Hard Core (Hard As Nails Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

at her. “What impression would that be?”
    “That I’m a poor, helpless little girl.”
    “Of course not,” I force a wide smile. “You’re an absolute soldier.”
    “Are you being sarcastic?”
    “Now why would I go and do something like that? I saw how you fought that guy back there. He had some serious scratch marks across his face. Good for you. Where are your keys?”
    “In my pocket, luckily. My car’s over there.” She points to the far end of the lot and I walk in that direction.
    “That’s my ride.” I point to my sexy beast parked under the glow of a streetlight. She’s been my baby for as long as I can remember, and I think she’s damn beautiful, but Alyssa’s staring at it like it could sprout horns and bite her.
    “You like bikes?” I ask, even though I know damn well from her expression she doesn’t.
    “No.” She shakes her head. “I’m terrified of bikes.”
    I walk deeper into the parking lot. “So can I have the keys to your car?”
    She squirms in my arms, digging into the right pocket of her shorts, and recovers her keys. “Don’t wreck my baby.”
    “And where is your baby resting?”
    She points at an old and beaten white sedan. The rear passenger door is smashed in, with a long trail of faded green paint brushed against the creases.
    “It’s probably a good thing I’m driving,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood but she doesn’t crack a smile. When I get to her car, I put her down and lean her against the side of it as I unlock the passenger door and tug it open.
    “You know it’s not often that I get into cars with complete strangers.”
    “Good advice from your parents?” I question as I situate her in the passenger seat. She swings her feet into the car, and I prop my hand on the rim of the door, waiting to shut it.
    “From my father. My mother wasn’t exactly in the picture.” She shakes her head. “Forget I said that. I don’t know why I did.”
    “I have a trusting face.”
    “Sure.” She reaches for the door and begins to pull it shut. “Whatever you say.”
    I walk to the driver’s side of the car, jump into the seat and turn the ignition. I press my foot against the clutch before realizing it’s not even there. “Automatic?” I mumble to myself.
    “I never could get a handle on sticks.”
    I laugh. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
    She groans and throws her head back against the seat, and even though it’s a small one, I’m glad I managed to make her smile.

Chapter Six
     
     
    Alyssa
     
    About an hour after Axel drives me to the hospital, we’re back in the car again. I alternate watching the passing city lights and watching him.
    He carried me into the hospital and waited with me until the doctor saw me. I’ve stared at him plenty since he rushed in to help me, and he definitely looks different depending on the lighting.
    In the light, there’s a hardened quality that goes with his impressive, muscular body, yet at the same time, he’s so handsome, so pretty even, that it’s easy to let my guard down. Here in the dark, however, there’s a feral, dangerous quality to him, and I know some part of me should be afraid.
    I’m not, and I don’t know why I’m not. Maybe it’s because he’s shown me more consideration than the majority of men in my life, with the exception of my father. He didn’t have to help me. Plus, if he hadn’t insisted I go to the hospital, I probably would have broken my ankle parading around that darn strip club.
    He did help me though, without wanting or demanding anything in return. Yet.
    And instead of dreading what he might demand as pay-back, I find my mind conjuring up all sorts of different scenarios and my body responding with enthusiastic interest.
    The kind of danger I sense in him, I realize, isn’t born of the fear that he’ll hurt me.
    It’s born from desire. My own, and his, which I can’t help but see in his eyes whenever he runs his gaze over my body. It’s born from the knowledge