Above and Beyond (Twist of Fate 4)

I closed my eyes to remember. “Oh! Jeans and my Smoky the Bear T-shirt. And Vans.”

The rumble of his laughter vibrated against my chest. That was nice. I kept my eyes closed and allowed myself to enjoy the masculine strength of him, the deep voice and slight scent of sweat. Even the roughness of his stubble against the side of my face was delicious. How could anyone want to be with a woman when they could have this?

I ran my hands up his back, noticing the broad muscles shift under my fingers as he moved to the music. This was nice. Here was a man not afraid to be seen touching me, holding me, flirting with me in public. What was his name again? Rick? Rafe? Raft? Either way, he was sexy and friendly. More than that, he was happy to have me in his arms. And he wasn’t talking to me like I was just some dumb kid who didn’t know what he wanted.

After leaning my face against his shoulder, I sighed. Who said the earth had to move when all you really wanted was some physical attention? I didn’t need a husband. I needed sex. And if I could sex my way out of this obsession with Zach, that’d be great too.

I sighed again.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

The bark startled me out of my reverie, and I blinked my eyes open to see Davis’s stormy face over RickRafe’s shoulder.

“Uh, dancing?” I said, looking around at all the other people on the dance floor who’d been doing the same. Seemed kinda obvious if he’d just looked around.

Davis seemed to realize he was drawing everyone’s attention with his hissy fit. “Come outside. I need to talk to you.”

My dance partner’s arms tightened around me. “Not happening, asshole,” he said with a friendly smile.

That was nice. See? Zach wasn’t the only protective man in the world. Other men wanted me. Like… what the hell was his name? Rafe. I was pretty sure it was Rafe.

I decided to back him up. “Yeah,” I said. “What he said. Rafe.”

Davis’s eyes widened. “You’re drunk.”

I nodded. “Accurate assessment by pro… pro… professional paramedic.” That wasn’t as easy to say with a numb tongue as it was when my tongue worked better. Maybe he was right.

Davis’s face softened. “Lucky, let me take you home.”

I thought about how good it had felt when Davis had held me after I’d pleasured him. Admittedly, I’d pictured a certain someone in those moments when Davis’s bare skin had been pressed against mine, but despite that, I still desperately wanted to be touched and held. Even if Davis insisted on keeping me a secret, maybe it was worth it just to feel that miniscule physical attention again.

Rafe cupped my face with his large hands. “Stay with me, cutie pie. I’ll get you home safe.”

He had pretty brown eyes. But they were missing the green flecks. Why didn’t his eyes have green flecks too?

“Some Army Rangers have green-brown eyes,” I told him. “It’s nice.”

His lips curved up in a grin. “That does sound nice. Maybe you want to find those Rangers and invite them home with us tonight?”

I thought about it for a microsecond. “I wish. But they don’t like me. They think I’m a kid.”

Davis barked again. “Lucky! Outside. Now.”

How dare he speak to me that way. As if he had rights to me. Nobody bossed me around like that. I didn’t take orders from anyone. And if a small voice corrected me and reminded me that I’d be perfectly willing to take orders from one particular someone, well… I ignored that stupid voice. It didn’t matter anyway.

Suddenly, I wanted to take a swing at Davis, take out all of my Zach-based frustration on the closeted cheater in front of me. I twisted in Rafe’s grip and pulled back my arm, striking out fast and knocking my fist into Davis’s upper arm. My aim wasn’t so great right now for some reason.

“Get the hell out of here, jackass,” I snapped. “Go home to your baby mama.”

Davis darted forward like he was going to grab me, but Rafe pulled me away in time and stood between us. His face darkened. “Listen, man. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but Lucky clearly doesn’t want to go with you. I suggest you get out of here before making even more of a scene than you already are. Plus, some chick just walked in looking like she wants to blow your shit up.”

He flicked his head toward the door where Natalie stood looking exactly as Rafe had described. Murderous. My heart fell into my stomach. While Davis wasn’t the best guy in the world, he’d at least seemed to want me, even if it had only been for the briefest of moments.