‘Good point.’ He stilled, then the slowest of smiles spread across his face. ‘My bad.’
There should have been a clap of thunder...lightning should have lit the sky ablaze—at the very least a wolf should have howled in the distance. This moment was portentous—a blink in which life irrevocably changed. Just like that, Violet Summers became a different woman. A tsunami of sensual awareness swamped her, wreaking changes deep within—softening, heating, as hunger stirred. All because of one gorgeous smile.
‘Maybe you should put a sign up on the building,’ she suggested desperately. ‘“Broken wings found—apply within”.’
He nodded. ‘They’re actually pretty heavy.’
‘Do you think being an angel was too much hard work and that’s why they ditched the wings?’
‘Must be pretty burdensome. Always having to be good.’ There was an edge to the word. A wicked glint in his eye.
She smiled. ‘You get sick of that?’
‘I get sick of everything.’ He gave a rasp.
Honestythat time. Yeah, the guy was not ‘fine’.
‘What do you do, then?’ She breathed. ‘When you’re sick of everything...?’
His gaze held hers. ‘Not angelic things.’
Another low admission that shot an electrical pulse along her veins. ‘Oh?’
There was a tilt to his lips now and her brain wasn’t working at all any more.
Do not fall for a moody, damaged dude.
She’d been the damaged one. She was looking for whole and healthy fun. To live in the moment and make the most of everything. This was her chance. She was finally on the other side of the world from her loving but ever so slightly suffocating family that she truly adored. But she needed to escape it to do all the things she wanted. Having four over-protective older brothers, and parents who constantly worried about her even though they tried to pretend they didn’t, wasn’t easy. They all pretended they weren’t helicoptering around, making sure she didn’t do anything that might put her at risk...
Until now, she’d needed just a little space to breathe. To figure out her own life. To prove she was as capable as her hale and hearty, mega-brain brothers and not have them joke she needed to marry well to secure herself a reasonable future...
She was hardly about to marry well when she’d hardly even flirted before. When she’d barely been allowed out to experience anything much with a man at all.
Her breathing quickened. But then, something changed.
His intense eyes narrowed and he shook his head. ‘What’s a woman like you doing out on the street alone late at night like this?’ He glared at her.
A woman like her? What didthatmean? She felt indignant. ‘I’ve been working in this shop since early this morning.’ She lifted her chin. ‘What areyoudoing out on the street late at night like this?’
His eyes widened. ‘I was working too. Now I’m supposed to go to a party but I...’
‘Don’t know the way?’ she guessed. ‘It is hard to get taxis round here sometimes.’ She nodded. ‘You could try the subway?’
He blinked. ‘Subway?’
‘Yeah, you know? Underground trains,’ she said.
‘I do know. But I haven’t ridden it much.’
‘Me neither,’ she acknowledged.
‘Because you’re not from around here. That’s not a local accent. Yet you think you can help me somehow?’
‘Two heads are generally better than one,’ she said a little defensively. ‘And I am pretty good at helping people, actually. A lot of my customers are tourists who come in looking for directions or suggestions. I’ve got good, even though we don’t even have any subways in Aotearoa.’
‘Aotea...?’
‘Aotearoa, New Zealand. Yeah.’ She saw the perplexed look on his face. ‘Am I talking too fast? I’m probably talking too fast. It makes me harder to understand. And I’m talking too much,’ she muttered, but it was as if a valve had been released, and it was better than staring at the guy fixedly as though he was the best-looking thing she’d ever seen. Which he was. But he didn’t need to know that, because he was a bit of an arrogant grump, so she just babbled.