He scared her.
But she couldn’t give up on him. Somehow she had to make him see things her way, that they were meant for each other and always had been.
“Where you from, cowboy?” Mary asked, attempting to play the game. She wasn’t good at flirting, but she had to try.
“Texas.”
“Big state.”
“Everything in Texas is bigger, including my—”
“Hold it right there, Festus,” a strong male voice mocked, likening the Texan to the slow-witted deputy from Gunsmoke. The newcomer moved between them before the cowboy could stop him.
The Incredible Hulk.
The same guy she’d seen earlier, eyeing her. His green body was buff and huge. His chest heaved and anger rolled off him. His costume stretched, about to rip down the middle.
“It’s Billy the Kid,” the cowboy said through gritted teeth. “Stop butting in, Hulk. Snow White’s going home with me.”
“Like hell she is.”
Before she could cry out, the Hulk picked her up and slung her over his shoulder with ease. A cool breeze blew up her short skirt, tickling her behind.
“Put me down!” Her voice was high, frightened.
“Not until you’re safe.” The Hulk dropped her on a black velvet sofa in the VIP lounge. A couch so plush, she bounced before she settled.
One look at his big, flat bare feet told her what she wanted to know. Brody Jones.
“You’re acting like a caveman,” she accused. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“That’s debatable.” He scowled. “You’re going home, Mary. Now.”
“How dare you bust in and ruin my night?” she demanded as she adjusted her lopsided black wig. “You’re nothing but a big hulking bully.”
Bully? Brody Jones set his jaw. The woman was crazy.
“Somebody’s got to take care of you,” he said.
When he had seen that two-bit cowboy trying to pick up Mary, he’d lost it, plain and simple.
“You didn’t want the job before,” she shot back, adjusting her cleavage, also lopsided. “Why now?”
What did she have in there?
“You’re just a kid, Mary,” he said, ignoring her not-so-subtle reference to his recent behavior. He tried not to notice the swell of her breasts, all round and flushed.
Tried, but he couldn’t help himself.
Or how her long legs stretched out on the couch.
Whoever would have thought his Mary could look so sexy?
“I’m a grown woman, Brody, and it’s time you started treating me like one.” Holding on to the couch, she got to her feet and, wobbling on her high heels, stared him down. “See you around, Hulk.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m off to experience what Richmond has to offer after dark,” she said, walking away without looking back.
That did it.
Spitting fire, Brody turned flaming red under the green greasepaint. Mary had barged back into his life where she had no right to be. And now she was acting like someone she wasn’t.
Easy, fast. A quick lay.
That wasn’t Mary.
She was like old-fashioned root beer. Its flavor was best when it was homemade. Mary was Plain born, and that’s where she belonged. Back home.
He wanted to ram his fist into the wall and yell until he drowned out the hammering in his head, the wild beating of his heart.
Yet a different urge was stronger. A primal force that seeped under his superhero image in a deep, disturbing manner he couldn’t ignore.
He wanted this woman in his arms again, even though there was no way in hell he would admit it. To himself. To her. To anyone.
He couldn’t forget her kiss. Tender and loving. He would have made love to her in the bathroom if she hadn’t run away.
Afterward he’d found the engagement ring he’d given her on the floor of the shower.
Had she tried to throw it down the drain?
Or had she lost it and been afraid to tell him?
Either way, he couldn’t tell her that he had the ring with the tiny diamond tucked away in his room. She’d make a big scene again about their being engaged.
Brody wasn’t ready for that. No fuckin’ way.
Not now. Not ever.
“Have you forgotten about me, Hulk?” The super-hot Victorian vampire from his first night at Haunt found him in the VIP lounge. She tapped one long, shiny, scarlet nail on his green shoulder.
He turned and smiled. “Fang me.”
Who needed Mary when he had this woman ready to blow the peanut butter out of his ears and tumble with him between the sheets?
“I should be insulted after the way you took up with that little Disney,” she said, chewing on the end of her acrylic. “But a threesome could be a very interesting proposition.”
He raised a brow. “What did you have in mind?”
“You, me, and your little Snow White.” The vampire spoke her desire. “Good girl versus bad.”
“I only do one woman at a time,” Brody said, all jacked up by his confrontation with Mary and hot for sex. He was about ready to explode. “I choose you. I want your bite tonight.”
“Shall we head for your van now?” She licked his neck and stroked his ass. “Then my apartment later.”
Brody nodded. “Let’s do it.”
He followed Vampira outside. The urge to feel a woman’s body up against him, hot, sweaty, and aroused, drove him nearly crazy—
Until he ran smack into a scene in the parking lot that drove him crazier still.
Mary.
Without her mask. Holding her high heels and stockings in her hand. Barefoot. Looking distressed as a guy in a cop costume stood over her, talking to her.
Somehow this creep had convinced her to leave Haunt with him. He wanted to grind the guy’s bones into dust.
Minutes went by.
His gaze stayed on Mary and the guy in the police uniform standing beneath a bright streetlamp. Mary kept shaking her head no. Brody freaked. Damn guy in the cop costume was trying to get her into bed.
No fuckin’ way.
He exhaled sharply and came to a decision. “Sorry, Vampira, this isn’t going to work out after all. I have to take care of something.”
Brody ignored the vampire’s hissing protest and, in a few quick steps, crossed the parking lot and planted his big feet firmly between Mary and the cop.