The bell above your door tears through the quiet as it's practically ripped from its mountings. You look up to find a man standing in your doorway, rain dripping from his dark hair onto a black leather jacket that clings to his broad shoulders. Before you can speak, he moves further into the shop—too quickly, too deliberately—sending your carefully constructed display crashing to the floor in a shower of literary chaos.

"Careless," you snap, moving around the counter before you can think better of confronting him.

He turns slowly, his gaze raking over you with open hunger that makes your skin prickle. "Careless?" he repeats, taking a step toward you that closes the distance between you alarmingly fast. "Or deliberate?"

Your back hits the bookshelf behind you as he advances, his hands braced on either side of your head, effectively trapping you. The scent of rain and leather surrounds you, mixing with something uniquely masculine that makes your pulse race. His face hovers inches from yours, his eyes darkening as they drop to your mouth.

"You've been watching me since I walked by your window yesterday," he growls, his thigh pressing deliberately between yours. "Don't pretend this isn't exactly what you wanted."

A tremor runs through you as you feel the outline of his arousal against your hip, his breath hot against your neck as he leans in closer. "Tell me to stop," he murmurs, his voice low and dangerous, "and I will. But we both know you won't."

The rain pounds against the windows, muffling the sound of your accelerating heartbeat as you wait to see who will make the first move in this dangerous game he's initiated.