“Don’t f**k with me, Ava.”

“I’m not f**king with you,” I whispered, totally freaked out.

“Who’s Riley to you?”

“He’s my personal trainer,” I said immediately.

“You f**kin’ him?”

My eyes rounded and I instantly answered, “No!”

“He wants to f**k you.”

“He does not. We’re friends.”

“He does.”

“No he doesn’t.”

“Yes, Ava, he does.”

“Step back.”

He didn’t step back, he came closer, or more to the point, brought me closer. Both arms wrapping around me, he hauled me tight against his body.

“You just earned a preview of tonight,” he told me, face so close his mouth was nearly on mine.

“I don’t…” I cleared my throat and that pissed me off because it made me sound scared. I was scared, I just didn’t want to sound scared. “I don’t want a preview.”

“Too bad.”

“Luke.”

“You’re gonna be in my bed and not like last night. I’m gonna give you a taste of me and I’m gonna take more than a taste of you.”

Ho-ly, f**king, shit.

“Luke,” I repeated.

“One thing you need to know, while you’re sharing my bed, I don’t share your body.”

At this, I blinked, thinking I saw red film covering my eyes but he went on before I could say a word.

“Until we’re done, however long that takes, no one touches you, not even to kiss your goddamned forehead. Got me?”

Um.

One, two, three… oh f**k it.

“You are f**king kidding me,” I snapped.

“Not even a little bit.”

“What about Sandra?”

“Sandra is gone.”

“Her food is in your fridge!” I yelled.

“She’s gone.”

“Have you told her that?”

“Not yet, but she’s my next visit.”

Oh my God, he was a jerk. He was beyond a jerk. He was the jerkiest jerk I’d ever met.

“You’re a jerk,” I told him.

His brows snapped together. “You want me to f**k Sandra while I’m f**kin’ you?”

“You’re not gonna f**k me.”

“Yeah, I am.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“Ava, you missed it when it happened so I’ll clue you in. Last night, around the time you fell asleep against me, you became mine.”

My eyes went huge. “How do you figure that?”

All of a sudden, his face changed. He was watching me and I could tell he was thinking about something and by the look of him whatever it was didn’t bode well for me.

“Luke, step back,” I demanded.

“No,” he said softly but it wasn’t to my demand, it was to himself. “I’m thinkin’ you’ve been mine a lot longer than that.”

I stopped breathing and stared at him, scared far, far more now than I had been when he was angry.

His eyes roamed my face and hair again then they locked on mine. “I’m thinkin’ you been mine since about the time your Dad left your Mom.”

Whoa.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

This was not happening.

“Step back,” I whispered.

“Maybe before,” he was still talking to himself.

“Please, step back.”

His eyes had gone far away but they came back and focused on me. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You’re crazy and an out-of-control macho man is what you are.”

“I’m right.”

“You’re nuts.”

“Think about it.”

I wasn’t going to think about it. I was going to move to Wyoming and live with Sissy and her mother to get away from Luke.

That was when I realized something and my eyes snapped back to his. “How did you know my phone number? It’s unlisted.”

His face began to relax from its trip down memory lane intensity but I was way behind him, still back at being pissed off.

“Babe, I work at a private investigations agency.”

“Is that how you found out where I live?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you follow me from here last night?”

“Yeah.”

I found that my hands were holding onto his waist and there was no way to put them between us so I grabbed at his tee and tried to shove.

He didn’t move.

“Luke, forget finding dirt on Dom. You’re fired. I’ll hire another investigations agency.”

“First they’ll have to find Vincetti, which they won’t do nearly as fast as Vance’s gonna do and he’s already working on it.”

“Goddamnit,” I shouted, foiled again.

He did the half-grin. I glared at him.

“Don’t fight it,” his voice was soft, gentle and affectionate and I had to claw at my anger to keep it with me, I liked that voice so much.

“Please go.”

The grin didn’t fade but he did let me go to move away about two inches. Then he dug in his pocket, pulled something out and shoved it in the front pocket of my Levi’s.

His eyes came to mine and he said, “See you tonight. You get drunk, you call me. I’ll come get you.”

I didn’t answer, I just glared at him. He ignored the glare, touched my nose with his finger and then he was gone.

Oh my. I’ve got goose bumps, that was INTENSE, Good Ava told me.

I think I had an orgasm, Bad Ava shared.

I slid down the wall and put my head on my knees.

Yep, I was right, my life just got pretty f**king complicated.

Chapter Six

What I Don’t Get

Once I got off my ass, I called Sissy and told her about the state of her living room (and her pottery) and told her not to come home. Whatever Dom was caught up in, I wanted her to be far, far away from it.

Then because she was my bestest best friend, I told her about Luke. Every last detail about every second from the minute I walked into the Nightingale Investigations offices to the minute he walked out of my house, including being there during the shooting, which made her scream a little bit.

“Wow,” Sissy said when I was done, sounding like she’d just run the hundred yard dash.

Wow didn’t cover it.

“You don’t have to worry, Sis,” I told her. “I get the impression from Luke’s loft and Porsche and what I saw of the Nightingale Investigations offices, people pay a high premium for their services. They’ll find Dom and get the dirt on him. You just stay safe with your Mom.”