He shook his head and leaned over, his mouth brushing her ear as he whispered, “Too many of them.”

Her expression shifted from hunting mode to resigned acquiescence. That was, until she spoke and he realized she wasn’t as resigned to admitting she couldn’t pursue the man as he had thought she was.

“You have to take your artwork to the gallery.” She glanced at her watch. “Must be open by now.” Her gaze met his in too businesslike a fashion. “We could meet at a little Italian place up the street for lunch later today. If you’re interested and you’re hungry by then.”

He was interested, but he was damned concerned that she intended to ditch him a second time, only in this instance, so she could keep Mario under further surveillance.

“Italian?” Jake asked. The insinuation was that the Italian guys might eat at the Italian restaurant, and she had inside information that they’d be stopping for lunch there. Which didn’t set well with Jake. If he was to have a meaningful lunch with the lady, he wanted all her attention.

She shrugged, but the renewed sparkle in her eyes and the slight upward tilt of her mouth meant she had caught his meaning. She lifted her chin just a little. “Or anything else you’re interested in.”

His smile was sure to appear purely predatory. She had to know he was interested in her.

“To eat,” she said, realizing he was thinking like a man would.

His smile broadened as his gaze remained on hers. A faint blush colored her cheeks and creamy throat.

She quickly added, “They have steak houses, sandwich shops, seafood places, you name it.”

“Will you go with me to the art gallery?”

“No. I’ve got some errands I need to run.” Her tone was clipped and businesslike again. She wasn’t going to be talked out of going it alone.

He didn’t like it. He thought she was serious about lunch, but after she’d ticked off these men, he believed she’d be headed into real danger. And he was certain she was going after them further.

“So what will it be?” she asked.

“Steak house, but—”

“Okay, steak house it is. Main Street at 1 p.m.” She rose to leave and straightened her skirt.

He wanted to change her mind, but she seemed determined. He stood to let her out of the booth and noticed that the suited man still seated at the table was watching them now. Jake took her hands, leaned over, and slanted his mouth over hers, meaning to show the man that Alicia was his, and if anyone thought of harming her, there’d be hell to pay. Before he could do much more than press the merest of kisses against her soft mouth, she pulled her hands free.

Prepared to accept her rejection, Jake was about to separate from her, figuring she objected to going any further with this—at least here in the restaurant. Until she placed her arms securely around his neck, her breasts pressed against his chest in a tormentingly seductive way, and with an upturned face, offered her mouth to him.

Eagerness propelled him to take advantage, but he reigned in his baser needs and licked her sugary cinnamon-sweetened lips with a sensuous sweep of his tongue. His hands roamed down her back until they rested at the bottom edge of her jacket on the sensuous curve of her buttocks.

He said quietly, “Open your mouth to me.”

The suggestion was like unlocking the bedroom door and letting him in. His tongue penetrated the small opening as she barely parted her lips to him, more in surprise than in agreement, he thought. But he breached any defenses she might have erected, one of his hands cupping the back of her head as he forged forward, the other keeping her body pressed against his hardness.

She responded like a woman caught up in lust, at first shyly kissing his tongue back, her body a little reserved. Then as if he’d overpowered her will to keep this at a standoff, he sensed her resolve falter. Felt her tongue play with his in a more aggressive manner, felt her body arch against him, pressing her sexy, soft body against his. He nearly groaned when she deepened the kiss.

Sweet cinnamon and spicy woman greeted him in a way he’d never experienced with any other. Her soft body fit against his hard one, which was getting harder by the second. He wrapped his arms around her back and held on tighter until he finally felt the gun at her waist.

She murmured against his lips, “I thought you said you didn’t have a gun.”

“I didn’t think you meant that one. Maybe we could have dinner later?” He was already hoping to spend the day and the night with her, keeping her safe while enjoying her companionship for a while longer.

She gave him a wistful smile back. For an instant, he thought he might be pushing her too fast. But this was the first time a woman had truly sparked his interest in eons, and he didn’t want to let her go just yet. Her wit and wolfish intuition fascinated him.

A long-term commitment with a human female was fraught with difficulties and something his kind would frown on, but a tryst with one was perfectly acceptable if both were willing and agreeable. She seemed as interested as he was. Although a nagging concern told him that she wasn’t someone he could get out of his system easily with an overnight venture.

