“Holy—” The strangled word cut off in a groan and she relaxed.

“Falon? What in the—” She looked down at the crumpled man in the dimness of the office lights and nearly laughed as he grimaced up at her.

“I could say,” he said between painful pants, “the same … for you.”

Sarah let out a chuckle at the pitiful look that crossed his face.

“I’m not the one grabbing women in darkened office buildings.”

“I didn’t grab you. I was going to see if you needed someone to walk out with you. It’s getting dark and Chicago isn’t exactly Disney Land.”

She reached out a hand to help him to his feet.

“That’s kind of you, but I can take care of myself.”

“I can see that.” He smiled at the ridiculousness of the situation and she caught a hint of the old Falon, the one who could see humor in anything. Steeling herself against the urge to melt against him she stiffened her spine.

“I take an annual self-defense class. Besides I’m probably the scariest thing out there in this neighborhood.”

She watched in fascination as something dark passed through his liquid eyes. “You can never be too careful.”

She could only snort at the natural response of a big man protecting his woman. Not that she was his woman. Or that she wanted to be.

Turning toward the door before he could see her blush, she led the way out of the building. The doors automatically locked once the alarm system was activated so she continued down the street to the nearby parking garage.

The whole time Falon walked silently beside her. Making her very self-conscious of the way the sticky summer heat made her hair curl at the ends. She wanted to lift the heavy mass off of her shoulders but didn’t want to show the man any weakness. That the idea of the sultry breeze dancing across her bare neck and shoulders seemed too intimate with him so near. Her nerves seemed supercharged when he was close making her feel more and more like that shy, quiet nineteen-year-old all over again.

“I heard Frank talking about a club across town.” He broke the silence.

“Marcy said something about them going out tomorrow.”

“But not you?” She could feel him studying her.

“But not me.”

“Why?”

Sarah spun on him. She could take Marcy judging her complete lack of a social life, but Falon was just too much.

“Why does it matter to you? You’re here to help my grandfather’s company, not my love life.”

She stood in the middle of the sidewalk with her hands planted firmly on her hips glaring at him. Begging him to let that smirk she could see forming bloom into a full-fledged smile. Almost as if he couldn’t help himself his lips spread into a wolfish smile.

“Does your love life need help?” he said after a beat of silence.

Sarah couldn’t be positive, but the sound that escaped her closely resembled a noise she overheard one of Frank’s nieces make when she was denied a treat. She couldn’t analyze her apparent regression to frustrated child. She was too mad. She nearly stomped her foot in true toddler meltdown fashion before turning on her heel and walking swiftly toward the parking garage once more.

Falon’s low laughter followed her and she couldn’t suppress her next urge. When she extended an arm and gave him the universally understood hand gesture, he only laughed louder. Infuriating man.

She reached the cool darkness of the parking structure when she heard his hurried footsteps behind her.

“Sarah, wait.” Reaching out, he stopped her with a warm hand on her arm. “I’m sorry.”

The laughter in his eyes had her raising a disbelieving brow.

“Really, I am.” He held his arms up, palms facing her in a passive display of surrender. “I didn’t mean to upset you, but your buttons are so easy to press.”

When he saw that she was about to rush off in a huff again, he put a hand back on her arm. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. It’s refreshing, especially in my world.”

“In your world?” She tried to hold on to her anger, but the warmth of the palm on her arm was seeping into her, dissolving her will.

“Short tempers aren’t exactly business smart.”

She stiffened. “I do not have a short temper … normally.”

It was his turn to raise a brow and she felt herself blush.

“So are you going or not?”

His sudden subject change had her scrambling to catch up. That’s right. They had been talking about Frank and Marcy’s plans before she blew up at him on the street. Just thinking about the scene she caused out there had another blush rising to her cheeks and she prayed the dim light of the parking structure would hide it.

“I don’t know.” She was dodging and he knew it. “I have a lot to do the next few nights.”

Falon only narrowed his eyes and motioned for her to lead the way to her car. She was surprised he let her off the hook so easily. She was prepared for him to try to talk her into joining the three of them at whatever crazy club Frank had discovered. She was almost positive he would be going with them tonight if his questioning indicated anything. What she didn’t understand was his interest in her going. Unless Marcy put him up to it. She wouldn’t put anything past Marcy when it came to getting her tail.

“You know, I’m not accustomed to taking no for an answer,” Falon said, holding the car door open for her. Sarah put the keys in the ignition before looking up at him. Standing there looking down at her in the dim light made her overactive imagination kick into high gear. She could just imagine all the sweet ways he could get a woman to say no, then immediately take it back.

She looked into his eyes with the sweetest smile she could muster. “There’s a first time for everything.”

She tamped down her own sense of victory as she pulled the door out of his hand. She felt his eyes on her as she backed carefully out of the parking space but didn’t look in his direction. It wasn’t until she was heading down the ramp that she thought she heard his laughter over the car’s engine.

Chapter Four

Falon stood outside the brownstone in a neighborhood far removed from the one he grew up in. The Gold Coast was something of a legend where he was from and here he was staring up at the door of a quaint home wondering at the stupidity of his actions. It wasn’t that he envied the neighborhood anymore. He could buy the whole street now if he chose to.

He had thought about doing it once. Just to prove that he could, but thought better of it. He hated Chicago. It was what brought him down here that had him questioning his sanity. Sarah.

Whether or not she knew it, she issued a challenge back at the parking garage and he never backed down from a challenge. After watching her drive her little hybrid out of the structure, he returned to the office and found her home address in her file. Sneaky and underhanded, yes, but he had never said that he was beyond pushing the limits of acceptability. In fact, he thrived on it. Especially when it was something he wanted, and he wanted Sarah.

It was more than just his inner drive to meet a challenge that had his body in a fever pitch every time he thought about her. There was something about her that seemed so familiar. When she stood over him in the dim light of the agency, he momentarily forgot about the pain her well-placed knee had caused a vital part of his anatomy. Looking up at her, he experienced an unexpected spark of longing so strong he was struck dumb.

He had experienced attraction before, many times, but the feelings that rushed through his system while lying on that office floor went far beyond mere lust. He needed her. That was the only way to explain it. He needed her with a fierceness that made him uncomfortable. It made him feel out of control and he hated not being in control. So he would do the only thing he could. He would have her once, twice, as many times it would take to get her out of his system and at the end of his service to her grandfather’s agency he would bid her a farewell and get on with his life.