then took her arm and pulled her aside again. “Keep it down, why don’t you?”

Already on a roll, she continued. “With any willing woman. I’m not ready, so you—”

“It’s not like that.”

“No?” Just shut up, Avery. But of course she didn’t. Around Rowdy, she lost much of her control. “Then how exactly is it?”

He dismissed that question with a shake of his head and asked one of his own. “What do you mean you’re not ready?”

Oh, crap.

Shifting closer, his gaze bored into hers. “You haven’t asked me to wait, Avery. Not once. All I’ve heard from you is a flat no.”

She stared up at him—and badly wanted to say, Wait.

As if he knew her thoughts, he whispered, “Avery—” and the bar’s landline phone rang, cutting off whatever Rowdy had planned to say.

She started to reach for it, but he beat her to it.

Watching her, he said into the phone, “Rowdy’s bar and grill.” He might have adopted her suggested name for the place, but he rarely referred to it that way. “How can I help you?” His eyes narrowed. “Yes, she’s here. Hold on.” He held the phone out to her.

Avery lifted her brows. “For me?”

“You’re Avery Mullins, right?”

She stepped back so fast she bumped into the bar. Someone had asked for her by name? An invisible fist squeezed her lungs. “Who is it?”

Concern and suspicion narrowed Rowdy’s gaze. “He didn’t say.”

He. Thoughts churning, unreasonable worry blooming, Avery tried to decide what to do, how to act.

Rowdy covered the phone. “What’s the problem?”

She chewed her bottom lip. Surely it was just a customer, a bar question maybe. The caller couldn’t know that the owner himself had picked up and could share any info needed....

Rowdy moved so close, they almost touched. “Want me to take the call for you?”

He was so big, so impressively male, that he inadvertently emphasized the differences in their sizes, making her feel even smaller and far too vulnerable.

Feelings she’d tried to bury deep.

“No.” She was an independent adult—time to act like one. “No, of course not.” She tried to smile, but didn’t feel real successful. Taking the phone from him, she said with only a modicum of caution, “Hello?”

The cold silence sounded louder than a shout.

Her heart started pounding a wild tattoo. The way Rowdy studied her didn’t help. She said again, a little louder, “Hello?”

She heard a faint laugh—and the line went dead.

Worry burned into real alarm.

“Avery?”

From now on, she’d have to be more careful. No more walking out to the bus alone. No more getting to her apartment unprepared for the worst.

“All right, enough.” Rowdy took her shoulders. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

And no reason to share her absurd past with Rowdy. “Nothing is wrong.” Nothing that he could fix. Not that she’d let him anyway.

She’d gotten along well enough before meeting Rowdy.

And since he didn’t want to get tied down, well, she’d get along fine and dandy without him still.

“Nothing, huh? That’s why you’re strangling the phone?” He took the receiver from her, put it to his ear.

“He hung up.” Avery turned to do a few refills along the bar. When she finished, Rowdy still stood there. Waiting. Maybe she’d misunderstood. “You say he asked for me? Like, he asked to speak to the bartender?”

“Actually, he asked if Avery Mullins was working.”

Well...that sucked. Not many ways she could spin that, except for assuming the worst.

Someone had found her.

Rowdy caught her arm and gently pulled her around. “You work for me.”

“Seriously? How did I miss that?”

His gaze narrowed with bad attitude. “Don’t be a smart-ass.”

“Sorry. Right, I work for you.” She loved her job, so she should really be tending customers instead of fretting. “If you’d get out of my way, I could get more done.”

He searched her face, realized she wouldn’t be swayed and growled a sound of exasperation. “Stick around tonight after we close. I need to talk to you.”

She opened her mouth to refuse him, but he cut her off before she could say a single word.

“Work related.” The bad attitude remained. “Ella will be there, too.”

Oh. Well, then...“I can only stay till two-thirty.” After that, she’d miss the bus, and no way did she want to pay for cab fare.

He nodded his acceptance of that. “Won’t take long.”

“Okay, then.”

Still holding her arm, he brushed his thumb over her skin. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Ahhh. Rowdy had his faults, sure, but he was also caring, protective.

And he possessed more raw masculine appeal than should be legal.

“I’m absolutely positive.” She’d worked hard to get her life together. No way would she backslide now.

Someone said, “Rowdy!” with far too much familiarity. They both turned to look, seeking out the voice.

Two blondes and a brunette waved at him, but Avery didn’t see a redhead anywhere. She crossed her arms and curled her lip. “If you decide to use your office again, I suggest you lock the door.”

Rowdy touched her chin, lifting her face. “We’ll talk after work.”

“About work,” she clarified, but he’d already left her, circling out from behind the bar to greet the trio of women.

* * *

THE MOON AND a flickering lamppost illuminated the dark night. A cold wind cut through his coat. He turned up his collar and, shoes crunching on the gravel lot, paced away from the pay phone. Churning satisfaction almost brought him to a laugh.

He had her now.

Avery Mullins might have thought herself well hidden, but with enough money he could uncover anyone—or hide the darkest secret. It had taken a year, but soon it’d all be over.

He couldn’t wait to see her again. Everyone would be happier when she returned to her rightful place. Never again would he be so careless. They’d both miscalculated in a big way: he’d underestimated her resourcefulness, she’d misjudged his determination.

He’d match his bank account to her gumption any day.

Soon, he’d right the wrongs. Avery would never again play him for a fool.

CHAPTER TWO

AVERY LOCKED HER teeth together and tried to ignore them. Impossible. The women hanging on Rowdy were pretty, sexy and on the make. If Rowdy started for his office with them, she’d...what? Quit? Not likely.

She could just throw cold water on them. She eyed the seltzer water under the bar. It had possibilities.

But as she waited on customers, Rowdy disengaged from the women and then had to dodge others who tried to cling to him. He was polite to them all, but only polite.

Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. Not to her.

He glanced up and caught her scowl. With a wink and a small smile, he went about greeting customers.

Since they’d opened a few weeks ago, Rowdy made a point of doing every job, overseeing every aspect of the operation and mingling with the crowd. The men enjoyed the casual setup of the bar, but Avery suspected the women came as much for Rowdy as for anything else the bar offered.

It had taken a while to get the interior refurbished. A lot of the equipment had to be repaired, and what couldn’t be fixed Rowdy had replaced with used. To save money, he’d done much of the work himself, putting fresh paint on the walls, scrubbing the floors and windows, making sure everything was as shiny and clean as he could make it.

Whenever possible, Avery had pitched in, working side by side with him...and falling harder every second.

She couldn’t pinpoint what it was about Rowdy, but from the day she’d met him, she’d been sinking under his rough-edged charm. Add his gorgeous face to that strong, honed body, and he made spectacular eye candy.

But it was so much more than his physical appeal. Rowdy smiled as if he knew all her secrets, looked at her as if they’d already been intimate. He had confidence down to a fine art, and faced each day with a fearless type of daring.

She knew he did his best to hide it, but there was something supersensitive and attentive in the way he treated life—his own and others.

When Rowdy’s sister had married Detective Logan Riske, Rowdy had inherited a cop as a brother-in-law. She smiled, thinking of how he’d reacted to that. Overall, he didn’t trust the police. But from what she’d seen, he got along well with Logan, and with Detective Reese Bareden, Logan’s partner.

The majority of Rowdy’s background remained a mystery to her, but it didn’t take a psychic to know he’d had a rough life, that he was street-smart and survival savvy. Odds were he’d spent some time on the wrong side of the law, and that accounted for his feelings toward police officers.

Busy washing glasses, Avery didn’t see Rowdy when he came around the back of the bar with her. She turned and ran into him.

Blast the man. “Why do you keep sneaking up on me?”

“Wasn’t sneaking.” Gaze dark with suggestion, he shifted past her. “I’m refilling drinks.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Using chitchat as a cover, Avery tried not to think about seeing him in such a compromising situation earlier. “It’s busy tonight.”

“We’re getting there.” He gave her a quick once-over. “How are you holding up?”

Avery froze. “What do you mean?”

“Like you said, it’s busy. You need any help?”

Oh. Get it together, Avery. Rowdy didn’t care that she had seen him in such a private situation, and that said a lot. “I can handle it. No problem.”

“Let me know if it gets to be too much.” He picked up the tray and started back out to the floor. “I’ll be over in a little while to give you a break.”

“Okay.” Seeing the shift of muscles as he walked away curled her toes in her shoes. Not an uncommon reaction to the sight of him.

A rush of customers kept her too busy to daydream. She liked when things got hopping because it put her in a zone. She found a rhythm and lost herself in the work. She felt...Zen.

When things eased up again, she spotted Rowdy at the back of the bar, inserting himself into an escalating argument between two men and a woman. A chair tipped over. Voices rose.

Before things got out of hand, Rowdy had it back under control. The men subsided. Rowdy had that type of “don’t mess with me” influence. The woman flounced off angrily, and neither of the men attempted to stop her.

Half smiling, Avery watched Rowdy right the chair, which had her recalling how he’d looked during off-hours while working on the bar. The way his biceps bulged when toting heavy equipment. How his thighs flexed when he bent. Those ripped abs when he’d lifted his T-shirt to wipe sweat from his brow.

The sheer pleasure on his face each time he completed a task.

Though Rowdy hadn’t been entirely comfortable with it, he’d gotten help from his new family and friends, too. Seeing them together had taken a little getting used to.

Standing six feet four inches tall, she considered Rowdy supersized. His brother-in-law, Logan, was a few inches shorter, their friend Reese a few inches taller and Logan’s brother, Dash, was a similar height to Rowdy. But physical differences aside, the men couldn’t be more different.

As cops, Logan and Reese were watchful, serious. But Rowdy had a vigilant, even expectant edge to his nature that made him more so. The detectives would relax; Rowdy never seemed to let down his guard.

Logan’s brother, Dash, owned a construction company. From what Avery could tell, he took pride in his work, but once the workday ended, he was all about pleasure. He charmed women with ease.

But again, Rowdy had him beat. An air of danger sharpened everything about Rowdy: his appeal, his looks, his attitude and his capability.

His success with women.

It seemed to her that Rowdy either worked or indulged in female company. Overall he seemed tireless, and very determined to make the bar a success. He stayed after she left, and was almost always there when she arrived.

Today... Well, he’d been there, all right. Really early. Did he often stay the night at the bar? Had he indulged in other liaisons in his office?

Ella approached for a drink order. “Crisis averted,” she quipped, talking about how Rowdy had defused the situation. “He’s the whole package, isn’t he?”

“He does a great job,” Avery agreed.

At thirty-four, Ella was eight years older than her. Unlike Avery, the waitress wore heeled shoes and a low-cut top, and she never stopped smiling. Forever flirting, she called everyone “sweetie” or “sugar,” and she liked to touch. Nothing too intimate, at least not while working. But she did like to get close.

On some women, that barhop personality might seem clichéd, but not on Ella, who was too sincere and far too caring to be anything other than original.

Twining a long lock of her dark brown hair around a finger, Ella leaned on the bar while Avery filled three whiskey shots. “What do you think the meeting is about tonight?”

Avery shrugged. “Rowdy didn’t say, so who knows?”

“Jones was hoping he’d finally get some help in the back. That poor baby works up a sweat every night.”

While Avery would never call the midsixties, lean-and-mean cook a “baby,” she agreed that he had his hands full. Jones, like Ella, was a happy guy. He wore his long graying hair in a ponytail, had more tats than Avery could count, and cursed while cooking—especially during the busier nights.

When possible, one of the waitresses lent him a hand, but those times were few and far between. Rowdy had hoped to keep three waitresses full-time, but only Ella had accepted. The other two, who enjoyed the tips they’d made while dancing the pole, hadn’t appreciated Rowdy’s decision to remove it. They’d dropped to part-time, their schedules rotating so they could pick up work at a club.

“I doubt it has anything to do with the kitchen since we’re getting together late.” With some remodeling still underway, Rowdy often called meetings. If it involved the cook, he’d have collected them before work because the kitchen closed at eleven.

“Well, no matter. He always pays us well when he keeps us over, so I don’t mind.” Ella picked up her tray. “Rowdy sure is something.”

Yeah, he was something all right. Big. Macho.

Oversexed.

Sashaying with each step, Ella strolled away.

Even without the pole, Ella made a killing in tips. But then, it was a busy night, so Avery didn’t do so badly, either.

At 1:00 a.m., when Rowdy gave the last call, Avery was more than ready to call it a night. Twice Rowdy had given her a break, but she’d yet to see him off his feet.

Finally, when the last guest was out the door and Rowdy had locked up, they gathered in the break room. As soon as Avery and Ella took a seat at the round table, Rowdy said, “Sorry, Ella, but we’re switching to a uniform.”

“Why are you sorry, sugar?” Ella crossed her long legs. “I’ve worn uniforms before. Some of them are real cute.”

“Not this kind.” Rowdy laid out the black, unisex, crew neck T-shirt with the bar name on the front in neon yellow. “Nothing sexy, Ella. I want everyone wearing the shirt with jeans.” He shook an apron from a bag. “And one of these.”

Avery eyed the black utilitarian aprons with the same logo as the T-shirts. “I like them.”

Ella looked horrified.

“You get three each. If I could, I’d pony up one for each day of the week, but hopefully, for now, these’ll get you through.”

