“Manners?” I said.
His grin stretched from ear to ear. “The manners your daddy should have taught you.”
I couldn’t resist. “You wouldn’t have the nerve,” I said and, despite my intentions, gave him a sly smile.
That got his attention. He looked at me again as if seeing me for the first time. His eyes drank me in from head to toe, staring at my ass and tits longer than was necessary.
“Try me,” he said.
“Trust me, you don’t want to get mixed up with a girl like me.”
“Are you that dangerous?”
“Let’s just say, if you messed with me, you’d be taking your life in your hands.”
I don’t know what got me talking to him like that. It wasn’t like me to flirt with the lowlifes that did business with Los Lobos. I despised all of them. But everything about this guy was different. He had balls. In all the months I’d been with Wolf, this was the first time I’d met anyone who seemed to have the nerve to rival him.
“Don’t you know?” he said, “Some things are worth risking your life for.”
“Some things?”
“Sure. Some things,” he said and looked down at my ass again as if assessing me, checking if I was one of those things worth taking a risk for. Cocky prick. The way he looked at me made me feel the need to prove myself. I realized I was sitting up straight in my seat, shoulders back, breasts pushed forward, the way my mother had always wanted me to sit when I was a kid. For the first time in months, I actually cared what someone thought of me.
He melted my resistance. I struggled not to show it. I couldn’t let this go anywhere. As tempted as I was to flirt, I would be literally taking my life in my hands if I did.
“Let’s you and me go for a walk,” he said.
I laughed. “A walk?”
He winked. God he was arrogant. I loved it.
“What makes you think I want to go for a walk with you?”
His eyebrows rose. “Shapely legs, tight ass, I bet you can walk the fuck out of those pumps.”
I burst out laughing. “Walk the fuck out of my pumps?” I repeated out loud. I couldn’t believe he’d said it like that.
“Girl, I can tell an assassin when I see one.”
If Wolf ever overheard anything like this, there’d be hell to pay. He’d string me up and have his thugs beat the shit out of me. But he’d left for Vegas.
“An assassin?”
“An assassin of the heart.”
That did it. I burst out laughing even louder than before. I laughed harder than I had in months. He was playing, being intentionally ridiculous, but it worked. If it hadn’t been for the threat of Wolf’s jealousy, I’d have gotten on the back of his bike and ridden with him wherever the hell he wanted. I’d always been a sucker for a cocky bad boy with the guts to let me know what he wanted from me.
“I’ve never heard anyone use that line,” I laughed.
He was smirking now. He knew he’d won me over. “It’s not a line.”
“Isn’t it?”
His eyes crawled over me, lingering on all the hotspots. He had some nerve. I had to give him that much. He knew how to walk into a room, spot what he wanted, and go for it.
“Well, before you get carried away, you ought to know I’m Wolf’s girl.”
“Is that a warning?”
“I’d just hate to see anything bad happen to you.”
He took a seat at the bar next to me. It was a bold gesture given that every other seat in the place was empty.
“Why would anything bad happen?” he said.
“Well, you seem to be getting ideas.”
“What sort of ideas?”
I looked away. He was trying to goad me. “You know what I mean.”
He looked right at me with those intense eyes. His jaw looked like it was cut from marble. I wanted to rub my hand against the shadow of his stubble, just to feel its roughness.
“What if I told you I don’t care whose girl you are?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What if you got on my bike right now, and rode back with me to Rio Secco?”
“Wolf would kill you,” I said.
“Wolf can go fuck himself.”
No one spoke that way about Wolf. Was this a test? Had Wolf sent this guy to see how I’d respond? I wouldn’t put it past him.
“Who are you?” I said.
“Listen, I’m not kidding. I can see you don’t like this shit hole. I don’t blame you. Your boyfriend’s scum. You’re too good for him. Los Lobos are heartless bastards. There’s something better, and it’s just a ride away.”
“As easy as that?” I said.
“Sure.”