Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) by Tina Folsom Page B

happen.”
    She shrugged, surprised at the concerned look on his face. “I was only walking the few blocks to the subway.”
    “The next subway is five blocks from here—five long and pretty deserted blocks, if I may add.” He clicked his tongue. “That’s risky.”
    “I’m not worried. I’m armed.” She’d grown up in the city and knew to be prepared.
    He raised a surprised eyebrow. “Gun?”
    She dug into her shoulder bag and pulled out her weapon of choice, waving it triumphantly. “Mace.”
    But Aiden seemed unimpressed, shaking his head in apparent disapproval. “You know how easy it is for a man who knows what he’s doing to rip this out of your hand and use it against you?”
    She waved him off. “I know how to use it.” She’d been carrying the spray for years.
    “Do you?” There was an odd glint in his eyes when he made a sudden movement. Before she could react, he snatched the mace out of her hand and held it up.
    Shock coursed through her, and from the corner of her eye she saw the bartender stop in mid-movement. A sense of panic gripped her even though there were other people in the bar.
    “See?” Aiden asked. “See how easy it was for me to disarm you?”
    Her heart still pounding, she stared at him with widened eyes. This had not been on her predictability list. “But… but I wasn’t prepared in here. We’re in a bar.”
    He shook his head and placed the can of mace back in her hand. “It can happen anywhere. You’ll always have to be prepared.”
    His voice carried a heavy dose of insistence with it as if he wanted to make sure she didn’t forget the lesson he’d just taught her.
    She’d always thought she was prepared, but this stranger had just proven to her that she was nowhere near close to dealing with the unpredictable. She made a mental note to work on that, how, she wasn’t quite sure. “You had an advantage because I showed it to you.”
    She felt the need to defend herself, not wanting to come across as a weak woman who needed a man’s protection. Particularly not in front of Aiden. When she looked at him, she felt the strange need to show him that she was strong, that she needed nobody—as if to prove something to him, even though she didn’t know what.
    He smiled and put his hand over hers. Instinctively she tightened her fingers around the can.
    Aiden nodded appreciatively. “Good, you’re learning. Because anybody could be an attacker.”
    “Even you? Even though you saved my life?” She had no idea why she asked him that, her lips forming words without her permission.
    He briefly squeezed her hand, then severed the contact, a strange look on his face. “You have nothing to fear from me.”
    Leila lifted her chin. “So you’re telling me I can trust you?” Could she trust him? Or was she letting herself be fooled by his handsome face?
    He leaned closer and reached for her free hand. His eyes penetrated her as if he was trying to see deep into her. When his lips parted, he did so only to whisper so quietly she barely heard it, “Maybe you shouldn’t.”
    Then he pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a warm kiss on the back of it. When he let go, a smile played around his lips. Her belly fluttered excitedly in response. Now she understood. It had all been a joke. He’d just pulled her leg.
    She drew in a breath of relief. As she exhaled, a chuckle rolled over her lips.
    He stared at her in surprise. “What’s so funny?”
    “You. You were trying to scare me, but you couldn’t keep a straight face. Do you always do this to charm women?”
    “I was charming you?”
    She preferred not to answer that question.
    Aiden smirked. “I guess you found me out.” For a moment, she could see the little boy in him that he must have once been. “A woman’s intuition?”
    She tilted her head, studying him. “Maybe.”
    Nervously, she reached for the glass again, but he anticipated her move and handed it to her. When she took another sip, another wave of