She held her breath and her heart began to thump wildly when he leaned closer, his brown eyes now even darker as they raised to hers. His arm brushed against her shoulder, causing her flesh to pebble, when he flung the door shut behind her with a bang.
She wouldn’t be surprised if old man Danson had an eviction notice tacked to her door in the morning. Her landlord was not only ancient, he was cranky, too. He liked peace and quiet. And his privacy.
So did Jet. However, she wasn’t getting any of those three things at the moment.
She stared at the reason. “I didn’t invite you in.” She made sure her annoyance was even thicker in her tone.
“You opened the door.”
“Yes, well, I open the door for the UPS man, too. Doesn’t mean he’s welcome inside my apartment.” Her eyebrows pinned together. “And, anyway, how the hell do you know where I live?”
That fact was a bit disturbing. But a risk when working in a small town where practically everyone knew everyone. It didn’t take much to find out the latest gossip or news. And, of course, everyone knew the Brysons. To get info on any of them, all you had to do was ask.
Hell, the whole town probably knew every time Amanda or Leah was pregnant even before their own husbands. The second either of them bought a pregnancy test at the Olde Town Pharmacy, or even Target, her cousins-in-law swore the town’s call tree was activated.
But Rook had also lived his whole life in this town. At least, when he wasn’t doing time. Between being born in Manning Grove and working with his father at the busiest garage in town, she was damn sure he knew everyone, too.
“You ain’t hard to find,” he answered, now only standing about three feet away from her.
She tightened her arms across her chest. “Why are you here, Rook? Are you here to call me a pig? To tell me how much you hate me? To issue another threat to keep my mouth shut about what happened two nights ago? What? What could you possibly have to say to me at almost midnight? And why would you feel the need to come to my residence to say it?”
He leaned closer again, this time she noticed the slight flare in his nostrils and his pupils widening, that was after they took in the compressed curves of her breasts again. Slowly.
He actually added a little lick of his lips.
He might as well have flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue.
Holy shit, she needed to get him out of her apartment.
Like now.
She dropped her arms and blindly reached for the doorknob behind her. “If you’re not going to answer me, then you can just haul your ass right back out of here.”
“No.”
Her eyebrows launched into orbit. “No?”
“No.”
“Which of my multitude of questions was that the answer for?”
“Don’t know since I wasn’t payin’ attention to your damn questions.”
She sighed.
“Hard to listen when you’re standin’ there like that.”
Should she ask? She probably shouldn’t. Fuck it. “Like what?”
He let his gaze rake down her body again. When he did it this time, his lips were pursed and he did it... so... much... slower.
Holy shit.
If he wouldn’t notice, her toes would be curling right now. Instead, she pressed every single toe flat to the floor and held them there against their will.
She’d dealt with plenty of assholes like him. In her job, in the Marines, even in high school.
She should not be attracted to one of them.
A felon asshole biker, she reminded herself.
A cop-hating felon asshole biker.
Her breath caught and her heart skipped a beat when he took the two steps to bring them practically face to face.
She hated that he was taller than her. That she had to look up. It was a power move on his part. An attempt to intimidate her.
Well, fuck him, she wasn’t afraid of him.
Still... When his eyes followed the roll of her throat as she tried to swallow...
Heat burst from her center and rushed outward to every cell of her body. And then the flicker at her center got stronger.
Cop-hating felon asshole biker!
His eyes narrowed. So did hers.
His lips parted. So did hers.
His chin rose slightly. So did hers.
She tried to suck in air, but her chest was tight and her nipples screamed for his touch.
Why, why, why did he have to be the one to make her feel this way?
Every damn time she’d see him at the garage, she couldn’t pull her eyes from him. Worse, like a horny teenager, she secretly hoped she’d catch his attention, too.
Why? Why him?
What the hell did he have that her traitorous body needed? Wanted? Ached for?
Nothing!
He’s a cop-hating felon asshole biker, Jet!
But, lord, she wanted to lick every damn inch of that cop-hating felon asshole biker’s body.