Page 30 of Steel

Her sultry perfume lingered, filling my nostrils to intoxication.

“What. The. Hell?”

I stood in the very same place, positioned like a man suddenly consumed by dry ice, staring at the woods. Did I think she was going to magically reappear like a wood nymph? Or was I worried she had friends, wolves in sheep’s clothing?

I had no clue, but what I did know was that if she was my neighbor, we were going to get a few things straight, like that she couldn’t allow her kid to appear on my property without my permission for starters. Plus, neither that devil child nor his mother had any idea there were wild animals in these woods.

Bears and wolves, coyotes and… bears. Lots of bears.

Maybe not this close, but close enough. And just to pick up a puppy and decide to keep him? What if he belonged to someone? What if he had parents who were desperately looking for him?

Great. I had a puppy thief living next to me.

This was ridiculous.

Why should I care if she was mauled to death by a furry creature with razor-sharp teeth? Cursing under my breath, I turned to head back to the house. With images of the mysterious wild woman still floating in my mind. Crap. I was losing it, my balls still tight and my cock refusing to deflate.

Maybe I did need to get laid, but not with her. If I tried, my dick would likely end up being cut off for some monstrosity of a crime.

I chuckled, pretending I’d dodged a bullet when the sun cascading through the trees sent a strange reflection into my eyes. What the hell? Crouching low, I grabbed the object, pulling it into the light as I stood.

“Holy shit.” I was holding a Matchbox car, but not just any toy you could purchase at some store or on the internet.

The bright red enamel exterior with a solid black interior nineteen seventy-one Dragster was considered one of the rarest Superfast cars and valued well over four thousand dollars. I’d never seen one in my life and somewhere in my parents’ attic was a box containing at least a hundred fifty tiny, perfect vehicles, several considered rare.

I kept it held into the light, staring in awe and with extreme reverence. I’d always wanted one for my collection. The kid must have dropped it when wrangling with the puppy. With a quick glance toward the forest all over again, for a split second the evil boy inside of me, the one who was suddenly ten years old all over again and one mean son of a bitch had returned.

I could just keep the valuable car and the kid would never know.

The thought lingered for a full ten seconds until I mentally kicked myself in the ass. Had I truly thought something so heinous? Could I do that to a kid? Even if he was a little hellion?

No. I could not. Contrary to what the mystery woman thought, I wasn’t a monster.

Maybe just an asshole.

But I could fix that. If she was my neighbor, it would be the neighborly thing to do.

At least I could fix my reputation in the process.

And I wouldn’t leave until we had a few things straight between us.

CHAPTER 7

Violet

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Oh. My. God.

Steel ‘the Heartthrob’ Beckett. I didn’t even know his real name. I hadn’t bothered finding out before I’d left.

My calendar man, my perfect cover model. The man who was going to save my career. Poof.

Gone. Up in smoke.

What had I done? What on earth had I been thinking? And how in the world was it remotely possible that with over seventy-five thousand people living in Missoula, I would find the one man capable of making this entire project a success? And not only find him, but also accuse him of being a criminal, a monster, and a puppy abuser?

All in the space of five minutes?