by Paige Tyler
The two people ahead of Cooper got fed up with waiting and walked away. He quickly stepped forward to fill in the gap and found himself behind the attractive woman who’d flashed him a smile earlier. He couldn’t help noticing that she looked exceptionally good in a pair of jeans. Or that her long, silky hair had the most intriguing gold highlights when the sun coming through the window caught them just right. She smelled so delicious he had to fight the urge to bend his neck and bury his nose against her skin. Damn, he must be more tired than he thought. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be humping her leg next.
He opened his mouth to say something charming, but all that came out was a yawn big enough to make his jaw crack. The woman in front of him must have heard it too, because she turned around.
“And I thought I’ve been waiting in line a long time,” she said, giving him a smile so breathtaking it damn near made his heart stop. “You look like you’re ready to fall asleep on your feet.”
Cooper knew he should reply, but he was so mesmerized by her perfect skin, clear green eyes, and soft lips that he couldn’t do anything but stare. He felt like a teenager in high school again.
“Um, yeah. Long day,” he finally managed.
What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never had a problem talking to a beautiful woman before. But in his defense, he’d never been in the presence of one this gorgeous.
He gave himself a mental shake. Get your head in the game before she thinks you’re a loser and turns around again.
“Catching bad guys, huh?” she asked.
“Something like that.” He gave her his best charming smile. “Luckily, I’m off duty for the night.”
She laughed, and the sound was so beautiful it almost brought him to his knees. Crap, he actually felt a little light-headed. He chalked it up to being out in the hot Texas sun all day. That could be hard on anyone, even a werewolf.
She tilted her head to the side, regarding him with an amused look. “Is that your way of saying you’re free for dinner?”
Could she read his mind? “Depends. Would you say yes if I asked you out?”
Her lips curved. “I might. Although most guys tell me their names before asking me out on a date.”
Cooper chuckled. He’d been attracted to her from the moment he saw her, but after talking to her, he was even more mesmerized. He’d always appreciated a woman who was confident enough to hold up her end of a verbal sparring match, and she seemed more than capable.
He held out his hand. “Landry Cooper at your service. Now that you know my name, how about dinner?”
He might have imagined it, but when she slipped her smaller hand into his much larger one, he could have sworn he felt a tingle pass between them—and it wasn’t because of static electricity.
“I’m Everly Danu,” she said. “And dinner sounds great.”
Everly. Even her name was beautiful.
Cooper opened his mouth to ask Everly if she wanted to grab something that night—the hell with going home and falling into bed—when voices nearby caught his attention. Thanks to his keen werewolf hearing, he picked up every word.
“Are we still robbing the place with the cop here?” a male voice whispered.
“We’re in too deep to back out now,” another deep voice said softly. “We were going to kill the guard anyway. Just make sure to take out the cop fast.”
Cooper snapped his head around, trying to figure out who’d said that. He scanned the crowded bank, looking for anyone who stood out, and immediately, zeroed in on a man over by the entrance. Average height with light brown hair, the guy was wearing mirrored sunglasses and a black windbreaker. On his own, the man wasn’t that remarkable, but the small radio receiver in his ear sure as hell was. It wasn’t hard to miss the telltale bulge under the man’s left arm or the way he kept glancing at Cooper while keeping an eye on the door.
Cooper swept the bank lobby with his gaze, looking for the man’s accomplice. He found him sitting by the manager’s desk, pretending to wait for the woman to come back. Thanks to the identical sunglasses and the same black windbreaker the guy was wearing, he was easy to spot.
Cooper quickly ID’d two other men—one positioned a few feet away from the bank’s security guard, the other near the big row of windows that looked out onto the main road. This one had a soft-sided computer bag big enough to hold several pistols—or a small submachine gun—hanging from his shoulder. Both were wearing sunglasses and windbreakers.
The guy by the door checked his watch, then nodded at his friend by the security guard. Cooper tensed. Shit, these assholes were really going to hit the bank with an armed cop standing right in the middle. Were they suicidal or just plain stupid?
Cooper’s hand dropped to the Sig .40 on his belt.
“Landry?” Everly asked, her voice trembling a little. “Is something wrong?”
He didn’t want to take his eyes off the four guys, but Everly’s growing fear was so strong he could practically taste it on the air. Finding it impossible to ignore, he tore his gaze from the men and turned back to Everly.
“I don’t want to alarm you, but the bank is about to be robbed,” he said softly. “I need you to stay calm, okay?”
* * *
Everly had been ready to thank her lucky stars she picked today to come to the bank. It wasn’t every day she met a man as attractive and intriguing as Landry Cooper, emphasis on the attractive part. Six-foot-four, broad-shouldered, heavily muscled, and gorgeous as hell, he looked like he should have been on the cover of a romance novel. His strong, scruff-roughened jaw and sexy lips were enough to almost make her start panting, but throw in that dazzling smile and sugary brown eyes, and she was nearly ready to jump him right there in the bank lobby.
Everly wasn’t normally attracted to alpha males, especially not cops. She was an artist by trade and by nature, and she had never been into the overtly male types. Until now. When he’d asked her out, the thrill that rushed through her had been undeniable, and a little overwhelming. She’d never been the head-over-heels kind of girl.
