He cursed under his breath, fighting his protective, selfish nature. He was the very devil stalking her, and she was an angel chased by demons straight to him. Shit. He knew better than to trap her. Those kinds of things never worked out. Never. He’d convinced himself she needed him and so the exchange was fair, but it was bullshit, and he knew it.
While he was fighting to save her, she’d sunk four more balls. She turned her head, still bent over the table, her mouth so close to his groin he nearly felt her breath on the front of his jeans. She looked at him, as serious as sin.
“If I don’t remember to tell you again, Ice, thank you for tonight. You have no idea what you’ve done for me. You most likely saved my life.” She turned back to contemplate the table.
He stood there staring at her. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to the others crowded around watching. They’d all heard her. She wasn’t being melodramatic. There was a ring of truth in her voice. He looked to Absinthe. He was a human lie detector. Absinthe’s nod was barely there, but it told Ice Soleil had just revealed something extremely important. Whoever her ex-fiancé was, he wanted her dead and she was terrified he’d succeed.
A woman like Soleil should go to the cops for protection, yet she hadn’t. Why? That didn’t make sense, but the fact that she was in that kind of trouble hardened his resolve to keep her. He could keep her safe, make all her troubles go away. He could do that. He was that man.
Her ball spun in the pocket and leapt back out. He whistled softly. “You almost ran the table, darlin’, but almost doesn’t count. You owe me an answer.”
She sent him a small smile and a shrug. “I didn’t want you to feel bad, you know, a girl beating the crap out of you at pool. What’s your question?”
“Never worried, princess. I’m not the kind of man who gets upset if my woman manages to squeak out a win. I’d be proud.”
She looked pleased. “Let’s see what you can do.”
“What’s your best and worst trait?” Ice asked as he walked around the pool table, studying the position of all the balls. She hadn’t left him much of a shot, and she’d sunk nearly all the stripes.
“You only get one question. That’s two.”
He flashed her a grin. “Worst, then. Might as well get it over with.”
She narrowed her eyes as she watched him line up his shot and then call it. He banked his ball, clipped and then sank it. His grin widened, and he reached for his drink, took a sip and indicated hers.
Soleil sighed and took a healthy drink before pushing a few stray strands of hair out of her face. When she lifted her arm to push her fingers through her hair, her breasts rose, calling his immediate attention to her straining tits. He swore her nipples were hard, pushing against the thin material of her dress, trying to get to him.
He felt around for his glass again, staring at her breasts. Maestro handed him his drink and he all but downed it before he remembered he had to stay in control. He was sweating. Breathing too hard. His cock a fucking spike in his jeans.
“I drift. I’m a drifter. I don’t like conflict and I never can make a decision, so I just drift along. I’m working on it all the time, but I still find myself just going along with something when I shouldn’t. Like Winston.”
The bastard’s name was Winston. He glanced at Player, and the man nodded and disappeared in the direction of the main room, where Code was busy pulling up everything he could on Soleil.
“I couldn’t believe when he hired a lawyer without so much as consulting me. It should have been my decision when to hire one after Kevin died. Kevin was my lawyer from the time my parents died. I wasn’t ready to have anyone else come into my life, but Winston decided he was in charge. Nothing I said deterred him. I decided then not to marry him, but I didn’t tell him that. Not decisively. I kept saying I needed more time.”
Out of desperation to stay on track with his intended agenda, Ice had lined up his next shot as he listened, but he straightened and then stalked her purposefully around the pool table. He must have looked scary because she backed up a few steps. He kept coming. He caught the front of her dress again, this time very gently, and pulled her to him.
“Baby, you don’t like something I do, I want to hear about it right then. You don’t like something anyone else says or does to you, I want to hear about it right then. You don’t tell me, I’m going to be pissed off. You don’t want to see me pissed. You get me? You talk to me. That’s how we resolve this shit. We talk. You. Me. You get me?” he repeated.