Page 24

Chapter 4

Kierra

There should be a warning before a man like Vex comes into your life.

Something simple. A flashing light. A polite announcement allowing women in the immediate vicinity to prepare themselves.

Especially when that man takes off his leather vest.

Which is exactly what he's doing now, a few feet away from where I'm standing beside his couch.

Underneath, his T-shirt stretches across an impressive chest before following a hard stomach into jeans that fit him in ways I would prefer to examine privately.

I am examining them privately.

Inside my head.

He turns.

I look at a lamp.

Lovely lamp.

Illuminating.

"Sit."

"Does the lamp have to stand?"

His eyes narrow.

"Long day," I explain.

"Knee."

"Razor said it's only bruised."

"He said put it up."

"He also said you should ice your hand. Perhaps we can both disappoint him."

Vex looks at me for several seconds.

Then crosses to the kitchen side of the room.

The cabin is warm, solid, and very much his.

Dark wood, a deep couch, shelves filled with books, and a stone fireplace occupying the opposite wall. Beyond the windows, pines crowd the hillside.

I should feel uncomfortable being alone with him.

Instead, I'm staring at his backside.

He returns with two cold packs, hands me one, and waits.

I sit.

He places a cushion beneath my knee and helps position the cold pack.