Luca felt like he’d been sucker-punched at the sight of those green eyes. They had been stuck in his head all day. The real thing was much better.
As he looked down, he was reminded of how small she was, at least a foot shorter than him. So damn fragile. There was no way this girl was the bad guy.
“I’m okay, Luca. Thank you for checking on me.”
Their eyes remained locked for a moment longer before she shut the door. Luca stood still and listened for any unusual sound. When there was nothing, he headed back to his house. He prayed that the secret she was keeping didn’t turn her into one of the people he was hunting.
CHAPTER THREE
EVIE TRIED NOT to limp as she left the bakery. She had been walking around from business to business all morning inquiring about job positions, but so far, no one was hiring. To make matters worse, Evie was doing it with an aching foot.
She had been trying to move a damn bookcase this morning so that it was closer to the back door. She figured it would be easy enough to shuffle in front of the door to prevent an intruder.
Turned out the bookcase weighed a ton, and the whole damn thing had fallen on her. By her, she meant her foot. Then, as if her luck wasn’t bad enough, her sexy, dangerous neighbor had to show up at her front door.
That actually hadn’t been that bad. No one had checked on her about anything for a long time. It was nice to think someone she just met might care what happened to her.
Evie had contemplated postponing the job hunt until she could walk without her foot feeling like it would fall off. But one glance at her near-empty purse had gotten her out of the house and knocking on the door of every business she passed.
Even though she could live on very little, Evie did require some level of income. She had always been able to find something in each town, whether that be waiting tables, making coffee, or even working as a receptionist.
Nervous tension entered her shoulders at the prospect of this being the first town that no one was hiring.
Doing some quick mental calculations on how long she could go without a job, her mind was suddenly pulled back to the present at the empty-looking building in front of her. She had walked past it a couple of times that morning. At first, it appeared to be unoccupied with the dark windows and lack of signage, so she’d disregarded it. But throughout the morning, Evie had noticed quite a few people entering and leaving the building. Most had been wearing workout gear and clustered in groups. A gym, maybe? A sliver of hope entered her at the prospect that it might be a job opportunity.
Pushing through the door, Evie walked up to the desk, hoping she didn’t reek of the desperation she felt. Behind it stood a tall woman who looked a similar age to Evie. She had red curly hair pulled into a ponytail and was wearing activewear. She was beautiful.
Evie tried not to feel self-conscious talking to someone who looked like they could be a runway model. As the woman looked up, a huge smile spread across her face. Evie almost stumbled, surprised at the welcoming expression.
“Hi, welcome to Marble Protection, or as I call it, Marble. I’m Lexie. Are you here for the morning self-defense class?” A wave of jealousy hit Evie. She would love to be that confident. She had been once.
“Hi, I’m Evie.” Trying not to be awkward, she pulled her resume out of her bag. “I was actually wondering if you’re hiring?”
The girl cocked her head to the side. “You’re new in town, aren’t you? Well, of course you are, or I would have seen you.”
Evie didn’t know if an answer was required, but she decided it was safest to give one just in case. “I am.”
Lexie gave Evie another once over before the smile seemed to get even bigger if that was possible.
“Great! You might be in luck, Evie. I’ll just call one of the guys down. Give me a sec.” Turning her back to Evie, Lexie picked up the phone.
As Evie stood and waited, a grunt from the left pulled her attention. Not having taken her attention from Lexie, Evie turned to take in the rest of the large space. The room was huge and had soft mat flooring.
Turning her head, she was just in time to see a man being flipped over the shoulder of another man. Evie’s eyes widened. The men were huge, both in height and muscle mass, and they had an audience watching them.
The man who was flipped jumped straight back onto his feet, seemingly unfazed by what had just happened, and crouched into a fighting stance.
Taking an involuntary step back, a shot of fear passed through her at the sight of the violence. Violence filled her nightmares. It was what she saw when she closed her eyes or when her mind drifted for too long. No. She couldn’t be here. It would set off one of her attacks.
Not thinking, just acting, Evie turned. She needed to get out. Stepping forward, she hit a brick wall.
What the hell?
Evie felt herself flying backward when strong arms wrapped around and righted her. A brick wall with arms.
Glancing up, she realized that she hadn’t run into a wall at all, rather another huge man. Did this town have a factory of these men or something? Why was everyone so damn huge here?
Then her brain caught up with her body. This huge man was touching her. Pulling her arms free, she took a big step back. Touching. Another trigger for her. She struggled with any physical contact.
“Sorry, I thought you saw me behind you.” Evie tried to get her bearings as the man spoke. She looked up, realizing he was familiar. Had she seen him before? The next moment it hit her. The other runner. The man who had been with her neighbor this morning. Shit. Now she really needed to get out.
Evie mumbled something which she hoped resembled a polite but dismissive apology and went to step around the huge man.
“Hey, you’re Evie, right? You live next door to Luca?” The man casually stepped closer to the door, effectively blocking Evie’s exit. Not waiting for a response, the man continued, “Marble Falls is a small town. You can’t even walk five feet without running into someone you know around here.”
Evie wanted to correct the man and tell him that she didn’t know him or Luca. That would encourage further conversation, and Evie wanted to leave. Now.
“Yes, that’s me,” she answered, giving a tentative smile. Her gaze flickered up to his face, then back toward the door again. She wished she was brave enough to slide past. The exit was so close.
“My name’s Asher. Luca, some other guys, and I run this place.” Asher gave what most women would describe as a million-dollar smile. To Evie, it just made her want to leave faster. Dangerous. That’s what he was. In more ways than one. “What brings you here this morning?”
Now leaning against the wall, Asher looked like he was there to stay. He may as well be a statue. Resigned to the fact that she was now a part of this conversation, at least for the moment, she worked to maintain eye contact.
“Um, I just moved here. I’m walking around town to see if anyone’s hiring. I didn’t realize this was a fighting gym… or whatever it is. I was just leaving.” Evie made a motion to move around him.
The polite response would be for him to thank her for stopping by and step aside. Asher remained where he stood, giving no indication that he planned to move anywhere anytime soon. Either the man couldn’t take a hint, or he was intentionally trying to block Evie from leaving.