But that was a long time ago. Now it was a raging, unpredictable fearlessness.
“You sure you’re okay, miss?” The bouncer stepped into the bathroom.
“Yeah. I’m sure.” I smiled, but it was shaky and I wasn’t sure he bought it. “Thank you. Sorry about the door.”
The bouncer obviously didn’t believe me and with Connor’s near explosive attitude, I kind of understood why. It was the guy’s job to make sure the girls in the bar weren’t harmed. I knew that firsthand. If we were at Matt’s bar, they’d have already taken Connor out. Or tried to.
“You want to step outside, miss. I need to speak with the gentleman.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Okay, I had to do something. If they so much as stepped into Connor’s space, he’d explode. His body thrummed with anger and it was completely unreasonable, but I’d seen him lose it before. He told me himself he’d nearly pulled the trigger on the alarm guy because he wasn’t seeing the alarm guy, he was seeing Carlos.
“Connor?” I quietly moved into him, my chest against his, one hand still in his and the other looping around the back of his neck. He was tall, really tall and since he was still looking at the bouncer, I had to stand on my tiptoes in order to kiss him, yet still my mouth couldn’t reach his.
I applied pressure to his neck until he bent and my lips met his.
At first, his mouth remained unyielding beneath mine.
“Please, hon,” I begged under his lips. “Kiss me.”
Kissing him was like pushing up against a wall. Immovable. But then he suddenly gave.
His mouth melded to mine and his fingers weaved into my hair, bunching strands in his fist then pulling back to tilt my head farther so he could deepen the kiss.
There was a throat clearing and several voices behind us, but I kissed him until I felt his body give and relax. I slowly pulled back, my eyes searching his. Steady. Calm. “We have to go. Okay? Don’t do anything. Please.”
He hesitated before nodding. “Yeah.”
“Okay.”
He kept hold of my hand and still making certain his body protected me, he stalked toward the door and the bouncer.
It was fine. We’d go outside and he’d leave. He was okay.
And he was until the bouncer touched my arm on the way out the door. “You sure you want to go with him.”
That was when all hell broke loose.
“Get your fuckin’ hand off her.” Connor shoved the bouncer in the chest so hard he staggered back into the wall.
“Connor. No.” The bouncer pushed away from the wall, his cheeks red. Oh, shit. “Please. We’re leaving. He’s leaving.”
“Damn right he is,” the bouncer said.
“Alina? Hey. You okay?”
Shit. It was Chess and she was pushing toward me through the crowd of girls who had been waiting for the washroom.
She stopped when her eyes landed on Connor’s hand clasped in mine. Then her mouth dropped open as she recognized whose hand I held.
I didn’t have time to think about what to say to her because I had to get him out of here before there was a bigger scene and Georgie found out what was going on. It was not a good way to discover her brother was here.
“Go wait for me outside,” Connor ordered without looking at me. His glare zeroed in on the bouncer who was five feet away. I was sure the bouncer was waiting for backup, which I had no doubt would be here any second.
Bouncers watched one another’s backs. At least they did at Avalanche. So, I knew exactly what would happen. I also knew that as long as I stayed next to Connor, they’d avoid forcefully removing him. Instead, they’d try to talk him into leaving quietly.
“Connor, let’s go.” I tugged on his hand, which was like trying to unearth a tree. “We need to leave before your sister sees you.”
That got his attention. He looked down at me, face stone cold then he headed for the door, taking me with him. The crowd of girls moved out of his way and as I looked back over my shoulder I saw the bouncer following us out.
Connor brushed right by Chess without even glancing at her, but I was uncertain if he’d even known who she was.
I managed to whisper to her on the way past, “Don’t tell Georgie. Please. Let me talk to Deck first.” I had no time to say anything more as we weaved through the bar to the front door.
His bike was literally right out front. Connor passed me the helmet and threw his leg over the seat. I glanced at the door.
Chess stood there frowning, so did the bouncer who chatted with another bouncer while his eyes remained on Connor.
The bike roared to life. “Babe,” he said.
Pulling the helmet on, I did up the chinstrap, which took a few tries because my hands shook. Then I climbed on the back of his bike, pelvis snug to his ass and wrapped my arms around his waist.