With that in mind, he amped up the charm a little and tilted his head.
“Look, I just want to talk to you.”
“Right,” Lara mocked with a roll of her eyes. “Talk. Sorry, big boy. I’m busy. Why don’t you grab one of the girls on the corner? They’re never too busy to chat.”
He snorted. Damned if her smart-ass mouth wasn’t just as sexy as her legs.
“We can keep it public. There’s a diner across the street. We’ll talk there.”
“I’m not into talking, even in public,” she said as she tried again to pull her arm from his grip. He didn’t let go.
“Sweetheart, you just bared your all to a theater full of drooling guys. You obviously have no problem with public displays.” A fact for which he was very grateful. He might not be planning to enjoy what she had to offer, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to appreciate its existence. Covered in shiny fabric or simple denim, the woman had a body of a goddess.
“My all was fully covered,” she reminded him with frown.
“Not fully enough to diminish the fabulous view,” he corrected, his smile automatically shifting to flirtatious before he could stop it. Not that he’d have tried. After all, a goddess had to expect a little worship with a body like hers.
“I’m betting at some point, your mama probably taught you that look doesn’t mean touch.” She shot a pointed glance at his hand, still holding her arm. “You wouldn’t want her disappointed, now would you?”
Dominic grinned. She was as clever as she was pretty.
Still, he didn’t let go. Clever and pretty wouldn’t keep her safe. He, on the other hand, would.
He just had to convince her of that.
After giving him an arch look, she tossed a glance over his shoulder. He knew there were a bunch of losers leaning against the back of the casino, all in various states of uselessness.
“Look, I’ve gotta go,” she said, twisting the arm he held to the side so she could check her watch. “You have something to say, do it now. In thirty seconds I’ll call the goons back. They might not be able to take you, but you’ll have to let go of me to deal and then I’m gone.”
“I need to talk to you about your brother,” he said, trying not to sound amused. He knew from experience that women didn’t like it when he wasn’t intimidated by their threats.
Maybe she sensed that he was trying not to laugh, because she stiffened, her spine rigid and her chin lifting. She swallowed once, then glared and shook her head.
“Sorry, buddy. I don’t have a brother.”
“Phillip Banks. Lieutenant Phillip Banks. Navy SEAL.”
She tilted her head, giving him a long look, then shrugged.
“Like I said, I don’t have a brother.”
Dominic rocked back on his heels.
It’d taken Lucas all of five minutes to pull Banks’s family info. Parents deceased two years ago, sister estranged and living in Reno working as a showgirl. The house and ample family coffers willed to the eldest and only son, and all sitting in wait back in Maryland. From the info Lucas had pulled up, which had included Banks’s sister’s driver’s license, home address and last known work address, the woman in front of him was none other.
“Look, sweetheart, I can’t blame you for denying it. If I had Phillip Banks for a brother, I’d probably lie, too. But facts are facts, no matter how much we might not like them.”
“I said I don’t have a brother.” With a stubborn look she tried to yank her arm away, then growled when his grip didn’t budge.
“And I said you do. Why don’t we go somewhere, get a cup of coffee and make a list of all the reasons Phillip Banks pisses us off?” Dominic saw the humor flash in her eyes for one second before her scowl buried it. He lowered his voice to a flirtatious whisper. “C’mon. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. It’s a long one.”
* * *
LARA HAD TO press her lips together to keep the grin at bay.
Long one, indeed.
No matter how long he thought his...list might be, she wasn’t interested. Besides, when it came to reasons to be pissed, no matter how impressively big he thought his was—and she was pretty sure it was damned impressive—her list was way longer.
And any guy who could flirt with a woman while insulting her apparent relative definitely appealed to her. She had a thing for cocky guys.
But that thing tended to get her in trouble. So she’d learned the hard way that it was better—that she was better—if she straight up ignored it. Or, in unignorable cases such as the gorgeous guy standing in front of her, if she got the hell away as fast as possible.
With that in mind, she shifted her weight back on her heels, wrapped her fingers tighter around her backpack and prepared to swing again if he didn’t let go.
Before she could, before she could even issue her warning, one of the creep cadre sauntered over.
“You okay?”
The temptation to say no, to ask for help, lasted about a second and a half. Lara flicked a glance at the gorgeous mountain of a guy holding her arm, then jerked her head at the four guys, indicating they should split. Even if they did manage to take him, the price they’d want for helping her was more than she was willing to shell out.
Nope, she’d take her chances with the gorgeous mountain.
She could handle him.
Forcing herself to ignore the mental images of the various parts of him she’d really like to handle, she cocked her head to one side, giving the hand on her arm a flick of her fingers.
“You’ve got an interesting pickup line, big guy. What do you call this? The Neanderthal approach? Grab a woman in an alley, grunt a few times about fake relatives and show off your studly moves for the local cockroaches?” She hoped her smile was snarky and not shaky, but her nerves were wound too tight to tell.
If she’d hoped to offend him into letting go, she straight up failed.
Instead, he shifted. His thigh grazed hers and while his fingers didn’t actually move, she felt as if he’d just caressed her arm. His dark eyes turned molten, and his lips quirked into a sexy little smile. Heat swirled through Lara’s system like a whirlwind, filling her body with longings and her mind with crazy thoughts.
“Tell you what, sweetheart. Why don’t we get out of this alley and I’ll work up a line you’ll like much better.” His words were silky smooth. So slick and easy that she doubted he’d ever had a single unsure moment in his life.
Now her nerves were racing for a whole different reason.
Eyes wide, Lara wet her lips.
His eyes dropped, amusement fading.
Lara’s stomach clenched.
Not out of fear.
This was pure, liquid desire.
She’d rather be afraid.
But she also wanted out of the alley. She knew all eyes were still on them, that the creep cadre was only waiting for a chance to unleash their ugly.
“Why don’t we go out front,” she suggested after clearing her throat a couple of times. Out front were real people. Tourists and cops and traffic. She figured it’d take her three, maybe five minutes to ditch him there.
“Let’s go,” he agreed.
As if he knew she was going to bolt, he kept hold of her arm as they made their way to the end of the building. As soon as they rounded the corner, Lara relaxed.