“You’ll look incredible, Ella,” Avery told her. “It’ll be like a tease. All the men will wonder what they’re not seeing.”

“It’s not the same.” She located her size, hesitated, then put the shirts back and took a size smaller. “I better not lose tips because of this.”

“I doubt you will,” Rowdy said, “because the customers love you. But all the same, I’m giving you a raise. Additional buck an hour.”

That got her smiling again. “Really?”

“We’re doing better than I’d expected, and you’ve really given a hundred percent.”

“Aren’t you the sweetest ever?” Ella dropped the shirts and left her seat to give Rowdy an enthusiastic hug.

Clearly thankful for that reaction, Rowdy hugged her off her feet and kissed the top of her head.

He looked so relieved that Avery assumed he must have been expecting more of an argument.

Over the top of Ella’s head he met her gaze, and slowly eased the other waitress away.

Did he think she’d be jealous of Ella? No. She knew Rowdy valued Ella as an employee, nothing more.

Ella beamed up at him. “Is there anything else, sugar?”

“Nope. That’s it.” He put her shirts and aprons in a bag for her. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” Ella gave him a loud kiss on the cheek, stroked his chest once and headed for the back door with her share of the new garments.

From her chair, Avery could see out the break room, through the kitchen to the back door. She watched Rowdy lock the door and then return to her. He dropped into a chair. “One down,” he muttered.

Grinning, Avery asked, “She had you worried?”

“A little.” He rolled his shoulders, rubbed the back of his neck. “I like Ella. She’s a hard worker with a great outlook. Never complains. Smiles at all the customers. But man, she does like to put it out there on display.”

“And here I thought you enjoyed that sort of thing.”

“Somewhere else, sure. But we’re trying to be a different type of bar, remember.”

Realization hit. “So the uniform shirts were your way of downplaying Ella’s assets without hurting her feelings?”

He shrugged. “It seemed better than telling her that she was showing too much boob.”

Avery laughed. “An ingenious move.” She picked up a shirt to better examine the logo. “And I like this. Casual but classy.”

“It’ll go with your jeans.”

Since that’s all she wore while working, she appreciated the effort. “Thanks for that. Just so you know, if you’d produced some cheesy uni that either looked ridiculous or like a fetish, I would have refused.”

“I figured.” Rowdy watched her as she gathered up three shirts and the aprons. “Looks like you’re doing the opposite of Ella.”

“How’s that?”

“A size larger than you need, versus her size smaller. You hide your figure. Ella flaunts hers. But I guess it balances out.”

“It’s not that I’m hiding anything.” Though she had stopped dressing to attract attention a while ago. “It can get pretty fast paced behind the bar. I need freedom of movement. Comfort is more important to me than anything else.”

“Avery?”

She folded the shirts. “Hmm?”

He didn’t move from his seat, didn’t change his tone, so it took her by surprise when he asked, “Why were you early today?”

Pausing, Avery felt the memories flood back in on her.

Rowdy’s deep, rough groan.

His taut expression while coming.

Flustered, she avoided his gaze while fussing with the garments. “I left my phone here last night.”

Slowly, Rowdy leaned forward in his seat and crossed his arms on the tabletop. “You could have gotten it when you got here.”

And instead she’d caught him getting his jollies in the office. “I needed to make a call before my shift started.”

“Yeah? Who did you call?”

No way would she tell him she’d planned to set a doctor’s appointment to get on the pill...because she’d wanted him to get his jollies with her.

But definitely not in the office. “It doesn’t matter now.”

He picked up that bad attitude again. “A boyfriend?”

Avery did a double take. “Where in the world did you come up with that?”

“You got a call from a man. Someone you’re seeing?”

“I... No. That was probably a wrong call or something.” She hoped. Waving off the question, she admitted, “I’m not seeing anyone.”

There was a heavy pause before Rowdy asked softly, “No?”

Refusing to admit it again, she checked the clock on the wall. “I need to go or I’ll miss the bus.”

His gaze searching her face, he came to his feet with her. “Bus?”

“Did you think I walked?”

“No, but I assumed...” He shook his head. “I’ll drive you home.”

“Nooo, you will not.” It was difficult enough being with him in a break room; a closed car would be too much temptation. “Thanks anyway.”

Irritation honed his tone. “Damn it, Avery, this is a tricky situation for me.”

For him? “That has to be a joke, right?”

The muscles of his jaw flexed. “I wish you hadn’t walked in on me today.”

“That makes two of us!”

“But you did,” he stated, “and I think we should talk about it.”

Oh, no, she would not let that intimate tone and determined expression win her over. “I’m not your keeper, Rowdy. And believe me, even without the peep show today, I wasn’t ignorant about your...overactive sex drive. I just hadn’t expected to trip over it at work.”

“It was before work, and an isolated incident.”

Of all the nerve! “You’re saying it’s never happened before?”

“Sure it has.”

Her stomach cramped—until he continued.

“But not here.”

Sputtering, Avery snapped, “Here is what I was talking about!”

“Yeah?”

He left her so disconcerted, she could barely find words. “I wasn’t suggesting that you had never...that you hadn’t...” No, she couldn’t spell it out for his amusement. She squared her shoulders. “I’ve never met a more uninhibited person.”

Male arrogance curled his mouth. “So it was just the location that upset you?”

“I’m not upset!”

At her raised voice, he lifted a brow.

Inhaling in a bid to regain control, Avery said more calmly, “What you do in your own time is your own business.”

“That was my own time—time I wanted to spend with you, but you weren’t interested.”

Dropping the shirts, Avery propped her hands on her hips. “That’s your excuse?”

He eased closer. “Sorry, honey, but I don’t need an excuse.” Oh-so-gently, he smoothed back a curl that had escaped her ponytail. “I’m a grown man, it’s my bar and I wasn’t expecting anyone to show up so early, especially not you.”

“Perfect!” She snatched up the shirts again, anxious to be on her way. “I guess that’s settled then.”

Rowdy caught her arm. “Hold up.” She started to jerk free, until he said, “Come on, Avery, give me a chance to explain.”

It wasn’t the smartest move, because every second with him chipped away at her resistance, but she paused anyway.

“All right, let’s hear it.” This ought to be good.

But then again, maybe not.

* * *

TO GIVE HIMSELF a moment to think, Rowdy took the garments from Avery and tossed them back on the table. With her looking so mulish—and so damned cute—he would have preferred backing her up to the wall and following his instincts instead of talking.

But he could just imagine how she’d react to that.

Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he tried to figure out what to say, and how to say it.

Overflowing with belligerence, Avery crossed her arms. “Any day now.”

“Give me a second, will you?” He propped a hip on the tabletop and scrutinized her. “You might not know this, but I’ve never explained myself to a woman before. That is, a woman other than my sister. But even with Pepper, it was generalizations. Never anything detailed about when, where or with who I had sex.”

Avery bristled. “You don’t have to explain to me, either.”

“I think I do, but it’s complicated by the fact that you work for me.”

When he said no more, she lifted her chin. “How so?”

Rowdy had never had a problem with plain speaking. He saw no reason to start complicating things now. “I have a major jones for you, Avery. You know that.”

Her jaw loosened. “Oh, my God. You are so—”

“But as your employer,” he interrupted, “I could cross a line here if I’m not careful.”

She choked. “Seriously, Rowdy? This is you being careful?”

To hell with it. Brushing his knuckles over her cheek, down her throat, he said, “I want you. All the fucking time.” Even when I’m with other women. He opened his hand on her shoulder, urged her closer. “And it’s not going away anytime soon.”

She softened the tiniest bit, but still said, “Looked to me like it went away just fine this morning.”

Seeing the hurt she tried to hide with sarcasm, he shook his head. “No, honey, not even close.”

Her mouth tightened. “So your date was just—”

“You’re confusing things now. I don’t date. What you saw was sex, plain and simple.”

“Oh, my God.” She pressed her hands to his chest, but not with any real conviction at pushing him away. “I don’t want to hear this.”

“She knew what it was.” Rowdy easily held on to her. “I didn’t sugarcoat things, and she agreed one hundred percent.”

Anger darkened her blue eyes and lowered her voice to a rasp. “I can’t imagine why you’re telling me this.”

Because what you think of me matters. Rowdy slid his hand to the back of her neck, keeping her near. “I get the feeling you saw me with her and you took it personally.”

“Your ego is showing.”

Knowing he’d hit a nerve, Rowdy dipped his head, brushed his nose over her hair. “You think it was a rejection or something.” He inhaled her scent, and tightened all over. God Almighty, the way she stirred him...

“Honestly,” Avery whispered, “I don’t know what to think.”

“Think about saying yes instead of no.”

She drew back a small fist and punched his ribs.

Grinning, Rowdy hugged her. After the long day at work, it felt better than good to hold her. “I shouldn’t tease?”

“Definitely not.”

“Okay.” He kissed her temple and leaned her back so he could see her face. “Seriously then, I’m sorry if it hurt you in any way. Never my intent, believe me.”

She looked up at him, her blue eyes big and soft, her hands now curled into his shirt—holding on to him. “Then why did you do it?”

At least she wasn’t storming off, Rowdy told himself. She sounded far more reasonable than he could have hoped for. “I didn’t want her in my new place, and she didn’t have any privacy in hers.”

Eyes flaring, Avery finally shoved him away. “Ass!”

To be on the safe side, Rowdy moved to lean in the doorway, but she didn’t try to leave.

She only went to the other side of the table—out of his reach. “That’s not what I meant. Yes, I’m surprised you’d do such a thing here at work. But I was asking...” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

No, he wouldn’t let her do that. “Why was I with her in the first place?”

After a long hesitation, she gave one sharp nod.

He didn’t want to detail the extent of his own failings, but he also didn’t want to end the night with her pissed off. He considered making up a believable story, but he knew he wouldn’t lie to her.

What he saw in her beautiful eyes touched him.

She wanted him to have a good excuse because she wanted a reason to give in to him.

To chase off his personal demons, he’d spent the night in a sexual marathon. He should have been well spent, and he had been.

Before Avery.

But now, with her so close, being alone with her, seeing that particular look in her eyes, he instead felt like he’d spent a month being celibate.

He’d tell her the basics and it’d have to be enough. “Women have usually come easy to me.”

“There’s a newsflash.”

From the day they’d met, before he’d bought the bar, Avery had seen him picking up women. Not something he was proud of, but not really anything he’d try to hide, either. He was a grown man and he more than enjoyed sex.

Determined to stay on track, Rowdy ignored the gibe. “When I get turned down, it doesn’t matter.”

“Why would it?” Like an accusation, she said, “There’s always another woman waiting.”

He shrugged, accepting the inaccurate claim. “That’s not the point.” Once again, he moved toward her. He couldn’t seem to help himself. From day one, Avery had drawn him, not just physically but in other, more disturbing ways—ways he didn’t want to analyze too closely. “I’ll try to explain if you let me.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m all ears.”

No, she was all backbone and pride and, even when trying to conceal it, hot sensuality. “When I get turned down, and believe me, I do, it doesn’t matter because I don’t care enough for it to matter.”

She half turned away. “Guess I should remember that, huh?”

Rowdy brought her back around, and though it unnerved him, he admitted the truth. “With you, it matters.”

She searched his face, but wasn’t convinced. “That’d be easier to believe if I hadn’t busted you just this morning.”

He needed to get her past that. “I needed a distraction, that’s all.”

Dubious, she asked, “Sex?”

“Best distraction I’ve ever found.” He’d still been in his early teens when he’d learned that girls brought light to the darkest shadows. He’d always been big for his age, always looked older, and girls had taken his quiet, cautious nature as maturity.

While other boys were busy playing ball or...fuck, maybe G.I. Joe for all he knew, he’d been running interference for his little sister. He’d defended her verbally, and when that didn’t work, he’d protected her physically. For as long as he could remember, he’d done his best to shelter Pepper from the reality of their lives—which often meant accepting the brunt of the abuse himself. As a result, turmoil sometimes exploded inside him.

Thanks to a high school cheerleader, he’d lost his virginity at fifteen. What an eye-opener that had been. He’d learned that grinding release had a profound way of emptying his mind and body of pent-up tension. With sex as a stress reliever, he could cope with whatever life threw at him.

But none of that had anything to do with Avery.

“Rowdy?”

That gentler tone set him on edge. She’d watched him get lost in thought, and damn it, he never did that. Definitely not with women. “What?”

“Is something wrong with the bar?” Concern softened her expression. She touched his arm. “With you?”

“No.” Did she honestly think he’d go mewling to a woman if he did have a problem?

“Then why did you need a distraction?”

Damn it. He’d said too much. “It’s getting late.” He checked the time. “You’re going to miss that bus if we don’t get moving.”

“Oh, shoot!” Jumping away from him, she shrugged into her lightweight jacket and gathered the new shirts and aprons together. After slinging her purse strap over her shoulder, she rushed to the break room door and...hesitated. “Are you leaving now, too?”

Right behind her, Rowdy took the shirts from her. “I’ll walk you out.”

Her shoulders loosened. “Great. Thanks.”

Expecting an argument more than easy acceptance, Rowdy asked with suspicion, “How often do you take the bus?”

“Always.”