“Your bill,” Tami the waitress said, her face screwed up in hate as she openly glared at Alicia. She turned to Jake and gave him a small smile as she handed him the bill.

Alicia slipped it out of her hand before Jake could take it. “My treat,” Alicia said to Jake, “for the rescue.”

He fished out two twenties and tossed them on the table. “You can get the dessert later.” He winked at Alicia and saw Tami’s scowl deepen more. With his hand guiding the small of Alicia’s back, he walked her outside. “What’s up with your former schoolmate?”

“She wanted Harold. My first husband. I didn’t know he’d been seeing her behind my back. He married me instead. If I’d known what they’d been up to, I would have given her my blessing and let her have him. But, unfortunately, I didn’t know about their affair until after we were married.”

“The guy must’ve been crazy.”

“No. I was, for not having my eyes wide open when I was dating him.”

Not believing a human guy could be such a jerk, Jake shook his head and walked her to her car. “He still must have been crazy. I take it he didn’t go back to her after you divorced.”

“Nope. He was seeing other women while we were married. He liked them new and different. Once he’d been with a woman for a few weeks, the spark was gone, and he was ready to discard her for someone else. Much like he was with his expensive toys. When his motorcycle was nearly a year old, he ditched it for a new one. When his computer was six months old, he needed something newer that was just on the market. Cell phones, you name it. He was always in debt up to his hairline.”

For an instant, Jake thought he saw sadness in her posture, as she sat with her shoulders slightly slumped and her eyes averted from the mountain vista. She quickly shrugged as if it didn’t matter and cast him a small smile. “I was lucky to be rid of him.”

But her words and her actions gave her away. None of what Harold had done mattered as much as the fact the jerk had lusted after other women when he had given his promise to Alicia to be her one and only.

Jake tried not to see anything more in his relationship with Alicia than serving as her protector until he could convince her to give up the nonsense of taking these men to jail. But he had the sneaking suspicion her past relationship with Harold colored her perception of all men—that they were rats and couldn’t be trusted—and she probably viewed Jake in the same way. It shouldn’t have mattered, but the wolf side of him wanted to exclaim that his kind did not make light of relationships. Although since she was human, he couldn’t admit how faithful his kind were when they made a commitment to their own.

Telling himself it was for the benefit of the Italian guy watching them to see how he and Alicia parted company, he gave her a see-you-soon kiss. He had hoped she would deepen the kiss, but she didn’t encourage anything more than a quick meeting of the lips, as if she was already putting the brakes on their relationship. That again made him think she was playing her part for the mobster, and Jake worried she might still be planning on ditching him. But then he reconsidered. She seemed honest about wanting to meet him again for lunch.

He opened her car door for her. “I’ll meet you at one then.”

“Umm-hmm.” She smiled, but her expression was strained.

If he’d acted on his wolf instincts, he wouldn’t have let her run off on her own, and as soon as he shut the door, he had the resounding feeling that letting her go had been a grave mistake.

She pulled out of the parking space and headed down the street, then stopped at a floral shop. After making sure she got inside the shop all right and that no one was following her, he returned to his truck to leave his artwork off at the gallery. But he was plagued by the niggling worry that he should follow her and make sure she stayed safe.

Figuring he could drop off his photography quickly and then tail Alicia until their luncheon engagement, he rushed into the gallery and startled a woman, her blue eyes wide, who was wearing a conservative suit and had her hair cut short in a professional bob.

“Ma’am, I’m Jake Silver, with the photographs I called about displaying in your gallery.” He spoke quickly and as if he was on edge.

He hoped his smile looked sincere and that he didn’t sound as rushed as he felt as he stalked inside with his box-load of framed artwork. He was ready to drop the photographs on a table and head out again. But by the way the woman’s mouth dropped open, he was sure she was wondering why they’d agreed to carry his photographs in the gallery in the first place.

He hurried to make his excuses as his thoughts remained on the florist shop and his next destination—tailing Alicia Greiston to keep her safe.

***

Totally rattled by Jake Silver, the most dangerously disarming hunk she’d ever caught the attention of, Alicia had missed her chance to follow Mario. She knew that had been Jake’s intent, although she realized he had been right in warning her to use caution. But she didn’t want Mario to get away with murder, and she was determined to make him pay. It had nothing to do with the bond money either, although with a million-dollar bond on Mario’s head, ten percent wasn’t a bad day’s wages. Even though she’d been tracking him for months to be ready in the event that he skipped his court date.