Laws of Nature -2 Read Online Free Page B

forced a smile, al the while feeling the stranger's eyes boring into her from behind.
    "Can I get you ladies anything else?" she asked.
    One of them asked for an iced tea, but the others practical y ignored Mol y as they dug into their dinners. When she turned around, her gaze ticked involuntarily back to the bar again. The man wore blue jeans and black boots, and a stylishly tight powder-blue T-shirt stretched over a broad, muscular chest. One of his biceps bore a tattoo she could not make out at this distance. His hair was too long and his chin bore several days stubble.
    He would have been strikingly handsome if he didn't look so mean, if his eyes didn't burn as he stared at her with a hunger that was almost . . . predatory.
    Oh my God, Mol y thought, heart skipping a beat. A horrible thought occurred to her.
    Panicked, she glanced anxiously around the pub until she spotted Jack talking to the hostess up front. She dangled the large, round tray at her side as she made a beeline across the restaurant for him. When Courtney was not around, Jack was in charge. But even if his older sister had been there, Mol y would have gone to Jack instead.
    When he saw her striding toward him, Jack's conversation faltered.
    "Mol y, what is it?" he asked.
    Her gaze flicked toward Wendy, who instantly got the message and returned to the tal desk the hostess used to take reservations and assign seating.
    Mol y purposely positioned herself in the line of sight between Jack and the man - the predator - at the bar. "Don't look right away," she warned him. "There's a man sitting by himself up at the bar who looks a little like a TV star or something. He's staring at me."
    A smal smile twitched at the corners of Jack's mouth. "Can you blame him?"
    She grimaced. "Not in a good way, Jack. I get a vibe off him. I can't help wondering if he's . . . hunting."
    Her friend's face blanched and his eyes narrowed. He was five foot ten and, though muscular, not physical y intimidating. But Jack was stronger than he looked, and when his body tensed, she could feel the coiled power of a much larger man. Jack was not someone to under-estimate. Not at al .
    As Mol y watched, Jack glanced past her shoulder. She saw no reaction in his features before he gazed at her again.
    "Wish Bil was back from his break," Jack said, voice low and grave. "He'd be able to tel ."
    Mol y hesitated a moment, then gave a tiny shrug. "What do we do?"
    Jack nodded slowly. Then, without a word, he set off across the restaurant on a direct course for the bar.
    The world around him shuddered and seemed to disappear as Jack strode the wood floor of Bridget's Irisk Rose Pub. The voices were gone and the other patrons ceased to exist, until al that remained were the guy at the bar and the music that lingered in the air.
    Adrenaline rushed through him, and Jack nearly quivered with it. His alarms were going off, and he did his best to tone them down. Mol y was right. The guy looked out of place in here, like a model or an actor. Too perfect. And cruel, too. That was what disturbed Jack most of al . A powerful-looking guy, out of place, al by himself, and staring at Mol y as though he were the hunter and she the prey.
    Prowler, Jack thought, and the idea only solidified as he moved closer to the man, defiantly chal enging him with his steady gaze. The man did not look away.
    Jack took the two steps up to the bar area and stood directly in front of the man, staring down at him.
    "You're pissing her off," Jack told him.
    The man's eyebrows shot up, a glint of amusement in his eyes. It was an arrogant look, and Jack wanted very much to slap it off his face. "I'm sorry? I don't know what you're talkin'
    about."
    Arms crossed, Jack glared at him. "The redheaded waitress, the one you keep staring at. You're pissing her off."
    The guy laughed. "I'm watchin' her. She's pretty tasty-lookin'. No law against watchin'. And I'm wonderin' if maybe it ain't her I'm pissin' off. Otherwise maybe she'd be over