Charlie fell silent. His face betrayed his internal struggle with himself, trying to read a situation that was over his head. In the end he said nothing, only sighed. “All right, all right. Just… this is a lot to swallow, man, you know?”

Will didn’t have any urge to empathize with Charlie, so he didn’t. All he needed was for this city boy to listen to his very simple instructions so he didn’t get his bar blown to fucking bits with his family inside. “Just take it easy for today. Something tells me they won’t be back right away. They’ll give time for any cops we called to fart around the scene and do nothing about it before they hit again. Keep the bar closed for the day. Tomorrow, you and I will open up. We’ll keep your sister in the house, away from it.”

Charlie made an exasperated face and put his hands on his waist. “She is not gonna like hearing that.”

“I’ll talk to her,” said Will before he could stop himself. Oh you will, huh? And with no ulterior motive, I’m sure. “I want to check out the house, anyway. Make sure it’s secure.”

“Good luck. I’m going to go close down the till,” said Charlie. He split from Will and returned to the bar, and Will turned the opposite way, heading up the hill through the small grassy forest to the quiet rambler tucked against the foothills.

Will listened to the soft song of the wind through the trees as he waited on the porch for Eva to answer his knock. After a few moments, the door swung open. Her eyes were hard, her lips scrunched up, everything about her dark and shadowed from the screen door between them.

“Did you need something?” she asked.

“Can we talk?”

Eva shifted on her feet and looked down the hallway. “I got bit the last time I tried to pet a mean dog,” she said, meeting his eyes with a glare.

Will looked down at his boots and licked his lips as a sliver of shame ran through him again. He clenched his jaw. “I was out of line. I sometimes get like that after a fight, but I shouldn’t have been such a dick. Can I come in now?”

Eva huffed for a few silent moments, thinking, before she sighed and opened the screen door to him.

Will followed her into the living room as his gaze took in the surroundings. The place looked very much like it was owned by a man of Owen’s age. Even though he visited often, Will was not close with the bartender, never in a particularly chatty mood whenever he found himself at Swashbuckler’s. The man was nice and kept a clean, quiet establishment. From the looks of his house, he lived a comfortable but modest life running the bar, though his décor was stuck somewhere between the late 80s and early 90s in all the worst ways. Among all the earth-tone furniture and tacky kitsch accents, Eva in her delicate form looked like a rose bursting out of decaying forest undergrowth.

Arms folded, she eyed him warily. “So, what do you need to talk about?”

Will rubbed the leaves of some plastic flowers in a vase between his fingers, and then brushed off the dust from his fingertips. “Listen, we need you to stay up here for the time being, until this is all over.”

“What do you mean?” she said.

“Every person in that bar is a potential casualty when this shit goes down, and obviously we don’t want you among them,” said Will. He tried not to hold his gaze so long on her face, but he couldn’t help himself. “So it’s best if you just hole up here until it passes.”

“Oh, is that what you and my brother decided was best for me?” He could tell by the tone in her voice that he had struck a deep nerve. “Just keep me locked up like some princess in a tower until you heroes figure it out, is that it? No, thank you.”

Will scoffed. “I don’t remember mentioning you had a choice.”

Eva’s jaw dropped, and so did her arms. She walked up close to Will and stood in front of him, close enough that he could smell some wickedly divine scent of lilac and jasmine floating over her skin. The anger he saw in her eyes didn’t do a damn thing to change the lust that was rolling through his veins. If anything, it made it worse.

“Your apology sure didn’t last long. Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?” she said, locking eyes with him. “You saved us, thanks, and I’m fine with you doing it again, but you do not get to come in here and tell me what to do.”

Will took a step closer to her, narrowing the distance between them. Eva didn’t retreat. She let him stand mere inches in front of him, close enough that he could feel her crossed arms brushing against his chest. Eva began to breathe a little heavier.

“I think I get to tell you what to do if it’s going to save your life,” said Will.

“I’m not a child,” she said in a voice just above a whisper.

“No… you’re not,” he said, making it clear he approved as he ran his eyes over her body while she glared at him. He saw blood rush to her cheeks. She licked her lips impulsively, and some part of him knew he had her right where he wanted her.

This is not your best idea. This isn’t some stripper taking side jobs, hungry for cock and cash. This woman looks like she stepped right out of a 1950s public library. And that’s speaking nothing of her grumpy big brother…

“Are you done staring at me like that?” said Eva, breaking his train of thought. Her words said she was angry, but the glint in her eyes and the rise and fall of her chest told Will a different story.

For good measure, he gave her another once-over, fully aware that she was watching him do it. Still, she stood silent, her jaw clenched until he was done and took a few steps back. The heat between them slowly dissipated once there was more distance between them, like some supernatural force had left the room.

“Stay out of the bar, or I’ll drag you back up here myself,” he said to her. “Understand?”

“I understand you’re delusional, if you think you can tell me what to do,” said Eva. “I’ll speak with my brother before we decide any course of action, thanks.”

“Your brother has deferred all power to me,” said Will, and he couldn’t help but give a teasing half-grin when he said it. “So, if you please, stay out of the bar so I don’t have to bury your tight little body in the field out front.”

Eva went to reply, but seemed taken aback by the covert compliment and dropped silent. She blinked at Will a few times, then shook her head and walked around him for the hallway. “You’re a prick, you know that? You and my brother should date.” She didn’t wait for a response, but entered the bedroom at the end of the hall and slammed the door behind her.

Will watched her walk away, lust burning through his veins. He had the vague instinct that bedding Eva wouldn’t be what he imagined, and not just because she was different from his usual fare. Yet another reason to stay away.

He took another look around the living room, and at the uncomfortable-looking sitting couch that sat in front of a char-black fireplace. “I guess I’ll just sleep out here, then? Or should I crawl into Charlie’s bed?”

Eva didn’t respond, of course, but that didn’t stop Will from laughing about it anyway.

~ NINE ~

Will only saw Eva twice more that evening before he finally crashed on the uncomfortable living room sofa, and both times she passed by him without a glance, her lips pursed. She was angry, and Will knew she’d only be angrier if she realized how cute he thought she looked when she was mad. Once, he almost told her, but it was late, and he decided he’d rather not have the adrenaline rush of engaging with her. Instead, he just enjoyed the view as he lay on the couch with his hand behind his head.

Eva passed by to go to the kitchen in a short bathrobe that showed even more of her beautiful thighs than her dress had, and Will didn’t try to hide his interest. On the way back, she couldn’t resist giving him a glare. He looked her up and down and gave her a half smile as she huffed back to her bedroom and shut the door.