“I’m single.” She blushed and shifted her weight. “Thank you for your help.” She dug her keys out of her purse and shouldered her bag. “I need to be going.”
Braxton wanted to hold her tight and kiss her senseless until whatever had upset her was nothing but a wisp of a memory. He wanted leaving to be the last thing on her beautiful mind and him to be burned forever in her soul.
He cleared his throat as he struggled to get his lust under control. He didn’t have time to get laid. The Assassins were probably closing in on him at this very second. If he didn’t get back on the road and make it to Missouri, he wasn’t going to live to see another day.
“Maybe I’ll see you around.” She gave him a shy smile and slid into the driver’s seat of her SUV.
His chest tightened as he watched her pull out of the alley and drive away. “No, sweetheart. I’m afraid you won’t ever see me again.”
***
“He’ll try to make a break for the Missouri border.” Brutus ground his cigarette butt under his boot heel and glanced at his two Were soldiers. They’d been a team for years now, with numerous executions under their belt. With matching black Harley Davidson V-Rods and dressed all in black, they were an intimidating force when they rolled into town.
“Don’t you know those things will kill you?” Lorcan, his second-in-command and ever-growing thorn in his side smirked as he finished gassing up his motorcycle. With his blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked more like a California surfer than a deadly killer. “Or kill us, if you get too close to the gas tank.”
As the leader of the Louisiana Assassins, Brutus knew his two partners thought it was funny as hell to ride his ass about his nasty smoking habit, since werewolves never got cancer.
Brutus shot a glare at Lorcan and Killian. “You two assholes better get focused. You know we have a job to do. I’ve never let a rogue werewolf out of my target, and I sure as shit don’t expect to start now.”
“We got it, boss.” Killian straddled his Harley and started the engine. The massive beast roared to life. “We’re burning daylight. Eureka Springs is only a few miles down the road. Missouri shouldn’t be much further from there.”
Brutus pulled out of the gas station and back on the road with his soldiers flanking him. His target was clear.
Assassinate rogue werewolf Braxton Devereaux.
***
“If I had the money, I’d give it to you. You know that, right?” Beau Smith, local vet and Kate’s best friend, squeezed her hand across the diner table.
After embarrassing herself in the alley and crying all over the gorgeous stranger with the blue-tinged hair and tattooed arms, Kate had driven over to Beau’s work. He suggested taking her out to lunch in hopes of getting her mind off the day’s terrible events.
“Even if you had the money, I wouldn’t take it.” Kate pulled her hand away and picked up a soggy French fry covered in ketchup.
“I had a feeling you’d say that. It’s that independent streak running through you.” Beau sighed and shrugged. “So tell me more about this alley guy.”
She flushed. Just the mention of the hot guy made her stomach turn to gelatin and her lady parts tingle. It was an odd reaction, since the stranger was totally not her type.
“I don’t know. He came out of nowhere and helped me up. Not really much to tell.” She left out the part of when he had held her in his massive arms, she had this overwhelming urge to kiss every part of his incredibly hard body. Beau didn’t need to know about that part.
“I’d never seen him before. I just thought maybe he was new in town and you might know who he is.” She shrugged.
Beau frowned before taking a drink of his soda. “Doesn’t sound like anyone I know.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve got bigger issues than to be thinking about some hot guy.” Kate pushed her plate away and glanced at the time on her cell phone. “I’ve got to get going. I have to figure out how to get my bed and breakfast booked solid for a month.”
“Go by the historical registry. I’m sure those ladies will have some good advice. Maybe they can push the Bella Luna on their website to encourage more visitors.”
“I hope so.” She stood and took out a ten to cover her tab.
“Put it away. This is on me.” Beau waved her money away.
She hesitated and then relented. She shoved her money back in her wallet and dropped it in her purse. “Thanks. Next time I’m getting the check.”
***
Braxton smiled as he passed the highway sign stating five more miles until Missouri. He’d make it to Branson with plenty of daylight left to drive around the city without worrying if someone was about to put a bullet in the back of his head.