Cold Hart (Soul Hunters) (Dark Hart Book 2) Page 5

  Midway through my shift, we hit a strange lull and I was able to take a few minutes to regroup. Normally, it was moments like these when my mind would start to wander, but the other bartender, Owen, had other plans.

  “You’ve got an admirer,” he said.

  We were leaning against the wall, next to the shelves of vodka and rum, and had the perfect vantage point to survey the room.

  “It’s the cleavage,” I explained.

  “I’m sure that’s why most of the guys are drooling,” he said with a laugh, “but this guy looks smitten. Maybe it’s true love?”

  I followed Owen’s gaze, looking for my secret admirer. “There’s no such thing.”

  “Spoken like someone who’s had her heart broken.” He grimaced knowingly and then stepped up to the bar to take orders.

  I finally found the person that had caught Owen’s attention. A man sat at a table in the back corner of the room. He would’ve blended in with all of the other guys if he hadn’t been wearing his shades inside. I sucked in a breath. My library companion had followed me to the bar.

  Sure, it was possible it was just a coincidence. But that didn’t explain why he was staring right at me, watching my every move.

  “Hey, Hottie! I need beer.”

  I blinked hard and snapped back to reality. I had a job to do; Shades could wait. But the next time I had a break long enough to look around the bar, he was gone.

  It took longer than usual to clear out the bar and I was in a bad mood by the time I cashed in my tips. My haul was good, but it was late and I was exhausted. Boomer offered to walk me to my car. It was a nice offer, but I didn’t need anyone to protect me. I’d gotten pretty good at protecting myself over the years.

  The parking lot had been full when I arrived, so I’d had to park around the corner. Walking to my car, I sensed that I wasn’t alone. I whirled to face whomever, or whatever, might be following me. There was nothing behind me but an empty, dark street.

  “Paranoid,” I muttered to myself, turning back, then pulling up short when I saw that I wasn’t alone. “You.”

  Shades smirked, nearly imperceptibly in the dark. He was leaning against the side of my car with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Me,” he said, his voice as deep as his laugh.

  “What do you want?” I asked, trying not to sound nervous. I wasn’t exactly afraid that he was going to hurt me, but I didn’t like not knowing his motives. “Why are you following me?”

  “I’m here to save you, Kaylie.”

  “You are going to save me?” I laughed, but hearing him say my name also made me shiver. “Creepy and funny. You are quite the catch.”

  He pushed away from the car, pulling up to his full height. It was the first time I had seen him standing and I was surprised that he was well over six-feet-tall.

  “You heard about the blond girl that was killed last night?”

  I nodded and swallowed hard. Just a couple of blocks away from where we stood, a college girl had been brutally attacked. “What of it?”

  “It was supposed to be you.” Shades took a step forward and every muscle in my body tensed.

  Could he be one of them? How had I not suspected that already? Especially since I had never seen him without his shades. “What do you want?” I repeated.

  “I need you to come with me, Kaylie.” He moved even closer.

  “Why would I ever do that?”

  He leaned close, so close that I caught whiff of his scent, spicy and intoxicating, and also familiar. “Because I was the one that saved you that night.”

  Sign up for E.J.’s Mailing List.

  Table of Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR