“You never told me your name.”
“You know my name.” Mentally she kicked herself. She was engaging with him when it was the last thing she should be doing. How in the world did the man manage to be so potent? He was the most sensual man she’d ever encountered. Her hormones were already in overdrive, just as they’d been for the last few days. And, of course, it had to be for the resident bad boy.
“What is it going to hurt to sit at my table and have a beer with me?”
“Because that isn’t what you want from me. Let go.” She stood waiting, looking down into his brilliant eyes. Cold eyes. Eyes that had seen things no one should ever witness. Maia sighed, trying desperately not to see those things, not to see or feel or react to the pain swirling so deep in their vivid blue depths. “Please.”
Cole removed his hand instantly. Maia made herself walk when she wanted to run. Her heart was beating too fast. He was frightening in his intensity, and she was very susceptible to the man he hid behind his remote mask. She knew a hurt creature when she saw one. Man or animal, her entire being reacted to them. Cole Steele was one of those creatures, and he was just too darned dangerous for her to get involved with.
“Sounded great tonight,” Ed Logan, the bartender said in greeting. He pushed a frosted glass toward her and leaned close, lowering his voice. “Keep away from him, Maia. He’s bad news.”
She tilted the glass, savoring the ice-cold water as it went down her throat. Her gaze strayed toward Cole Steele. His gaze was on her. Hot. Intense. Drifting over her body possessively. She turned her back on him, leaning against the bar. Immediately she was all too aware that her movement left Cole staring at her bottom, encased in tight jeans. It was all she could do not to shift positions immediately. “I have no idea what you’re going on about, Ed.”
“He’s got a look about him. He’s on the hunt for a woman, and it’s rather obvious he has his sights set on you. You don’t play with a man like that and win.”
“You’re such a sweetheart, Ed. I’d marry you myself if you weren’t already taken. You can stop worrying. Cole Steele is so far out of my league that I don’t even want to play. He’ll settle his sights elsewhere fast enough. He’ll get bored and move on to greener pastures.”
“Just so you know to be careful. People are saying bad things about him. Most probably aren’t true, but I know men, and he’s dangerous.”
“At least to women,” she agreed. “Seriously, Ed, I can look after myself.”
“He made a whole lot of enemies in this town when he came in five months ago and fired the crew that was working out at the ranch. Times are hard and in the winter everyone needs work. No one knows why he did it, and he isn’t saying, but there’s hard feelings.”
“A man doesn’t fire everyone without a reason, Ed,” Maia pointed out. “Especially not a rancher with a spread the size of his. He needs them. Maybe a few head of cattle were missing. It happens all the time.”
Ed shrugged his shoulders and picked up an empty whiskey glass, dismissing the subject of Cole Steele. “Loretta said to tell you to drop by anytime. And if you don’t have plans for Christmas dinner, you’re invited to that as well.”
“You tell her thank you. Lucky you to have her.”
Ed nodded. “I can’t get over you managing to save that dog of hers. She loves that mutt, and I was certain there was no hope after the car hit it, but you pulled it off.”
Maia patted his hand. It hadn’t been Loretta who fell apart when the little Jack Russell terrier had darted out in front of a car. Big Ed had been sobbing so hard he couldn’t speak when he and Loretta had brought the dog to her.
She turned away and immediately felt the impact of Cole Steele’s piercing gaze. It should have made her cold, but she felt heat spreading dangerously to every part of her body. She braced herself to get past him a second time. The jukebox was playing, and a few couples were swaying on the dance floor to a sultry love song. It might be more prudent to cut across the dance floor, but doing so would brand her a coward in her own eyes. Or maybe she was feeling reckless.