“I couldn’t ask that of you. I’ll take the couch.”
I forced a smirk. “Aw, come on, sweetheart. What kind of gentleman would I be if I allowed that to happen?”
“I thought you weren’t a gentleman,” she shot back.
“I’m not.” Letting go of her, I took one step back. I tried to put enough distance between us to help keep my undying urge to touch her in control. It didn’t work. I still wanted her. “But for you, I decided to be one tonight. Sleep well. I’ll be an asshole again in the morning.”
She shook her head, a small smile tilting her pink lips up in the corner. “That’s not something you can turn off. You’re either an asshole or you’re not.”
“Oh, I am.” I strode to the couch and sat down, setting my feet on the table and crossing my ankles. “Don’t ever think otherwise. You saw what I do to people who fuck with something that’s mine.”
Her nostrils flared, and she marched up to me with narrowed eyes. “I’m not yours, Lucky. Stop thinking I am.”
“It’s cute that you think that. Really, it is.” I stared up at her, forcing the same I don’t give a shit smile to my face I’d perfected when I was ten. “Because you’re wrong.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You have this whole thing down to a science, don’t you?”
“This whole what?”
“The tough-guy act,” she said, leaning down and looking me square in the eyes. “You say something nice, realize you did it, and then say something ludicrously ignorant to even it out. To make people not like you.”
I snorted. She was uncomfortably close to the truth and I couldn’t let her know it. At least one piece of her logic was wrong. How could I possibly be some kind of nice guy masquerading as an asshole? It was the other way around; tonight, I was an asshole masquerading as a nice guy, and that was much more dangerous. “Run off to bed, sweetheart, before I decide to show you just how much of an asshole I can be.”
“You don’t scare me.” She placed her hands on her hips and stared me down. “And furthermore, I don’t require your protection. I can take care of myself, just like I always have. I’ll sleep here tonight, but tomorrow this thing we have going on between us?” She pointed to me, to her, and back again. “It’s over.”
“If you hadn’t just been brutally attacked in an alley, I’d show you exactly what we have between us.” I stood slowly, my gaze locked on her the whole time. She flushed and didn’t back off. “You started something last night when you came up to me in your bar and called me Lucky. You knew exactly what you were doing, and you know exactly what you’re doing now. You’re fucking with me.”
She lifted her chin. “Yeah. So why are you smiling, then?”
“Because I have a secret.” I skimmed my fingers down her arm, watching the goose bumps rise as I went. She stood her ground, not retreating from my touch. “I know exactly what I’m doing, too.”
“And what, precisely, is that?”
Leaning in, I brushed my lips across her cheekbone. Just a featherlight touch, enough to show her I wasn’t messing around. Enough to make her slightly afraid of me, because she needed to be afraid of me. If she wasn’t, I’d have no defenses against her.
“Oh, funny you should ask,” I said, grinning against her temple. I cupped the back of her head, threading my fingers through her silky curls. “Even funnier? I have no intention of answering. You’ll just have to wait to find out, like a good girl. But I’ll give you one hint.”
Her breathing increased. “What’s that?”
“We’re not over and you’re not refusing my protection. I didn’t stick my neck out for you to see you get jumped in an alley tomorrow night, without me there to save your pretty little ass. I own you now, darlin’, and you’d best accept it.”
She stepped to the side as far as she could with me holding on to her hair, glaring up at me. “God, you’re so—”
“Devastatingly charming?” I let go of her completely, rubbing my jaw and grinning at her show of anger. “You’ve told me that once or twice.”
“Annoying. Insufferable. Cock—”
Her cheeks turned red as soon as she started to shout that last one.
I spluttered before bursting into laughter. “I have one of those, yes. But don’t think you’ll be seeing it anytime soon. Now, go to bed before I change my mind.”
She scowled at me and spun on her heel. As soon as she cleared the bedroom door, she slammed it behind her. I dropped the smirk and sat down, letting out a shuddering sigh. This was a fucking mess. Not only had I broken my code of keeping my nose out of other people’s business, but I’d done it with another gang.
One that was a reliable repeat customer.
I’d killed two of their men and almost killed the third.