So night after night she left on her own? At two in the morning? And here he’d always thought her so sensible. Had he known, he’d have been walking her out every night.

They weren’t in the best area, and even though the street never completely emptied of passersby, it could still be dangerous for a woman alone. There were a lot of alleyways, parked cars and deserted buildings where a woman could disappear.

Since he’d locked up earlier, Rowdy turned off the remaining lights as they went to the back door. He couldn’t quite keep the irritation out of his tone when he asked, “Is there a reason you take the bus?”

“Yup.”

While waiting for her to expound on that, he opened the door, stepped out with her and then locked it up again. When she said nothing more, he prompted, “Care to share?”

“Sure.” Already striding ahead, she said over her shoulder, “Soon as you tell me why you needed a distraction.”

So he hadn’t thrown her off the track at all, huh? Avery wasn’t like other women. She wouldn’t take a hint, and she sure as hell didn’t defer to his wishes.

Taking several long steps, Rowdy reached her as she headed to the bus stop at the front of the bar. Unfortunately, at least from her point of view, the bus had just turned a corner and was disappearing from sight.

“Great.” She glanced around in what looked like worry, then dropped onto a bench, opened her purse and started digging around.

Rowdy stood over her. “What are you doing?”

“Finding my phone so I can call a cab.”

Not happening. “Why don’t you be reasonable instead and let me drive you home?”

She found her phone and lifted it out.

“Avery.” Crouching down in front of her, Rowdy took her small hands in his. She was so petite, so fine-boned and feminine.

“What?” Something showed in her eyes, maybe anxiety. Possibly even fear.

Protective instincts jumped to the forefront of his brain. “You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

Slumping back, she gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “If you have to know, I’m not sure I trust myself.”

Now, that was interesting. “You mean with me?”

Grudgingly, she muttered, “You are a temptation.”

Still? Even after she’d busted him getting head from a one-night stand? That surprised Rowdy, and sent a rush of lust through his bloodstream. “Then...”

She got huffy. “Get real, Rowdy. All the women want you.”

Her perceptions of him were a bit skewed, but why disillusion her? “Not all.”

Chin up, she stated, “I won’t be just another body in a long line of one-night stands.”

Like one night would even come close to taking the edge off. And yeah, that was unusual. One night was normally more than enough...with other women.

Apparently not with Avery.

As independent as she might be, his little bartender had a very old-fashioned way of looking at things. “Why not look at it as mutual fun?” He gave her his most wolfish smile. “We both know eventually you’ll be in my bed.”

“Really?” Never one to disappoint, Avery said, “Why don’t you hold your breath waiting for that to happen?”

He laughed, kissed her knuckles and said, “Just for that, I’m going to make you ask real pretty.”

“That,” she said, “isn’t going to happen. The other... Well, I have enough common sense to know I don’t want to go there.” Her gaze dipped to his mouth, and she sighed. “Not yet.”

Not yet? Meaning... “Maybe soon?”

She shrugged.

Well, that had his dick perking up. In some instances, a shrug was as good as a resounding affirmation. His shoulders knotted with restraint, but he managed to say, “Okay, then,” without too much satisfaction.

He’d sort through things, figure out her reasons for waiting and find a way around them. But until then, he didn’t want to scare her off. “Let’s agree that there’s no reason for you to splurge on a cab. I made you miss the bus, so I’ll see you home.”

She studied the moon shadows lurking between buildings, frowned at a few dark cars parked near the curb. A stranger walked up the street, head down, hands in his pockets.

On a deep breath, Avery checked her watch—and bit her lip.

Taking that as another sign of agreement, Rowdy rose to his feet again. “It’s late. No way will I leave you out here alone, so run up to my apartment with me, okay? I’ll grab my car keys.” He took one step off the curb, ready to cross the street—and realized that Avery hadn’t moved. He turned back to her. “Coming?”

Clutching her purse, she stared at him with confusion. “I don’t understand.”

With anticipation surging, he turned to face her. “About?”

“So many things...” She looked up and down the street again, at a few people loitering on the corner, back at the bar. After palpable hesitation, she rose from the bench and approached him.

“Like?” He watched her eyes and saw her sort through a dozen issues before settling on one.

“Where exactly is your apartment?”

“Right here.” Rowdy indicated the big brick building on the opposite side of the street from the bar. “I just moved in a week ago.”

CHAPTER THREE

IT HAD BEEN a very long day, but Avery wasn’t tired. Not anymore. While watching the bus leave her behind, she’d experienced an odd disquiet.

Not because of Rowdy. Even when he tried to be intimidating, his presence provided only reassurance. He wouldn’t hurt her, and he wouldn’t let anyone else hurt her.

But someone had been nearby, watching her, waiting. She shivered in dread. She wanted to blame it on bad memories, on dread from that earlier phone call, but she knew better. She’d learned to trust her instincts.

And her instincts told her the night wasn’t safe.

Now, trailing behind Rowdy, her hand held in his, she worried that she might be leading trouble to his door. He could handle it, of that she had no doubt.

But her problems were her own, and she didn’t want them dumped on him.

Looking back again, she still saw nothing.

“Worried someone will see you with me?” He shifted his hand to the small of her back and urged her inside.

She was, but not for the reasons he thought. “I heard something,” she lied. She’d heard only her own turbulent thoughts.

Taking her seriously, he glanced back, his gaze searching everywhere. A few doors down, a couple got into a car and pulled away. Across the street, three men laughed drunkenly as they made their way down the sidewalk. In the distance, a siren whined and a dog barked.

Seeming distracted, he murmured, “The night echoes everything and makes it sound closer than it is.” After another scrutiny of the area, he turned back to her. “You don’t need to be nervous with me.”

“If you say so.”

The building they entered used to be a warehouse, but had since been divided into four rental units. It had a certain industrial appeal, with concrete interior walls, metal stairs and open ceilings. Overall, it suited Rowdy, being strong and sturdy like him, but also polished in a nice way.

“I’m on the second floor.”

Avery looked up to a huge skylight in the very high ceiling. “Wow.” Holding on to the welded handrails, she went ahead of Rowdy up the open, diamond-plate stair treads. Everywhere she looked, she saw something cool, like the exposed ductwork and pipes.

“This way.” Rowdy took her to a thick steel door, opened several locks, pushed the heavy door open and flipped on overhead fluorescent lights.

They stepped into a small landing above the rest of the living area. Following Rowdy down four clattering metal steps brought her to a sparse sitting area that held a worn couch and chair, one table and lamp, and a moderately sized flat screen television on an entertainment stand.

Only the television looked new.

Beyond that, at the far side of the room, freestanding L-shaped bookshelves formed a wall to separate the kitchen and laundry area on the left from the bed, dresser and nightstand on the right. Avery assumed the one and only closed door led to a bathroom.

She took in the wall of tall arched windows that would overlook his bar, then to the polished wood-plank floors.

“It was close,” Rowdy said, as if defending his choice.

“It’s pretty impressive actually.” Especially compared to where she now lived. She touched a thick round metal support beam in the middle of the floor. “Doing a little pole dancing of your own?”

He crossed his arms. “No, but if you feel like giving it a try, go ahead. I’ll wait.”

She fought off a grin. “No thanks.”

“Spoilsport.” He headed off to the kitchen area.

Still taking in the uniqueness of his apartment, Avery said, “Know what I don’t understand?”

“I can guess.” His boots made little noise on the thick floors. “You’re wondering why I didn’t just hook up here, instead of in my office.”

It did make her very curious. “Wouldn’t it have been a lot more...convenient?” He had a bed at his disposal instead of a desk chair. Not that he’d let it hinder him, from what she’d seen.

“Probably,” he agreed. “But I didn’t want her in my place.” He flipped a switch and more light spilled from the kitchen.

Avery realized that not only could he see his bar, but now, with the bright lights on inside, anyone on the street would be able to see him, too. She made sure to stay out of view. “Why not?”

From the counter, he lifted a set of keys. “I’m private, that’s why.”

Unbelievable. “You could have been a lot more private here than in your office!” While Avery found his living space pretty awesome, it was bare-bones, not a single personal item on display. No photos, not even of his sister. That disappointed her. She’d never met Pepper, and she was very curious.

He did have a nice display of books on his bookshelves.

“I told you, I wasn’t expecting anyone to show up.” He returned to her, the keys jangling in his hand. “This is the first permanent place I’ve had. Before this, it was rotating motel rooms. If I took a woman there, no big deal because by the next day I’d be gone.”

So no woman would be able to track him down? That attitude concerned her, but wondering where he’d moved, and why, took precedence. “Gone where?”

“It’s a long story.” He tried to steer her back to the stairs.

Avery held on to the pole, resisting him.

He eyed her, worked his jaw and said, “You’re not going to let it go, are you?”

This might be her best chance to get insight into his background. How could she pass that up? “Is it a big secret?” she teased. “Were you on the run from the law? Dodging child support? A transient?”

Rowdy narrowed his eyes—and stalked toward her. “On the run, yeah. But not from the law.”

“Seriously?” That so surprised her that it took her a moment to see that particular look in his eyes. She’d only seen it a few times—right before he’d kissed her. One of those times happened while hiding him in a storage closet at the bar because a gang of ruffians wanted to take him apart.

Since then, he’d only stolen a kiss or two—and she always craved more. Dangerous.

But maybe that incident was indicative of his life. “Do you always have people after you?”

“Often enough.”

He said that without jest! Hastily, Avery back-stepped behind the pole, considered going farther, but really, where did she have to go? The couch was against the wall, the chair too far away....

Catching her wrist and pulling her around to him, Rowdy said softly, “Don’t run from me.”

“I wasn’t.” But her heart pumped as if she’d been on a five-minute sprint.

With the back of one finger, he caressed the pulse in her throat. “Fibber.”

“I’m not afraid of you.” Whatever secrets Rowdy had in his history, he wasn’t a threat to her. She’d known dishonorable men, and she knew Rowdy was different. “Maybe you’re the one who should stop running.”

“From you?”

Was she chasing him? Mmm...pretty much. Until now, she just hadn’t realized it. “Yes.”

His gaze warmed. “I don’t run from anyone.”

Knowing it would spur him on, she whispered, “Good.”

But when he started to pull her against him, she flattened both hands to his chest.

He drew in a breath. “No?”

Disappointment kept her voice low. “You were with another woman just this morning.”

He looked struck, almost like he’d forgotten. “Yeah, sorry.” Releasing her, he stepped away. “Guess for a woman like you, that puts a damper on things?”

For other women it wouldn’t? She curled her lip. “Yeah, afraid so.” But she wished it was otherwise. “Why were you on the run?”

Resigned, he said, “It had nothing to do with dodging my duty, so forget that.”

“No little Rowdys running around?”

“Hell, no. I’m always careful, but if it did happen, you can bet I wouldn’t bail on them.”

She believed him. From what she’d seen so far, Rowdy never shirked his responsibility, whatever he decided his responsibility might be. “Okay.”

Maybe thinking she mocked him, he studied her a moment before being satisfied with her sincerity. “I would never do that to a kid.”

Hands behind her, she leaned back against the pole. “So...why did you move around?”

“Mostly because the idea of settling down never appealed to me.”

“Wanderlust?” Before her life had taken such a drastic turn, she’d enjoyed traveling everywhere in the States and often around the world. Before she was twenty, she’d already been to more than two dozen hot tourist spots.

“Hardly. I stayed in the area.”

“The area being Ohio?”

He shrugged. “My sister was here. Still is, but now she’s with Logan and she doesn’t need...” He stopped, cursed low and let out a long breath. Indicating the couch, he said, “If we’re going to do this, you want to sit down?”

“This, meaning talk?”

His mouth quirked. “Unless you have something else on your mind.”

She had all kinds of things on her mind, but none of them were appropriate. “Talk it is.”

“Then I’ll give you my bare-bones history.”

Jumping on that promise, Avery headed for the couch. “Why only the bare bones?”

Rowdy sat close beside her and stretched out one arm along the back of the couch. “It’s a long story, it’ll be morning soon and I don’t feel like rehashing it all.”

“I suppose you’re tired.” From what she could tell, he’d been up all night. If he’d slept at all, it would only have been for a few hours before coming in to work again. That should have made her feel guilty for keeping him awake, but she remembered why he hadn’t slept and it irked her.

As if he knew her thoughts, Rowdy smiled. “We can talk until the sun rises if that’s what you really want to do.”

It wouldn’t be the worst way to spend the night. “You don’t need to sleep?”

His attention moved over her face, her throat, her shoulders. “I’ve never needed much sleep.”

Given the intensity of his gaze, she almost felt naked. “You’re sure?”

His fingers trailed down her ponytail. “Fire away, honey, before I forget my promise.”

Avery tried to relax. It wasn’t easy, not with her thigh touching his, his heat surrounding her, his presence so...overwhelming—as usual.

To start, she went back a little in history. “That time I hid you in the pantry at the bar, I asked if you were in trouble, and you said pretty much always.”

“I have no problem making up shit when necessary, but for some reason I didn’t want to lie to you.”

Had he never lived aboveboard? What type of upbringing made him so casually accepting of difficulty? “There were five men searching the bar for you. Why?”

His hand stilled. “Because I’d asked too many questions, and I was getting too close.”

“Too close to what?”

