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He chuckles and cups my cheek. “We’ll call it a tie, then.”
“A tie.” I close my eyes and breath in the fresh morning air. “I’m not sure I can move.”
“Then I’ll carry you. But I won’t let you die of dehydration. Or starvation.” He makes it to his feet and holds out his hand.
“Scotty?”
“Yeah?”
“If you didn’t have to work today, would you stay here with me forever?”
He chuckles again. “Baby, I’d stay here as long as you want. But eventually we’d both need water.”
I grab his hand and he pulls me into a stand and then into his bare chest. Scotty’s shirt and shorts are a couple yards away, but…
“Scotty? Where’s my dress?”
He glances around. “Should be right here somewhere. Oh, crap.”
“What?”
“It may have gotten washed out to sea when the tide came in and covered us.”
My jaw drops. “How am I going to get back?’
He hastily pulls his shorts over his amazing ass and hands his shirt to me. “This should cover everything that needs covering.”
I laugh.
I can’t help it. I give a fucking loud laugh.
And I wish this moment could last forever.
I drape Scotty’s shirt over my naked body and button it up. Sure enough, it covers my ass…but just barely. Still, it’s good enough to get back to the colony and to my hut. And the best part? It smells just like Scotty—an intoxicating combination of the bonfire, the beach, and his spicy, masculine scent.
We walk, hand in hand, a little more quickly than I’d prefer because Scotty has to get to his morning shift at the bar. We arrive just in time for him to begin his shift.
“Don’t you need your shirt?” I ask.
“Won’t be the first time I’ve tended bar topless.” He winks at me. “I’ll be late, though.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to walk you to your hut.”
“You don’t need to.”
“I know I don’t need to, Em. I want to.”
“I know you do.” I press my lips to his stubbled cheek. “But I don’t want you to be late. People are going to want their Scotty specials.”
“I do make a mean pineapple and passion fruit smoothie,” he says. “You should come by for one later.”
“I will,” I promise. “And I’ll bring your shirt back.”
“Keep it.” He touches my cheek, making sparks shoot through me. “I kind of like the thought of you having it.” He brushes his lips over mine and then hops over the bar. A second later, he tosses me a bottle of water. “Drink it all. Then have another when you get back to your hut, okay?”
I nod and smile, pulling the cap off the water and taking a long, soothing drink.
I walk back to my hut on a cloud.
I slide my keycard through the door, and—
I gasp.
Lucifer Black.
Sitting on my bed, staring at one of the canvases I’ve been working on.
He doesn’t look up.
He doesn’t need to.
“Not your best work, Emily.”
I don’t reply.
“Then again, I was always your muse.”
Still, I say nothing.
“You didn’t truly think you could escape from me, did you?”
He rises, then, and turns toward me, his blue eyes on fire.
“Pack your things. We’re going home. Now.”
“No,” I say.
He shakes his head. “Whose shirt is that?”
“No one’s.”
“You’re not that good a liar, Emily.”
“How did you get in here?”
He scoffs. “Really? You think I’m a vampire or something? That I need an invitation? We both knew I’d find you.”
“But security—”
“I know my way around the best security in the world. How do you think I’ve remained in business so long? Now pack up.”
“No.” This time I plant my hands on my hips, determined. I just spent the most exciting night of my life, and I’m not ready for my time here to end.
I summon every ounce of strength I possess, every ounce of courage, every ounce of sheer guts.
Lucifer’s power over me ends today.
“This isn’t up for negotiation, Emily.”
“I’m not going.”
His fist comes toward me in slow motion. Nothing I haven’t seen before, but this time—this time—I’m ready.
I know this man’s moves. He doesn’t strike me often, only when he feels I’ve disobeyed him.
Fleeing here is the ultimate disobedience in Lucifer’s eyes.
The best block?
The best block is to not be there. Another lesson from Buck.
I duck, and then I run out the door.
16
Scotty
“Scotty!” Nemo sidles up to the bar. “Someone didn’t make it home last night.”
“Someone thinks that’s none of your business.”
“Someone also forgot to put on a shirt this morning.”
I don’t respond. Normally I’d laugh off his comment, but I don’t. I’m not irked. Not in the slightest. I just feel…
I should have walked Em back to her hut. To hell with my shift. She’s more important.
“Last anyone saw, you grabbed two beers and disappeared.”
“Still not your business.”
“Well, if you’re not interested in telling me about your evening, I’ll tell you about mine.”
“Lauren?” I ask.
“You betcha. And get this—she hates monogamy!”
