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"I’o in peace We won’t bother you again"

Now she was talking He wanted to kiss her for defusing the situation before it could escalate and cos further

Hell, he just wanted to kiss her, period

Unfortunately, that would have to wait until he got her out of here At least until he got her to his truck

"You got my cell number?" Gus asked Lexi

"Yes"

"Use it Call if you need ht"

"Thanks, Gus Sorry about the floor Keep whatever you owe me"

Gus’s eyes narrowed and he scowled at Zach "Youback"

Lexi looked up at Zach and there was a deep sadness darkening her eyes He wanted to wipe it away, destroy it so it could never coain Problem was, he was convinced that most of that sadness was somehow his fault

"I’h the door out into the night

The night air ars with the scent of earth and asphalt A pair of aging lights high overhead drew a cloud of bugs, and lit the cracked parking lot just enough to destroy his night vision and create deep pockets of shadow around the few re cars

Lexi headed for her beat-up Honda and Zach was hot on her heels He hadn’t quite forgotten just how pretty her ass was, or the way ither cheeks while he kissed her senseless As much as he hated it, he ripped his eyes away fro area for Synestryn He wasn’t about to let one of those snarlies take the every one of his fantasies with Lexi

And after so many weeks, he had a lot of those Now all he needed to do was get her to go along with his plans

"I’ with you," she announced on her way to her car

She didn’t know that the bracelet she noore prevented her fro more than a few yards fro it up just yet If she tried to run, then she’d know And if she tried to run, she deserved finding out the hard way

"Why not?" he asked

"I don’t trust you"

Her words hurt, but he ignored the pain He was good at that "Why not?"

"You knohy"

Zach grabbed her arently pulled her to a stop "No I don’t"

She stared up at hi hier into his chest Hard "You put yourit nearly ih to find work Do you have any idea howI own just to keepso you wouldn’t catch up withlike that made him sick That hadn’t been his intention She ran; he followed her How could he not follow her when he needed her so much?

"Why did you run?" It was a question he’d been dying to ask Why was she so afraid of him? He’d never hurt her

"Why did I run? Are you serious?"

Zach nodded

"You kidnapped Helen And Miss Mabel I didn’t want to be next"

"Kidnapped?" Well, Zach figured it probably had looked like that now that he thought about it "Drake needed Helen And we couldn’t leave Miss Mabel behind to fend for herself once the Synestryn showed up"

"They showed up because of you," she said, poking hi to be bruised "Well, yeah, but it’s not like we can help that"

She rolled her eyes and shoved her hand into her apron pocket to retrieve her keys "Whatever Just tell , and I’ll follow you"

"That’s not going to work"

"I’ive up"

He reached for her, wanting to s her face The weariness In the dimness of the bar, he hadn’t been able to see just how tired she looked, but now he did She had dark circles beneath her eyes, and they were red, like she hadn’t slept for days