“So, what then, you’re just gonna stay here and wait for them to come back? Let me guess what that’s gonna cost me,” said Charlie. He lifted an angry finger at Will. “You’re probably a part of it, aren’t you? These guys hassle me, and then you come in and offer security, take all my money, and probably let them burn the place down anyway, is that it?”

Charlie couldn’t know what his words meant, but that didn’t stop Will from stalking over to him like an angry predator. Charlie took a half-step back in surprise. Even though the muscles in his chest and arms from years of obvious hard labor could probably have dealt Will quite a bit of trouble in a fight, Charlie didn’t seem aware of his own strength, not in that way. He didn’t even raise his fists up.

“I’m not with them,” said Will quietly. “And I don’t want a dime of your fucking money. I’m not offering you long-term anything. I’m just going to shut down this rabid dog problem you’re having.”

Charlie searched his face, likely trying to tell whether Will was being honest or not, but this kid didn’t have the skills for it. It didn’t matter, anyway; he wasn’t lying. “Why should we believe you?”

“Because I’ve seen it before,” said Will. His ears filled with the sudden faraway roar of fire. He swallowed. “And I don’t want to see it again.”

Charlie paused, and turned back to look at his sister, as if he wanted her input. Eva looked at them both from behind a glass of beer as she drank, but didn’t say anything. Her eyes were wide like a scared animal.

Charlie said, “Fine. Help us.”

~ SEVEN ~

Well, you wanted adventure, girly… now you’ve got it.

As Eva watched the conversation between her brother and Will unfold, she felt less and less like she was still inside her dull, melancholy life, and it both excited and frightened her. She hadn’t seen Charlie so rattled in a very long time; he hadn’t even noticed that he had spilled an entire shot of whiskey down the front of his crisp white t-shirt yet.

And she had never seen anyone like Will.

“Close the bar up for the day,” said Will. “We need to make some plans. Undistracted.”

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” said Charlie, shaking his head. “I’ll make up some note for the door.” He lumbered off toward the small alcove in back that served as Owen’s makeshift office.

Will watched him go, then turned and looked straight at Eva. She held his gaze a moment, simply because she couldn’t help it. Then she turned away and finished the half-pint she had poured herself in three deep swallows.

Will walked up to the bar. “Mind pouring me one?” He lowered himself back into the seat he’d been in before.

Eva nodded and tried not to look at him. Maybe it was her frightened brain trying to find a distraction, but once she started looking at Will’s gorgeous face, she never wanted to tear her eyes away. She lifted a clean glass and pulled the draught handle, watching the beer intently until she placed it in front of the intense man sitting across from her.

He wrapped huge, scruff, scar-covered hands around the cold glass. His knuckles still trickled blood. I cannot believe this is the type of man who’s revving my engine… Eva thought as her gaze wandered up his muscled forearms and shoulders until it landed on his face. Will stared down into his beer glass, unaware she watched.

Not knowing what else to do with herself, Eva poured another beer in her own glass. She took two big drinks. “Thanks… for, uh, for helping with those men,” she said.

The way Will looked up at her so suddenly, Eva was sure she had interrupted some thought. “Didn’t have a choice, really. Some dogs need to be put down.”

The coldness in his voice gave Eva an honest shiver. “Does that mean you’re going to kill them when they come back?”

Will fell silent a moment, and Eva’s heart nearly stopped. Christ. What have we gotten ourselves into?

“Only if it comes to that,” said Will. But something in his eyes had a different answer when he looked up at her.

Eva swallowed hard, her throat tight. She licked her lips and saw Will’s gaze focus on her mouth as he watched. He stared at her lips and almost unconsciously ran a tongue over his own. How can I be so turned on and so terrified at the same time?

A distracting silence fell between them. Eva heard the office phone ring in the back room, and then stop ringing. She cleared her throat. “So, have you… I guess you do this a lot?” asked Eva gently.

“Do what? Save strangers from thugs? Yeah, I’m a regular Batman,” he said with a bitter laugh. He took a drink.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like the first fight you’ve been in, is all.”

“And it won’t be the last,” he said. His eyes went heavy when he said it, staring down at the bar.

Sure is a warm and fuzzy guy. “Are you from around here?”

Will looked up at her, right into her eyes with his own deep brown ones, which served to send a jolt of heat right from her neck all the way down to her thighs. “Eva, was it?”

 “Yes.”

“Eva,” he said, holding her gaze, speaking deliberately. “I’m not the kind of fucking guy you chat up with small talk and try to wiggle inside by being friendly, okay?” His expression became some mockery of a smile, like sarcasm incarnate. “Ten minutes ago I was snapping a man’s arm a few feet from where you read a book without a care in the world. Do you try to pet dogs that have just gotten out of a fighting pit, too?”

Eva’s face flushed with embarrassed anger. She felt emotion rising up from deep in her chest, that same vengeful feeling she used to get when boys from outside the neighborhood would try to mess with her walking home from school. Her Pa used to tell her it was their Irish fire—and Eva felt it burning now. “Christ, aren’t you a real tough guy? Breaking a man’s arm isn’t enough, you’ve gotta be a bastard to a woman who hasn’t done a thing to you, too?”

Will gave her an eye roll and drank his beer. “A tough guy’s what you need, lady, not a cuddly teddy bear. So why don’t you just fuck off and let me do what you need me here to do in peace?”

Eva bit her lip as if it would hold back the tide of furious words building in her throat. Has there ever been a single man in all the world that has ever been a grown-up? she thought as she drained the rest of her glass in a huff. She slammed it empty back down on the counter hard enough that Will’s gaze flickered up to her.

“Some dogs need to be put down, all right,” she muttered, as she swiped her book from where she’d left it on the counter and walked away from Will. She nearly bumped into Charlie coming in from the back with a roll of tape and his makeshift handwritten sign.

Charlie made a surprised sound, and then frowned. “Where are you going?”

“I’m fucking off,” said Eva in a dark tone, trying to move around him. She could feel Will’s eyes on her back, and it made heat rise in her body—this time more of the angry type.

“What?” said Charlie, confused.

“I’m going to the house,” said Eva impatiently. “Just leave me alone.” She pushed past him.

“Keep your phone on you. I want to be able to check in!” Charlie called as she weaved out the back door and into the meadow.

Eva didn’t reply as she stalked through the forest meadow, completely ignoring the view in a way she hadn’t before. She stormed up the porch stairs, made a beeline for the kitchen and a bottle of iced tea, and then holed up in her borrowed master bedroom. After lying on the cool sheets for a few minutes, watching the curtains dance in the breeze, Eva felt her anger mostly dying. Every minute, Will’s hurtful words pulsed less and less loudly in her mind.

What the hell is that guy’s problem? I didn’t do a single thing to deserve being talked to like that. Why would he risk himself to help us in a lethal situation and then turn around and treat me like shit afterwards?