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Pulling the Jeep into the parking spot beside the stairs, Gypsy breathed out wearily before slapping the steering wheel in frustration when she saw her sister’s truck wasn’t back yet.
Damn Kandy.
She’d promised she was on her way home when Gypsy had spoken to her on the phone. That was the reason she had left so quickly rather than waiting to see just how terrified she would become if Rule actually tried to kiss her.
Not that she would have let him kiss her in the bar, she assured herself. She couldn’t do that. Her reputation of refusing any man she met in a bar was golden. All it would take was one moment of weakness to undo years of work.
And Rule was quickly becoming her weakness.
He and Dane were steadily becoming known as “regulars” in the unofficial nightlife that existed around the reservation’s Arizona–New Mexico border with the Navajo Nation. It wasn’t as though they were strangers now.
If they weren’t at whatever bar she pulled into when she pulled in, then they arrived within minutes of her taking the first sip of her drink. They had a few drinks, watching the younger Breeds and enforcers that Rule obviously seemed to feel so responsible for, and then they would leave and check out the next rowdy gathering.
And all the while, Rule watched her, those thick lashes slightly narrowed, those neon blue eyes gleaming with interest.
And arousal.
And God, he made her hot.
When the rhythmic ring tone identifying Kandy’s number had vibrated in her pocket, it had terrified her. Because at that moment she had wanted nothing more than to—
“Are the sweets inside as nice as they are outside?”
A squeak of surprise and Gypsy was whirling around, almost reaching for the knife she kept tucked in the holster inside her boot.
Just almost, because she recognized his voice, knew who he was even before she turned. It just took a minute for her body to catch up.
“You prick, you just scared a year off my life!” Slamming both hands into the steel hard muscles of his chest as she let that first flush of adrenaline tear through her, she accomplished little else than bruising her palms. “What the hell are you doing here, Breaker? Trying to give me a freakin’ heart attack?”
“Someone was following you.”
There was no amusement in his eyes as there had been all week. No playful teasing in his voice.
He was flat serious.
She felt herself pale as she stared into his eyes and knew he wasn’t joking.
“Who was following me?” Why would anyone be following her? What the hell was going on that anyone would take an interest in her all of a sudden?
“If I’d known who was following you, sweet pea, I would be following him instead of rushing here to make sure you were okay.”
His voice sent her heart racing in something more than fear this time.
“I’m fine.” Was her voice really trembling?
It was really trembling.
That look in his eyes was pure serious. And it wasn’t just pure serious danger either. It was serious lust and intent. And she had a feeling she was not going to escape with a bit of flirting tonight.
“I can see that.” He nodded slowly.
The black of his mission uniform blended into the night. With his black hair and bronzed flesh, his blue eyes almost glowed in the dark. And they were hot.
“Yeah.” Shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, she hurriedly jerked them out as those eyes lowered, sliding across the tops of her br**sts as they pushed out against the snug tank top she wore. “Um, I’m fine. You can leave. If you want. I mean, yeah, you can leave.” She felt like smacking her own head as the synapses between lips and brain seemed to misfire alarmingly.
What the hell was she supposed to do with her hands?
She crossed her arms over her br**sts and that didn’t work. Finally, she just shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans uncomfortably.
“You got here fast. How did you pass me and I didn’t see you?” She cleared her throat, so nervous she swore she could feel her vocal cords trembling with it.
She would have noticed a Dragoon passing her in a heartbeat, and she knew she hadn’t seen it.
“Of course I got here fast. I had to make sure my favorite girl was safe.” His lips quirked just that little bit, his gaze lightening only marginally. “There’s no one else to bust my ass on a regular basis.”
“Because everyone else is trying too hard to get that tight ass naked,” she retorted.
Oh shit, she didn’t say that.
But she did.
His eyes narrowed on her. “But you’re not, of course?”
“Oh no. Not me. I’m just everyone’s best bud, haven’t you heard?” And that wasn’t bitterness in her voice now, was it?
But she knew better. The restlessness, the knowledge that the choices she had made over the years kept her life so sanitized it was painful, had the restlessness inside her growing until she felt she couldn’t contain it any longer.
“I hadn’t heard.” He took a step closer.
Was she supposed to retreat?
Retreat? Um, yeah. She stepped back. “Well, I’m fine. You see I’m fine.” Holding her hands back from her body, she went back another step. “You can go now. Where did you park anyway?” He wasn’t parked out back. “Wherever you parked, be careful now. See you later.”
But he wasn’t moving to leave. Instead, he was moving with her, a step toward her for every step she took back.