But then everything had gone weird.
First, Landry’s eyes had lost focus as he turned his head this way and that to look around the lobby in the middle of their conversation. When his gaze went sharp again, it was because he seemed to be sizing up the people around them. That was when she started getting a tingling sensation in her stomach that something was wrong. Then his hand slid down to the pistol on his belt, and Everly had really freaked.
When Landry told her the bank was about to be robbed, she prayed he was joking, but one look at his face told her he wasn’t. She didn’t have a clue how he knew what was about to happen, but she found herself believing him with a blind faith she couldn’t explain.
Before she could ask what he was going to do, a man in a windbreaker by the door pulled out a handgun and fired shots into the air, shouting at everyone to get down on the floor. A split second later, men with guns barked orders and shoved people to the ground. Everly knew the smart thing would be to obey, but instead she stepped closer to Landry. She peeked around his shoulder as another shot rang out. She bit back a scream as the security guard collapsed, blood pooling around him.
As the man who shot the guard ran toward the counter, three other robbers converged on Landry, aiming their weapons at him. Crap. Maybe latching onto a cop hadn’t been the wisest thing to do. Everly held her breath, waiting for Landry to surrender, but instead he pulled his gun and charged the men.
The bad guys tried to get a shot at Landry, but the panicked crowd made that all but impossible as people scrambled to their feet and stampeded toward the exit. Everly froze, torn between running for the door like everyone else, and staying to make sure Landry was okay.
The robbers angrily fought their way through the mob, shoving some people and pistol-whipping others as they tried to get to Landry.
As for Landry, he strode into this sea of insanity as if he didn’t even notice it. While everyone else was losing their mi
nds—the robbers included—Landry moved with complete calm. When he finally got a clear shot, he lifted his gun and put a bullet in the center of the first gunman’s chest, then did the same to the one behind him.
The third robber grabbed a teenage girl and tried to shield himself behind her. Landry darted forward before the girl could even scream, reaching around her and ripping the small machine gun out of the man’s hand, then tossing him aside like he was a toy.
Everly’s eyes widened as the robber flew through the air and crashed through the bank’s big front window, sending glass everywhere. Everly stared in disbelief. Landry was obviously strong, but there was no way even a man his size should be able to throw another adult male that far.
The people the robbers had knocked to the floor in the melee scrambled to their feet and raced for the exit, along with the terrified teenage girl. Everly knew she should run too, but her feet refused to obey. Instead, they stayed stubbornly rooted to the floor, as if expecting Landry to come back and get her.
Landry. Where was he?
She looked around wildly, freaking when she didn’t see him right away, but then she caught a blur of movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned just in time to see him closing in on the last robber. But this man seemed more ready for Landry than the first three had been.
Her heart lurched as the robber pointed his gun at Landry and pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed in the now-empty lobby, making her ears ring. Everly ran toward Landry before she realized what she was doing.
Amazingly, Landry was still on his feet. He’d only been a few feet away from the robber when the gun went off. There was no way the man could have missed. But Landry didn’t slow in the least. In fact, she swore she heard him growl as he covered the last few feet between him and the guy in the windbreaker.
The growl grew louder, and from where she stood, Everly saw Landry’s lips pull back from his teeth in a snarl of anger. The gunman’s eyes widened in terror. He tried to shoot again, but it was too late. Landry casually knocked the weapon across the room, then gripped the man by the throat, lifting him high into the air and slamming him hard against the marble wall.
Everly stumbled to a halt, her heart pounding. When she’d been talking to Landry earlier, he seemed sweet and charming, but now she realized he could be a little scary too. If you were a bank robber, at least.
Relieved the danger had finally passed, Everly took a step toward Landry when someone grabbed her by the hair and jerked her back. She screamed as pain shot through her scalp.
On the other side of the lobby, Landry jerked his head in her direction, his dark eyes glinting as they caught the late-day sun.
Behind her, the man let go of her hair, slipping an arm around her neck and shoulder to keep her pinned against his chest. Everly struggled to free herself, but he was too strong. She craned her neck to get a look at her captor. He was a little taller than she was, with dark blond hair and a trace of stubble on his tanned face. He might have been attractive if it wasn’t for the cold, hard eyes that seemed to suck any humanity from his features. Her heart hammered in her chest as he pressed the barrel of a gun against her temple and held it there.
“Let him go and move away,” the man ordered Landry in a voice as flat and emotionless as his eyes. “Drop your weapon too, or I shoot the woman in the head.” He snorted when Landry stiffened. “I thought that would get your attention, cop.”
Landry released the barely conscious robber, letting him fall to the floor, where he stayed. A moment later, he calmly dropped his pistol. Everly hadn’t expected him to give up his weapon so easily. Cops on the TV crime dramas never did that, but it was like Landry barely cared.
That was when Everly saw the blood staining the right side of Landry’s shirt just under his ribs. He must have seen her eyes widen because he smiled.
“I’m fine, Everly,” he said. “And you’re going to be okay too. I promise.”
