not seeming to sense his distraction. “Jill said you went to college in New York. Did you like it there?”
“I did,” he managed to say, even though he could still feel the other woman’s eyes on him. His excitement spiked.
He slid a glance in her direction. She was watching him, her light blue eyes, almost eerily pale, direct and unblinking.
Who was she? Why was she staring at him?
“... I didn’t know how I’d like it here, because it’s so small-town. And aside from the occasional bout of loneliness, I have really liked the change. Small towns are all that people say. Everyone knows each other. And people care about each other, help each other. It’s nice.”
Jensen nodded again, realizing that Melanie probably thought bobbing his head up and down was the extent of his communication abilities. And at the moment, it was. Again, he caught a glimpse of the pale-eyed woman in his peripheral vision. A man approached her, and he tried to feel relief. Her boyfriend or husband—that was good. But instead he felt oddly irritated.
“Of course,” Melanie said with a small, rather shy smile that still managed to show she could be interested in him, “it’s always nice to have a new face in town.”
He forced another smile back. This was too damned weird. Yet he couldn’t stop glancing again at the stranger. She sat, perfectly still, her attention trained on him. She didn’t even seem to register the man beside her. Jensen shifted, his body reacting to that steady gaze as if it was a touch, stroking over him, teasing his burning skin.
“Here we are,” Brian said, setting down another soda water in front of him. Both Brian and Jill took their seats, and the other woman was mostly blocked from his view.
Good, Jensen told himself. His reaction to the woman had to be an aberration, a response brought on by too many memories. He just wanted to have another quick drink and then go home.
“Hey there, what’s a pretty lady like you doing sitting by herself?”
Elizabeth flicked a quick look at the man who braced his arms on the table, leaning toward her. Then she returned her gaze to the other man. The man with the eyes like the deepest forest.
But in that glance, she had made note of the man next to her. He was average height, muscular, good-looking in a rough sort of way. His blond hair was shaggy. His jeans were a little greasy on the thighs, like he’d been working on a vehicle of some kind and had used the denim as a wipe rag. The same engine grease lined his fingernails.
“Can I buy you a drink?” the shaggy blonde asked.
“No,” she heard herself say, not looking at him. She had to watch the one with the eyes, the forest eyes. She had to study each of his moves. Tracking her prey.
“Come on, one drink won’t hurt. I’m as harmless as a lamb.”
Elizabeth tore her gaze from the man she wanted, meeting the blonde’s eyes directly.
“But I’m not,” she stated, her voice little more than a low growl.
Instead of being turned off by her warning, the blonde’s interest heightened, his attraction filling the air like the musk of an animal. He wanted her. He wanted sex.
“Well, that’s how I like my women. Dangerous.” He grinned, and more arousal radiated from him.
Go with him. Take him back to his place, screw his brains out, and get yourself under control. One human male will serve your purpose as well as another.
No, not just any man would do. Only one.
“Go away,” she stated flatly, looking back to the man at the other table, although she was irritated to see her view was blocked by his returned friends. No matter, she could still keep an eye him.
“Come on—”
“Go now,” she snarled, and maybe this time there was just enough crazy in her eyes, because the shaggy blonde backed away. Then he shrugged, trying to look as if he couldn’t care less that she’d rejected him. He strolled back to his friends, a table of men who all watched her with interested eyes.
She