Chris’s lips curved into the smallest of smiles, and he reached over to touch my hand. His cool fingers against my burning hot skin sent a shiver through me, and I had to quickly look away to hide the hot flush rising into my cheeks.“I have to ask you something, though,” he said.I glanced at him.

A muscle ticked in Chris’s jaw as he stared at the warehouse, but he remained silent, allowing me to continue.“At first, it was just an... unpleasant development,” I said, fighting to keep the bitterness out of my tone. “The construction scarred a part of our lands, certainly, but it wasn’t anythin

My lips twitched upwards into a small smile as I studied him. He was making it painfully obvious how much he was looking forward to the prospect of having me all to himself for an evening, just the two of us.As tempting a thought as that was, however, I had to squash it down. We were still in the m

“Maybe,” I conceded. “Or maybe not. The point is, it would be your choice to make, one way or the other. I’m not going to try and strong-arm you into anything. But you know how I feel about it.”A beat passed, and then the corner of Chris’s lips quirked upwards into that faint smirk of his.“You’re

AvaThe entire tavern was silent once again, but not in a good way this time. The strange man’s question had echoed through the space, his deep voice reverberating off the walls in a menacing way.Before I could even fully comprehend what was happening, Chris straightened his shoulders and announced