shuddered, and knew that Elliot must have felt it, because he moved his hand off her shoulder and pulled her into his side instead. And, oh geez, did it feel good to have this gorgeous hunk’s arm wrapped around her waist. She’d have preferred to stay right where she was, but from the look on Derek’s face, it was clear he was going to cause a scene if he didn’t get his way. And Skye had already had enough drama for one night. So with a muffled curse, she pulled away from Elliot, giving him an apologetic look. “I’ll be right back.”
He didn’t argue with her—but he sure as hell didn’t look happy about it, either. “You sure?”
She nodded, and couldn’t help but smile at him. “Will you wait for me? I don’t want to miss being able to say goodbye.”
Something warm and delicious began to smolder in the depths of his dark, hooded gaze. “I’ll be right here. I won’t take my eyes off you.”
She caught her lower lip in her teeth as she stared up at him. “Thanks.”
Derek muttered something under his breath, and she quickly walked a little farther down the street as he followed behind her, just wanting to get this over with.
“You really going slumming with that guy?” he demanded, as soon as she turned around to face him.
“First of all, that guy happens to be awesome. So stop sounding like a jealous douche.”
“Jesus, Skye.” His lip curled as he sneered at her. “I thought you were different.”
“From what? What does that even mean?” she demanded hotly. “And who are you to judge me? You’re a cheat and a liar! And I’m...” She suddenly broke off, shaking her head as she laughed. “Oh, God, why am I even having this conversation with you? We have nothing to say to each other.”
She started to walk around him, when he quickly blocked her path. Giving him her best go-to-hell look, she growled, “No, Derek. I’m done talking to you.”
“You’re done when I say so,” he snapped, sounding like a petulant child as he puffed up his chest.
She blinked, wondering when he’d gone and lost his damn sanity. And then every single thought was shoved from her mind as Elliot’s tall, powerful body suddenly pushed between them. Peering around his side, Skye watched in shock as he stepped up to Derek, towering over him, his low voice cut with anger as he growled, “The lady said no, jackass. So get the fuck away from her.”
Derek’s blue eyes went wide with outrage. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
Elliot shook his head and smirked, as if he found Derek’s posturing a little funny. “I’m someone who’s not afraid of you, even with that shiny badge you’re wearing. So. Back. Off.”
Oh, man. Skye could tell that Derek was seriously pissed...as well as embarrassed. And she’d have so been lying through her teeth if she’d said there wasn’t a tiny bit of her that freaking loved it. If Elliot Connors hadn’t been her hero before, he most definitely was now. She felt like she’d found her own personal guardian angel, and she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling when Derek took a couple of steps back and shot her a furious scowl. “We’re not done, Skye.”
Using her best bored tone, she told him, “We were done years ago, Officer Carlton. Let it go.”
Rage made him red in the face, the blue of his eyes burning with it. “Don’t go anywhere,” he bit out. “I’ll need to talk to both of you before we leave.”
A piercing wave of relief spread through Skye’s chest as she watched Derek turn and stalk away, and then she stepped in front of Elliot, tilted her head back and gave him such a wide smile that it hurt her cheeks. “You are like the most freaking awesome person ever!” she gushed, not even caring that she was making a fool of herself. “Thank you so much for standing up for me. For helping me.”
He gave her a look that somehow seemed both hungry and tender, his voice a deliciously husky rasp as he said, “You never need to thank me for that either, Skye.”
“Okay,” she breathed, feeling her face heat despite the cold wind whipping around them. “But, just so you know, you...you’re not like any other guy I’ve ever met.”
He gave a quiet, sexy bark of laughter, and she had a feeling there was a joke somewhere in there that she didn’t get. And now she really felt like an idiot. “My manager said that I could go ahead and take off, since they’re going to shut the diner for the night, and I really don’t want to stick around to chat with Derek again. So I, uh, guess I should get going,” she rambled on, burrowing down deeper into her coat, kind of wishing she could disappear in it. “I mean, you probably have somewhere you need to be, right?”
Without a word, he put his hand against the small of her back and pushed her along beside him as he headed down to the corner, then around it, until they were out of sight of everyone gathering outside the diner to talk to the four policemen who were now on the scene. Then he moved until he was standing right in front of her, in the low, colorful glow of the town’s ancient Christmas lights. His face was tilted down so that he could look into her eyes, and she froze as he lifted his hand toward her, only to pause for a moment, as if unsure he should do it. Then he reached up and gently pushed her hair back from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. Her breath sucked in on a shallow gasp, desire pumping so heavily through her body she felt filled with it, the lush sensation only growing as his hooded gaze got darker and he cupped the side of her face with his big, masculine hand.
His lips parted, and he made this wonderfully low, rumbly sound deep in his chest that made her shiver. And even though Skye knew it must be a trick of the light, his dark eyes suddenly looked as if they were glowing with a thin ring of gold around the outer edge of his irises.
Oh, God, was he...was he going to kiss her? Or...was she just imagining it? After all, guys like Elliot Connors didn’t get all hot and bothered over girls that looked like her. So, um, yeah...like what was her problem? Seriously? She normally wasn’t this crazy, but this whole night so far had been a giant case of bizarre, and now she was projecting her lust onto this poor guy who had done nothing but help her.
“Skye,” he whispered, and though she’d just scolded herself for letting her imagination get away from her, it sounded like he wanted to kiss her. Like he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her until she forgot her freaking name!
“Yeah?” she breathed, loving the way his smoldering gaze followed her tongue as she nervously licked her bottom lip. Sure, she didn’t know this guy from Adam, but she...she wanted to know him. And strangers or not, she already trusted him. Hadn’t he earned that when he risked his life to save hers? And when he’d stood up for her to the guy who’d once broken her girlish heart?
Do it...yes...please, she begged with her eyes, her lips trembling with anticipation.
They swayed a little closer together, and it was like some invisible line between their chests was drawing tighter...pulling them in. She made a soft, needy sound, and his eyes went so bright they burned, just before he squeezed them shut and lowered his head, pressing his forehead against hers. His warm breaths pelted her parted lips, and she was ready to grip him by the shoulders, press up on her toes and do it herself. Just rub her tingling lips against his, kissing him as she gasped for air, desperate to sate this aching need that was growing inside her, making her dizzy with want. With emotions she’d never felt in her entire life—not even at the height of her infatuation
