Then he couldn't restrain himself, he reached out and touched her pretty chin. "What happened, kitten?"
She blinked, and glanced away from him.
"Was it the schmuck at the bar?" His muscles tightened. Yeah he'd noticed. He'd noticed and wanted to go over there and stake his claim on a woman who did not know he existed. "He walked off and then you looked sad."
Her gaze returned to him. "You noticed?"
"I notice everything about you."
Her chin lifted in his hand. "Because that's your job."
"My job is to keep you safe."
She squinted slightly. He wasn't about to lay it out. Not until she gave a little.
"What'd he do?" He remembered the face, he could find him again if he had to.
Her forehead developed a sheen. "Nothing, he just wasn't into me."
"You didn't seem into him, so what's the problem?" He scanned her face, watching her discomfort grow more acute.
What wouldn't she say?
"No woman wants to feel repulsive." She frowned and jerked her face away.
Repulsive?
Had she lost her mind? Everything about her was warm and sexy, savvy and sweet. "Baby, you couldn't be repulsive if you tried it on for a dare."
Her attention snapped back to him, and her eyes went wide. She looked at his mouth.
Fuck, how was he supposed to resist?
His hand went to her waist, turning her against him. He'd dreamed of clutching this waist. Putting his fingers in the dip just before the flare of her hips.
Her lips parted. "Untie me, Conan."
He froze. "Conan?"
She shrugged.
The minx. She couldn't pretend to have forgotten his name. Tension vibrated though her. She wanted him.
She doesn't trust me.
Well, she'd learn the was no choice but to. He spun her around, then reached over the counter and plucked a knife from the knife block.
Her breath shuddered. He stared at the wrists bound at the small of her back. Jesus, did she have any idea how a skirt like that, clinging to her ass, made him suffer?
He cut the cable tie.
She jerked her arms free, then turned around, and rubbed her wrists. "I'm all good. You can go home now."
"I don't think you understand. You're under twenty-four hour protection. I'm not going anywhere."
She frowned. "What do you mean? Frank said I had until morning to decide?"
"That was before you were set upon in the parking lot." He took a step back. "And before the stunt you pulled meant I had to leave my car, which I would otherwise stay in while working."
"You've been sleeping in your car outside my house?"
"You think your safety only matters nine-to-five?"
She glanced towards her front door, as though she were picturing the last month she hadn't known about.
"I'll be staying here tonight."
She straightened. "Fine, come with me."
He followed her out of the kitchen and to the bedrooms.
She opened a door. "This is the guest room. There are pillows and blankets in the wardrobe and it has a bathroom. I assume you know how to use a kitchen. Help yourself to whatever you want, I'm going to bed."
Help myself to whatever I want …
She stood next to the door-bare feet, lopsided bun. She'd somehow gotten sexier. Did she have any clue what he planned to help himself to?
"You can stop looking at me like that. Just so we're clear, my room is off limits."
He grinned and swaggered over to the guest room door. "I can wait ‘til I'm invited."
Charlie backed up to the next door and tugged it open. "Why don't you go on and hold your breath while you wait?" She stepped into the room and slammed the door behind her.
***
Rap, rap, rap.
The sound vibrated through her dream, drawing her out of the warm depths of sleep.
Huh?
Another rap sounded on her door.
"Wakey, wakey, kitten. It's time to start the day."
That voice-that arrogant drawl-it all came back. She groaned. The parking lot. The burning betrayal that she'd been secretly stalked for a month at her uncle's behest. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and cleared her throat. "It's 5:00 a.m., go away."
"I know what time it is."
She threw off the blankets and sat up. "Then go back to bed. I don't need to be up yet."
It'd be pointless trying to get back to sleep now. That didn't mean he needed to think he was master of her schedule.
"You do when you're getting free, private self-defense lessons. So get your ass out here or I'll come in there and haul it out."
Heat slid all the way up from her bare toes to the center of her belly. She could almost feel the clamp of his arm around her waist when they'd kissed. She shuffled her legs a delicious ache lingering in her center. Part of her wanted to throw herself back on the bed and dare him. Part of her wanted to call his bluff, or worse yet, have the satisfaction of having him go through with his threat.
"Alright, just let me get ready," she called.
What she wanted and what she'd actually do rarely had to be the same.
"Ten minutes."
She strode to the door and yelled, "Fifteen." Like hell he was putting her on his schedule. She pulled her gym clothes out of a drawer and strode to the bathroom. When she emerged more like seventeen minutes had passed but he'd waited. She smiled. Guess he was all bluff and bluster.
She swung her door open and jumped. Connor stood in the doorway, thick arms crossed, looking like trouble with a hard on. He hadn't shaved. A dark layer of black bristle coated his jaw, roughening him enough to take him to something even wilder.
And damn it all, if the look of him didn't make her want to tug her pants down and bend over right there.
A beep chimed and he pressed his watch. He smiled, his teeth appearing even whiter against his dark stubble. "You're lucky. I gave you three extra minutes."
Her mouth opened. "You timed me? You don't get to time me."
Conner took one long stride toward her, his hand pressing against the wall beside her head. "You seem confused. I'm here to protect you. You were almost taken yesterday and I'm going to make fucking sure that doesn't happen again. So when I say do something, you do it because what I'm telling you to do might be the thing that saves you. Got it?"
Her cheeks warmed and she pressed her lips together. "Don't start thinking this situation gives you free rein over me."
His gaze skipped over her, as though he'd love nothing more than to have free rein.
She slid out from under his arm and strode to her handbag and keys before throwing a glance over her shoulder. "I drive."
He gifted her with his slow grin. "That's what you think."
FIVE
Connor tossed the boxing gloves into the corner and watched Charlie gulp from her water bottle while leaning her arm on the wall for support. He smiled softly. She was something alright-he'd never met anyone like her. He'd put her through the kind of hellish boxing routine that had most clients dropping their punches after fifteen minutes. But no matter how hard he'd pushed her she'd come back harder, no matter how bad it must hurt. She'd lasted an hour.
He'd destroyed her.
The woman had grit. Or obstinate determination.
She proved it by remaining standing. The thought made him smile. Asshole? Maybe a little but she needed to make sure the next time someone tried to grab her she'd be ready whether he was there or not.
"You have endurance."
Charlie turned her back against the wall, still leaning on it for support. Her skin shone with sweat, flushed a sexy pink-exactly how she'd look in his bed after he was done with her.
"Think only skinny girls are strong?"
He rolled his gaze over her. "You look plenty strong to me."
If possible she went pinker.
He'd booked the space this time and they still had half an hour. He intended to make the most of every minute. "Take a minute. I'm not done with you yet."
Her pretty chin scrunched. She wanted to argue-didn't she always? But she put her water down and sashayed over to him.
"What else you got then?"
He smiled. "Grab my wrists and watch carefully."
Charlie sighed and grasped his wrists. Her fingers curled over his skin. For a second he had to think about a maneuver that was normally as natural to him as breathing. He rotated his arm, snapping her hold on him, then stepped in fast, hooked his foot behind her ankle, grasped her arm and sent her sprawling onto the mat.
She landed on her hip with a grunt. He released the wrist he'd gripped to break her fall and she sprang up on her sneakers.
"What the hell was that for?"
"That's how to break a hold and get away." He circled her, coming up behind her and grasping her shoulders. "We'll start with breaking the hold and then move on to the getting away step." He shoved his foot between her sneakers and nudged her legs apart. He leaned closer. "First of all when you face someone, distribute your weight evenly. Bend your knees slightly and you won't be knocked over so easily."
She said nothing, but the muscles under his hands tightened.