Darkness Everlasting (Guardians of Eternity #3)(4)

Besides, she was saving for something better.

One day she would have her own health food store, and nothing was going to be allowed to stand in her path.

Certainly not a defeatist attitude.

Kept busy pouring drinks and washing glasses, Darcy didn't notice when the latest arrivals took a place at the bar. Not until their glares and flexing muscles had managed to warn off the rest of the patrons and she found herself virtually alone with them.

Feeling a strange flare of unease, she forced her feet to carry her toward the waiting men. It was ridiculous, she chastised herself. There were over a hundred people in the room. The men couldn't possibly be a threat.

Instinctively halting before the man in the suit, she swallowed a small gasp as she met the golden brown eyes that smoldered with a heat that was nearly tangible.

Yikes.

A wolf in silk clothing.

She wasn't sure where the inane thought came from and she was quick to squash it. The man was a customer. She was there to offer him service.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Plastering a smile on her face, she put a small paper coaster in front of him.

"May I help you?"

A slow smile curved his lips to reveal startlingly white teeth. "I most certainly hope so, cara," he drawled with a faint accent.

The hairs on the back of her neck stirred as his golden gaze made a lazy survey of her black T-shirt and too short miniskirt.

There was a hunger in those eyes that she wasn't certain was entirely sexual.

More like she was a tasty pork chop.

Yikes, indeed.

"Can I get you a drink?" She forced a brisk, professional edge to her voice. It was a voice she had discovered could wilt an erection at a hundred paces.

The stranger merely smiled. "A Bloody Mary."

"Spicy?"

"Oh, very."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "And your friends?"

"They are on duty."

Her gaze shot toward the men looming behind their leader with their arms crossed. Frick and Frack, without a brain between them.

"You're the boss." Moving to the back of the bar she mixed the drink, adding a stalk of celery and an olive before returning to set it on the coaster. "One Bloody Mary."

She was already turning away when his hand reached out to grasp her arm. "Wait."

She frowned down at the dark, slender fingers on her arm. "What do you want?"

"Keep me company. I hate to drink alone."

Obviously Frick and Frack didn't count. "I'm on duty."

He pointedly glanced around the deserted bar. "No one seems in desperate need of your services. No one, but me."

Darcy heaved a sigh. She disliked being rude. It was bad for her karma. But this man clearly couldn't take a hint.

"If you're looking for companionship, I'm sure there are any number of women here who would be happy to drink with you."

"I don't want any number of women." Those golden eyes burned into hers. "Just you."

"I'm working."

"You can't work all night."

"No, but when I'm done I'm going home." She jerked her arm from his grasp. "Alone."

Something that might have been annoyance rippled over the fiercely handsome face.

"All I want is to talk to you. Surely you can offer me a few moments of your time?"

"Talk to me about what?"

He cast an impatient glance toward the crowd, which was growing rowdier by the minute. He didn't seem to appreciate the enthusiasm of multipierced, leather-drenched teenagers ramming full speed into each other.

"I would prefer that we go someplace a bit more private."

"I don't think so."

His expression hardened. Even more unnerving, the golden eyes seemed to suddenly glow with an inner light. As if someone had lit a candle behind them.

"I must speak with you, Darcy. I would prefer that our relationship remain cordial—you are after all a beautiful and tempting young woman—but if you make this difficult, then I am prepared to do whatever is necessary to have my way."

Darcy's heart clenched with a flare of sudden fear. "How do you know my name?"

He leaned forward. "I know a great deal about you."

Okay, this was going from weird to downright creepy. Gorgeous gentlemen in thousand-dollar suits with their own personal entourage did not stalk impoverished bartenders. Not unless they intended to kill and mutilate them.

Two things she hoped to avoid.

She took an abrupt step backward. "I think you had better finish your drink, collect your goons, and leave."

"Darcy..." His hand reached out as if he would physically force her to join him.

Thankfully his attention seemed to waver and his head turned toward the door.

"We have company," he growled toward Frick and Frack. "Deal with them."

On cue the two thugs charged toward the door with startling speed. The man rose from the bar stool to watch them leave, as if half expecting an army to come charging into the club.

It was enough for Darcy.

She might not be Mensa material, but she did recognize opportunity when it came a-knocking.

Whatever the man wanted from her it couldn't be good. The more distance she could put between them the better.