head back to see all of him and I was not disappointed. He was tall and broad, that much I could tell, but I found myself curious to know if his body was as strong and dangerous as his face.
My cheeks heated even more because I was being an idiot. I had no business checking out this stranger in the middle of a mugging. I brought my attention back to what was happening and winced for the would-be mugger. My hero still had his hand wrapped around the other guy’s fist and if the look of pain on the guy’s face was any indication my hero was squeezing.
“Let go of the fucking purse.” His voice was deep and gravely but it felt like velvet soothing over my tense body.
The mugger let go and finally got his fist free so he could back up. “Next time mind your own business, man!”
I watched as he ran away and pulled my purse tight to my body. My blog was saved for the moment. I turned to my hero and opened my mouth to thank him, only being faced head on with all of his sex appeal was too much for my tired brain. I felt my mouth flapping around like words were trying to form only no sounds came out.
“What the hell were you thinking?” His voice was even angrier than when he’d spoken to the mugger. His eyes narrowed into slits and the muscles at the sides of his jaws worked like he was grinding his teeth.
I squeaked out my first sound since he appeared on the scene but it wasn’t coherent. I snapped my mouth closed and looked at a spot right over his left shoulder in hopes of distracting myself from how hot he was. “Why are you yelling at me?”
He stepped closer to me and the smell of leather and something spicy filled my space. It wreaked havoc on my sensibility and I had an instant image of grabbing his face and kissing him like there was no tomorrow.
“I’m yelling at you because you could’ve just gotten yourself killed! You tried to fight a man who was twice your size.”
I glanced in the direction the mugger had run. “I don’t think he was twice my size. That’s being a little dramatic. I couldn’t lose my purse. I have important stuff in here.”
His scoff brought my gaze to his face and I watched as he actually rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you could replace whatever lipstick he would’ve gotten away with. If he’d knocked your lights out and then dragged you into an alley, however, I’m not sure you could replace what he stole from you then.”
I shivered. I hadn’t thought about that. It hadn’t happened, though, so that’s what I had to focus on. “He didn’t. I’m fine and I still have my purse. Thank you for your help. I have to go now.”
He reached out and wrapped his big hand around my upper arm to stop me from leaving. “You need to learn to protect yourself if you’re going to try to fight off muggers.”
I stared up at him in shock and nearly laughed as his face transformed with more shock than I was experiencing. “Look, you did your job. You saved me. You don’t have to feel obligated to help me past that. Clearly that’s not something you’re used to doing, if the shock on your face is any indicator.”
His mouth turned down and his fingers tightened slightly around my arm. “I can’t let you go without at least trying to help you learn how to protect yourself. It wouldn’t be right.”
Another shiver moved down my body but it wasn’t a completely unpleasant one. I stared into his bright eyes and felt my body responding to him in ways that it never had for Paul. At the thought of my boyfriend I had a vision of him kissing the leggy blonde.
I never did anything crazy. I’d graduated high school with a perfect grade point average and I’d finished college a year earlier than all of my friends with a still perfect grade point average. I’d immediately gotten a job in my field and at the ripe old age of twenty-two I was on my way to a boring marriage with a boring man who