"No." That's all she said but it was enough to loosen the knots in my gut and relax the fists I'd formed in readiness. What an ass. We exchanged small getting to know you talk after that and before long she seemed to be getting used to my touch; at least she'd stopped trying to escape me and her body was no longer so stiff. That could be because I never stopped touching her in some way.
If I wasn't running my hand through her hair it was a finger trailing down her arm or around her ear, and still my other hand stayed close to that ass that had so tempted me from the start. There was laughter and cheap shots flying around the table as my boys and her girls settled down for a nice pre-holiday night out. I wonder if they noticed that neither of us participated? Too caught up in our own little drama.
The gorilla and his friends were long gone but I knew my boys, like me, were still on the alert just in case. Still it had been a while and it didn't look like they were coming back for more. That's why I was surprised when this guy came in and just walked right up to us and grabbed her arm. What the fuck?
"Let's go." He tried pulling her off my lap but I was holding her around her middle, it was just reflex. She'd told me there was no man in her life, but in that split second I didn't care, no one else was going to have her, not after I'd seen her, not after she'd made me feel.
Still, I glared at her for deceiving me, why else would this asshole be pulling on her arm like he owned her? For the first time in my life my ethics took a nosedive. I was never one for poaching, never even flirted with another man's woman, but I knew I wouldn't let her go.
I was pissed the fuck off though and the terrified look on her face wasn't helping her case any. "Are you married to this fuck?" What the fuck was she doing sitting here with me if she was already taken? Before she could answer one of her girls did it for her.
"No she's not, get out of here you piece a shit before I call the cops. She doesn't want anything to do with you why can't you get that through your thick skull?" It was only after that outburst that I was able to relax. That's good, that's real good, she's not his, I'm not about to become a home wrecker. I'll have to think really hard about the fact that I was willing to walk down that road later, but right now there was a more pressing matter at hand.
I kept my eyes on hers and the stark fear I saw there made my gut turn over. There're only a few reasons for a woman to react that way to a man and I didn't like any of them. "Give me the condensed version, make it quick."
"This has nothing to do with you mister." I ignored his ass until he tried pulling on her again. By now, my boys were on their feet waiting for my next move, before they made theirs. I wasn't worried about the asshole, only how much damage I was gonna have to do to him according to what she told me in the next five minutes.
"Talk."
"We went out once a while ago, I didn't … " I didn't let her finish she didn't need to. I just stood up, passed her off to my brother who was closest to me as usual and punched the fuck in the face sending him to the ground. "Get her outta here." This idiot wasn't as big as the one I'd just taken down but he had mean written all over him.
"Get up you fuck." I kept seeing the fear in her eyes, hearing the tremble in her voice as she told me about their one date. I knew this story all too well and could see why the fuck would lose his shit over her. Too bad for him she was off the market.
Like all cowards, when he got to his feet he didn't come at me. Instead he wiped the blood from his lip, looked around as if searching for her and threw me a withering look before heading for the exit.
Jace had hung back as I knew he would, that was part of the bro creed; we never left anyone alone in a situation like this. "Where is she?" I kept my eyes on asshole number two as he left and all the while my only thought was for her. What the fuck had he done to cause that fear in her and what was it gonna take to erase it?
"Chad and Cole took her to the truck. You cool?"
"Yeah let's go." I dropped enough bills on the table to more than cover our drinks and a tip before we left. It wasn't lost on me that I'd just met this girl and already had to lay two motherfuckers on the ground over her. Not sure if that was a good thing or not, but I knew it was through no fault of hers.
I'm gonna have to do some serious thinking before the night was over. Things were moving fast but not in the way I'm accustomed to. I knew five minutes after putting her on my lap that she was going to be more, mean more than anyone ever had before. The longer she sat there the more I knew she was going to be there for a long fucking time. Now it looked like I was going to have to decide real quick how long that was going to be.
I think in my gut I already knew, it was a feeling that couldn't be put into words, just something I felt down to my soul. But it had come from so far out of left field, blindsided me actually, that it was almost hard to grasp, to accept. Shit like this just didn't happen in real life, not for me anyway.
How could you not know in some way that you were about to meet your destiny? I had no clue when I got off that plane earlier this evening that at the end of the day I was going to meet the woman who was going to tie me in knots. Even thinking about her makes me feel like I'd won and winning never felt this fucking good. Fuck I am so screwed.
Outside in the parking lot there was no sign of the asshole and my brother and friend had the situation under control. The girls were all piled into the truck with Chad and Cole, with Traci sat in the middle of the guys up front so they could protect mine. Looks like they already knew too.
I opened the door and looked in past Cole. "You okay?" She nodded her head yes but I could see that she was still shaken up. I should've kicked his ass. Once I was sure that she was just scared and not hurt I turned my mind to other things.
"How did you ladies get here?" I looked in the back where her girls were huddled.
"We drove, our car's over there." Her mouthy friend, Christine I think was her name, pointed out a dark colored SUV across the lot. "Come on we'll take you home. Cole you drive them, where we headed ladies?"
"What do you mean?" Traci found her voice as she climbed out of the truck behind Cole. "I mean we're following you home."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because whatever that was in there is not going away anytime soon and I won't be the man I am if I let you leave here alone."
"I'm not alone." She pointed to her friends who were in the backseat taking in every word. "Ladies, go with Cole we'll follow you home. You live alone?" I turned my attention back to her.
"Why would I tell you that? For all I know you could be just as … " I cut her ass off right there. "Don't even think about comparing me to that fuck, get back in the truck." Her girls climbed out the back and she excused herself so that they could have a little huddle in which I guess they were trying to convince her that I was safe.
She was right in a sense, she didn't know me and I could be as big an asshole as the one who'd just left, but that's something she's gonna have to figure out on her own and soon. I pulled my wallet and gave Christine my ID. Next, I asked for her number and called her phone so she'd have my number as added security for her friend. "That's gonna have to be enough for now, get in the truck."
She looked at me like I was nuts as I helped her back in the truck where Jace and Chad were waiting with one of her girls who decided to stay with her. That was good, it showed that these women had their heads on straight, and from the way they'd reacted to the asshole, the way they'd rallied around her, I knew she was in good hands.
She gave me shit about the address but Cole had already pulled out so I guess Christine was on the ball again. I understood her position, there was no way she could know I'd already lost my fucking mind and was already thinking of her as mine. I'm about to rectify that shit right quick though. I hope she can keep up, if not, oh well.
I settled in next to her and took stock of the situation. I wasn't going to get the pussy tonight the whole program had changed. This one was gonna take a hell of a lot more work. Funny thing is, I no longer cared, she made me want more. A few kisses and that ass of hers coupled with her shy sweetness and I was hooked. She probably did that shit on purpose.