And I stop breathing altogether.
Because there is Beau.
His big sexy frame fills the doorway. Shoulders massive, hands hanging loose at his sides. Blue eyes narrow and blazing as he takes in the scene.
He didn’t leave.
My heart shudders in my chest.
My knees tremble.
Every little bit of me longs to run to him, throw myself into his arms.
He strides across the bar, his feet pounding on the floorboards. And his voice booms, like the voice of a god, capable of knocking mortal beings senseless:
“You’ve got two seconds to get the hell out of here, before I turn you and your brother into a pair of fluffy white rugs.”
The big oaf shuffles around on the bar until he can see who’s addressing him.
He’s beefier than Beau, but he lacks his pure muscle, and as his eyes turn shifty, I can see he knows it. Totally outclassed.
Beau doesn’t give him any more time to think. He strides over, grabs him by the back of his shirt, and hauls him right off the bar. Then, keeping ahold of him, he drags him to the other side of the room, where his brother is standing paralyzed. Beau snatches his brother up, too, and aims the two of them at the door, one after the other, like a pair of bowling balls.
They tumble through, with two almighty crashes.
I hold my breath, expecting them to return, but they’re gone. There’s a flash of color as their bulky shapes pass the barred windows.
Then I turn back to Beau.
He’s standing in the middle of the room, feet apart, all relaxed like the past couple of minutes didn’t just happen. He’s an alpha. His power pours off him in waves. I feel it, deep in my bones.
Then his eyes lock onto mine, and he’s there, at the bar, his big hands reaching for me. “Are you okay, girl?”
I take two quick strides and lay my own hands in his. They’re warm, and they wrap around mine, wrap around my soul. His touch feels like home.
I close my eyes, relief flooding through me. “I thought you were leaving.”
He doesn’t reply right away, and when I open my eyes again, the vulnerability in his handsome face startles me.
“I couldn’t,” he says shortly.
My lips purse into a why, but I can’t bring myself to form the word.
“I needed to protect you.”
Protect me.
I draw a deep breath and it comes out ragged. “H-how did you know what was happening?”
“I didn’t.” His cornflower blue eyes are steady.
Trembles go through me, and I start to shake all over. Because I think I grasp his meaning. He leans closer, his lips swim toward mine. My heart hammers and yearning, anticipation rises up in me. I edge closer, closer—
And the front door bursts open again.
“You again? Thought you were leaving.” Meredith’s voice blasts across the room.
We jerk apart.