Page 42 of Cowboy Heat

He puts pressure on the blade then pulls it back up.

There’s a tear in my pants.

The blade is sharp. Too sharp.

“You can also do more with a knife,” he continues. “You can last longer being cut too.”

Hysteria bubbles up in my throat as he places the knife next to my cheek.

He’s going to ask where Guidry is again—I know that. And now I know what he’ll do with that knife it I tell him the truth again.

I can’t see his mouth but I think he’s smiling. Or, at the very least, taking in some silent delight.

He’s at ease here.

He has no problem hitting a woman and slicing into her.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this afraid.

“Where is Everett Guidry?”

This time, I don’t answer. I’m shaking and hoping he’ll find mercy in his heart.

The knife bites slowly into my cheek.

I move my head, but he moves with me.

I cry out as the skin breaks.

I’m going to bleed all over my couch, and the stain is never going to come out.

The pressure pushes, and I make a strangled noise that doesn’t sound human.

Then the doorbell rings.

The pain doesn’t stop, but the man pulls the knife away.

We’re both frozen.

I run through all the people it could be, praying it isn’t Mimi or Wyatt, come to surprise me. Or June, still fretting over Damien seeing me.

Or maybe it’s Guidry. The man of the freaking hour.

I guess the intruder might think the same. He stands with his knife and stares at the door.

It’s the only reason he doesn’t see the man come in through the second entryway into the living room behind him.

I see him, though.

Beau’s holding a baseball bat.

I’ve never seen a sight more beautiful.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

Beau

Tunnel vision.