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Lara followed his gaze, her body feeling like a rubber band stretched too tight She knew she’d snap at any second and hoped like hell the goon didn’t have friends out here She wasn’t sure she could take more

The coast h, because Castillo headed for the Harley parked in front of the building

He didn’t let go of her until they reached it, then after giving her a look that warned against trying to run, he unlocked the saddlebag and pulled out a helmet Without a word, he handed it to her

He grabbed another one off the handlebar How it hadn’t been stolen was a mystery to Lara Maybe he had some kind of badass force field around the motorcycle

“I’ at the bruises on his face She twined her fingers around the hel up to touch, soothe the skin over his cheekbone That was her fault She wasn’t the one who’d broken the chair over his face, but it was still her fault

Froree Not wanting to hear that look put into words, Lara aardly tucked her duffel under her arm, then bent to pull the helmet on It didn’t have a visor, so the view of Castillo’s stare was clear and bright

Lovely

“How am I supposed to hold on toto like a teddy bear, showing him the broken straps

His eyes narrowed and for a second she thought he’d tell her where she could put her stuff Then he lifted her duffel by the edge, both straps dangling loose With one hand, he flipped open the leather saddlebag again He glanced at the duffel, then at the size of his bag It wasn’t going to fit

She chewed on her thu to do

His sigh was a work of art The kind of sound that said a uilt It worked She was ready to tell him she didn’t need all of it, just her laptop, when he snapped the duffel open with a tug of his hands

She cringed

He du over the bike to stuff her laptop into the one on the other side with his clothes Then he tossed the ripped bag into a nearby trash can Not once did he meet her eyes

She was glad She reaze when they’d left the apartment She’d rather not see it aimed her way

Still, furious or not, he’d saved her

And he’d saved her stuff

She wanted to ask if that guy was dead She wanted to apologize for running For putting herself in danger and hi to play hero

“Thank you,” she whispered instead

He gave a jerk of his shoulder, handed her a pair of sunglasses, then nodded to the Harley

“Climb on”

It was probably a bad time to joke that the last time he’d said that to her, they’d both been naked

She had a feeling this round wasn’t going to feel nearly as good, nor have nearly as fun an ending