Nicci Harris

"Do you hurt people?"

"Not people like you. Only people like me."

"But people like you have people like me who love them."

Look, darlin. Firstly, purring on his face isn’t going to take away your V-card. I know most guys are dickheads, but it doesn’t work like that."

His biceps are bigger than my hopes and dreams for the future

Max's eyes are near black from this distance, narrowed and deep, with so much intensity

"You look a little out of place," I hear a deep voice say, and it's the first time Max Butcher has ever spoken to me. His voice is clear, confident, and articulate, yet with a gravelly aftershock that does things to my breathing.

I clear my throat. "It's funny."

"What's funny?"

"I was going to say, 'It's funny you say that because', but then couldn’t be bothered finishing that sentence."

My head is heavy, but I manage to arch my neck and look up at him through my lashes. I sigh, my drunken vision distorting his face at this distance and creating a fuzzy fisheye around him. "Hi, Max."

"Do I know you?"

"You're so tall," I whine.

He's suddenly squatting next to me, a grin playing on his lips. "Better?"

I smile and feel my eyelids get heavier. "Yeah. And no, I don't know you. I mean, you don't know me."

He's still grinning, his lips a provocative slash across his face. "Okay."

I look down at my legs stretched out in front of me and then at him. He's still there, nailing me with his stare. "Oh my gawd. You're too hot, Max. Seriously, just stop it."

His grin gets wider, becoming slightly crooked and naturally cocky in nature. He has a single dimple on his left cheek. Of course he does. I want to poke it. I'm going to poke it.

Do not poke it!

His mouth moves and I'm fixated on that dimple. "I'll work on that for you," he says.

"Good." I nod. "Go get fat or something."

He chuckles a little and it's my new favourite sound. White teeth flash at me for a moment, and they're straight and perfect. My eyes go back to his dimple.

Do not poke it.

Swallowing down the knot in my throat, I say, "You're probably wondering why I'm on the floor, right?"

He studies me, eyes shifting around my face for a moment. I can feel them everywhere, their path from my eyes to my lips palpable, and I'm pretty sure I'm now panting.

"You fell," he says, amusement in his voice.

"Right." I giggle nervously. "So you're not so much wondering as. . . Not wondering. Because you know."

Oh my gawd, Cassidy. Shut up.

I'm not sure what he thinks is so funny, but he's still grinning, his eyes fixed on me.

He holds his hand out, and I just stare at it. "Need some help?"

I take a deep breath. Placing one hand in his big palm and the other against the floor, I push myself up as he helps stabilise me. When my legs attempt to take my weight and balance, I stumble. His hands catch my waist and, frick, I'm so aware of them on me right now. Warm. Strong. I look down at them, blinking in confusion as the two hands gripping my middle become four

Yep, the planet just tilted and now my feet are no longer on the floor because Max has me cradled against his chest. Attempting to focus, I blink a few times, but my vision has disappeared. My head rolls onto his shoulder.

"I won't be able to sleep tonight unless I know you’re next to me."