Meant for You (The Connor Family 3)

He was wearing a black leather jacket that was stretched taut over his shoulders and muscular arms. It was unzipped, so I also had a clear view of his torso. His bone structure wasn’t the only stunning thing about him. I couldn’t get over how hot he was.

Then I noticed the motorcycle a few feet away. Wowza. Add another few points to the sexiness factor. Good thing he hadn’t shown up wearing that jacket on my doorstep.

“Good evening, Detective.” I walked up to him. He fixed his gaze on my nose. I suspected I looked like Rudolph the reindeer right now.

“You were out in the sun.”

I nodded, taking my hat off, rolling it tightly and placing it in my tote.

“Worked from a coffee shop in Venice Beach for half the day, sitting at a table outside.”

“What do you do for work?” he asked as we entered the store. It boasted a large array of electronics.

“I’m a development director at a nonprofit. Three Emeralds; you might have heard of it.”

“Of course I’ve heard of it.” His eyes went wide, like he had a hard time reconciling the job with the woman in front of him.

“You expected something else?”

“I thought you worked in fashion. A model, maybe, because you mentioned Paris.”

He lowered his gaze, and I felt tendrils of heat licking everywhere he looked. Hell, I felt them even where he didn’t look. My nipples perked up.

“You didn’t think I was a detective either when you met me, though, did you?” he asked.

“Well, no. I thought you were an actor.”

He winked, then straightened, rolling his shoulders. The badge flashed at his belt as he pointed to the stack at our right side. “Stick to these. They’re more expensive, but they’re harder to trick. Thieves have become more proficient at fooling old-school alarms.”

He explained the ins and outs of various models. They all sounded the same to me, so I intended to go with my gut feeling and the price. I didn’t need any fancy add-ons, but that didn’t keep Will from giving me the nitty-gritty on the newest models.

I found myself paying more attention to him than to what he was saying. He really had incredible arms. He’d taken off his jacket and was wearing a black shirt with short sleeves that hugged his biceps.

“Pay attention. Not everyone knocking at your door will be as harmless as me. Or as handsome.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, and I couldn’t help laughing. “You did not say that.”

“I did. You disagree?”

“Maybe I do.”

“So you thought I was an actor because of my hideous looks?”

I folded my arms over my chest, attempting to come up with a smart-ass answer. But I had an inkling that I’d met my match in that department.

“I can’t believe you’re punishing me for that.”

“I’m not punishing you. Just enjoying this too much to stop.”

“Bad form, Detective. Making others uncomfortable for your own amusement.”

He came a little closer. “Am I making you uncomfortable, Paige?” He leaned in even closer. “Tell you a secret? Looks to me like you’re enjoying this too.”

Yep, I’d met my match, no doubt about that. I was tongue-tied, and the answer was a resounding yes. I was enjoying this. Ridiculous, wasn’t it? A trip to buy an alarm shouldn’t be this fun.

I broke the eye contact, finding my voice. I wouldn’t go down without a sassy reply.

“You’re so boastful.” I took one of the alarm systems from the shelf, and we started walking toward the registers.