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I‟d like to have some idea who I‟ll be dealing with.”
    “Don‟t worry too much. If I thought I was in serious jeopardy, I‟d call
    Tyler. Or Jack Cole. He and your cousin are the best, and he‟s an old
    friend. Because of him, the house has a top-of-the-line security system.”
    Luc ground his jaw. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. “I
    said I‟d keep you safe tonight and I will. Answer the question.”
    He wasn‟t letting this go, and that gave Alyssa hope. Maybe he cared,
    at least a bit. Even if it was against his good sense and his will.
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    Shayla Black
    “First, just about any jealous wife or girlfriend who doesn‟t like the
    amount of time her man spends in my club. That‟s common.”
    “Knives aren‟t usually a woman‟s style.”
    No. She‟d had her tires deflated, her house egged, more ugly notes
    than she could count. Scorned women usually annoyed and rarely
    disturbed.
    “What about past lovers?” He pinned her with a burning stare. “Current
    ones?”
    She closed her eyes. Naturally, he‟d assume there were many of both.
    She‟d been down this road; it shouldn‟t hurt. But damn, it did. “The night
    you spent with me, I told you there hadn‟t been anyone in two years.
    There‟s been no one since you.”
    Luc shook his head, looking as though a hundred different thoughts
    blazed through it. “Alyssa, you could be in danger. I need you to be
    completely honest.”
    Jerking around in her seat, she faced him, trying to keep a lid on her
    temper. “I have been honest. Just because you don‟t believe me doesn‟t
    make me a liar.”
    “C‟mon,” he growled. “Not a customer who wanted just a bit more after
    seeing your gorgeous breasts naked? Not a contractor who did you a favor
    and wanted something in return?”
    Anger seized her, gripping her chest in a steely fist. “I don‟t roll that
    way.”
    He hesitated. “So you didn‟t agree to fuck me three months ago so
    you‟d have a guest chef this week?”
    No, I was willing to say anything because I wanted you so badly . . .
    and hoped you’d want me back. And not for anything would she wear her
    heart on her sleeve now. He‟d left her before dawn and pawned her off with
    flowers. Now he‟d all but intimated she was a whore.
    But if there was one thing she knew, it was men. He felt something for
    her. Her mission was to make it more.
    “You were different.”
    “Of course.” He snorted as he stopped at a red light.
    Alyssa had had enough of his shit. She grabbed his chin and turned
    him to face her. “Maybe I was simply stupid enough to believe all your
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    Shayla Black
    Southern gentleman charm and wanted to know what it was like to have
    sex with someone who didn‟t see me as a prostitute. Silly me. You were
    definitely more hard-core than anyone I‟ve had, way more than your whitebread exterior suggests.
    You roll out that sort of red carpet for every
    woman?”
    He tore away from her grip and clutched the steering wheel even
    tighter. He exhaled harshly, clearly trying to restrain his temper. So his
    behavior that night was a sore spot? Maybe he hadn‟t wanted to want her
    and was mortified that he had. And still did.
    “I asked you about lovers. I‟ll take you at your word that you hadn‟t had
    one in two years prior to me.”
    “But you don‟t believe me.”
    “What about current lovers? Tyler?”
    None of his fucking business. As far as she was concerned, this
    conversation was in the toilet. Logic told her to retire her stupid happilyever-fantasies about Luc. He hadn‟t made love to her with such fervor
    because he felt the pull between them. He‟d done it because she‟d been
    his first real walk on the wild side and being bad flipped his switch. They
    probably should just have sex and not bother with emotions.
    But her heart didn‟t want to give up.
    “Tyler would never try to kill me. Whoever did this tonight isn‟t
    someone who‟s been in my bed. It‟s someone who‟s pissed at