Cole signaled to one of the prospects, and a few moments later a rum and cola was set before her. The men were drinking Tequila shots.
Crash had one forearm on the table, his right hand riding lightly on her bare hip. She jumped slightly as his hand squeezed. “Relax,” he murmured close to her ear. “I won’t bite.”
“Relax? Easy for you to say,” she replied.
He chuckled. She felt the warmth of his breath on her neck, and heat radiating off his body to her bare back. She trembled in response.
“Sorry about earlier, darlin’,” Red Dog apologized.
“She knows the score, it won’t happen again, Dog,” Crash interjected tersely.
“No, I’m the one who should apologize. It’s not my business. Crash made that clear. I had no right to interfere on Mary’s account,” Shannon stated.
“Now you’re really making me feel lower than a snake,” Red Dog muttered.
“Enough of this shit. Let’s drink to letting it slide.” Cole lifted the bottle, pouring a round of shots. He paused over the fourth shot-glass, looking over at Shannon. “Gonna join us, Shannon?”
Biting her lip, she nodded, feeling compelled to accept even though shots weren’t really her thing. They all lifted their glasses. She did as well. Cole looked at her and instructed, “Gotta down it in one quick gulp now, babe.”
She nodded and downed it with the rest of them. The men all slammed their glasses down on the table. Shannon almost dropped hers. Holy crap! Fire exploded in her throat and mouth. She could feel it burning all the way down, and she started coughing.
Cole winked at her as her eyes started to water, and Crash signaled to one of the prospects. A moment later a glass of water was set down in front of her. She practically chugged the whole glass.
“You okay, Princess?” Crash asked, leaning down to her ear.
She nodded and gasped out, “Holy moly.”
The table burst out in laughter. Cole lifted the bottle. “Ready for another?”
She waived it off. “No. God, no.”
“You sure? Second one goes down easier,” Cole promised, trying to tempt her.
Crash pushed the rum and cola in front of her. “Maybe you should just stick to this.”
Red Dog looked over at Shannon. “You did me a favor tonight, girl. I shoulda run Rosalie off months ago. She’s a freaking nut-bag!”
Cole and Crash tried to smoother their laughter.
They drank several more drinks, and before she knew it, Shannon was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol.
Green wandered over trying to scoot in next to Shannon, but Crash put a stop to that by giving him a hard shove to the shoulder and sending him stumbling. At the same time, Crash’s arm encircled her low on her hips with a possessiveness as he pulled her back agai
nst him. There was a decisive quality to his shielding actions. The male protecting his female. It struck something deeply feminine in her that was unmistakably and intensely drawn to the masculinity of him. She’d never felt safer than she did with this man who was so opposite of everything she’d thought her ideal man would be. The rightness of having his arms around her drifted through her as the alcohol mellowed her.
“Hey, man, just trying to be friendly,” Green complained, drunkenly.
“Get lost before I beat your face in,” Crash suggested gruffly.
After he stumbled off, Shannon turned her face enough to speak against Crash’s jaw. “I thought you weren’t going to fight.”
He nuzzled her ear, growling with a low and sexy rumble, “Yeah? Do I get a reward for getting through the night without killing someone?”
She was corralled between his spread thighs as he sat on the barstool. Lifting one hand, she rubbed her palm over his thigh. “Maybe, if you earn it.”
His arms tightened around her, his laughter rumbling through her. “I like you like this,” he murmured against her ear. “Relaxed and tipsy and teasing. Sexy as fuck.”
The show was going on all around them with strippers dancing throughout the place, but none of it was getting her as hot as Crash’s voice whispering in her ear.