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money in the world can’t change that.”
    “Naw,” I said, one leg cocked, my right hand propped on my waist. I heaved an exaggerated sigh. “You’re a fine example of that.”
    He swung and, in a snap, I blocked and had Langston by the shirtfront, slamming him up against the side of the building. I let my mask of humor drop and set the fury free to burn. “A man is what you ain’t, Langston.” I ground the words out between my teeth, my face inches from his. “You, you’re a piece-of-shit coward. Me, I’m a con man. I’ll give you that. I tell lies for a livin’. But don’t be thinkin’ I’m the guy who only uses my words as weapons. I’m also the guy who’s gonna kick your balls up to your throat and knock your teeth down to meet ‘em if you ever lay a hand on Aubree Walker again.” I let the fury show for a moment longer, then flashed him a patented ungodly smile, courtesy of one of the unholy Outlaw trinity. “Have I made myself perfectly clear, Langston?”
    Slowly I loosened my hold on Langston’s shirtfront. Forcing myself to smile affably, I made a deliberately botched attempt to smooth out the fabric and brush off some of the dirt, then stepped back and dropped my hands to the waist of my jeans.
    “Maybe you better go on home and change.”
    I spied the ice cream truck coming down the street, heard its cheery music. I took a step back and flagged it down.
    Dismissing Langston entirely, I dug some bills out of my pocket and paid for two Fudgsicles. I could feel Langston’s eyes boring into my back, but I didn’t give a damn. There was nothing that coward could do to me. I already had a bad reputation in this town.
    I shot an inquiring look at Aubree.
    “You want a cold treat, sugar?”
    “You’re messing with the wrong man, Outlaw,” Langston said, his voice shaking with rage and humiliation. “You don’t want to tangle with me.”
    I flicked a glance at him. I was completely bored with the whole scene. “Right. I got better things to do with my time.”
    Langston shook his head, a strange look of utter confusion on his face. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with,” he muttered, then turned on his heel and stalked off.
    Aubree watched him walk away, then turned toward me. Her face got paler. She was visibly shaking, and it looked like…yup, her knees gave out. I caught her and supported her over to an empty bus bench. Her eyes were still closed, and I noticed how long and thick her lashes were, the delicate bones of her face.
    “Hey, sugar. You okay?” My arm tightened around her, the fragrance of her like the sweetest scent, intoxicating. She was tiny, soft, and feminine, and I had to fight to focus, fight to keep my head from dipping down, taking her parted lips, absorbing her gasp like honey on my tongue.
    “It’s like seeing a ghost,” she said softly. “They look so much alike, just like you and your brothers do.”
    “Yeah, they were double trouble, both of ‘em evil twins in every sense of the word.”
    “You rescued me, again,” she said.
    “I’m no hero.”
    “For someone who claims not to be a hero, you seem to spend an awful lot of time coming to my rescue.”
    “Naw, I just hate Langston. You gave me an excuse to get in his face.”
    Told myself I didn’t want her reading anything into my actions. But the truth was that I didn’t want to look at those actions too closely myself. I didn’t want to dig too deep for the reason behind the rush of anger I’d felt when Langston had put his hand on her. I didn’t own her, would never have any claim on her, and therefore had no business feeling jealous or protective.
    It was a simple conditioned response, protecting someone weaker from being harassed by someone stronger. That was all it was.
    I glanced at Aubree as I unwrapped the ice cream, trying to defuse her concentration with a teasing smile. When she opened her mouth, I popped it in.
    She took a bite and shook her head. I unwrapped mine and