“A trafficking operation.” She started to ask, but he shook his head. “No, not drugs. Women.”

Her throat tightened. “That’s...”

He agreed with a nod. “Totally fucked up, I know. I hid because there were too many of them. Three or four I could handle.” He held up a hand for her to see. “I’m a big man with big fists. When I hit someone, he feels it.” He rested his hand on her thigh. “I know how to fight dirty, and I know how to win. But five men at once? That would be pushing it.”

Of course, she recalled another time when he’d taken apart the goons who’d been involved in forcing women to transport drugs. It had all transpired in the bar just prior to Rowdy buying it. He’d fought with such ease, walking through the men as if they were nothing at all. “I’ve seen you fight. You’re dangerous.”

“You learn to be when it’s necessary.”

Sitting more or less snuggled into his side, she inhaled the warm musk of his skin with every breath. That, combined with the idea of him playing defender for so many women in need, left her liquid with desire. Rowdy used his size and strength to protect.

Such an admirable trait to have.

So different from her own personal experience.

Without even trying that hard—just by being himself—Rowdy pulled her from her self-imposed exile. “You’re a regular white knight, aren’t you?”

He eased closer. “Want to see my sword?”

A hero and a comedian. “You’re outrageous.” Avery smoothed a hand over his shoulder, enjoying the contrast of the soft T-shirt stretched taut over his solid frame. “Why was it necessary for you to learn?”

Her touch caused a brief pause and the tensing of his muscles. “What?”

“To fight.” She knew very few people who ever engaged in physical confrontations. While growing up, the only fights she’d ever witnessed had been in sporting matches. In her world, men had ruled with money and prestige, not brute strength.

Her one and only experience with physical anger had sent her running away and into hiding. “You’re so good, you make it look...effortless.”

He studied her, his attention far too intuitive. “You know I have a younger sister.”

And that explained his need to fight? One day, Avery would love to meet Pepper. “You two are close?”

His concentrated attention strayed from her mouth to her collarbone to her hair. “Our folks died in a car crash a long time ago, so it’s just the two of us.”

Oh, God, so tragic. In sympathy, Avery reached for his hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” As if it didn’t matter at all, he laced his fingers with hers and said, “They were a waste of breath.”

The harsh words threw her, leaving her wide-eyed and speechless. She still grieved for her father, who’d died years past.

She mourned what would never again be, and for how everything had irrevocably changed—not for the better.

Rowdy turned her hand over, brushed his thumb over her palm. “My parents were both miserable drunks.” He explored the thrumming pulse in her wrist. “That’s how I got my name.”

Her stomach dipped when he put a damp, warm kiss to her wrist, followed by the soft touch of his tongue.

She needed to get him back on track, and fast—before she forgot her reasons for waiting. “I think you told me once that your mom was a Clint Eastwood fan. I assume that’s why she named you after one of his characters.”

Sardonic humor curved his mouth. “She claimed that she went into labor during a three-day drinking binge and couldn’t remember any other names. She and Dad would laugh about the good times, which usually led to a rip-roaring drunk and a lot of bitching about how kids got in the way of having fun.”

The insensitivity of his parents both angered and saddened her. “They actually told you that?”

His mellow gaze showed total disregard for the cruelty. “The night they wrecked, they took out six other cars. Luckily no one else died, but a lot of people got banged up pretty good.”

Emotion squeezed the air out of her lungs, making her chest hurt. “You weren’t with them?”

He shook his head. “I was pretty young still when I learned to recognize the signs. Mom would get giddy, or Dad would smile a certain way, and I knew they planned to tie one on. I’d hide with Pepper so they couldn’t take us.” Looking beyond her, he drew in two slow breaths. “When I got big enough, around the time I turned twelve or so, I just flat out refused to go. They figured leaving me behind was easier than the fight it took to take us along.”

So young! Her eyes burned with the idea of how he’d lived his youth. “Pepper...”

“I kept her with me.”

She was glad to hear it, but how much strength had it taken for a boy at that young age to defy alcoholic parents?

Rowdy traced the lines in her palm. “I was home with Pepper when we got the news they were dead.” His hand tightened on hers. “She cried for two days straight.”

That poor girl. “How old was she?”

“Fifteen. Plenty old enough to understand that we’d been on the radar for children’s services for years. She figured with our folks gone, she’d end up in a foster home.”

A vise of sorrow closed around Avery’s heart. Now she understood what had forged Rowdy’s hard edge—pure survival. “How old were you?”

“Just turned eighteen.”

On the run. Avery already knew, but asked anyway. “You took off with your sister, didn’t you?”

“That seemed better than being separated. And we did okay for a few years. At times, it was even kind of fun.”

Because he no longer had abuse to deal with? She fought the unbearable urge to hug him tightly, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate it.

Not for the reasons motivating her.

Without her realizing it, Rowdy tugged the cloth-covered band from her hair, freeing it.

“Rowdy...” She reached back to gather the unruly mass, but he already had his fingers tangled in it, spreading it out, bringing it forward over her shoulder.

As if fascinated with her hair, he watched his hand instead of meeting her gaze. “Pepper had grown up without much, so she didn’t feel like we were missing anything. Long as we had a roof over our heads and enough to eat, she was happy.”

Gently, Avery said, “I think being happy had more to do with having her big brother around.”

“Maybe.” He gave a gruff laugh of disgust. “I screwed up a lot of stuff, but most of all when I got us both jobs in a high-end club. The pay was great. I was able to save up some money and keep Pepper close at hand.”

Had he been protecting Pepper his whole life? First from his parents, and then from well-meaning authorities?

If so, where did that leave Rowdy?

Who had looked out for him?

Avery tried to imagine him as a little boy stuck in a bar while his parents drank themselves into oblivion. At thirteen, hiding with his sister. At eighteen, on the run from the establishment.

“You did the best you could.” Always.

Something shifted in his demeanor, the sadness replaced with iron will—yet his touch remained gentle as he toyed with a long lock of her red hair. “By the time I realized the club owner was a murdering bastard, it was too late.”

Oh, no. Visions of horrible scenarios played out in her head. “You were hurt?”

“That would have been easier.”

Meaning he’d been hurt before? The thought crushed her, making it even more impossible to resist him.

Concern robbed her voice of strength. “Your sister?”

He nodded. “It’s a convoluted story, but the gist of it is that Pepper saw a city commissioner take a bullet to the brain.”

Stunned, Avery forgot about her hair and barely noticed when Rowdy lifted it to his face.

“She stuck to the shadows, so they didn’t at first know that she’d seen anything. I was working the floor as a bouncer, and Pepper didn’t want to chance telling me. Before I knew what had happened, she’d shared the details with a reporter.”

It took Avery a moment to find her voice. “Why not the police?”

As if it made perfect sense, and was to be expected, he said, “Powerful men have powerful contacts.”

Sadly, she knew something about powerful men. “Police?”

“Yeah. More than a few of the boys in blue hung out in the club. So many of them were on the take, Pepper didn’t know which ones, if any, were honest.”

That explained Rowdy’s distrust of the law. “A terrible situation.”

The back of his knuckles brushed her cheek, down the side of her neck. “Unfortunately, the boss also employed a few people at the newspaper. When the reporter tried calling in his ‘big story from Yates,’ he ended up with his throat cut. The only upside was that everyone figured me as the snitch.”

Covering her mouth with both hands, Avery waited to hear the rest of the story. She knew it wouldn’t be good.

He slid a hand around her jaw, tipped up her face. “We had few options, and no one to trust.”

Because they were all alone in the world. How tragically heartbreaking. “You became a target?”

He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “For once, being a street rat came in handy. I had my own contacts, so I got Pepper a new identity and tucked her away in an apartment building I won in a card game. I stayed mobile, moving around so no one could get a bead on me. I was the one they remembered, the one they wanted. I figured without me, they wouldn’t find her.”

Meaning they’d ended up separated after all? It felt like her heart shattered. “I’m so sorry.”

“I covered our trails the best I could...” He locked his jaw and turned away. “But not good enough, since Logan Riske still found us.”

Logan, the detective his sister fell in love with, and vice versa. “I thought that was a good thing.”

“They’re in love. But it could have easily gone south, without the happy ending.”

Avery tried to take it in, but it wasn’t easy. “You said you won a building in a card game?”

“I have all kinds of talents.” He slid a finger along the neckline of her shirt, seducing her almost out of habit. “Want me to show you a few?”

His resourcefulness, his dedication to his sister, astounded her. She tipped her head. “Have you ever been arrested?”

He blew out a breath, and for the moment at least gave up on his seduction. “A few times when I was underage. Shoplifting and stuff like that.”

She wanted to ask him what he’d stolen, but it didn’t matter. Survival. Somehow she knew whatever he’d taken had been inspired by need, not greed. “And since then?”

His smile hardened. “I’ve gotten better—at everything I do.”

Knowing the outrageous comment was meant to distract her, Avery snorted. She had a feeling Rowdy was more honest than most. “What sort of illegal stuff do you do now?”

He opened his hand on the side of her neck, bent to kiss her temple. “Whatever I have to.”

“To protect the people you love?”

“What the hell, Avery?” He sat back from her. “Don’t make me out a saint, okay?”

“I would never make that mistake.” Rowdy was better than a saint, more solid and real. An honest-to-God tough guy, here in the flesh. She’d take that over an ethereal saint any day.

No longer caring what Rowdy thought, Avery slipped her arms around his neck and nestled against him.

“Damn it.” He stiffened without returning her embrace. “Here I am, getting more turned on by the second, and you want to slap a halo on my head.”

With her nose pressed close to the skin of his throat, she breathed deep, filling herself with his potent scent. He smelled so good, felt even better, and she admired him so much. “A halo would never fit over your massive ego.”

It’d be so easy to fall in love with him—and that was a problem. Rowdy wasn’t an emotional man looking for commitment. For the most part, he was a loner with an overactive sex drive and a lack of respect for boundaries of any kind.

“True, so don’t act like I was noble or something.” He caught her shoulders and tried to pry her loose. Avery held on until he finally gave up. Tangling a hand in her hair, he gently drew her head back. “I fucked up, you know. Pepper and I ended up living off the grid for more than two years. It was hard on her—”

Avery touched her mouth to his, saying, “She’s alive.”

His breathing quickened. “Thank God.”

“Thank Rowdy.” Smiling, she brushed her mouth over his again. Her fingertips touched his now-bristly jaw, moved down to the side of his hot neck then under the neckline of his shirt to his solid shoulder. Need unfurled, but she sat back before she got carried away.

Rowdy looked stunned.

And interested.

She wanted more. So much more.

Did she dare take a walk on the wild side?

She had a feeling that Rowdy would be more than worth the risk. As long as she kept her heart safe, what was the worst that could happen?

No, she didn’t want to think about the worst. Not now.

With Rowdy watching her warily, she forced herself back on track. “Since your sister is happily settled here, you’re going to settle down, too?”

Apparently uneasy with the idea of settling down, he shifted his shoulders and glanced around at the apartment. “For now, at least.”

He didn’t sound entirely set on the idea. But he’d bought the bar, and she knew he loved working it. He couldn’t pick up and disappear without her knowing. “Can I ask you one more question before we go?”

“Do I actually have a choice?”

Beneath his teasing tone, she heard the agitation. He worried that she’d dig too deep, that something he said would drive her away.

He couldn’t know how much she wanted him, because she’d taken pains to hide it from him. Maybe it was time to stop doing that.

“I want to know everything about you.” For most of his life, choices had been taken away from him. She’d never do that to him. “But I won’t pry anymore if it bothers you.”

That surprised him, too. He scowled at her. “Let’s hear it.”

Enjoying him like this, in this particular humble, grumbling mood, she rested against his chest again. “You said you didn’t want to bring a casual hookup here.”

“It’s bad enough that the ladies in the building keep bugging me. Some women don’t know how to take no for an answer.”

Few men would complain about that situation. “So...why is it okay if I’m here?”

Avery felt his sudden stillness, heard the heavy thumping of his strong heart along with his softly muttered curse.

She stayed close, waiting.

He let out a strained breath. “With you, Avery, I never really know what the hell I’m doing.”

* * *

THE COLD NIGHT started to seep into his bones. All around him he heard unsettling noises that made him jumpy. He wouldn’t be surprised if murder and mayhem happened on a regular basis in such a downtrodden area. It was time for him to go home. He had what he needed now.

He knew where she worked, and he knew who she fucked.

Putting a plan in place would be oh-so-easy.

Soon, Avery, he silently promised. Very, very soon.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE MOON, combined with dashboard lights, sent a soft glow over Avery’s profile as he drove her home. His awareness of this one particular woman throbbed through his veins, leaving him on the ragged edge. It wouldn’t take more than a single agreeable look from her to get him hard.

Again.

That damned torturous episode on his couch had nearly done him in. He couldn’t keep from touching her, even if he was the only one to combust.

No one had ever touched him so...gently before. That kiss hadn’t been sexual. It didn’t say, “Fuck me, Rowdy.” Actually, he didn’t know what the hell it said, and he wasn’t at all sure he liked it.

The uncertainty hadn’t kept him from getting turned on, though.

Why is it okay if I’m here? she’d wanted to know. So many reasons...

