He jerks, his eyes widening. Then he tugs on my wrist so violently, I lose my balance and crash against him. “Bitch,” he hisses. “Cocktease.”
I’m busy picking myself up. I’ve lost a shoe, and I kick the other one off too—to run, if needed, though fear is slowly seeping through the alcohol haze, making me shake.
What if I can’t push him away? What if nobody else notices?
But then his grip on my arm loosens, and I stumble back, slamming up against the bar and sliding down to the floor.
There’s a heavy thud, and another, then a grunt and cursing. A shadow has fallen over me. A guy is towering over the asshole who tried to force me to—what, go with him? Was he going to rape me later? Holy shit.
A tall, muscular guy, his arms covered in tattoos, his blond hair coming loose from the ponytail at his nape, framing his furious, handsome face.
Kaden.
I gape at him as he gets into the other guy’s face, snarling. “Haven’t you learned yet I won’t fucking let you pick up women in this bar and carry them home against their will? Want me to knock out all your teeth, is that it?”
“Fuck off, Kaden.” The guy brushes a hand under his nose, and his fingers come away coated with bright red blood. “This is none of your fucking business.”
Kaden glances at me and his gaze darkens. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
He punches the guy in the gut, making him double over, then crouches down in front of me and puts a finger under my chin, tilting my face up.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
I say nothing, lost. His eyes are a pale green, like jade. Green and gold, cat-like eyes that seem to smile at me.
“She’s wasted,” the asshole says. “Aren’t you, Hailey?”
“Yeah, I saw you contribute to that.” Kaden’s eyes flash. He doesn’t look away from me. “Want me to drive you home? I promise you’ll be safe with me.”
The other guy snorts, then curses when blood trickles from his nose. “His girlfriend reported him to the police because he was so rough with her. Did you know that?”
Kaden’s face twists in a grimace.
“I know,” I whisper.
Kaden straightens. “That’s not how things went down,” he says, but doesn’t elaborate.
I’m staring at him. At his full, wide mouth, the golden scruff on his jaw, the thick column of his neck, the wide shoulders.
“Hailey.” He rubs a big hand over his mouth. “You don’t have to come with me. I can call you a cab.”
“I’d rather go with you,” I hear myself say.
Oh boy.
“Seriously? You’d trust him but not me?” the other guy mutters angrily.
But Kaden hasn’t manhandled me, hasn’t made decisions for me, hasn’t assumed we’ll sleep together. He came to my rescue.
Also, I want him. What can I say? I’m horny. And drunk.
So I stretch out my hand, and he takes it. He pulls me to my feet and wraps an arm around my waist when I wobble.
“Easy there,” he says, and his voice, like his touch, is firm but gentle. “Ready to go?”
As much as I’ll ever be, after this disastrous end to the night. I just hope I haven’t just made the mother of all bad decisions…
Chapter Two