For a moment, Gemma thought Jason was going to argue, but evidently he decided she wasn’t worth it. With a rude remark under his breath, he turned and headed back for the bar.
Thank God.
Aaron watched him go, shoulders rigid until the other man went inside. Then he turned to her, eyes still hot. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks for that.”
She could see the temper warring on his face, waited for the confrontation about why she didn’t want his help. Instead he said, “Rick’s out cold. You’ll never get him in the house on your own. I’m following you home.”
Gemma opened her mouth but he interrupted before she could speak.
“Don’t argue with me, Gemma. At least you know I won’t try to molest you.”
It made her feel small and petty. She hunched her shoulders defensively. “I wasn’t going to argue. I was going to say thank you.”
Aaron relaxed a bit. “Okay then. I’m parked on the drive. I’ll follow you out.”
~*~
Aaron’s temper was at a steady boil by the time they made it back to Rick’s place. He managed to keep a lid on it as they hauled Rick’s dead weight out of the truck and into the house. Rick was already snoring by the time they poured him into bed.
Gemma tugged off his shoes. “Do you think it’s safe to leave him? He’s not so drunk he’s going to have alcohol poisoning or something, right?”
“I saw him do that once in college, after Becky Winthrop dumped him. I don’t think he’s that far gone now,” said Aaron.
“In that case, I hope he has the hangover from Hell tomorrow for putting me through this.” With one last look of concern and irritation, she walked out of the bedroom.
Aaron held his tongue until they made it into the living room. “Now, how about you tell me what the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded.
Gemma stiffened and swung toward him from the cabinet Rick used as a bar, abandoning the bottle of wine she’d started to open. Her eyes had gone to slits. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve always thought you were one of the smartest women I’ve ever met. And tonight you were just being bone stupid. That asshole could’ve—” Aaron cut himself off, too easily able to see Jason caging her against the truck. “He could have hurt you. What would you have done if I hadn’t been there?”
“I find a knee to the balls and a spiked heel to the instep to be pretty effective. Something you’ll find out for yourself in short order if you don’t back off right now.”
Aaron realized he’d crowded into her space and stepped back immediately, hands lifted in truce. Unable to stay still, he started to pace. “I know you’d never have been in a place like that if Rick hadn’t been a damned moron, and I’ll take him to task for that when he’s sober. But you.” He looked at her standing there in her New Year’s Eve finery and shook his head. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I needed a hand getting Rick into the truck. Jason offered.”
“So did I. And you know me, so exactly why was that redneck Neanderthal the preferable alternative?”
Gemma crossed her arms and paced to the window. “I didn’t need your help. I’m not my brother’s keeper and you aren’t mine.”
Where was this fury coming from? Baffled, Aaron scooped a hand through his hair. “What’s wrong, Gemma?”
“You mean apart from the fact that my idiot brother decided to get so wasted I had to abandon my date at Chez Philippe midway through the entree in order to come rescue him, thus destroying any possibility that Victor will ever call me again?”
What the hell kind of name is Victor? Aaron wondered.
“This isn’t about your date. I’ve never in my life known you to be foolish or rude. And you’ve been both tonight in the name of avoiding me.”
“You don’t know me, Aaron,” Gemma spat. But she flinched and with it some of that icy reserve cracked. “I’m not avoiding you.”
Aaron just looked at her, lifting a brow.
“Avoiding you makes it sound like we were in the same orbit to begin with. I haven’t seen you in ten years, and there was absolutely no reason to think I ever would again.”
“Rick’s one of my best friends. Why wouldn’t we have run into each other eventually?”