Instead of reacting as most women would, Avery had looked at him with empathy, sadness, maybe understanding. Because he’d spilled his guts to her. He flexed his hands on the steering wheel and tried to shrug off the uncomfortable sense of vulnerability.

It pissed him off that he’d said so much. Hell, he didn’t confide in anyone. Not even his sister. Definitely not a woman he planned to have under him as soon as humanly possible.

Why is it okay if I’m here?

Then again, Avery was different from other women. He wanted her, no mistaking that, but even when he knew he wouldn’t have her, he enjoyed talking to her and just...being with her. She made him feel things, unfamiliar stuff he’d never dealt with before.

And that was saying something, since he’d had more than his share of shit to manage.

“You’re so quiet,” she said with unsettling understanding. “Everything okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Just because she asked him questions he couldn’t answer.

“I don’t know,” she said. “You seem bothered.”

“I’m thinking, that’s all.” He had no idea about Avery’s background. He knew enough about false impressions that he refused to draw conclusions just because she worked in a shit bar and rode a bus instead of driving.

“About my question?” She turned defensive. “Relax, Rowdy. I won’t make assumptions just because I was granted entrance to your private domain.”

Defensive and dramatic. Did she really have no clue how differently he felt with her? “A smart person never assumes.”

She crossed her arms and huddled farther into the corner of the front seat. “If it’s that much of a problem, forget I asked about it.”

He glanced at her, but she kept her face averted, watching the landscape pass by her window. Her beautiful red hair, now freed from the band thanks to him, flowed over her shoulders and helped to keep her concealed.

“Never said it was a problem.” He just didn’t have an easy answer.

“Yet, ten minutes later, you’re still stewing.”

Her prickly attitude amused him, and maybe that’s what he liked most about her. No matter his mood, she lightened it just by being near at hand, by being herself—quirky and honest and so damned unique. “I had to figure it out.”

That got her attention. Like a warm touch, her gaze moved over him. “And did you?”

“I think so.” Following her directions, he took a right down a quiet side street. “I don’t like having women chase after me.”

She snorted. “And that’s why you do so much to discourage them?”

“I meant after I’ve already slept with them,” he clarified. “Doesn’t matter how I spell things out up front, too often they’re looking for a repeat.”

She smirked in annoyance. “One and done, huh?”

Feeling her scrutiny, he gave a noncommittal lift of his shoulder. With Avery, he had his doubts that even a dozen times would be enough. “Living out of my car, using motels just as a place to crash—”

“Or have sex.”

He agreed with a nod. “That’s not really the type of setup where you want to get cozy with someone. I didn’t date. I didn’t do romance. I hooked up long enough to take care of business—”

“To get laid?”

Having her break it down like that annoyed him. “Are you going to paraphrase everything I say? I can be more blunt if that’s what you want.”

She shook her hair behind her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I’m listening.”

“All right, fine. I’m set in my ways. I like to fuck and move on. No reason to make more out of it than that.”

The silence became so heavy, he felt like a dick. And really, why had he shared that with her? Avery was unique, so the usual didn’t apply to her.

He still hadn’t answered her question, but she let it go and instead cleared her throat.

“I guess that helped pass the time?”

Rowdy laughed. He glanced at her, and laughed again. “That’s one way to put it.” He’d already said too much to her; no way would he tell her that occasionally, casual sex was all that got him through the night. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Ever had any one-night stands?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not my thing.”

“Only serious monogamy, huh?” That could be a big problem for him, but somehow he’d get around it.

“I’ve dated casually, just for fun.”

“With a handshake at the end of the night?”

She swatted his shoulder. “I’m not that bad.” Looking away and going introspective, she added, “But I had to know the guy and at least like him a lot to want to get involved.”

The idea of her “being involved” bugged him more than it should have. “Ever been engaged? Married?”

He felt her withdraw. Hell, it got so quiet he could hear her breathing, could almost hear her heartbeats.

“Avery?” What the hell? Was she still hung up on someone? Was she nursing a broken heart?

“My life was different from yours.”

“Glad to hear it.” But what did that have to do with anything?

“I almost feel guilty now. While you were dealing with so much, I was pampered.”

“Good.” Headlights showed in his rearview mirror, distracting Rowdy. “I wouldn’t wish my folks on anyone, much less another kid.” Definitely not Avery.

Slowly she inhaled, exhaled, inhaled again. “My parents were well-off. Growing up, I can’t remember wanting anything that I didn’t get.”

“Were well-off? They’re not now?” The car pulled closer behind them. Too close for safety.

Close enough for him to read the license plate and commit the number to his memory.

Oblivious to their tail, Avery worried her hands together for a different reason. When she realized what she was doing, she flattened them on her thighs. “Actually, I think Mom has even more wealth now. After my dad died a few years ago, she married one of the partners in his company.”

She’d lost her dad? Bummer. Somehow he figured the loss was a whole lot different for her than it had been for him. “I’m sorry.”

“Me, too. Dad was everything your dad wasn’t. I saw him drink wine occasionally, but I don’t remember him ever getting drunk. Mom, either. It’s just not done. Even though Dad traveled a few times a month, we had a lot of time together. Vacations and holidays. He’d set his schedule around my life so he could be there for all the important stuff.”

Still aware of the car behind them, Rowdy took another turn, this one not part of Avery’s directions. She didn’t notice. “That’s how it should be, right? In a real family, I mean.” What the hell did he know of real families? Jack shit.

“I suppose.” Melancholy tinged her soft voice. “I’ve never been in love.”

“That’s a problem for you?” Because it sure wasn’t a problem for him. In fact, he liked it that she hadn’t fallen for anyone.

Avery shook her head. “Dad wanted to see me settled down. But it never happened. I traveled a lot after college. I wanted to see the world and my parents indulged me. Getting a job, marriage and all that...it didn’t seem that important.”

So why was she working for him now? Still seeing the world? Maybe experiencing the other side of life?

He’d met women who wanted to try slumming it. Didn’t matter to him. In his bed, rich or poor, they all screamed out the same during a hard climax.

If Avery wanted a walk on the wild side, he’d show her just how hot the wild side could be.

He was curious about Avery’s motives, but digging into her psyche would have to wait. “We have a tail.”

Confused, she stared at him. “What?”

“We’re being followed.”

“Oh, my God!” She twisted to look out the rearview mirror. “Who is it?”

“No idea.” Her reaction dumbfounded him. He’d half expected her to laugh, to say he was being paranoid. Instead, she’d shot straight into panic mode. “Hang on, babe. I’m going to lose him.”

She said “Wha—” as he accelerated around a corner, and the word ended in a gasp.

Grabbing the door, she braced herself as he took another right, then a sharp left. His tires squealed obscenely loud in the dark, quiet hours of the night.

He stepped on the gas, barreling through a yellow light on the empty street and turning again down a narrow road. Killing the car lights, he pulled into a parking lot and stopped, but kept the car idling just in case he had to gun it out of there.

Arm on the back of the seat, Rowdy looked over his shoulder, watching.

Voice trembling, Avery whispered, “What are we waiting for?”

Concentrating, Rowdy didn’t answer her, and half a minute later, the car sped past them on the main road. A fancy new model, silver, four-door hybrid. Facing forward again, lights still out, he put the car in Drive and turned.

Who the hell would be following him, and why? It was bad enough that it happened, but with Avery along for the ride? Heads would roll.

In a killing mood, he asked, “You okay?”

She stared at him for too long before saying, “Yes. You?”

“I’m fine.” Why wouldn’t he be? Taking back roads, he got them on track again. She still looked shaken, her eyes a little too wide, her shoulders stiff. He remembered how nervous she’d been outside the bar, watching the darkness as if the boogeyman might jump from the shadows.

He didn’t take Avery for a timid woman easily spooked. Something else was going on.

When he reached over and put a hand on her knee, she didn’t pull away. “Sorry about that.”

She hugged herself. “You’re sure the car was following us?”

“Afraid so.” He’d spot a tail every time. It was like his senses kicked into gear, alerting him. “Hazard of my life. You can’t live as I have and not make a few enemies along the way. Course, it could’ve just been someone who recognized the car. It has a previous history all its own.”

Avery looked around at the late-model Ford. It ran well, but the interior had seen better days. “What does that mean? Did you win the car in a card game, too?”

“No, but I bought it cheap from a guy who lost in a card game and needed some fast cash before he got beat with a tire iron.”

She stared at him agog. “You’re not joking.”

“No.” A million stars lightened the skies to a smoky gray and more traffic joined him on the road, but no one else followed. “Who knows what else he was into?”

Not that it mattered. Whoever had been behind them didn’t realize what he’d started. He’d find the bastard and put an end to the cat-and-mouse game before Avery was further upset.

“Fascinating.”

“You don’t sound scared.” Not anymore. He gave her knee one final squeeze and returned both hands to the wheel. Avery wasn’t the typical frail cookie who fainted at the first sign of danger. She wasn’t a hardened ballbuster, either, immune to the plight of others.

In so many ways, under so many situations, she surprised him again and again.

“I was scared.”

“I know.” And still she’d handled it well. No real hysterics. She hadn’t freaked out and distracted him. She hadn’t even complained about the insane way he drove.

“Not that scared,” she said, sounding peeved. “Mostly I’m curious.”

“Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” So far she’d wanted to know everything about him. And wasn’t that a kicker? Women usually only wanted to know how to get him into bed, and occasionally how to keep him afterward. They cared no more about his past, his motivations or aspirations, than he cared about theirs.

With still-trembling fingers, she tucked her hair behind her ears. “I know I said I wouldn’t keep grilling you....”

“We’ll be at your place in another five minutes.” He could have made it in two, but no way in hell would he risk having his past follow her there. He’d continue with the jumbled route just in case. “Ask whatever you want until then.”

“You’re sure?”

Being frank with her, Rowdy said, “If I don’t want to answer, I won’t.”

His honesty brought her brows down in a frown. “You won’t lie to me?”

“Nope.” At least, not this time. If it ever became necessary, well then...

“What about the bar?” She pulled one knee up to the bench seat and twisted toward him. “How’d you get it? You did a quick turnaround with the sale.”

And here it had felt unending to him, waiting to see if he’d get the liquor license, if he’d pass the background check. He knew he’d gotten lucky, and that having a cop for a brother-in-law had helped expedite things. “I made the owner a cash offer he couldn’t refuse.”

She tipped her head. “Cash?”

“It’s not like I’ve had a lot of need to spend what I make.” In the past, he’d kept Pepper as comfortable as he could, bought the most basic necessities and paid as he went for everything else. “When you have little, you spend little to maintain.”

Her tone, her mood, her expression, all turn tender. “Now that you’ve put down roots, you have insurance and utility bills, upkeep and employment, supplies and—”

“Set down roots?” Jesus, that idea made him jumpy. “Don’t remind me.”

“Why not? You do an amazing job. You’ve already turned things around. Everyone loves the bar, and everyone loves working for you.”

She was playing fast and loose with the L word all of a sudden. Did Avery love working for him?

“You made Ella pretty happy with that raise.”

“She deserved it.” Truthfully, he enjoyed handling the books, working a budget. He’d been fortunate with employees, too. Avery made a terrific bartender, even if it drove him nuts to see other guys hit on her. All he really needed now was someone to help Jones in the kitchen. “In some ways, it’s a lot like a high-stakes card game. I’ve always been a cautious gambler, but I still play to win.”

“Cautious?” She gave an incredulous laugh. “You forget that I know how much trouble the bar was in when you took over.”

He grinned. “Yeah, but I got it cheap.” Someone would even call it a steal. “As a legit business it was hemorrhaging cash. It was only the drug trade bringing in money, and even the idiot who’d been running it knew that was about to come to an end.”

“You told him that the cops were on to him?”

Rowdy shook his head. “I let him think rival competition was moving in.”

“You?”

“I’ve known plenty of thugs and how they work, enough to make it believable.” Hell, he’d been hustling the street since he was a kid.

Rather than be disgusted with his low associations, Avery looked awed. “That’s ingenious.”

So far, the only thing that seemed to upset her was him getting a blow job. It’d be best if he didn’t share that thought with her, though. “The dumbass cut his losses and bailed. Good riddance.”

“Given he let women be abused, I’d say you let him off easy.”

When Avery looked at him like that, like maybe he was more than trouble, more than a speed bump in life, it...hell, it both bugged him and made him feel a foot taller.

And she’d called him dangerous.

“I used him, Avery.” She deserved the bare truth. “I used that whole fucked-up scenario to get what I wanted.”

As if the circumstances didn’t matter at all, she nodded. “You also lent a hand to the police.”

“Yeah, so?” Helping the cops was just a side effect of doing what he wanted.

“And now that your sister has married, you have the law in your family.”

Did she have to twist his guts with his newly changed status? He cringed, still unused to the idea. “Logan’s all right. He’s not like most cops.”

She put her small, cool hand on his forearm. “Or maybe he is, and it’s just that you haven’t known the standard.”

No reason to argue the point. “Maybe.” He pulled onto her street—and got a new focus for his discontent. Street lamps were broken, some buildings vacant with the windows boarded up, graffiti everywhere. The muscles of his neck knotted, and he murmured with sarcasm, “Home sweet home.”

“Don’t judge.”

