His Lover to Protect - Katee Robert Page 0,2

creeping into alleys after lone women. When you’re acting like a predator, expect to be treated like one.”

She had a point, which only served to annoy him more. Luke shifted and tried to hold back a wince when his knee protested. “Buy me a drink and we’ll call it even.” At least that would give her crazy ass a reason to sit still for a little while. If he could get her talking, maybe he could figure out her next step to self-discovery or whatever the hell she was trying to accomplish over here in Europe. Her sister and Flannery hadn’t been the least bit helpful on that note.

“That’s funny. You should be a comedian.” She shook her head. “If anything, you should buy me a drink for scaring me half to death.”

It was a seriously perverse joy to throw her own words back into her face. “You can take care of yourself.”

She threw up her hands. “Forget this. You’re obviously not suffering from any issues besides being an ass. Have a nice life.”

Damn it. He’d let his mouth get away with him—again—and fucked this all up. Luke limped after her. “Hey.”

Alexis paused at the mouth of the alley. “You reconsider that drink?”

He didn’t want to. Buying her a drink was all but admitting that she was right. But his pride couldn’t hold up to the throbbing in his knee. He took a deep breath and tried to wrestle down his anger. It wasn’t completely her fault. If he weren’t damaged goods, they wouldn’t be in this position to begin with. “First round’s on me.”

Alexis Yeung wasn’t sure whether to be proud of herself or feel bad for taking out some stranger who apparently was only following her to save her from some imagined bad guy. It was almost enough to make her feel guilty for attacking him, especially when he was blatantly trying not to favor his knee because of the hit she’d gotten in. Great job, Alexis. The guy is trying to be a Good Samaritan and you knock him on his ass.

But every time he opened his mouth, the guilt threatening dissolved a bit more. This guy was no different from the ones back home—totally sure he knew better than the helpless little woman that she was. He was just like her ex-fiancé Eric—the kind of man whose masculinity revolved around being the strongest, smartest, best person in the room. Anyone who threatened that was taken down a few notches with pointed comments and, if that failed, all-out bullying.

She pegged this particular man as one who skipped the rest of the steps and jumped straight to being a bully.

It would be smart to tell him where to stick his crappy attitude, and head back to the hostel to shower and search out food in a less hostile environment, but she was tired and hungry, and passing up a free drink would be silly. Plus, she was capable of spending a little more time with this guy, if only to assure herself that she really was growing and stronger than she’d been when she left Wellingford. That was the whole point of this journey she’d started, and she wasn’t going to be doing any emotional growing while hiding in her hostel room.

She’d lived her entire life by the rules. Now it was time to take chances—just not stupid ones. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. Her one kick alone wouldn’t cause him lasting harm. If he turns out to be a creep, I can outrun him with no problem. Or take out that knee again, and then run.

Satisfied she wasn’t making a stupid decision in the name of being strong, she said, “There’s a little pub down this street. Sin É.”

“I know it.”

Of course he did. She bet he just knew everything. How a Southern boy—and there was no mistaking that accent—knew his way around Cork was a mystery. Even if he was a world traveler, he seemed more the type to immerse himself in Dublin’s frenetic energy and partying than the slightly calmer western half of the country. Then again, it was Ireland. Drinking was practically the national pastime. This guy probably fit right in.

Which reminded her—she had no idea what his name was. Alexis turned around as they stepped back onto the street and nearly gasped out loud. She’d caught glimpses of him on the road back from Blarney Castle, but they’d been just enough to place the tall, lumbering blond who