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She didn’t plan to call him, but to get this over with, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and unlocked it. Before she knew his intent, he snatched it from her hand. “Hey! Give it back.”

He bent his head to her phone and typed. “I’ll put in my information.”

She fumed. Her heart raced. She wanted to snatch the phone back and order him out of here, but something told her that wouldn’t go over well. Rick tripped her radar in a way that felt dangerous.

Viper never did, even with his formidable presence. Tall, broad, always dressed in black from head to toe. He never smiled. She’d never heard him laugh. With one hard look, he could send other men in the opposite direction. One hot look could melt a woman into a puddle of lust. But he never looked at any woman, except for her, like that. And he never did anything about it either.

He seemed indifferent to everyone. But Viper had played an integral part in returning the kidnapped baby Cyn and Lyric’s cousin Hunt had been desperately searching for after Cyn’s sister was murdered. Viper called Lyric out of the blue to set up a meetingbetween Cyn and the motorcycle-club president who’d ended up with the baby. Viper made sure Lana got home to her family.

He had a big heart buried under his tough exterior. She knew it. She felt it.

But Rick... There was something off about him.

Maybe it was just that he was pushy. He wanted what he wanted, and he didn’t seem to care about her feelings on the matter or if she even wanted to work with him.

He’d deemed it so, so he assumed it was going to happen.

Arrogant.

That’s what put her off.

She tried to remain calm and let him finish. She didn’t want him to see her aggravation.

Normally, she liked most people. She never got bad vibes from anyone. Sure, drunk people in a bar could be obnoxious, rude, unruly even. But this was something different.

This was in-your-face.

He’d flown hundreds of miles to see her after one chance meeting.

That wasn’t right. It was creepy.

His phone dinged. “There. Now you have my number.” He turned his phone. “I sent myself a text, so I have yours.”

Fuck!She did not want him calling or texting her. She’d have to block him.

And as soon as he left, she’d do something else about him, too. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

“When can we meet to write?”

Never.She didn’t think that would go over well.“Soon.” Her brain couldn’t even think about what else she had on her schedule this week to come up with a day or time.

Maybe she’d give him a chance and work on one of his songs and hope that ended this.

She knew it wouldn’t.

“I’ve got my guitar. We could do it in my cabin later, or I could come to your place where you film all your YouTube stuff. I’ve been following you forever. I’m LyRick.” She guessed what he meant before he could spell it out. “Get it? Our names together. It’s perfect.”

She went still, a new, creepier understanding coming over her.

He grinned, victory in his eyes. “See? I knew you’d be happy it was me.”

She’d already mentally put him on her caution list because of how much he posted on her channel. This proved she’d been right to be wary. “I appreciate all the comments you leave.”

“You always answer. You’ve even done a couple of my song requests.”

Shit.She’d interacted with him for months without knowing he’d bonded with her to the point where he believed they were friends. Of late, she’d pulled back because his posts had become increasingly familiar, his questions more personal, straying from talking about music and writing songs to asking about her personal life. She always tried to stay on the topic of music, but he wanted to know if she was seeing anyone and what she liked to do in her spare time.

Every time, she either responded with something about the song she posted or didn’t answer at all.