Bastard. As I didn’t want him to think I was deliberately testing his control for a kiss, I said, “I don’t know who it was. Even if they hadn’t worn a balaclava, it was dark and happened so fast that I didn’t register much.” My attention had mostly been on the blade. “I put up a fight, but the knife sliced into my lip during the struggle. I don’t think they meant to hurt me; just mug me, because the moment they realized I was bleeding, they ran. So, what’s your third and final question?”

“Why do you watch your surroundings with wary eyes?”

Every muscle in my body went rigid.

“Don’t lie to me. I can see that you’re tempted to, but don’t.”

I licked my lower lip. “I can’t answer that question.” Not with total honesty.

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Won’t.”

He exhaled heavily. “Poor Edilio.” His head tilted. “Do you have trouble dogging your heels?”

“No.” I had a dumb little fucker playing tiring games with me, but I didn’t think of him as ‘trouble.’

Face hardening, Blake leaned forward so close, his nose almost brushed mine. “Now why would you lie to me, Kensey?”

“I’m not.” My voice cracked. Well, if he wasn’t all up in my space, sending my hormones into a frenzy, I’d be completely fine.

“Tell me who’s bothering you, and I’ll deal with it. I’ll make it all go away.”

Never in my adult life had I looked to someone to take care of my problems for me. I wouldn’t start that now. But damn if it wasn’t a little tempting to just hand the mess over to him. If anyone could unravel this shit and locate Ricky Tate, it was the capable, level-headed male in front of me who I instinctively sensed could manage any curve ball. But this was my curve ball to handle. “I shovel my own shit.”

Unbearably tense seconds ticked by as he stared at me, silent. Finally, he said, “I want to help you, but you’re being deliberately vague. And that’s poking at what very little patience I have left. Tell me who’s giving you this shit to shovel, or get ready for me to taste you.”

My heart slammed in my chest. How the hell did I get myself into this situation? Sarah. I blamed Sarah. “It’s complicated.”

“What’s complicated?”

“The matter I’m dealing with. I’m no damsel, Mercier, I don’t need a white knight.”

“And I’m no white knight. But then, you already know that, don’t you? That’s the one thing that I don’t like about you. I feel like you can see right through me, all the way to where the demons are lurking.”

Yeah, I’d spotted those demons. Maybe they wouldn’t have hit my radar if I hadn’t already glimpsed such darkness in another person. The flashes I’d seen in Michael chilled me right to the bone; there was no missing the malice there. The flashes I’d seen in Blake raised the hairs on my skin, but I didn’t sense any real cruelty in him. Ruthlessness, yes, but not malevolence.

“We all have our inner demons,” I said. “Sometimes, mine have pretty interesting ideas.”

He smiled at that, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “There’s no sense in downplaying this, Kensey. I know that I scare you.”

I wasn’t afraid of him, I was afraid of becoming my mother—going for the bad boy, the one that emanated danger. This guy might not be a sociopath, but he was definitely dangerous in his own way. That he could affect me like this when I was never drawn to guys like him—that spooked me. Of course, I had no intention of sharing any of that. “I’m not scared.”

His fingers delved into my hair. “You lied again,” he reprimanded. His mouth closed over mine and his tongue boldly sank inside. Just like that, the raw need humming between us simply exploded.

He kissed me so hard he sucked the breath from my lungs and every sane thought from my head. Hell, it was so hot and sexual it might as well have been sex. Molten lust poured through me like warm honey, and all I wanted was more.

The strong hand in my hair held me exactly how he wanted me as he greedily possessed my mouth, his fingertips digging into my scalp just enough to feel good. Never passive, I tried angling my head to deepen the kiss, but he pulled hard on my hair to hold me still. It should have pissed me off, but I found myself moaning.

The hand on my thigh yanked me closer to him. I planted my hands on his chest—it was hard and packed with muscle. I probably should have pushed him away. I didn’t. Instead, I fisted his shirt and sucked on his tongue. His growl vibrated in his chest and poured down my throat. I wanted to drown in him. And that was bad. But I couldn’t quite pull back. Every cell in my body seemed to scream with frustration. Scream for him.

“Come with me,” he whispered, flicking out his tongue to trace my scar. His hot, clever mouth took mine again before I could answer. “Don’t think. Just come with me.” He sucked on my pulse, and I melted into him with a soft moan.

A cell began to ring, jolting me out of my pliant state, and the spell was broken.

I shoved away from him, seriously pissed at myself for being so weak. “I have to go.” I raked my hand through my hair. “I know I must seem like a fucking cock tease right now, but I’m not. I swear. This just … It can’t happen.”

His head tilted, and he seemed to be weighing my words. I tried to stand, but his hands caught my face. “Shh. Calm down. No one’s calling you a cock tease. Now, why can’t this happen?”

“Your phone’s still ringing.”

“Answer my question, Kensey.”

“Just forget it. There are a whole lot of women here who I’m sure will follow you wherever you want to go.”

“I want the prickly, flight-risk sitting right here glaring at me.” His teeth tugged on my lower lip hard enough to sting. “I want to see her pretty eyes glaze over while I fuck in and out of her pussy until she can’t take it anymore.”

“Kenz?” Sarah’s voice came from outside the cabana, shaking with nerves.

He bit out a harsh curse. “Kensey …”

I swallowed and repeated, “I have to go.”

A muscle in his cheek ticked. “You sure that’s what you want?”

No. “It’s what I’m going to do.”

He brushed his nose against mine. “Why fight the inevitable, Kensey? Why?”

“Kenz?” Sarah called out, louder this time. “I need to know you’re okay. If that rich motherfucker is bugging you—”

With another curse, he let go of me and rose from the sofa. I followed him as, jaw hard, he stalked out of the cabana.

Sarah jumped back in alarm. “I just want to check on Kensey.”

“She’s fine,” he bit out.

Drawing herself to her full height, as if braced for war, Sarah spoke, “Look, about Edilio—”

“He won’t get fired,” began Blake, “providing he doesn’t pull that shit again. If you girls get the urge to come here, you call me. You don’t put his job at risk.”

“C-call you?” asked Sarah, stunned.

Blake turned to me as he fished something out of his pocket. Holding a business card between his thumb and forefinger, he said, “Take it. If you need anything or that trouble you won’t talk about gets too close, you call me. Now come on.”