She didn’t know why she trusted him. They’d just met, and this situation seemed impossible to get out of. But for some insane reason, she sincerely believed he wouldn’t let anything hurt her.
“That’s not a promise you’re going to be able to keep, cop,” her captor told Landry. “You’ve completely fucked up this job, but that’s okay. Because you’re my ticket out of here.”
“How’s that?” Landry asked.
“I’m going to take her and walk out of here, and you’re going to tell all your cop buddies, who will no doubt be here in a few minutes, to stay the hell away from me.”
Landry took a step closer, then another. “I can’t let you walk out of here with her.”
“Like hell you can’t,” the robber snapped. “It’s not like you have a choice. I have a gun, and you don’t. And if I see a single cop following us, I’m going to kill her. Slowly.”
Everly started to hyperventilate. If this psycho got her away from Landry, she’d never be seen alive again, and she really didn’t want to die. But what the hell could Landry do? He didn’t even have a weapon.
Her heart raced faster, and for a minute she thought she might pass out from sheer terror. She’d never been this scared in her life.
Then she heard Landry calmly calling her name, and she forced herself to lift her head and lock her gaze with his. He might seem cool, calm, and collected on the outside, but there was a fire burning in his beautiful brown eyes that belied that.
“You’re going to be fine, Everly,” he said softly. “But I need you to do me a favor. Can you do one small favor for me?”
As soothing as Landry’s deep voice was, she was still having a hard time reining in the fear. But she nodded anyway, praying he’d somehow save her.
“That’s great,” Landry said. “All I need you to do is one, simple thing, Everly. I need you to close your eyes—right now.”
* * *
Sometimes the world was such a crappy place that Cooper couldn’t help but doubt the existence of a higher being. Other times, like those rare occasions when people like Becker and his girlfriend Jayna Winston found each other against all reasonable odds, he thought maybe there might be a chance. It wasn’t proof, but it was reason to hope.
Then there were days like today, when things went so completely to shit in a manner that could only be called orchestrated, that he was forced to admit there simply had to be a supreme being. The world could never go this bat-shit crazy all on its own.
First, after months spent putting it off, Jayden had finally paid off their most recent bet with a check. Then, after going to the bank to deposit that check, Cooper had met a beautiful woman he was seriously attracted to while standing in line. But before he could even firm up plans for their dinner date, some assholes had decided to rob the place.
That was bad enough, but it had gotten worse when he realized there weren’t four robbers like he’d thought—there were five. And the last one currently had Everly in his arms with a gun to her head, threatening to drag her out of the bank and use her for a hostage.
Cooper was pissed at himself for missing the fifth bad guy. But in his defense, the other four had been wearing the same jackets, mirrored sunglasses, and guilty expressions on their faces. This last guy wore an expensive business suit that probably cost more than Cooper’s Sig Sauer service-issued sidearm. If there’d been a radio receiver in his ear, Cooper hadn’t seen it. In addition to all that, right before the robbery started, the guy’s pulse had been as slow and steady as it was now. That only made Cooper more determined not to let this psycho walk out of here with Everly in his arms. If he did, no one would ever see her again.
Sure as hell would have been nice to have Alex or the team’s other sniper Connor Malone somewhere nearby with a large-caliber rifle. If they had been, this would be over by now.
But he didn’t have any SWAT snipers on standby—there was just him. And with his Sig lying on the floor behind him, he was left with only one option when it came to saving Everly.
His boss, Gage Dixon, would shit bric
ks if he knew what Cooper was considering as he slowly approached Everly and the man holding her. The SWAT team commander had one hard and fast rule when it came to using their werewolf talents—never do it in public, no matter what. And with people on the sidewalk, not to mention the bank cameras, this place was the definition of public. But with the robber already edging toward the door with Everly, Cooper wasn’t going to be able to follow that rule.
When he’d told Everly to close her eyes, he wasn’t sure she would do it. Hell, he wasn’t even sure she could hear him over the pounding of her heart. But her eyes fluttered closed, then scrunched tighter.
Good girl.
Praying that no one outside was looking his way, Cooper relaxed and let his body begin to shift.
He immediately felt the muscles of his chest, shoulders, arms, and neck thicken and tighten, his heart rate speed up, and his eyes change. He didn’t have to let his eyes change. It wasn’t like he needed enhanced night vision. But he knew from experience that it could be damn disconcerting to see a pair of blazing yellow eyes charging at you, and he intended to use that to his benefit.
Cooper could have taken the shift further. It would have been easy to let his fangs and claws come out, too. Hell, if it wasn’t for the people and the cameras, he would have said the hell with it and shifted all the way into his wolf form. In a heartbeat, he could have been on the man holding Everly, killing him in seconds.
But shifting that far would have been stupid, not to mention unnecessary.
Cooper surged forward, feeling the power in his leg muscles propel him across the floor at a pace no human could obtain. At the same time, he let out a deep, rumbling growl as he closed the distance between himself and the guy with the gun.
The man’s eyes went as round as saucers, though whether it was from hearing the growl Cooper let out, or seeing his glowing, yellow eyes, Cooper couldn’t be sure. Despite being scared shitless, the bank robber managed to take the gun away from Everly’s head and point it at Cooper.