Oh, he’d judge all right. Something didn’t add up. He knew all about dirt poor, and he knew about disappearing. If Avery only wanted cheap rent, there were more secure places.

His little bartender wanted to hide, probably where no one would ever think to look for her.

He’d honed his instincts on a cutthroat society that ate the weak. He recognized the signs on a gut level.

Now he had to decide what to do about it.

Unaware of his darkening mood, Avery pointed. “Last apartment on the left.” She picked up her purse from the floor and began digging for her keys. “You can go in the second driveway and pull around back.”

Worse and worse. The back of the two-story structure butted up to the parking lot of an all-night convenience store. Three scruffy men hung around, drinking, smoking and talking too loud. No good ever came from a scenario like this. Even as Rowdy parked, he heard the breaking of a glass bottle, followed by loud guffaws and a few rank curses.

The stiffness of his neck crawled all the way down to his toes. He clenched his jaw. “I’ll walk you in.” A statement, not an offer.

Avery didn’t argue. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” She gripped her keys tightly in one hand.

He noticed a small can of mace hanging from the key ring. Did she honestly think that’d do her any good?

Circling the hood of the car, he reached her just as she stepped out. He took the bag holding the T-shirts and apron.

“Usually,” she said, “the fast-food restaurants and liquor store are still open when I get here, and they help to light up the lot. I’ve never gotten in this late, though.”

And she never would again, not if he could help it. “Where does the bus drop you off?” He looked around and saw nothing but trouble waiting to happen.

“One block down. Not far. It’s only a pain if it’s raining.”

For the love of... He’d gotten through a lot of ugliness in his lifetime, but right now, seeing how Avery lived, he was about as grim as a man could get. “Come on.”

Hooking her purse strap over her shoulder, she looked around with apprehension, not at the men—who Rowdy considered the obvious threat—but again at the shadows. “Guess I should pick up a flashlight, huh?”

Or a gun. Maybe a bodyguard or two.

But with him nearby, she didn’t need anything or anyone else. He would protect her.

“Doesn’t matter.” More often than not, the dark had been Rowdy’s friend. In so many ways, he was still more comfortable in it than in the light. As he walked with her to the back entrance of the tall, narrow brick building, he eyed the motley trio hanging out. Given the way they watched Avery, he wondered if he should talk with them, make sure they understood—

“Behave, Rowdy.”

Yeah, she picked up on his cues as easily as he picked up on hers. “I am behaving.” And weighing my options.

“I don’t want any trouble, so ignore them, please.”

He had a feeling there’d be trouble regardless of her wants. “Are they always there?”

She kept her attention on the apartment building. “Or their ilk. It’s not like we’ve had introductions so I can’t say for sure if it’s always the same men.” She sorted through her keys. “So far it’s been fine. No big problems.”

Little problems, he knew, could sometimes escalate into a tsunami of threats. While Rowdy waited impatiently, Avery struggled to get the key to work the old rusted lock.

One of the men must’ve been feeling brave, because he took a few steps closer and called out to them in a drunken slur. “Ain’t had no ponytail in a while. Maybe I can be up next?”

The other two chortled, offering their encouragement and egging on the drunken bum. The comments continued, going from Avery’s hair to her ass, getting more crude by the second.

When another bottle broke, that one too close to be an accident, Avery nearly dropped her keys.

“Let me.” Rowdy took the keys from her and opened both locks, then pushed the warped door open.

The guy moved closer, probably no more than three or four yards behind them. “What will five bucks get me?”

More hilarity, some cheering on. “Might get you a handy,” his buddy called out.

“Or a least a flash peek of that bod.”

“Yeah,” the nearest man demanded. “Five bucks for a peep show! Prove you’re a real redhead.”

And Rowdy decided aloud, “Fuck it.”

Oftentimes it was better to confront a problem head-on instead of trying to avoid it. This was one of those problems.

As he shoved the bag of apparel back at Avery, she said, “Don’t you dare!”

He gave her one stern look. “Get inside. Lock the door behind you.”

“Damn you, Rowdy Yates—”

Shaking off her clutching hands, he moved farther away from her while assessing the group.

What he saw was no challenge at all, not as long as Avery went in and secured the door so he’d know she was safe.

The group looked to be late thirties, early forties.

Drunk and dumb.

He understood both firsthand.

Staring at the leader with dead eyes, Rowdy walked toward him. “Got something to say?”

Too wasted to understand his precarious position, the fool gave a loud laugh. “If the honey is taking on customers, I’ve got some change I can spare.”

Eyes narrowed, Rowdy kept up a steady but unhurried approach. As he drew closer, the man balked, dropping his hands from his hips, looking back at his buddies. As one, they crowded in with silent support, chins out, shoulders squared, mouths sneering—and strides staggered.

Rowdy curled his mouth in a mean, provoking smile. “I know you’re firing on liquid courage, but you really might want to rethink this. Whatever bullshit you’re considering, I’ve been there and done it better.”

“I’m thinking it’s three against one.”

“Lousy odds for you.” Rowdy stopped only inches in front of the other man. “You’ve shown your ass and had your fun. But nothing else is happening here. Not this time. Not ever with her.”

One of the men, heavily bearded like a damned yeti, tried to move to Rowdy’s side. Rowdy stopped him with a look. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

The brazen one laughed. “You seriously want to fight all of us?”

“There wouldn’t be a fight.” The burning urge for violence uncoiled inside him. “I can prove it if you need me to, but it’d be easier on all of us if you just moved on.” Easier on Avery, for sure. He knew when this ended, she’d give him all kinds of hell.

Soured beer breath assaulted Rowdy when the man bumped closer to him. “We’re allowed to be here.”

Rowdy didn’t budge an inch. Sometimes men just needed to let off steam. He got that.

Hell, he felt it himself right now.

“Here in the lot, sure.” He leaned in—forcing the shorter man to lean back. “But you’re not allowed to disrespect her or bother her, and you sure as hell aren’t allowed to get near her.”

In a belated bid for control, the guy lifted both hands to shove Rowdy back.

Bad move.

Using his momentum against him, Rowdy pulled the fool forward, off balance, and clipped him in the face with his elbow. The drunk sprawled to the ground, landing on the rough gravel with a painful curse.

The yeti swung but Rowdy dodged the fist, then delivered one short jab to the bloated beer gut. On a sharp exhalation, the bigfoot went down hard over his buddy.

“Fucking asshole,” the third man said, charging forward.

Rowdy leaned to the left and brought up his knee, catching the shorter man in the chin. He stumbled backward, stood frozen for a second and then crumpled to the ground.

The first man showed signs of life, groaning from beneath the ape. Rowdy stood there, fists clenched, wanting him to get up. He still sizzled with unspent tension.

He wanted, needed, a real fight.

What happened instead left him very dissatisfied.

The third guy slid on the gravel until his feet found purchase, then he lurched away, a hand to his nose to stem the flow of blood. He literally fled the scene and never once looked back.

Well, hell.

The second guy sat up, grumbling and holding his big gut. Calling Rowdy names in a low, whiny voice, he got to his feet. Meaty arms wrapped around his belly, he staggered off after his buddy.

The first man down stay sprawled on his back.

Rowdy crouched beside him. “You’re a disappointment, man. I really wanted to take you apart, but you’re drunker than I realized.”

“Fuck you,” he grumbled in a very slurred voice. Unbelievably, he curled to his side and stopped moving.

Narrowing his gaze, Rowdy waited—and heard the drunk’s breathing even out. “No way.” He nudged the guy, but only got a snuffling groan that went back into a near snore. Rowdy shot to his feet. “Goddamn it.”

“I take it you wanted more sport?”

Jerking around, Rowdy found himself facing three other guys. This group was younger than the first, physically fit and from all appearances, clearheaded.

A slow smile lifted his mouth.

Maybe he’d get the fight he wanted after all.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE YOUNG MAN who’d spoken smiled right back. Watching the drunks retreat, he said, “Relax, man. We’re innocent bystanders, just taking in the show.” Stance relaxed, he shrugged. “Not that there was all that much to see.”

“Unfortunately.” Rowdy did a quick evaluation. This guy looked to be early twenties, maybe six-two. Dressed in jeans, sneakers and a flannel shirt, with a stocking cap pulled over his hair.

The worn clothes didn’t hide a ripped physique.

The smile showed confidence, and maybe even amusement, which meant he wasn’t worried about handling himself.

The two behind him looked more ragtag, and while also fit, more on the average side. One of them held a cola can and an expression of boredom. The other crossed his arms over his chest in a show of antagonism.

They weren’t intimidated by the pathetic beat down they’d just witnessed, and why should they be?

Rowdy hoped like hell that Avery stayed put in the apartment building. “Out for an evening stroll, huh?”

Cockiness widened his smile even more. “Something like that.” He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and nudged aside a broken bottle with the toe of his shoes. “Loudmouths and litterbugs. What’s the world coming to?”

Poverty had carved false daring into many personalities, maybe even his own. Rowdy would disabuse the young men of any forward intent right now. “They can be as loud as they want, and trash the place for all I care. But they won’t—”

“Go near the lady? Yeah, I got that.” He looked over his shoulder at his pals. “You guys mind picking up these bottles? Some kid will come through here and shred his feet.”

To Rowdy’s surprise, the backup came forward and began picking up broken glass.

“I’m Cannon Colter.” The talker gestured with his shoulder to the apartment building. “You live around here?”

The door to the apartment squeaked like a horror movie when Avery tried to sneak it open. Shit, shit, shit. Should he lie? Should he say he was with Avery each night to deter any thoughts of bugging her?

Cannon leaned forward. “We don’t do that, so relax.”

Feeling like an unscripted extra in a very bad play, Rowdy said, “Do what?”

“Hassle women.” Cannon shook his head. “Not our thing.”

“So what is your thing?”

He withdrew a little, looking up at the lightening sky, then the convenience store, before giving Rowdy a direct stare. “We grew up here. I hate seeing those creeps foul the place up more than it already is.”

“Is that so?”

“And I have a little sis.” He lifted his brows as if that explained everything.

Being a big brother himself, Rowdy supposed it did. Cannon—and here he thought Rowdy was an odd name—didn’t want his sister bothered by the scum. He dared a quick glance back, but luckily, even though Avery had poked her head out the door, she’d stayed inside as he’d...asked. Okay, so it’d been more of an order. He’d apologize for that as soon as he got this wrapped up.

Cannon looked at Avery, too. “Sorry, man, but she sticks out like a sore thumb.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“She’s gonna draw drunks like flies to manure.”

Glad that Avery hadn’t caught that comment, Rowdy fought off a grin. He could only imagine how she’d react if she heard that particular comparison. “Yup.”

“You’re the first guy she’s brought here.”

Good info, even if it wasn’t any of his business. “You noticed?”

“I pay attention.” His brows lifted. “And she’s pretty noticeable.”

Rowdy couldn’t help but be curious. “How long has she lived here?”

“About a year or so. Something like that.”

“She’s always on the lookout, too,” another offered.

“Yeah. She is,” said the smallest of the three, which didn’t really make him small. “She’s real cautious.”

Rowdy would call that smart, given the area. “Have you actually seen anyone bother her?”

“Nah, but if you want, we can keep an eye out.”

Cannon grinned. “She keeps that li’l bottle of pepper spray in her hand and she mean mugs anyone who looks her way.”

“You?”

Cannon lifted both hands. “Not me. We already settled that, right? But I’ve seen other dudes looking her over.”

Rowdy scowled. It took him less than three seconds to make up his mind. Pulling out his wallet, he took out three twenties, one for each of them, with an equal number of business cards for the bar. His cell was listed below the bar number.

Holding out the bills and cards, he said, “Think of this as a down payment. You ever see anyone bothering her, call either of the numbers. Ask for Rowdy. I’ll pay you for the trouble.”

The temperature dropped about ten degrees in Cannon’s expression. “Keep your money.” He took all three cards. “I don’t need to be paid not to be an asshole.”

Slowly, Rowdy withdrew the offered bills. “All right.” He’d rather bust his knuckles on a hardheaded bully than insult an honest man’s pride. “Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“Forget it.” He studied the card. “You’re Rowdy? As in the owner of the bar?”

“You know it?”

“I know you kicked a bunch of dope dealers to the curb when you took over.” He met his gaze. “Appreciate that.”

“It was my pleasure.” Rowdy got the feeling that Cannon took the cleanup of the bar as a personal favor. For a young guy, he had his nose in a lot of business. Interesting. “If you’re ever in the area, stop in for a drink on the house.”

“I just might take you up on that.” He shoved one card into his back pocket and went to his friends to hand out the other two. “See you around, Rowdy.”

Watching the three of them cut across the lot and disappear into an alley, Rowdy decided he’d do a little research on Cannon, as well as the car that had tailed him.

Funny that making a smidge of headway with Avery had unearthed more questions than answers.

Walking off, Rowdy wondered if Avery had locked him out or if he’d be able to tell her good-night. She surprised him by opening the door again before he reached it.

Brows pinched, she greeted him with, “Are you insane?”

Could be. She had that effect on him. “Calm down, honey. Everything’s fine.”

“Fine? You could have been killed!”

He snorted, which only seemed to infuriate her more. “Those guys could barely stay on their feet.” He stepped in and secured the door behind him, noting again what a crappy lock it was.

