Something was drawing him toward her. What, he still wasn’t sure. It was probably just the fact that she was his mission.
It definitely had nothing to do with her being the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
The bell on the door tinkled as he exited the diner, then again as she followed him out into the bright, afternoon Texas sun. Mainstreet bustled in front of them.
“What about transforming people? Seen anything like that?”
He grunted, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking both ways as he stepped out into traffic. Maybe if he crossed the road, she would stop following him.
No luck. She trailed him right out into the street. Damn, this woman was persistent.
As he stepped up on the curb on the other side of the street, he couldn’t help looking over his shoulder to make sure she got across safely.
It was a good thing that he did.
At the same time, a car skidded haphazardly out of ongoing traffic, speeding right at her.
Dallas cursed darkly as he lunged for her. This infuriating reporter was really going to get herself killed.
He grabbed her just in time, pulling her to the side and up onto the curb with him, narrowly dodging the car. That was twice in less than twenty-four hours that he had saved her.
“Careful,” he growled, maybe a little too sternly due to fear at what had almost happened. “You’ll get yourself killed.”
His own forcefulness surprised him. He maintained a cool detachment to pretty much everything, but for some reason, the idea of this woman getting hurt or possibly dying shook him straight to his core.
Dallas looked her up and down, assessing every inch of her to ensure that she wasn’t hurt. When he was satisfied that she wasn’t, he let her go and stepped back, eyeing her carefully.
“You—you saved me,” Mel said, blinking and eyeing the road. “That was so fast.”
He nodded slowly, watching her. She seemed a bit shaken up but otherwise fine. And now, at least, she wasn’t asking him any more questions. He could disappear and continue following her from a distance now.
That was until her eyes welled up.
Dallas’s eyes widened in panic. Oh hell, what was going on with this human? She was leaking. Upset.
Had he hurt her when he pulled her from the traffic? Was she okay? She smelled fine, and he hadn’t noticed any bruises or cuts when he had looked her over.
He had no idea what to do about her tears, but a low growl from his tiger deep within him told him he better figure it out quick.
4
Tears streamed down Mel’s cheeks, completely oblivious to their extremely inconvenient timing.
She’d honestly thought she was about to die, and the relief had just completely overwhelmed her.
So now here she was, on Main Street, silently crying in front of this man whose name she didn’t even know.
A man who’d glared at her and practically yelled at her for almost dying.
When she’d spotted him across the restaurant, he had been so utterly intriguing that she couldn’t help but walk over to sit down and talk to him.
She wasn’t usually the kind of reporter to chase after huge, gorgeous men, but there was something about him. And she’d been in the business long enough to know when to trust her gut.
Even now, as concern and confusion filled his glowing amber eyes, she couldn’t help but think that he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He had rugged black hair down to his shoulders, a straight nose set above soft, kissable lips, and a stubborn jawline that was taut right now.
Not only that, but he was impossibly tall and ripped with muscles that couldn’t even be hidden by the loose white work shirt he was wearing. His huge pecs and biceps strained against the material.
An Adonis, complete with a black Stetson.
Not that she had time to be thinking about that right now when she’d almost died.
It just all felt like too much, between spending the night fearing that someone would break into her ratty hotel room, the crazy experience with the creepy, gross cowboys the night before, and Trent literally hanging her out to dry all morning.
She’d been up bright and early to chase leads, but after she’d gone over to his hotel room and knocked on the door, only to receive some bull-crap response about “not feeling well,” it had taken some of the wind from her sails.
Mel should have known that he would be a jerk, and to top it all off, she still hadn’t heard from him today.
“I’m sorry for bothering you,” she said, wiping her cheek and composing herself. “I’ll be more careful. Thank you.”
He was watching her now, silent concern plain on his face. It had taken almost being killed by a car to even get any words out of him.
Right now, it looked like more words weren’t forthcoming.
She turned to leave, but he spoke again. One word.
“Wait.”
His voice was deep and masculine yet slightly melodic, and her ears tingled as she turned back to face him. He was holding up a hand, gesturing toward a small hole-in-the-wall cafe that had outdoor seating. He walked over, pulling a chair from the table and eyeing her expectantly.
Mel rubbed her cheek again, understanding flaring. “You want me to sit with you?”
He nodded slowly, still holding the back of the chair.
This was probably a dead end, Mel knew that, but there was something about the way he was looking at her that made her want to join him.
Blinking away the rest of her tears, she walked over and took the seat he offered. Once she was seated, he walked around the table and sat across from her, still eyeing her with concern.
He didn’t say anything for few minutes, and when the waiter dropped by, clad in black and white, he silently pointed to the menu to order them both coffee and waved the server away.
When he finally did speak,
