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When she spun around, the smile on her face, the laughter twinkling in her eyes…if drinking a sip of swill was going to give her that, he would do it all over again. His angel deserved happy. She deserved laughter. She deserved a life filled with all things good. “Thank you for recognizing that I don’t need sugar, because I’m sweet enough just as I am, angel.”
The surprise on her face was priceless. She anticipated yelling. Maybe a curse or two. What she did not expect was kindness. “Until the chief tells me you’re a thousand percent safe, I’m here for as long as it takes. So, you can ruin my coffee. Plan my demise. Or…” He leaned in close. “You could find it in your heart to give me a chance, angel. You might just be surprised. I’m not a bad guy.”
The blistering, hot scowl she flashed his way should not have turned him on. But it did. Because Colt understood that a woman with that much intensity locked deep inside of her was a woman filled with passion. And a passionate woman was a hellcat in bed.
And Colt loved hellcats.
Especially ones with long, blonde hair, delicious curves and eyes of blue.
“I doubt it.” She rolled those pretty eyes. “Go home. Will you, please?”
Damn, she was adorable when that cute, bottom lip of hers puffed out in a pout. Obviously, she didn’t know him well enough to know that when he made a commitment, it wasn’t something that could be undone. A commitment was the same thing as his word. And to Colt, his word was everything. It was a vow. A solemn promise.
“Hey there kids, I don’t want to interrupt, but I have something important to tell the both of you.” Lizzie stepped behind the counter and stood next to Ellie.
“You weren’t interrupting anything.” Ellie sighed. “I was just trying to getyourfriend to go home. We’re fine. We’re safe. There are cameras everywhere. Every citizen in Graceport is on alert to report any sightings of bikers. I’m pretty sure we are now on a first name basis with the entire Graceport Police Department. So, he should go back to his life, his business, his women and leave us to ours.”
“His women?” Colt asked.
“Whatever.” Ellie flicked her hand through the air. “Do you need help packing?”
“About packing…” Lizzie turned to Ellie. “I’ll need some help.”
“You?” Ellie’s hand flew to her throat. “Where are you going?”
“Oregon. My sister, Katherine, called me last night. She met someone.”
“You’re flying to Oregon to meet him?”
“Yes. And attend their wedding! Can you believe it? My sister, who, by the way, I thought was going to be single until the day she died, met the man of her dreams on Sunday and she’s marrying him on Friday. Isn’t that wild?”
“I’ll say.” Colt shook his head. “A decision like that might be worthy of an inpatient psychiatric stay.”
“Don’t be silly. Don’t you believe in love at first sight?” Lizzie tsked.
Colt flashed back to the first time he laid eyes on Ellie. Instantly, he had fallen under her spell. Good news was she had no idea…the things she could make him do. Oh, boy. He shook that one off. “No.”
“Neither do I.” Ellie huffed.
“Well, would you look at that? You two kids are finally finding common ground on something.” Lizzie put her arm around Ellie. “I’ll be back before you know it. Colt will take good care of you while I’m gone. Won’t you, Colt?”
“Absolutely.” A sly smile spread across his face. Alone with Ellie? All of his prayers were being answered. “You can count on me. I’m your man.”
Eyes of blue tore across his flesh, leaving what felt like flames in their wake.
Colt smiled wider.
CHAPTER NINE
For two days, Ellie did the bare minimum to acknowledge Colt’s presence. There were cursory “hellos”, “good mornings” and “good nights” with a sprinkle of “I’m fines.” She might be forced to share the same space, breathe the same air, but it didn’t mean they had to be friends.
Even if he was six and a half feet of hard muscle, with movie star looks, smelled delicious and had a good sense of humor, none of it mattered.
Aw hell, who was she kidding? Ellie yanked open the dishwasher. If given the opportunity, she would tear the man’s clothes off, toss him to the floor and ride him until she saw stars.
She finished loading all the dirty dishes, tossed in spot protector, then moved on to the next task at hand. Dead set on not giving her hormones control, Ellie had thrown herself into work. Every nook and cranny of Sugar Beat had been scrubbed to a gleaming shine. Every recipe rewritten, re-cataloged and updated with a fresh, new twist. Next on the list was waiting for the last tray of maple pecan cookies to finish baking.
Keeping her mind occupied also helped to decompress the anxiety she’d been struggling with after yesterday’s meeting with the police. Chief Cooper had reached out to the FBI, who were now lead on the case. Unfortunately, they were having difficulty locating the Barracudas because they had gone underground, which was giving Ellie nightmares. Awful, awful nightmares.
