“Want to clarify that?” she asked with narrow eyes.

His fingers rubbed along her lower back as he held her tightly to him. “I won’t lie to you, Lindsey. I want you night and day.” The intensity in his gaze had her heart thundering. “But don’t worry. I won’t act on it until you’re the one dragging me into the bedroom.”

It took her several seconds to process his last words, and once she had, the thumping of her heart increased, but this time it was because of irritation. She decided emphatically that Maverick Armstrong really did need to be taken down off his high horse. If anyone could reach him all the way up there, that might just be possible to do.

She shot him a look that should have killed him on the spot, and this time when she yanked to free herself, he actually released her. The momentum almost sent her on her butt into the freezing sea water that had already numbed her feet.

“Do you honestly think I have so little pride that I would need to force you into my bed?” she cried in outrage.

“That just goes with the territory, sugar. I’m impossible to resist. But that’s not the point of this mission. That’s just a pleasurable detour.”

“You pompous, assuming ass. I wouldn’t sleep with you again if you were the last man on the planet,” she scolded.

So quickly, she didn’t even have time to blink, he was right up on her again, his hand behind her head. Her breath rushed out and her body shook, but this time it wasn’t from fear. This time it was from something she didn’t even want to begin to analyze.

“I never said anything about sleeping, sugar,” he said.

Then he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. It all happened too quickly for her to have much of a reaction, but just as quickly as he’d grabbed her, he let her go again and took several steps back.

“See, sugar, you can feel so much more than fear. You can feel anger and desire,” he said with his smile back in place.

“Are you playing games with me?” she gasped.

“Nope. I just like that I can inspire so much passion in you,” he told her.

“That’s not passion, you ass. That’s fury,” she snapped.

“Fury and passion go hand in hand. Not everything is about sex,” he said. She took a menacing step toward him and he backed up real quick. It made her feel powerful. That was something she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“I think I better get out of here while I still only have one broken arm. I’ll pick you up tomorrow,” he told her with another laugh.

With that, he turned and walked away, soon disappearing. Lindsey watched him until he was gone, and only then realized her fingers were pressing against her lips where his had barely brushed against them.

He’d made her run through a gamut of emotions in the past half hour, and she wasn’t sure exactly what any of that meant. But she knew one thing for sure. She wasn’t going to help him with the fund-raiser. No way, no how. She standing firm, battening down the hatches, and locking the doors and windows.

Maverick Armstrong was dangerous, probably the most dangerous man she’d ever met. And if Lindsey wanted to keep what was left of her sanity in place, then she had best stay away from him.

That decided, she slowly made her way back to Stormy’s yard, peeking around before slipping through the fence and then rushing to the guest cottage. Maybe it was time to move.

That thought sent fear through her. No. It wasn’t time to leave yet. She just had to be more aware when Maverick was around, that was all. If she avoided him, she’d be just fine.

If only she believed that were actually possible.

CHAPTER TEN

The floor was getting worn out as Lindsey paced back and forth across the living room. She wasn’t waiting on Maverick. No way, no how. Again, she turned and looked at the clock: 10:00 a.m.

What did the time matter? For one thing, she had vehemently decided she wasn’t going with the man. For another, he hadn’t exactly set a time that he was planning on showing up, so it did her absolutely no good to sit there and gaze at the clock.

“Argh!”

The low grumble escaped her mouth as she turned again only to be stopped in her tracks.

“Miss me?”

There he was, leaning against the wall next to her open door. Had she left it unlocked? No way. She couldn’t have done that. She hadn’t forgotten to secure the doors once since the attack. Was this man seriously messing with her head so much that she couldn’t even remember to lock the doors anymore?

“No, I didn’t miss you in the least,” she said through clenched teeth. “Ever heard of knocking?”

“The door was open and you seemed to be in a world of your own, so I thought I would wait until you worked through whatever it is that has you pacing the floors,” he told her with that damn grin of his that made her legs shaky.

“How long have you been standing there?” She would have thought she’d notice the intrusion. That she hadn’t felt anything amiss worried her on a whole new level.

“Not long. Just enough to see you wearing holes in the floor,” he told her as he pushed off from the wall.

“Well, you can turn around and leave now. I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said decidedly.

“We both know you’re frustrated because you want to go out and that, more than anything else, is what’s worrying you. And since you’re all dressed and ready to go, we don’t want to waste the day,” he said, coming closer.