Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)(7)
“No.” There was something about him that demanded brutal honesty. “But I can take care of myself.”
He gave me another once-over. My skin heated. Why did he persist in treating me differently than the rest of my customers did? “I’m sure you can.”
“Whatever.” I held his slightly wrinkled money out, but he just stared at it. “Take your change.”
“It’s yours, darlin’.”
God, that accent, those eyes . . . he was trying to kill me. It was a ridiculously high tip, but whatever. If he wanted to throw money at me, I wouldn’t turn him down. I tucked it into the tip jar under the bar and then patted his arm. It was as hard as I’d always imagined. “Thanks, Lucky.”
“I told you . . .” He caught my hand with a firm grip. The sensation of his skin on mine was electrifying. There was no other word for it. I might have been imagining it, but I’d swear he looked surprised, like he felt it, too. “That’s not my name.”
He didn’t have soft hands. They were rough and callused, a man’s hands, and the feel of them was hot. Of course, everything about him was. But I was not a woman who liked to be restrained, and his grip was stronger than I usually allowed. I didn’t try to tug free, not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t want to seem intimidated. And I wasn’t. “What’s your name, Lucky?”
“Lucas,” he growled, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “My name is Lucas.”
“Well, hi, Lucas.” Leaning in, I stopped when our noses were practically touching. Something sparked in his eyes, something dangerously sexy, but he didn’t react to my proximity in any other way. “Didn’t your mama teach you that it isn’t nice to grab girls without their permission?” He might be bigger than me, but I wouldn’t back down. Call it a Napoleon complex if you must, but he would succumb or I’d die trying.
“My ma doesn’t tell me anything lately. She’s dead,” he said, cocking a brow. From anyone else, it would have sounded sad. From him, it sounded matter-of-fact. His mom was gone, and he’d accepted that. For some reason, that made his words even sadder. “Has been for ten years.”
I blinked. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t kill her.” His fingers tightened on me and then his eyes met mine, and I don’t know what he saw, but somehow . . . I knew he saw something, because his look softened. “But thank you, Heidi.”
I swallowed a moan. That accent wasn’t fair, man. “You’re welcome.”
We stared at each other, neither of us speaking.
Dishes clanged in the kitchen behind me, and the cook laughed as he teased one of my waitresses. The door behind me swung open, and the blond waitress I’d hired the other day pushed past me with a plate of wings in her hand. Still, I didn’t move.
I caught sight of Marco watching and he shifted his weight toward us. I gave the slightest shake of my head, to keep him at his post. I could handle this on my own. I looked back at Lucas, to see the barest hint of amusement on his face. I cleared my throat. “Are you going to let go of me anytime soon, or nah?”
He laughed. My stomach tightened in response to his raspy chuckle. “I don’t know.” He loosened his grip to trail his fingers over my wrist. My pulse leapt at the deceptively soft touch. Despite the fact that he held my arm captive, nothing about what he did was threatening in any way. “I’m still deciding. Give me a second, darlin’.”
“Well, I’ve got people to wait on.”
He grinned. “You aren’t worried about them. You want me to let go because you’re helpless in the face of my devilish charm and soft Boston accent.”
Damn it, he was right. But I wasn’t about to confirm it. “I don’t give in easily. I think you have me confused with someone else.”
“Maybe. Then again, maybe not. Either way, I love a good challenge. And that’s exactly what you are, Ms. Greene.” He skimmed his thumb over my pulse again, grinning when it leapt traitorously. “That’s why, when you ask me to touch you again, I’ll make you admit you want me before I give you what you want.”
With that, he let go.
I backed up, resisting the urge to rub my wrist where he’d held me. It hadn’t hurt. His touch had been firm, yet gentle. But the urge to rub away the electrifying pings he’d left behind was still there. He didn’t look affected at all. Maybe I was the only one who’d noticed our chemistry. I had to regain control over this situation. Forcing a laugh, I tossed my hair over my shoulders. “I won’t be asking you to touch me again, Lucky.”
“Lucas,” he said. “I told you my name, which is more than I give anyone else free of charge, so you can damn well use it.”
Resting my hands on my bar, I forced myself to be calm despite my fight-or-flight instinct clicking to life. Something told me this man was used to issuing an ultimatum and having people obey him. I wasn’t going to be one of those people. Not in my own bar, anyway. “When you’re on my turf, I’ll call you what I want, when I want, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said, his eyes full of promise and something else I didn’t want to examine too closely. His gaze made my heart quicken and my breath come faster. He gave me a sexy smile, his eyes heated and green, and ugh. “I love a challenge almost as much as I love hearing those three little words.” His voice was raspy.