Page 19 of The Enforcers: NOAH

“You sure you’re all right?”

The zipper receded as its owner knelt down to her level, and was replaced by a gorgeous chiseled face with a tiny cleft in its chin and a concerned look in its blue-green eyes.

Angus McHottie himself. Oh, freaktards.

“Um, yeah,” she managed, hoping she wasn’t drooling. “Just a little stunned.” Still thinking about that zipper bulge. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken one look at a man and started imagining his johnson. So embarrassing.

She let him help her up, the heat of his hands feeling like it was burning through her shirt sleeves. “Sucks about the coffee,” he said. “Let me get you another one. What was in it?”

“Cream, three sugars,” she said automatically. She watched helplessly while he took her dripping laptop case with him to the counter and coaxed the barista into giving him a damp cloth to wipe it off with while she re-made Mina’s coffee. He paid for the coffee, then returned and guided Mina gently to his table, sitting her down and putting her coffee in front of her, along with a cream-cheese-filled pastry.

“There,” he said. “Rescue complete.”

His smile was utterly charming, and sweeter than she would have expected for a guy with his looks and attitude.

She shook her head, still feeling the flush in her face. “I feel like an idiot.”

He gave a casual shrug, his chest muscles rippling under his skin-tight shirt. Wowsa.

“It could happen to anyone.” He paused. “And anyway,” he said, “I’d been kind of looking for an excuse to talk to you, so…”

He trailed off and dropped his eyes, and she stopped mid-bite into her pastry, swallowing hastily.

“You’ve been wanting to talk to me? Why?” Smooth, Mina. Very smooth. She blushed again.

The slight cockiness returned, and a dimple flashed in his cheek. “The usual reasons,” he said.

She stared at him, then blurted out, “You’re trying to tell me you’ve been sitting here in this coffee shop all week lusting after me?”

She glanced over again at the busty blondes, who, now that McHottie was no longer solo, were engrossed in their phones.

He followed her glance briefly, then returned his gaze to her face. His eyes danced with laughter. “I wouldn’t have put it exactly like that, but yeah, I guess,” he said. “Any reason why I shouldn’t?”

Oh, so many. But it was nice to have even momentary attention from a drop-dead hottie, though it obviously couldn’t last. Her life was too complicated, and he had too many better choices.

She might as well not pretend it could be any other way.

“Please,” she said. “You’re the kind of guy who goes after girls like that.” She nodded her chin at the blondes.

He shrugged. “Maybe I’m not as predictable as you think.”

She snorted. “You have a penis, don’t you?”

His dimples deepened. “Last I checked.”

“So there you go. Predictable.”

“Am not.”

“I’ll prove it to you,” she said. “I bet I can scare you off in…let’s see. Three minutes or less.”

He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, looking at her speculatively.

“I’ll take that bet,” he said. “But if you can’t, you have to let me take you to dinner this weekend.”

It was a safe bet. Even if he pretended not to be scared off, he wouldn’t follow through on the date. Not if she told him everything.

“Done,” she said.