“What if one of them had been armed?”

Apparently a shrug wasn’t the right answer.

“Ohmigod,” she said dramatically. “You are insane. And that second group was not inebriated.”

“They weren’t hostile, either.”

“Something you didn’t know until after you’d faced off with them.” She thrust up her chin. “What did you and the hottie talk about for so long?”

Oh, hell, no. Slowly, Rowdy gave up his inspection of the lock to face her.

Bristling head to toe, he stiffened his shoulders and stared down at her with intimidating heat. “Hottie?” he whispered.

The glare was wasted on her. “You know who I mean. The good-looking kid? The one built like an athlete.”

Jealousy sucked, adding pure gravel to his tone. “He’s only a few years younger than you, so hardly a kid.”

Her turn to shrug, and damn it, he didn’t like it much more than she had. But when she patted his chest—presumably to reassure him—Rowdy felt compelled to let it go.

“I gave him a card and told him to come by the bar sometime.” Before he made an even bigger ass of himself, Rowdy put an arm around her and steered her away from the front door. “If he does show up, let me know immediately.” Rowdy didn’t have reason to distrust Cannon, but he didn’t take chances unnecessarily.

And with the way Avery had described the guy, he was even less inclined to risk leaving her alone with him.

“Okay.”

“By the way.” He kissed her temple. “Thanks for staying inside.”

“I’m not an idiot.” She lifted her hand with the cell phone in it. “But I almost called the police.”

Definitely not what he needed. “Don’t ever do that.”

Stubbornness sharpened her expression and launched her to her tiptoes. “I will if I think it’s necessary!”

Damn it. Again Rowdy tried to stare her down, but it didn’t even come close to working. On a tight exhalation, he took her phone from her, saying, “If you ever need the cops, call 9-1-1. But if it’s for me, just call Logan or Reese.” He pressed several buttons. “Their numbers are now saved in your contacts.” He dropped her phone back in her purse.

“Really?”

“Sure. Why not?”

For some reason Rowdy couldn’t understand, Avery smiled in pleasure. “Thank you.”

That smile of hers could work magic. Forcing himself to look away, Rowdy took in the main floor of the building. He now understood the reason she came in the back door instead of the better-lit front. The house had literally been divided in two with a wall erected in the middle to separate the halves.

A door to his right led to the first apartment, with stairs leading up the second. He assumed the layout would be the same in the front. “Do you know your neighbors?” Please let her say no.

She shook her head. “I keep to myself.”

Just as Cannon had claimed. “Glad to hear it.” Even here in the foyer, the building looked run-down with chipped, dirty paint and carpet so gross he hated to walk on it even in his shoes. Praying it’d be the latter, Rowdy asked, “First floor or second?”

“I’m up.” She started ahead of him, her keys in hand. “I understood the first exchange easily enough. But you did more than exchange cards with that second group of guys, right? So what did you talk about?”

Fudging the truth just a little, Rowdy said, “I told them you were off-limits.” At the top of the stairs, he took her arm. “You’ll let me know if anyone bothers you, okay?”

“No one will, but thank you.”

Though it’d soon be morning and her eyes were a little tired, she was still so incredibly sexy to him. That abundance of red hair trailed around her shoulders and over her breasts.

He brushed it back. “Let me have your keys.”

Suddenly shy, her gaze dropped away from his. “What are you going to do?”

“Check it out, make sure you’re alone.”

That brought her attention back with startled worry. “You think someone could have gotten in?”

He squeezed her shoulders. “Probably not, but I’ll feel better once I see how safe your place is.”

A pulse fluttered in her throat as she stared at his mouth. “I’m not sure...”

Damn but she could tempt a saint, so what chance did a sinner like him have? “I’ll look around, check on things and then leave.”

“I suppose you’re good at picking out security problems.” Looking at the door again, she made up her mind. “Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.” She handed over her keys.

Rowdy was so used to her stubborn streak of independence, he didn’t quite trust her when she was like this. She hid something—but what?

The setup of the building sucked. Here on the landing, she was trapped. No window, no door but into her apartment. He unlocked and opened the door, reached inside and found a light switch. Unlike at his place, lamps came on beside a stuffed couch.

Rowdy brought her in with him, left the door open and said, “Wait here.” Before she could protest, he went through the apartment, glancing long enough at the small open kitchen to see a box of Cocoa Puffs sitting on the counter. Cold, sugary cereal, huh? Somehow that fit.

The first door led to a miniscule bathroom with a cluttered counter. Makeup, blow-dryer, a basket of girlie-looking headbands and hair ties. He pushed back the shower curtain and found an array of bottles surrounding the narrow tub—shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, bubble bath.

The woman took her bathing very seriously.

He left that room and glanced into a hall closet that held her towels, extra blanket and pillow and more toiletries. Avery said not a single word as he went into her bedroom.

First things first, he checked her closet, moving her clothes around to look behind them. She had a wardrobe of T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters and jeans, with only a few dresses and skirts thrown in. A pile of shoes and boots littered the floor of the closet. He never would have pegged Avery to be so messy, but he kind of liked it.

He didn’t see any real dirt, just a whole bunch of disorganization.

Her bedroom window overlooked the convenience store and the now-empty lot. After checking the lock on her window, he closed the curtains and bent to peek under her unmade bed. Nothing but dust bunnies, a stray sock and a suitcase. Too curious to let it go, Rowdy tugged at the luggage handle.

It wasn’t empty.

So Avery kept a packed suitcase under her bed. For an emergency exit?

Straightening again, he took a moment to look over her room. Not as utilitarian as his; she had knickknacks everywhere. Change and a few pieces of jewelry littered the single dresser. A scented candle and a book rested on her nightstand. He touched the fluffy comforter and supersoft sheets on her bed. She had three pillows.

“Rowdy?”

“Be right there.” Trying to remove the image of her curled up all warm and sleepy in that bed, he walked out feeling strangely...enlightened.

His bartender didn’t live like a woman from a pampered upbringing. In fact, her messy apartment didn’t look much different from where his sister used to hide out.

Secrets. Avery had them in spades. How hard would it be for him to uncover them?

* * *

WITH A STRANGE sensation of anticipation humming in her veins, Avery watched as Rowdy prowled her apartment. She shouldn’t have left it so cluttered, but there never seemed to be enough hours in the day to do everything that needed to be done.

She had Sundays off, but usually slept late and then spent the day running errands and doing laundry. Who had time to clean?

When Rowdy emerged from her bedroom, her heart thumped harder. “Done snooping?”

“Almost.” He checked out the window in the main living area, and then the smaller window behind her kitchen sink.

She checked out the flex of muscles in his shoulders and the way his butt looked in those threadbare jeans. He had such strong thighs, and such a terrifically muscled backside.

He met her gaze. “They’re locked.”

She knew it, because she kept them that way. In the summer, when it had gotten hot as Hades, she’d run a portable room air conditioner that hadn’t quite cut through the humidity, but at least offered a little relief. “It’s okay?”

“As good as it can be here, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to your landlord about changing the lock on the entry door.”

“I already did.” She felt a little out of control. Surely she wasn’t one of those women turned on by a macho display of violence? Not that there’d been much violence, not with the expedient way Rowdy had handled the bullies. “He told me to go for it.”

From across the room, Rowdy looked at her mouth, then her throat and finally her breasts. In a distracted way, he said, “I’ll take care of it before work.”

Her breath caught when she inhaled. “You don’t have to do that.”

Holding up his hands to prove that he’d keep his promise, he stalked toward her. “I want to do it.”

Oh, the way he said that. Her mind conjured all kinds of things other than replacing an old lock. “Okay, then.”

Casually, he leaned a shoulder on the door frame next to where she stood. “So.”

She started to thank him again, but he cut her off.

“You didn’t like seeing me with another woman.”

She stepped away from the open door—and away from temptation. “Seriously, Rowdy, I see that every night.” Lying through her teeth, she said, “Not a biggie.”

He thought about that, nodded. “You didn’t like seeing a woman with her mouth on my—”

“No!” Jerking back around, Avery broke her own rule. She stretched up to smash two fingertips against his mouth. “Don’t you dare say it.”

Slowly, Rowdy wrapped his much-larger fingers around her wrist and lowered her hand to his chest.

And, oh, God, that wasn’t much better than touching his mouth. He felt so hot.

His thumb brushed over the back of her hand. “I can promise you that it won’t happen again.”

She curled her fingers against him, a little embarrassed that her nails were clipped so short, her hands rough from so many washings during work. The smell of the bar probably clung to her.

Then she remembered that it didn’t matter; she’d never again be that manicured woman from her past. “At work, you mean?”

His mouth tightened. “I won’t lie to you, Avery. I’m not going to become a monk.”

Thank God. That would be such a waste of raw sensuality. Unsure what his point might be, Avery said, “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Good, because now I have a question for you.” He released her, took a step back so that he stood outside the door and asked, “How long do I have to wait, honey?”

Avery’s heart jumped. She could have pretended that she didn’t understand, but she knew exactly what he meant.

Rowdy didn’t rush her, and he didn’t joke. That told her he was serious, so she gave him a real answer.

“I don’t want to be an available convenience. I don’t want to be interchangeable.”

His gaze darkened, grew more intense.

“So...” She screwed up her courage. Not to say it, but to mean it. To commit to it. “I guess you have to wait long enough that I know you want me, specifically, more than you want easy sex.”

He touched her jaw, the side of her throat, and opened his hand on the back of her neck. “I think I can handle that.”

He thought he could? That was the best reassurance he could give? She started to protest, but he put his mouth over hers in a kiss that was deep, soft and consuming. His warm tongue lightly teased, and his hard body stole her breath.

When he ended the kiss, she more or less hung limp in his arms right outside her door. “Damn, woman, you do know how to drag out the suspense.” He kissed her once more, firm and quick—then lifted her over the doorjamb and back into her apartment. “Lock up behind me. I’ll see you tomorrow. And remember, anything at all happens, I want to know, no matter what time it is. You call me.”

She nodded. What in the world did he think would happen? “Thank you for...well, everything.”

He had such a gorgeous smile. “My pleasure, Avery. Always.”

Always...until he got what he wanted, and then he’d probably be done with her.

She closed and locked the door, and then she started grinning. Holy cow. Rowdy Yates had packed a wallop in that kiss.

No matter how long it lasted, Avery knew her world would never be the same.

She supposed she should call the doctor, since it appeared she’d be needing the pill after all.

* * *

FOR THE FIRST time since buying the bar, Rowdy couldn’t concentrate on business. He’d kissed Avery on her doorstep three days ago. The next day when he’d gone back to change out the lock, she’d given him a key and insisted on repaying him what he’d spent at the hardware store. He’d taken that one on the chin because she’d been so insistent about it.

But since then, she’d also been working extra hard, almost as if she wanted to make sure she didn’t get any special favors just because she’d admitted her interest.

Not like he could show favoritism anyway. She was the only bartender—a situation he’d need to remedy if he ever hoped to spend much time with her. When she needed a break, he was the one to give it to her. If she needed a day off, he worked the bar. The bar was closed on Sundays, but he often used that day to work on more renovations to the unused areas. He wouldn’t be satisfied until every inch of the bar was used wisely.

Each night he’d wanted to drive Avery home, but she always refused. So instead he had to stand there and watch her get on a bus.

Avery didn’t know that he followed in his car to make sure she got in without being bothered. On one of those nights he’d spotted Cannon and his buddies hanging around again, but other than watching Avery go into her apartment, Cannon hadn’t approached her.

The hours they kept made it tough for Rowdy to work a seduction. And damn it, with every hour that passed, he wanted her more.

As he cleared a table to help Ella with the remaining customers, a sexy blonde leaned into his view. “Hey, Rowdy.”

Her cleavage just naturally drew his attention. “Hey...” He racked his brain...something with an S, if he recalled right. “Sheila, isn’t it?”

“You remembered!”

More like he’d gotten lucky with guessing. She came into the bar several times a week, and each time she hit on him. He’d planned to take her up on her not-so-subtle offers—until Avery had laid out her stipulations. Now, knowing Avery would eventually be his, Sheila held little interest for him. “Of course I did. You’ve turned into a regular.” He went back to cleaning the table.

“You know,” she said suggestively, “I live close by.” Her hand smoothed up his arm to his shoulder. She leaned in to whisper, “We could get there in under twenty minutes.”

He couldn’t help but grin. It was nice to be wanted, especially with Avery all but avoiding him. And thinking of Avery, he straightened again and glanced her way.

Even from across the room, her fierce glower torched him. She looked like she expected him to haul Sheila off to his office any second. Apparently, his little bartender still didn’t understand just how much he wanted her specifically, not just any willing body.

Rowdy saluted Avery before saying to Sheila, “I appreciate the offer, hon, I really do. But I’m slammed.”

“Tomorrow, then.” She trailed a painted fingernail over her collarbone, and then dipped it into her cleavage.

Which, of course, ensured that his gaze followed.

Nice rack. Big and heavy and pale. She’d be a handful.

He wasn’t tempted even a little. “Can’t. I’m out of commission until...” Until when, damn it? How long would it take for Avery to realize how good they’d be together? Whether she felt the chemistry or not, he knew they’d burn up the sheets.

