“Parker,” Dex said. “We went to school together.”
“School. College?” Regina crossed her arms and dragged her scrutinizing gaze from Ellie’s head to her toes.
“No, high school.” Dex took a step closer to Ellie. A step she recognized as protective, as he’d done when they were younger. His body angled a little bit in front of her, his shoulders back, his leg touching hers.
I don’t need protecting anymore. She felt heat radiating from him. Oh God. Maybe it’s all in my head. I’m drunk and Regina can tell. She thinks I’m here to scam on her boyfriend. Panic clenched her gut, and Ellie slipped into protection mode. She sat up straighter and locked eyes with waify Regina.
“We lived around the corner from each other.” Ellie hoped she didn’t sound as swoony as she felt.
“Ah, cool,” Mitch said. “So you know all the Remingtons?” He waved the bartender over. “Another round, please?”
The Remingtons had their issues, like all families, but she’d never felt safer than when she was in Dex’s room at night, and being in Dex’s arms was not something she should be thinking about when she was three sheets to the wind.
Ellie waved her hand at the bartender. “No, no, no. None for me, thanks.” She slid off the chair to her feet and waited for the room to stop spinning again. “I really should get going.” She looked toward the back of the bar, then the front. Damn, she couldn’t remember Dina’s address, and she was feeling very light-headed. She dug out her phone and texted Dina.
What’s your addy again?
“So soon?” Mitch asked. “Stick around. We’ll grab a bite to eat and you can tell us about what Dex was like as a teenager. Give us something to tease him about."
Regina tapped her upper lip with her index finger. Ellie noticed a tattoo crawled across her shoulder. She squinted to get a better look.
“Viper,” Regina said.
Ellie started. “Sorry. I was…er…sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Regina’s stare didn’t relay anything even close to okay.
“Um, do you know where the ladies’ room is?” She needed to splash water on her face and get her head on straight before trying to hunt down Dina. She worried that Dina was too busy with the guy she took home to even look at the damn text.
“Sure. I’ll show you where it is.” Dex laced his fingers with hers.
Regina’s stare rendered Ellie mute as Dex led her through the bar and down a set of stairs. The stairs were steep, and she was glad for the stability of Dex’s hand.
“Your girlfriend hates me,” Ellie said.
“Girlfriend?” Dex stopped on the stair below her, and Ellie nearly toppled over him.
“You have to stop doing that.” Her hands were on his chest again. He stood two steps below her, leaving them eye to eye, as they’d been in grade school when they’d first met. She remembered how sweet Dex had been. The other kids never spoke to her, and when she’d dropped her binder, they’d trudged right through the mess. But Dex had stopped to help. She’d wondered what he’d expect in return. She’d learned through the foster system that help was never free. But he hadn’t asked for anything, and day after day, Dex had waited for her when they got off the bus, and he’d silently walked with her toward her house. You’ve always been there for me.
“Sorry.” He cocked the right side of his lips into a sexy, lopsided grin. A grin that still felt familiar even after all the years they’d been apart. “Regina’s not my girlfriend. She’s my employee, and a good friend.”
Ellie arched a brow. “Coulda fooled me. Whatever she is, she hates me already.” She swayed on the stairs, and Dex put a hand on her waist to steady her. He was always steadying her. Especially tonight.
“She doesn’t hate you. She’s just protective of me, that’s all.” He took her hand again. “Come on.” With one hand on her lower back, he guided her down the rest of the stairs to the ladies’ room. “She’ll grow to love you—like you—just as much as I do. Promise.”
“Stop holding my hand. Your protector doesn’t like it.” Protector? Like Dex needed protecting. Who was she kidding? Hadn’t she proved that he needed to be protected from her when she’d left without saying goodbye? Twice. Ellie looked over her shoulder at Dex as she opened the door to the ladies’ room, stirring memories of when she’d left four years earlier. Sneaking out while he was still asleep. She swallowed the guilt that tried to strangle her as the door swung closed behind her.
