Seeing her out of uniform, he had a difficult time believing she was a cop. She looked more like a model or an actress. With her kind of beauty, he would’ve bet she’d had a rough go of it while getting through the academy. The male recruits had probably either hit on her or had thought she was too soft to make the cut. Obviously, she’d proven them dead wrong on the last score.
Not that she appeared weak. No, she had enough weight on her to keep her from looking frail. Her body curved in all the right places with plenty for a man to hold on to. That and her job as a policewoman meant she could handle rough situations. He had no doubt she could handle the kind of rough situations he’d like to put her in.
“I guess she decided she wanted that drink after all. Too bad she didn’t want it with us.” Paul put his drink on the bar next to Destin’s. “She doesn’t look very steady on her feet. Is she with anyone?”
“I don’t think so. Maybe she changed her mind. Why else would she come to the bar at our hotel? That’s got to mean something.”
“Hmm. You might be right.”
“Come on. Let’s grab her before someone else does.” Destin launched off his barstool and pushed through the crowd. Too many men gave her a hungry eye for his comfort, but he doubted she noticed them. Instead, she headed straight for an empty booth in the shadows of the bar.
“Shit. That’s not a good place for her to hang out by herself.” Paul moved past him. His brother was a couple of inches taller, with longer legs, but Destin always kept up.
A couple of men were already headed toward her. He picked up the pace, as did Paul, and cut them off at the pass, reaching her booth before they did.
Destin slid in next to her. “Hey, how’re you doing?” It was a lame line, but he didn’t think she’d care much.
She jerked away. “What the hell are you two doing here?”
“Saving your ass from getting raped from the looks of those guys over there.” Paul nodded at the two men they’d left in their dust, then at the four men who stood at the other end of the bar. Their hot gazes left nothing in doubt. If they could get her alone—or maybe that wouldn’t matter—they’d take her and turn her inside out. Once they were through with her, they’d leave her bruised and battered, if not worse.
She didn’t bother checking things out. Instead, she picked up her beer and took a long drag. “I can take care of myself.”
Destin heard the slur in her words. “I’m sure you can, but tonight you want some help doing that.”
“Horse shit.”
“Now that’s an odd thing for a lady to say. Personally, I prefer bullshit to horse shit.”
She shrugged, then took another drink, draining the bottle. “Hey, bartender! Another one. Pronto.”
“Look, Officer—”
“Don’t call me that.” She sneered at him, her frown burrowing between her eyes. “I’m not on duty, so don’t call me that.”
“You don’t have to tell me again.” Destin waved off the bartender, signaling to him that she’d had enough. “Then what should we call you?”
She gave him a blurry-eyed stare. “You don’t remember? My name’s Georgia Fox.”
“I remember all right.” He nodded toward his brother. “Do you remember my brother, Paul? And how about me? Destin Casing. I remember you telling us your name when you pulled us over, but I want to know what your friends call you.”
She shook her head and took a swig of her empty bottle. “Hey, bartender! What’s the holdup?”
Once again, Destin waved off the bartender. “Never mind about your next drink. What do your friends call you?”
“I don’t have any friends.”
He hadn’t expected that. He had, in fact, assumed she’d have lots of friends. “You’re kidding. I would’ve thought you’d be Miss Popularity. Why is that, Georgia?”
She shook her head.
He was pleased when she didn’t argue the point. Although he wanted his woman to have spunk, he also wanted her to know when not to disagree. “Okay, let’s try that again. Why don’t you have any friends?”
She cast her gaze down to the table. “Because I’m smart. If you don’t have any friends, then you can’t get hurt.”
He and Paul exchanged a look. They hadn’t realized how hurt she was. Whatever had gone wrong had been bad. Very bad. It churned his stomach to think she was that vulnerable.
Paul tilted his head and sought her eyes, trying to get her to look at him. “That’s just plain sad. If you don’t have any friends, then you won’t have much fun.”