Keir got several feet away before I worked through my shock. He’d thoroughly convinced me days before that I had no chance of enlisting his help. What had changed his mind?
Do you seriously care?
I shook free of my stupor and rushed to catch up. “Does this mean you’ll look into him?”
“I’ve already started.”
“You have? What made you change your mind?”
He stopped and stared at me but said nothing, his gaze traveling down to my lips. The lingering look heated my blood to molten lava, singeing everything in its path.
“I have my reasons.” That was all he gave me. “And I don’t want you over there until we sort this out.”
“Having someone inside that house is the best possible source of information. And besides, Stetson is my boyfriend.” Didn’t he see the obvious flaws in his plan? I was in an ideal situation to gather intel. Stetson likely wouldn’t notice if I made excuses to stay away, but I didn’t tell that to Keir. I was the one who heard the girl cry. I felt responsible for her, and I didn’t want to wipe my hands of her without ensuring something was being done.
Something about what I’d said struck a nerve. Keir’s vibrant blue eyes darkened until they were as fathomless as the deepest parts of the ocean. He walked me backward, trapping me between his enormous body and the wall, his face suddenly inches from mine.
“Why do you even care about any of this? You could go about your life with no skin off your back.”
I prickled at the insinuation. “I’m just a shallow sorority girl, so you’d think that’s what I’d do. Maybe I’m looking for bonus points when I apply for my membership with the Colony Club. Oh, I know! Maybe I’m doing it out of a sense of obligation derived from my obvious superiority.” Was that what he wanted to hear? That my station in life made me incapable of any depth or compassion?
“Don’t put words in my fucking mouth,” he growled.
“I didn’t have to. You might as well have put them on a billboard.”
I couldn’t breathe. He was too much. Too disorienting.
His body blocked my escape, the same way his overwhelming presence eclipsed all thought of anything else. All I could see or feel or think of was Keir.
Then his lips were on mine, his hands gripping me tightly to him. I met his kiss with an intensity that rivaled his own. We were two magnets unable to resist one another.
The sensual press of his lips, the tug of his fingers in my hair, the delicious taste of his tongue against mine—the simple act erased my identity until I was no longer Rowan. I was whoever he wanted me to be. I was free.
His hands began to roam my body, but only for a second. Not nearly long enough. He stiffened and pulled back as though only then realizing what he’d done. A heavy veil descended behind his eyes, cutting off any chance of me understanding where his thoughts had taken him.
I didn’t know what to say or do.
“Looks like staying away from the boyfriend won’t be such an imposition.” His well-placed jab deflated the balloon he’d only just filled in my chest.
“I suppose we can’t all be perfect,” I replied with a cold edge, relieved when he took a small step backward.
“No reason to be hurt. I was only speaking the truth.”
I hated how right he was. “If we’re back to being honest, then what is it you want from me in return for your help?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Or was that little display your way of showing me your expectations of my role in all this?”
He’d already told me he didn’t want my money, so why else would he agree to help me?
I didn’t know how, but Keir’s eyes went nearly black. “Don’t flatter yourself.” Each word was razor sharp. “The only thing you could possibly offer me that I can’t get elsewhere is your father. If you owe me; he owes me.”
I clenched my jaw so hard the muscles ached. Of course. How could I have possibly forgotten? Keir wanted my father to help him get a particular person appointed as police commissioner. That was what this was about. I felt like a fucking fool, so much so that an unfamiliar burn pricked behind my eyes.
“I can’t make any promises,” I said in a hollow voice.
Keir stared at me for a handful of endless seconds, then reached out and took a lock of my hair between his fingers. The surprising change in his demeanor stole my breath.
“You know that Rowan means redhead in Irish.”
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “It’s also a kind of tree.” The tree that had been the inspiration for my name.
“It’s a particularly strong and resilient species, if I recall. Fitting.”
This mercurial man was giving me whiplash. Where the hell was he going with this?
“Is this your natural color?” He finally allowed the hair to slip through his fingers.
Blood drained from my face, emotion surging to fill all the empty capillaries until I was overwhelmed with feeling.
I shook my head.
“What’s your natural color?”
“Blond,” I breathed.
“You always dye it?”
“Yes,” I clipped, pulling away as I fought for control of myself. “What is it you want from me?” I demanded softly. The damn man turned me inside out, and I was sick of grasping for purchase on his slippery slope.
Keir’s eyes finally returned to mine, an eerie calm reinstated. “I’ll think of something. The more important question is, are you sure you want to go down that road?”
I studied him—absorbed every nuance of his posture and each tiny tell into his personality. I considered the way he hadn’t tolerated disrespect at his club. I recalled the defacto manner in which he’d negotiated with my father, and the way I’d known innately that he wouldn’t harm me. As for his kiss, never in a million years would I be able to forget how the touch of his lips had found a way to unlock a piece of my soul.
But he was still a criminal, and this was my chance to walk away. To scrub Keir Byrne from my memory banks and do my best to continue onward with the life I’d so carefully constructed.
This was a pivotal moment in my life. I could sense it as clearly as I could feel the heat radiating off his body. One day, I’d look back at this single decision as either the beginning or the end.
If only I knew which road led where.
All I could do was go with my gut, and one word resounded in my head.
“Yes.”