She went to the bathroom, washed her hands, then splashed cold water on her face and stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were glassy, her cheeks rosy. Damn it. She never drank. Why did she have to drink tonight of all nights? Fucking Bruce, that’s why. Asshole. She’d had a great job in Maryland and she’d loved her roommates. Sure, they were a little messy and a little loud when she was grading papers, but she’d liked them, and they’d liked her. Then he fucked up her life. She could no sooner have stayed in Maryland than she could have pretended they’d never dated. Her gaze shifted to the door. And then there was Dex. The other reason she drank tonight. He was so unexpected, and everything about him was comforting and safe. She didn’t need safe. Safe is never really safe.
CHRIST. WHAT AM I doing? He hadn’t thought of Ellie in…a day. Maybe. Shit. Who was he kidding? Ellie lingered in the back of his mind like a wave. Memories of her came and went, some more powerful than others, but always making an appearance. He wondered what had become of her and where she was living. But mostly, he wondered whose window she was crawling into at night. She was just as tough as she’d always been, but something dark lingered in her eyes, and Dex wasn’t going to sleep well until he found out what it was. She came out of the ladies’ room and he rose from the bottom step, where he’d been sitting.
“Where did you say you were staying tonight?” he pushed.
Ellie’s smile faded. She dug in her purse for her phone. “Um. A friend’s.”
Shit. Everyone knew friend was code for boyfriend, or hookup. Tough Ellie wasn’t the hookup type. Or at least she didn’t used to be. “Well, don’t you think you should call him?”
She typed a text and lifted her eyes to his. “Her. Dina. I know her from college. Or at least I thought I knew her. She left earlier with some guy, but I can’t remember her address. I can call information.”
“Ellie, your friend bolted the first night you arrived?” Dex leaned against the wall.
Ellie shrugged. “It’s okay. She said she’d be at her apartment.”
“What kind of friend does that?” He crossed his arms, and when Ellie tried to walk past him, he touched her arm. He felt her muscles tense beneath his touch. “Hey. You sure you’re okay?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She clenched her jaw shut. “Mm-hmm.”
“Ellie, it’s me. I know that look, remember?” He stepped closer. Ellie didn’t like to be held in public, but in private she’d nearly crawled beneath his skin. The stairwell counted as private, and hell, he needed to hold her. Dex wrapped his arms around her and held her until she stopped her halfhearted struggling. He held her until the rigidity in her back and arms eased; then he rested his cheek on the top of her head and rubbed her back until her heartbeat calmed. Finally satisfied that her demons were at least a little further at bay, he drew back. Her beautiful blue eyes were open wide—staring past him. She pushed away.
“Anyway, it was good to see you, too.” She stormed up the stairs and past Regina.
“Ellie!”
“Meeting, remember?” Regina said as he flew past.
“Right. Gimme an hour?” He took the steps two at a time and caught up with Ellie outside of the bar. She was dragging her suitcase down the sidewalk, her boots clomping purposefully away.
“Ellie, wait. Did your friend text back?”
“No.” She picked up her pace.
“El. Where are you going? It’s after midnight.” She was so freaking stubborn that it was beginning to piss him off. He grabbed her arm. “Talk to me.”
She spun around and faced him. “What do you want, Dex? I’m in your life for a few hours and I already made an enemy. I’m chaos. Walking, living, breathing chaos. You don’t need me in your life, and I don’t need saving.”
“Saving?” His muscles were on fire. People moved past them on the sidewalk, arcing out around the angry girl with the suitcase and the guy who must have looked like he was ready to punch a wall. He took a deep breath and closed the gap between them, then lowered his voice. “You are not chaos, and I’m not saving you. You’ve never needed saving, Ellie.”
Her chest rose and fell with each angry breath. “Right.”
“Right.” He grabbed the suitcase and whipped it out of her hand. “But there’s no way in hell I’ll let you walk the streets after midnight with no clue as to where you’re going. And I don’t care if you fight with me about it, because I’m a friend, and that’s what friends do.”