Exclusive Excerpt from HEAT OF THE KNIGHT

HEATKNIGHTER_EP_EBOOK(1)

She turned to watch her ex striding toward her, eyes narrowed and a fierce expression on his rugged features.

“What happened?” he demanded, coming to a stop in front of her.

She craned her neck to meet his gaze. “Nothing happened. Just bored is all. I guess I need more jobs.” She gave a faint giggle with no heart behind it.

He took her by the shoulders, forcing her to hold his stare. “You slept with that asshole.”

She nearly swallowed her tongue. Once she could force air past her vocal cords, she said, “What? Why would you ask me that?”

“Because I saw how he looked at you. Fucking hell, I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone with him!”

“Bo, calm down. I never said I slept with Sean.” Her voice gave a suspicious wobble on his name.

“Jesus, and you’ve fallen for him.” He released her shoulders and ran his fingers over his shaved head.

She gaped at him. Was he some kind of mind-reader? Because the link between friends, or exes, was far from telepathic. And there was no other way for Bo to know she’d slept with Sean—soooo many mind-blowing times—because she didn’t even sport a red mark of beard burn from the man to give her away.

She shook her head. “I haven’t fallen for anybody.”

“But you did sleep with him.” Bo’s words came out flat.

For a pulsing second, she considered denying it. But he’d see right through her lie.

She nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

He shoved out a breath and leaned against the countertop, staring at her without pause. She couldn’t read the lights moving behind his eyes, but strangely she could have recited everything she’d seen in Sean’s since the moment he’d sat beside her and started working with her.

Hell, maybe she had fallen for him.

No, she was just a wee bit obsessed. It was a crush, nothing more.

Except if he walked through the door right now, she’d shove Bo out and throw herself at the man.

Fuck, she was a little more than obsessed.

“I’m not even going to ask what you see in Knight.”

The statement caught her off-guard. She wanted to ask Bo to tell her so she could understand herself. “You’re not?”

“He’s a low-life woman-schmoozing asshole with too much game. He knew exactly how to play you.” Bo’s eyes darkened, and Elise finally knew what her ex was thinking. She’d seen that look a few times, and it was always associated with her trying to stop him from breaking the neck of somebody who looked at her too long or even took liberties with her on a dance floor.

She put a hand on Bo’s forearm, only to find the muscles and tendons leaping there. She looked down to find his fingers fisted.

“Bo,” she said with warning in her tone, “don’t. Sean didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Now you’re defending the motherfucker to me?”

She raised a shoulder and let it drop before spinning away to look out of the glass door leading to the balcony.

For a long minute, silence reigned, and she wondered if she’d gone too far with the friendship thing with Bo. Maybe they weren’t really able to forget they were once committed to each other, and he was affected by the knowledge she’d slept with Sean.

Though she could list half a dozen women Bo had been with.

She didn’t know those women, however, and Bo did.

She spun, her words flying from her lips. “Look, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Go on this run with me.”

She blinked. “What?”

“After I texted you about dinner, something fell into my lap, and I have to take care of it. I could use a sidekick.”

Eyeing him, she said, “Sidekick?”

His face relaxed for the first time since walking through the door. “Backup. C’mon, Elise.”

She jumped at the chance to get out of her apartment and her own head. “What is it? Am I dressed appropriately?”

“I’ll arm you once we get there. You’re perfect.” He leaned in and kissed her between the brows, giving her warm fuzzy thoughts of Sean doing the same thing when he believed her asleep.

“All right, I’m in. Let me get my boots on.”

“The ball-breakers with the steel toes, cher.”