The sound of a man yelling reached her ears the second she opened the car door and stood up. She turned in the direction of the obscene curses and bit her lip as he came closer.

“I swear I’m just lost, goddamn it.”

“Right,” a male voice snarled. “Sure you were.”

“You let me go right now, you son of a bitch. How dare you put your freaky damn paws on me? Fuck you.”

“You’re trespassing and you’re going to be arrested for it.”

“Drop dead, ass**le. Let me go.”

Zandy saw movement about fifteen feet to her left. She was tempted to climb back inside her car and turn it around. The gate wasn’t far and she was afraid of whatever kind of scene she’d come across. The man cursing seemed pretty belligerent. A rough-looking man in his twenties stepped out of the thick tree line. His face was red from anger but his hands were behind his back. Someone taller moved behind him, forcing him forward, and recognition hit as she saw that second face.

She froze. Tiger didn’t see her right away, too intent on controlling the man he shoved forward. The angry man tried to make a break for it but Tiger moved, grabbed him by the shoulder of his jeans jacket and hauled him back.

“Don’t make me chase you,” Tiger growled. “You won’t make it far with your hands handcuffed behind your back.”

“Fuck you, freak. Let me go. You got no damn right to touch or handcuff me. I’m going to sue your damn pu**y ass.”

Tiger growled viciously. “Keep it up, redneck. I can file more charges against you. You’re trespassing on NSO property with a rifle. That doesn’t bode well for you at all.”

Tiger lifted his head and met Zandy’s eyes. He blinked at her but didn’t seem shocked to see her standing there. He pushed the man toward the Jeep. Zandy was ignored while Tiger hauled the man up and dumped him into the backseat. The man cursed loud and long, making threats of a lawsuit. Tiger yanked out another pair of handcuffs and secured the man to a metal bar with them.

“You goddamn pu**y!” the man yelled. “Let me go. You got no damn right to do this to me.”

“Shut up,” Tiger growled. “And since you’re going to jail, I wouldn’t be yelling pu**y too much. I hear your kind like to bend your males over in there. If anyone else is as stupid as you are then they might take it as you offering to be one.”

Zandy smiled, couldn’t help it, and knew it was wrong to find that funny. Tiger finally turned and met her eyes. She saw his nostrils flare as he approached her slowly. Her heart rate increased. They were going to talk and she had no idea what to say to him.

“Where the hell are you going? You can’t leave me here, freak. I have rights.”

Tiger ignored the man in the Jeep. Zandy didn’t move as Tiger closed the distance between them until he paused just feet away. They just stared at each other.

“Hey, pu**y. Let me go right now, damn it!” The man fought his cuffs.

“Hi,” Zandy breathed, deciding to speak first. She was nervous enough to feel the need to say something, anything. “How have you been?”

His beautiful eyes narrowed slightly. “I have been well. Have you been avoiding brawls?”

She blushed at the reminder of her unwise decision to get toasted in a bar. “Yes.”

“You are too small to get involved with men fighting.”

“I wasn’t exactly involved. I was sitting at a table in the far corner when it broke out. It happened so fast that I found myself trapped and they started coming my way. I had nowhere to go but up on top of the table. I would have been fine there if someone hadn’t hit it and sent me to the floor.” She studied him closely, still certain he had to be the sexiest man she’d ever seen. “Thank you for saving my life.”

He tilted his head a little, studying her closely. “Was that why you kissed me? To thank me?”

She knew her cheeks reddened more, embarrassed that he wanted an explanation for her behavior. “No.”

“Then why did you? I am curious.”

“Do you really want to know the truth?” She stalled, trying to think of a reason that wouldn’t sound foolish, but couldn’t come up with anything. The man made her brain malfunction.

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know that.”

“I…” She sighed, deciding to just be honest. “I was drunk and I thought I was dying. I woke up and was sure I had. You’ll think it’s stupid and I doubt you really want to hear where my head was.”

“I do.”

“I thought I died and there you were.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand.”

She wished a hole would open up under her but one didn’t. “I thought you were some kind of guide who’d come to take me to hell.”

His mouth tensed. “I see. You believed I was a devil.” He looked pissed.

“No!” She shook her head, hating the way he looked at her in that moment. She wanted to fix it. “I thought you were an angel.” She omitted the fallen part.

His mouth relaxed and his eyes softened a little. “You always wished to kiss an angel?”

“No.” Her face had to be flaming by now. “I thought, since I was going to hell anyway, that I might as well do what I really wanted to. That was kiss you.” And more. She left that part out too.

“Why did you want to kiss me?”

Does this guy ever stop asking questions? She wanted to avoid sounding even more irrational. She shifted her weight, her high heels making her feet hurt. She looked up into his face. Oh hell. In for a penny and all that. “I thought you were attractive and I just really wanted to kiss you.”