Following Her (Unexpected Heroes #2.5)(7)

“And you’ve never hurt a woman, Axel?” she said, stopping and looking him in the eye.

“No! I would never put my hands on a woman that way,” he exclaimed.

“That’s not what I said. You listen about as well as that scumbag Wade.”

He stopped and processed her words. “Hey, I date women who know the score. I don’t hurt them,” he finally said, but she could see she’d gotten to him, if only a little.

“And do I know the score, Axel?” Her guard was down or she never would have called him by his first name. Her encounter with Wade had shaken her more than she cared to admit.

“I think you’re the toughest woman I’ve ever run across,” he said, stepping just a little too close.

“I am tough. Don’t forget it. And don’t think I don’t know a dodge to a question when I hear one,” she said, gaining back a bit of her strength. “Now that you’ve done your duty and checked on me, you can report back to my cousin that I’m just fine, that I have my life under control, and that I don’t need anyone’s protection,” she said as she began walking again, her back ramrod straight and her chin proud as she pushed through the front doors of the courthouse.

“It didn’t look that way to me. From the way that man was grabbing you, it looked like you needed someone to step in.”

“And the law stepped in, Axel. I believe in the law and it will always be on my side.”

“You’re a fool to think a man like Wade can’t get to you,” Axel said, sending a shudder down her spine again. Nope. She wasn’t going to allow anyone to make her live in fear.

“With enough determination even the best of idiots can get to anyone at any time. But I’m not defenseless, Axel. Felix can send whomever he wants after me, and they’ll all soon realize that I fight back,” she said as she reached her car.

“I like that about you, Ella. I happen to like it a lot.”

“Well, enjoy it from a distance.”

She climbed into her car and didn’t bother listening to whatever else Axel had to say. She was drained, and if she didn’t see anyone else today, she’d be a happy woman. Still, she couldn’t help looking in her rearview mirror.

Axel was standing there with a smile on his face, his arms crossed, his legs spread just enough to make the pose incredibly sexy and showcase his solid frame. Yeah, she was attracted. So what? He’d soon be out of her life and nothing more than a distant memory.





Life had been so busy for Axel the last few years that dating had been a thing of the past for quite some time. He liked women; hell, he loved women, but he didn’t have to wine and dine them to get them into his bed. He just had to do what he did best—show off his impeccable personality.

Okay, even he had to laugh at that. No, he wasn’t always the most sensitive of men, and didn’t know the first thing about how a woman’s mind worked. But he knew more than his fair share about their bodies.

And because of that, he considered himself a master in the art of seduction. When you were talented, why try to hide it? And he was certainly good at getting the girl. So why in the hell was he suddenly chasing after a woman who seemed to like nothing better than his backside?

Not that he minded a woman checking him out, but that wasn’t what Ella was doing when she was shooing him away. Normally, if a woman sent him on his way, he took the hint.

For some reason, though, he was more intrigued than ever before by Ella, and so he found himself doing almost underhanded things to secure her company. It wasn’t exactly underhanded, he assured himself. Her own cousin was the one who insisted he keep an eye on her.

Still, she thought she was meeting a blind date for dinner, and instead she was going to get him. He shifted on the stool as he watched the door, waiting for her to appear.

He wondered if she’d walk out, or if she’d join him. He’d soon find out. Calling the bartender over for a refill, Axel didn’t know if he should slow down. After all, he wouldn’t make the best impression if he slurred his words or slid off a bar stool. For some reason, he found himself nervous.

“This isn’t a date . . . not exactly,” he murmured to himself, making the bartender raise a brow at him. “It’s complicated,” he added to the man who poured his scotch on ice and then went to see to slightly less crazy customers.

As Axel turned toward the door, the legs were what he noticed first. He didn’t even need to look up the rest of her terrific body to recognize that the sleek ankles encased in thin straps, the shapely calves, and the buttery smooth thighs belonged to her. Damn, they stretched forever, and at the moment, Ella was wearing an almost indecently short dress, the hem riding high on those showstopping legs, which were perched on four-inch black heels that had his mouth watering.


When she stopped moving, his head slowly came up, along the fitted dress, pausing on her pushed-up breasts for a moment long enough to be obvious, and finally he met her very irritated eyes.

“What are the chances of running into you in here?” he asked, quickly recovering from the shock of seeing her in such a mouthwatering dress. He needed to fess up that he was her date, but why not play a little first.

“I would say the chances are good if you got insider information,” she said as she surprisingly sat down next to him. “I’ll also say that when my date arrives, you will disappear and leave me alone, and at least try to have some decency,” she added, as if that would be much too hard a thing for him to do.