JB dove at her again and she leaped back and to the right to clear a chair. The ends of her hair slid through his fingertips and at the same time her right foot hit a wet spot on the floor and sailed out from under her.
Her left knee struck the floor, but she scrambled sideways, fighting to regain her feet.
JB laughed aloud, sensing victory, and dove at her.
Miya braced for the impact and kept the nearly forgotten steak knife at her side, ready. Just wounding JB would infuriate him so she had to be certain to incapacitate him.
His knuckles brushed her cheekbone, just a hairsbreadth short of a serious blow. In the same instant, JB vaulted backward with a grunt and hit the floor hard, taking a chair down with him.
One of his men cursed and they both ran toward him. Miya struggled to her feet. What the hell had happened? The first gangster to reach JB crouched beside him, dragging a handgun from his waistband. Leaning low, he peered about for some unseen foe while JB cursed and groaned on the floor.
Ten feet away, JB's other man went down hard and lay unmoving. The one at JB's side cursed again. "Walt? Walt! Fucker I know you hear me! Speak the fuck up!"
His only reply was JB's continuing chorus of moaned curses.
"Bitch, I don't know how you done dis, but you gonna pay! Ain't nobody touch the Aces and don't pay. No. Bah. Dee." Another look around reassured him and he stood. "Sweet Tee be comin' for you, bitch. How dat feel?"
She shouldn't do it. Shouldn't antagonize him. "Like I'm watching a really bad rap video?" Miya took advantage of the precious seconds of stunned silence to move.
The man stood and leveled his gun in a sideways grip, snarling. "Well, see how dis feel, bitch."
A dark shape hurtled out of nowhere and the gun clattered to the floor, followed an instant later by its owner. JB fell silent.
"Are you okay, Miya?"
Miya blinked. Lesedi? She could only nod as tears filled her eyes.
He helped her to her feet and brushed his fingers along her cheek. "I made an anonymous call to the authorities." He shook his head, appearing confused. "With such a small town, I thought they would have come sooner, before I would have to intervene. Now it is safe and I hear them. I must go. The police will ask questions I would prefer not to answer. Is there a back way?"
Miya nodded even though she trembled. "Come on, I'll show you." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the kitchen and straight through to the rear entrance. The dining room erupted into noisy chaos as the local deputies entered, and she quickened her step.
Out in the fresh cold air of the clear night, she halted and looked up at the man. "I can't thank you enough." For reasons she failed to comprehend, she stepped close and rose to her tiptoes to press her lips to his.
He drew a shocked breath and before she could step back, he slid one hand into her hair, angling her head for his kiss. Pulling her close, he plundered her mouth in a way she'd only ever read about. When he drew back, she fought to catch her breath, staring up at him. "I will be back, sweet Miya. Go inside. Tell them you took a self-defense course. I will be here when you finish."
Just like that, he disappeared into the darkness of the alley, leaving her shocked and gulping air. Shaken to her core, she wondered what had just happened. Why had she done that? Everybody had spoken so negatively about him since he came to town, calling him uncivilized and trash, an illiterate heathen.
But from the moment he opened his mouth and spoke so intelligently in such a beautiful accent, she'd been mesmerized. Intrigued. Curious to get to know him. When had her curiosity turned to…hunger? And her hunger to need? Her need to…desire? She put her hand over her thundering heart and closed her eyes. Yes. Lord yes, desire. She went breathless again as the vivid memory of his full lips dominated her body as though he stood right there.
A shaft of light spilled out the door to illuminate her feet. "Miya?" Her friend, Janet, the only female deputy in Mason rushed to her. "Are you okay? Omigod, I was so scared when the call came in that you were being robbed!"
All Miya could do was stare at Janet.
"Come inside! It's cold out here, and that criminal might be lurking nearby. Come on." Janet guided Miya by her shoulders toward the door. "You need a coffee."
Moments later, Miya sat at a table, a hot mug grasped between icy fingers, the memory of Lesedi's firm lips and hard body superimposed on everything else. Would he truly be waiting for her?
She hoped so.
More than an hour later, she signed the last police statement and watched as Janet finished her paperwork.
Craig, the owner, came in to deal with the fallout. He made his way over to her. "Do you need a ride home, Miya?"