Chapter Two
Kaleb thought about it. He’d never seen it from a woman’s viewpoint. He’d had to deal with so many female victims, but he’d never gotten inside one’s head.
“Have you ever been hurt?”
His stomach twisted when he saw the flash of pain before Myla looked away for a moment.
“Yes. But I’m still lucky. I haven’t been raped or killed, so I feel I’m doing pretty good.”
Jesus. To have to live like that. Kaleb had always been a big guy, and with his dark complexion and hair, he looked even more intimidating. Now he had the scars, and people were afraid to look at him most of the time.
He reached out and used his fingers to circle her wrist. “Jesus, Baby. You really are tiny.”
She grinned and tried to circle his wrist, but couldn’t get halfway around it. “Yeah. And you’re not.”
He shook his head and grinned. “I haven’t been this size,” he said and indicated the grip he still had on her wrist. “Since I was eight, maybe.”
She snorted and tried to pull her arm away from him. “Wow, that’s comforting.”
He chuckled. His smile fell when a man tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hey, babe, you want to dance?”
Myla looked over her shoulder and frowned at the person who stood behind her. “No, thank you.”
The guy speared his fingers through his hair, looked from Kaleb, then back to her. “You’d rather be with Scarface there?”
She gasped and stood to face the guy.
“Of all the shit I’ve ever heard, that takes the cake.” She poked the guy in the chest with her finger. “You know what, Dickhead? I’d pick my friend there over you any day of the week.”
Kaleb bit down on his tongue to keep from laughing. The top of Myla’s head barely reached the guy’s chin, and she was backing the asshole up with every poke of her finger.
“Now wait a minute, bitch.”
Kaleb’s humor fled instantly, and the protective daddy in him wouldn’t allow the man to disrespect her. He stood behind Myla and stared down the man. He didn’t like her being called a bitch. He could say whatever he wanted to him, but not her.
The man swallowed and raised his hand. “Whatever,” he grumbled and turned.
He grinned when Myla slapped her hands together and then set them on her hips as if she were proud of herself. She grinned and turned. A grunt left her mouth when she ran into his chest.
Kaleb grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling on her ass and grinned at her disgruntled expression.
She rubbed her nose and looked up, and then up some more until her head was tipped way back to be able to see Kaleb.
Her expression went from disgruntled to embarrassed to angry in a matter of seconds, making him bite back a grin.
“He didn’t run from me. Did he? You’re the one who scared him.”
He bit back a smile. “Oh, I’d say you made him nervous.”
She snorted and then started to chuckle as she shook her head. “It’s just not fair.”
He laughed, kept hold of her elbow, and led her back to the chair. “You know you didn’t have to do that?”
She frowned again. “Yeah, I did. I don’t like assholes.”
“It doesn’t bother me when people comment on this,” he said, indicating his face.
She stared at him for a moment. “You know what the first thing I noticed about you was? Your eyes and your hands. Then everything else just fell into place.” Myla set her hand on his arm. “You’re one of the most masculine, handsome men I’ve ever seen.”
Fuck. To hear that from the beautiful woman sitting next to him made his stomach cramp with desire. He grunted. “Baby, you don’t have to say that shit...”
She moved forward in her seat and squeezed his arm between both of her hands. “I know I don’t. Please believe me when I say everything I just told you is the truth.”
He studied the seriousness of her expression.
One thing about being a cop is that you have to learn to read people, and as far as he could tell, she was truthful.
She was the prettiest girl in the bar, and she wanted to spend time with him.
He knew he didn’t look like a monster, even if some children and women acted like it sometimes, but for her to think he was handsome just blew his mind.
The thought of being with her made his mouth water. The only thing that would change the way he felt was if she weren’t a little. What he’d noticed about her was that she was definitely a submissive woman, but would she ever feel comfortable calling him Daddy?
He tipped his head forward. “Thank you.”
****
She released his arm and smiled. She picked up her glass and took a sip while she turned her attention to her friends. Many of the group were coming back to the table, which told her the group was ready to start leaving. Kelly waved to her, and she waved back.
She turned to Kaleb.
“Well, it was very nice to meet you,” she said and held out her hand. She didn’t understand why leaving him was so hard when they’d only just met.
He grasped her hand. “It was nice to meet you, too.”
She bit her lip and stood. She stared down at him for a moment. “Okay, well, night.”
She turned to go.
He reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her. “Wait.”
She turned back to him and waited.
“Give me your number,” he demanded in a gruff tone.
He took his phone out and waited.
She rattled off the numbers and watched as he typed them in. She vaguely heard her phone ring at the other end of the table.
He nodded and shoved his phone back in. “Now, you have my number, too.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. She blew out a frustrated breath when he didn’t say anything else. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why do I want your number?”
He grinned at the frustration in her tone and wanted to poke at her a bit. “Well, I thought if you ever needed a cop, you’d have my number.”
Her mouth fell open, and her arms dropped. She caught his expression, and her eyes narrowed.
“Oh well, that was very sweet of you, but I already have Kole’s phone number. So, I guess I don’t need yours.”
She turned and walked away, grinning when she heard him chuckle. She guessed he would probably call her. At least, she really, really hoped he would.
Myla gathered her friends and their purses, then waved at everyone as they began to leave. She turned and caught Kaleb watching her. She blew him a kiss and walked off.
The thought of never seeing him again made a shroud of despair wrap around her. He was the most masculine man she’d ever met, and the dominance in his personality made her body tingle.
She always dreamed of finding a man like her father. He’d been protective and so caring with her mother, which often made her envious. She always thought the chances of finding a dominant man were nil, until she’d met Kaleb.