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Giving in to impulse, I slipped on the jacket. It cradled me, wrapping me in a shroud of warmth. I shivered and tucked my nose into the collar, drawing strength from the already recognizable smell. Leather and smoke, sweat and aftershave. Shamelessly, I took another pull and closed my eyes as heat sizzled over my skin. I’d awakened with my face hidden in the depths of the coat, and I’d never forget the momentary sense of safety Fox’s comforting scent had given me.
If I was crazy, at least I kept it to myself.
A pair of gloves were tucked in the other pocket. They were thick leather, the kind made for doing heavy yardwork. I pulled them on and smiled at how they dwarfed my hands. But they were so toasty and soft inside that I couldn’t bring myself to take them off.
Grabbing my purse, I locked up and hurried downstairs. Bright sunshine beamed into my eyes the second I opened the outside door, and lucky me, my sunglasses were upstairs on the coffee table. I sighed. At least the walk to Vinnie’s wouldn’t take long.
Ten minutes later, I tugged open the door to the bar and stepped into the cool darkness. The familiar sounds washed over me. In the back, balls clacked together on the pool tables and from the bar area, bottles and glasses clinked. The juke was playing tinny country, a common occurrence during the late lunch rush. Johnny Cash was singing about rings of fire. I smiled, figuring it was a good omen. My mom had sung Johnny’s songs to me when I was a baby and his voice brought back happier times.
As my gaze swept the room again, my smile faded.
Fox slouched against the bar, elbows back in a relaxed pose. He wore a lazy expression that didn’t match the burning intensity of his eyes. Eyes that were trained, unblinkingly, on me.
“Well, hello there.” One corner of his mouth crooked up in what passed for a smile as he reached back to grab his beer. He tipped it to his lips and drank in steady pulls that made his throat ripple.
Mine went tight as something flashed through me, hot and unexpected. I didn’t recognize the sensation at first, it was so rare.
Actual honest to God lust.
I didn’t speak. What was I supposed to say? Holy fuck, you’re sexy did not seem appropriate. Especially since I wanted a crack at his face with my fists.
My silence didn’t deter him. In fact, he gave me a devastating, full-on grin. “Nice jacket,” he murmured, his gaze taking a lazy trip down my body. “And gloves.”
My cheeks burned. I caught the fingers of the glove in my mouth, yanked, and shoved them in the pocket where I’d found them. But I couldn’t hide the coat.
All of this was so freaking stupid. I could feel my IQ dropping the longer I gaped at him like I’d never seen a man before. Just because this one had mile long legs encased in denim and a big ass belt buckle that sat just above things I’d avoided glancing at thus far didn’t mean I had to lose my cool. He wasn’t anything special. I’d set my sights on him because I believed he was the one to beat, the one that would get me out of New York and into a new life with my sister.
I wasn’t going to change my mind.
Walking around the bar, I tugged the purse I’d worn cross-body over my head and tucked it behind the cash register as I’d done a thousand other times. Fox swiveled around to watch me like I was a circus monkey doing tricks for his amusement.
And oh, was he amused. Intrigued even. His leisurely smile, the gleam in his unnaturally blue eyes, the way he loosely gripped his beer bottle in fingers that seemed too long and artistic to belong to a fighter—they were all signs that he’d found an object of interest.
Me.
“Came back to work, did you?” He continued as if he didn’t expect an answer. “After that show you put on yesterday, you must have balls of steel.”
A real smile came to my lips while I shrugged out of his jacket. The right thing would be to return his property, but I was enjoying this little game of hunter and prey too much to end it so swiftly. And I liked the damn coat too much. It kept me warm. I hadn’t been warm for so long.
I tucked the jacket under my arm, almost dar
ing him to protest. He said nothing. Just met me stare for stare.
“You have no idea.” I let the words sink in before I headed back to deal with Carmine.
His gaze followed me, creating little licks of heat that burned straight through my thin T-shirt into my spine. My chest. My heart sped up and my steps faltered. Even my swagger slipped, on the verge of vanishing entirely.
For once, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ignore a man’s interest. Or encourage it.
Chapter Six
Tray
After only two conversations, she already had me by the nuts.
Privileged guy after damaged, wrong-side-of-the-tracks chick? It was a joke. A cliché. I’d grown up as a cliché myself—the spoiled little rich boy who wanted to find his own place—so I sure didn’t need to take on another. Too bad that wasn’t enough of a deterrent.
She had a hungry look to her, as if she hadn’t had a good meal in a while. Like an underfed wolf. And here I was sniffing around like she was fresh meat.
