I couldn’t help but smirk at the bartender. “Nate, this is Caleb. Caleb, Nate.”
Nate offered his hand. “Caleb.”
Caleb took it, shaking once before pulling away. “Nate.”
“Where ya from?”
“Virginia.” Caleb took a swallow of his beer.
“Which part?” Nate looked like he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, obviously wanting his questions answered.
“We own a house in Wythe County, but I go to school in Blacksburg.” Caleb took another swallow of his beer and set the glass bottle on the bar top. “I’m a senior at Virginia Tech with a major in engineering. I want to design cars when I grow up.” He smirked and turned to wink at me before going on. “Want to know my social security number, too?”
Nate didn’t even blink and I held back a sigh. I’d thought the inquisition was over when I’d left my dad at the front door earlier that night. I had to admit that it was nice that Nate actually cared enough to want to try and scare off my new friend, though. “If you live in Virginia, what brings you to Cali?”
“The usual reasons. A beautiful girl.” He shrugged those massive shoulders and reached for his beer again. “I think someone’s trying to get your attention down there,” Caleb said, using his bottle to indicate the two hockey players standing at the other end of the bar trying to get Nate’s attention.
Muttering a curse, Nate pushed away from the bar and went to get the other VIPs their drinks. I shook my head as I watched him walk away. What had that been about? Not wanting to have to go through it again, I picked up my drink and stood. “Let’s find a couch and veg out until Harris can come hang with us.”
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 8
Harris
I was neck deep into paperwork that had landed on my desk earlier that evening when Tiny’s scary-ass voice suddenly filled the office. “Miss Thornton has arrived, boss.”
Involuntarily, my body tightened at just the thought of Lucy. I gripped my pen tight as I fought down the urge to say to hell with all the fucking paperwork and seek out my girlfriend. But I still had another hour’s worth of work that I had to get through before I could call it a night.
“Thanks, Tiny.”
“She’s not alone.”
I frowned. “Kin’s with her?”
“No, boss.”
The frown deepened. “So who is it?”
“Some guy. Never seen him before.”
The paperwork in front of me no longer seemed as important. Reaching for my phone, I pulled up the security feed for the VIP area and found Lucy sitting at the bar with a guy who’s shoulders were as wide as my fucking desk was long. What, did he bench press small cars in his spare time? Fuck. Nate stood there, his mouth moving and a frown on his face. Lucy looked good. Mouthwateringly good. She was wearing some kind of mini skirt, black leggings combo again with a top that made her breasts look good enough to eat. And the guy she was with kept turning from Nate to run his eyes over my girl.
Who the fuck was this guy?
And where was Marcus? Changing the camera I was looking at, I saw Marcus leaning back against a wall. He was watching Lucy, but didn’t seem concerned that the guy she was with could be a danger to her.
Jealousy burned in my gut and I tossed my phone on the desk and headed for the elevator. My hands balled into fists as I counted down the seconds before I could reach Lucy. The elevator door had barely opened before I was stepping off and headed straight for the VIP bar, but by the time I got there, Lucy and the dude were gone.
I waved Nate over. “Where is she?” I demanded before he’d even reached me.
Nate nodded his head behind me. “Over there somewhere.”
Muttering a curse, I stomped away. It took a few seconds before I spotted her sitting on one of the leather couches in a corner. The guy she had been with at the bar was sitting beside her, beer in hand, eyes eating up my girl. He said something I couldn’t hear over the music and the noise of the crowd, making her throw that curly head back and laugh.
If I’d been jealous at the sight of her sitting at the bar with this tool, it was nothing compared to the burning acid that was slithering up my spine to infect my mind now. I’d never really contemplated that whole ‘seeing red’ concept. Not until that moment. I wanted to punch something?
?preferably that prick’s face. I wanted to go all caveman and grab Lucy, toss her over my shoulder and lock her in my office until I knew that this guy was never going to show his fucking face again.