Page 30 of Junkyard Dog

Hot. Damn.

He backed up until he hit the railings surrounding the floor and watched shamelessly. Every so often, another woman would interrupt his view and he’d switch positions, his attention locked on Charlotte and her slithering movements.

“You’re in the doghouse,” Max’s voice called out, pulling him back to reality. “She’smadmad. What the hell’d you do?”

He tore his eyes off Charlotte. “I tried to tell her I like her by bringing up other women,” he grumbled. “Rookie mistake, right?”

Max looked thoughtful for a moment. “Dunno. I never told a woman I liked her before. At least, not since sixth grade.” He pointed his beer at the women. “That’s her hunting outfit. You better not stray too far from her view tonight or you’ll be out for good.”

“Dammit,” he muttered, running his hand through his hair. “Did she say anything?”

“Not a word. Which should terrify you.”

Dammit.

The music turned to something heavier and the dance floor emptied, Charlotte trailing the others as they headed back to their table. With Max’s warning hanging in his head, Alex cut her off from the group. “Could I get you a drink?”

She shook her head. “You could actually get me out of here.” Pausing, she looked up at him, her big brown eyes uncertain. “Unless you’re scoping out the place for your next conquest.”

He reached down to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “One more chance,” he said, ignoring the well-deserved jibe. “I promise not to freak out about the wordboyfriendif you promise to be okay with me calling you my girlfriend.” He paused. “And if you’re cool with me using you as chick-repellent. Women are as pushy as men, you know. I’ve never said ‘I have a girlfriend’ before. I’m curious to see if it works.”

There was a small shift in her expression as she processed his words. “So ginormous you wants me to protect you from big, bad Becky?”

“Pretty much.” He wrapped his hand around hers and led her through the crowd toward the doors. “So, Max mentioned that’s your hunting gear. What exactly are you hunting tonight?”

“Pretty bartenders who notch their bedposts until they fall apart.” She smirked, wrinkling her nose. “Dating them never ends well, but they’re perfect for a fling, wouldn’t you say?”

Holding the door open, he bit back the blast of disappointment that passed through him. “Then how about we forget the dating idea and just call it exclusively hanging out in our downtime?”

She nodded and tucked in tight to him as they walked to his SUV. “You did say you were taken. And we wouldn’t want to make a liar out of you.”

He grinned. “I am taken. Even if you walk away from me right now, I’m taken.”

Chapter Eleven

Charlotte stretched outin her bed, keeping her eyes shut tight as she smiled into the empty room, her mind winding through her evening with Alex, lying on the hood of his SUV and watching the Perseid meteor shower.

“I’m related to the guy this is named after, you know,” Alex stated, grinning when she elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “What? Distant relative, but still.”

“You are not.” She laughed, inching closer to him and pointing at another meteor flashing across the clear sky. “I, however, am a descendant of the illustrious Scarlotti line, of Dayton, Ohio. You may have heard of us. We’re known in most circles as the noisy neighbors with those damn dogs.”

He worked his arm under her shoulders. “Come from a long line of animal lovers then?”

“It’s in our blood.” She smiled. “My dad’s a farm vet and my mom runs a rodent and bird rescue. My brother followed Dad’s footsteps, but I couldn’t handle the whole sick-animal thing, so I went a different route.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Stalking wild dogs and trying to domesticate them.”

She paused to listen in the still night for Butch. “He’s already domesticated. Shaking a paw, slack leash…someone trained him well. I think he just needs a little TLC.”

Alex had hummed in agreement and gone silent after that, his arm tightening around her until the first light of dawn faded the stars.

It was exactly what she didn’t know she needed when she’d shown up at the bar, half of her hoping he’d stand her up and prove her right, the other half scared he would.

Even if you walk away from me right now, I’m taken.

Silver tongues had ensnared her before, pretty promises from handsome men who operated on a different level than she did. The sting of his “type” speech remained a small warning in the back of her mind that he was a different breed than she was, a breed she knew well.

But this was different.

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