Deciding it didn’t matter because Sheila wasn’t doing it for him anyway, Rowdy said, “Until further notice. The bar is really growing, and as it is, I’m only squeaking in a few hours of sleep a day.”

“I could make it worth your while.”

“I didn’t have a doubt.” He nodded at a tableful of young men behind them. “They know it, too. They haven’t been able to take their eyes off you.”

Sheila wasn’t fooled. She knew a rejection when she heard it, regardless of how he’d tried to pretty it up. “It’s your loss.” With a smile, she went off to easier game.

Rowdy shook his head, always amused by women and their antics. It’d be nice if Avery were so predictable.

Then again, it was her uniqueness that he lo—

Whoa. No fucking way. He stomped that thought right out of his head real fast.

He tried focusing on the bar instead, on the many tasks that still needed to be done. But on his way to the kitchen with some dirty dishes, he again sought out Avery. She bustled along the busy bar, filling drink orders and smiling at customers—all of them men.

In many ways he felt like a possessive ape around her, but this he took in stride. He knew Avery well enough to know she wouldn’t flirt with a customer, and beyond that, she wasn’t interested in hard drinkers.

He was just about to push into the kitchen when the phone rang. Avery answered it. No big deal. With the only phones behind the bar and in his office, she took the calls more often than not.

He went on through the kitchen doors and deposited the dirty dishes into the sink. Even with the dinner hour long over, Jones still hadn’t finished up. Rowdy knew he had to find him some help soon or Jones would quit on him.

“Leave those if you want,” Rowdy told the cook.

“You paying me for the time I’m here?”

“Don’t I always?”

“Yeah, and it’ll only take me another hour, so I’ll stay.” He pointed a scrub brush at Rowdy. “But stop being so choosy and hire someone already, will you?”

“Working on it.” Hell, he’d interviewed a dozen people. “It’s not as easy as you’d think.” Especially with the bar’s reputation. He’d had a few druggies show up, a hooker, a drunk and a barely of-age kid who’d quailed at the idea of putting in eight hours.

Suddenly Ella stuck her head into the kitchen. “Rowdy?” Her usual smile was missing, her tone no-nonsense. “Avery’s in trouble.”

Instead of asking questions, Rowdy dropped the dish towel and strode through the doors and into the main room. He sensed Jones and Ella right on his heels.

His gaze locked on Avery. She looked more annoyed than hurt or afraid, but a big bruiser had her half pulled over the bar thanks to a grip on her wrist. Rowdy barely remembered moving before he had the heavy man by the front of his shirt. “Let. Her. Go.”

The guy released Avery with a shove and she stumbled back, fetching up against the ice chest.

Rowdy saw red. Back in the good old days, before he was a fucking proprietor, he’d have taken the guy apart and been done with it. Now...well, now he had boundaries, so he’d try it the “nice” way—and hope the guy gave him a reason to demolish him. “Get out and don’t come back.”

“Who the hell are you?” the man demanded.

Righting herself, Avery said, “Rowdy, don’t do it.”

Vibrating with the surge of anger, Rowdy kept one fist knotted in the man’s shirt, the other held down at his side.

As the man tried to jerk free, his shirt ripped.

Rowdy wanted to rip out his heart, too. It wasn’t easy, but he managed to say with controlled fury, “Don’t ever put your hands on my employees.”

Realizing he had the attention of the owner, the man shoved his face close. “I’ve been here for hours. She made me lose my temper.”

Rowdy didn’t blink; it took all his concentration to fight his natural instinct to defend what was his—and he didn’t mean the bar.

“Ever touch her again and you’ll lose a hell of a lot more. Now leave.”

Frustrated, the man shoved both hands through his dark, greasy hair. He drew in a deep breath. “I don’t have time for this shit.” Belatedly, he looked around, realized he was drawing attention and leaned in for privacy.

The foul stench of sweat and desperation almost caused Rowdy to flinch.

“I made a deal,” the man said through wet lips, “and I never got paid. The owner traded me some of the equipment to even things up and avoid retaliation.”

“I’m the owner,” Rowdy enjoyed telling him. “And I don’t trade with drug dealers.”

“Before you!”

“Before me is none of my concern.”

The man locked his large hands into boulder-size fists. “Look, buddy, my day has been shit already, okay? I have my own debts to pay, the junker truck I borrowed barely runs and to top it off, the old lady shoved the kid off on me.”

Ice ran down Rowdy’s spine... Shoved the kid off on me... His thoughts scrambled, tripping over ugly possibilities.

“So now I’m done playing nice.” The man ground his teeth together and lowered his voice to a snarl. “Either give me the equipment or give me my money.”

Rowdy swallowed hard, but sickness continued to crawl up his throat. A Mack truck parked on his chest, making a deep breath impossible. Ugly memories sharpened everything he felt. “Where are you parked?”

Thinking he’d won, the bruiser rubbed his hands together. “Out back. I’ll take the jukebox and the—”

“We’ll discuss it.” Rowdy clamped a hand on his arm and propelled him forward. “Let’s go somewhere private.”

A soft, feminine voice reached out to him. “Rowdy?”

He didn’t look at Avery. He didn’t dare. The last thing he needed was her interference. “I’ll be right back,” he told a narrow-eyed Jones and a pale Ella, “Back to work.”

Avery said nothing else, and that should have made him suspicious, but he was too busy concentrating on the man in front of him. Big, dirty, a bully used to getting his own way, scum who didn’t mind making a scene or using his strength against those who were smaller or weaker. Rowdy might’ve just met the bastard, but he knew him.

Far too well.

Rowdy wasn’t small and he wasn’t weak, not now, not ever again. Each step he took narrowed his focus until it became a single laser beam of driving purpose.

People shifted out of the way as the two of them went through the bar and out the front door. Chill evening air filled Rowdy’s lungs, helping to clear away the haze of blistering rage. A restless breeze played over his fevered muscles, reminding him to relax.

Battles were always best fought with a cool head and limber muscles.

“I’ll take the jukebox,” the bully said again, “and a few cases of whiskey. That’s a bargain for you.”

Keeping a tight leash on his emotions, Rowdy stayed two steps behind. “We’ll talk about it near your truck.” And if he found what he thought he would, then God help the man.

At the alley beside the bar, they turned to head around back. The security lights Rowdy had installed helped to light the dark alleyway, which had discouraged hookers, dopers and gangs from hanging out there.

He had a clear path to the back lot—a lot where only employees should have been parked.

Rowdy stepped out of the alley and faced a nightmare, his worst suspicions confirmed.

The fucking bully had sealed his own fate.

He’d brought along a kid.

CHAPTER SIX

SITTING ON THE ground outside the open truck door, his knees pulled up to his skinny chest, wearing only a T-shirt and jeans too short, the boy huddled against a rear tire. Rowdy guessed him to be eight, maybe nine years old. When the boy saw them, he jumped to his feet, his skinny chest working, his gaze filled with wariness.

“Who’s this?” Rowdy asked.

“He’s nobody. Don’t worry about it.”

Nobody. Rowdy forced himself to breathe calmly. “Is he your son?”

“That’s what the bitch says.” Not realizing his own peril, the guy laughed. “The runt don’t really look like me though, does he?”

A strange sort of peace settled over Rowdy. He knew what it was, because he’d felt it before. A defense mechanism. A way to push aside emotion so that only cold, lethal intent remained. It was how he’d coped back then, and how he would cope right now. “Where’s his coat?”

“How the fuck do I know?”

Chills had the boy trembling. And damn it, Rowdy shook with him. “What’s your name, kid?”

The boy put up his chin, silent, miserable. Afraid to speak.

Impatient, the thug barked, “Get back in the truck, Marcus.” And then to Rowdy, “I told you, his mom had shit to do so I had to drag him along. He won’t be a problem. He knows to stay out of the way. Now forget about him, will you?”

“No, actually, I won’t.” Despite the man’s order, Marcus didn’t move, and damn, Rowdy wanted to make him understand. He met the boy’s gaze. “Sorry, Marcus.” I’m about to shake up your world.

Maybe Marcus did catch on, because his eyes went wide—and suddenly Avery opened the back door of the bar. She looked...he didn’t know. He’d never seen her look like that before.

She flashed an uncertain and very false smile. “I’m sorry to intrude. I figured the young man should come in with me while you two...negotiate your business.”

Was that her nice way of saying, While you kill that no-good SOB?

Belligerence amplified the man’s bloodshot eyes. “He’s staying with me.”

Before Rowdy could bury his fist in the man’s face, Avery half stepped out, not so far as to put herself at risk, but far enough to intrude and make the bully want her to back off. “Oh, but you know what they say. Little pitchers have big ears. I’m sure you men would like to keep this conversation private.”

The man’s eyes narrowed on the kid. “He knows to keep his trap shut.”

Volcanic rage expanded Rowdy’s chest. He pushed past the man and put a hand on Marcus’s narrow shoulder. “Go on in, okay? She’ll get you something to drink.”

The boy dug in. “I’m not thirsty.”

Rowdy had expected that answer, because long, long ago, he’d given it a few times himself. To expedite things before his fragile thread of control snapped, he hardened his tone. “In.”

“Do what you’re told!” The man drew back a hand, ready to belt the boy.

Rowdy flattened one hand to the bastard’s chest and shoved him back hard. The single-word command cut through the night: “Don’t.”

Taken by surprise, the man floundered. “What the fuck?”

“Oh, and Rowdy?” Avery got the boy inside and leaned out again. “In case you needed help moving the jukebox, I called Logan.” And with that parting shot, she closed the door.

Rowdy narrowed his eyes. He finally had the man alone, and here Avery had snatched away his opportunity by calling in the law.

Had she known all along what he planned to do? Probably. Avery was cagey that way. Very little got by her.

The man shoved back from Rowdy’s hold. “I’m owed more than the jukebox for all my trouble. Like I said, a few cases of whiskey will help, but—”

Fury closed in, narrowing his vision. “All you’ll get from me is the beating you deserve.”

“What are you talking about?”

Egging him on, Rowdy said, “You’re a coward, a sloppy drunk and I’m going to enjoy taking you apart.” Rarely did he ever hit first. He’d learned that in the legal world, words were allowed, but first contact was frowned upon.

Predictably, what he said enraged the man enough that he threw a big, meaty punch. Rowdy ducked, but not in time. The blow connected with his shoulder and knocked him off balance. He dropped to one knee, then braced for the impact of a tackle.

They went into the sharp gravel; it cut into Rowdy’s spine and shoulders before he rolled, shoving the heavier man to the side. Now with the gravel assaulting his knees, Rowdy pounded the other man with several heavy hits, catching him in his fat gut, his solar plexus, his chin.

The smell of blood blinded him to everything else. He hit harder and heard the bully’s nose break. His knuckles hurt, but it was a small price to pay for the pleasure he got in his retaliation.

When Rowdy got back to his feet, the big man rolled, trying to grab for his legs. Rowdy kicked out and got him in the nuts.

That took the fight right out of him.

Out of the shadows, a man said, “Jesus, Darrell, you fucking puke. If you can’t hold your own, then don’t start this shit.”

Breathing hard and fast, Rowdy turned, and another man appeared. He flashed a grin—and a big tactical knife with a serrated blade.

“You should have given me my money,” Darrell grunted as he struggled up to his knees.

“Fuck you.” Rowdy didn’t know the second man, but he knew Darrell, the abusive prick.

He kicked him in the chin, rendering him flat on his back, out cold.

Immediately Rowdy turned to fend off the knife wielder, but the second guy was on him too fast. As Rowdy lunged away, he felt the blade slice over his shoulder and down his back. Liquid heat ran along his nerve endings.

Not that he’d let it slow him down. A lifetime of hatred kept the pain at bay. Any man who abused his kid deserved a beating—and so much more.

With singular purpose, Rowdy dodged the next thrust of the knife and got in a solid punch that staggered the man. It didn’t take him down, though; it only pissed him off, wiping that smirking grin right off his face.

Keeping the knife at the ready, he spit blood to the side. “You’re dead meat, asshole.”

Coiled, ready, Rowdy smiled and beckoned him forward. “Let’s go, then.”

Sirens pierced the night, not an unfamiliar occurrence, but Rowdy figured this time it was Logan sticking his cop nose in where it wasn’t wanted.

Time to wrap this up.

The man circled to the side, but Rowdy moved with him, slowly closing the space between them. “You’ve got the knife,” Rowdy taunted. “What are you waiting for?”

The fool charged at the same time that Rowdy adjusted his stance to kick out—and he broke the man’s elbow. The knife fell from his hand and into the rough gravel. Rowdy moved in, punching him in the face, once, twice, a third time.

Dropping to his knees, the man swayed.

With one final kick to the chin, Rowdy sent him backward in a heap.

Behind Rowdy, someone applauded.

He spun around, and there was Cannon leaning against the side of the brick exterior wall of the bar. “Now that was more like it.”

Dumbfounded, Rowdy said, “I didn’t hear you.” Which had to mean the younger man was good, because no way was Rowdy slipping.

“Just got here,” Cannon said. “I would have helped out, but looked like you had it handled. Mostly, anyway.”

Rowdy opened and closed his fists, not quite satisfied with the damage he’d done.

Not sure he could ever be satisfied when it came to child abuse.