when he turned his back. He was just lucky he was so adorable.
*****
Lila threw her arms up, dancing with abandon, sandwiched between Laken and Savannah. Dirty Delights was packed tonight, a rodeo in the next town over had brought a number of visitors in. Unfortunately, some of their manners weren’t as good as the locals.
She gritted her teeth as she felt another pinch on her ass.
Patience. Patience.
She kept dancing, feeling a bit light-headed. She probably shouldn’t have had that fifth or was it sixth vodka orange?
A hand smacked her heavily on the ass. Oh no. That was just too much. Turning, she found a rather attractive cowboy smiling at her. With a grin of her own that would have had her men immediately backing off, she reached around and slapped him on the ass.
His smile immediately grew. Damn it. Dumb, drunken ass.
“Back off, idiot,” she told him, turning back to her friends. An arm crept around her waist, hauling her backward.
“Let me go!” she yelled, her voice barely making audible over the noise of the music. She kicked back, pulling at his arm. Laken leaped forward, shoving the guy back. He let go of her and Lila stepped forward, whirling around to confront him. But Laken was already there, right in his face.
“Get lost, jerk,” Laken growled.
The cowboy glared down at them, a sullen look on his face. Ah-oh, this could turn bad. Very bad.
“There a problem here?” a new voice asked.
Lila looked up to see Duncan Jones staring down at them, his face calm even though his eyes were intent and focused on Laken.
Laken and Duncan stared at one another with enough heat to set the room aflame.
“Hey, I got no problem, buddy. Just looking for a dance,” the cowboy said quickly.
Well, he can’t have been too drunk, because he still had some sense. Of course, Duncan was pretty intimidating. He was built, really built with muscles that didn’t quit.
“Good,” Duncan said, having no problem making himself heard over the music. “I suggest you go look elsewhere and this time, keep your hands to yourself.”
The cowboy scurried off.
“Thanks, Duncan,” Lila said with a smile.
Duncan smiled gently down at her. “No problem, Lila.”
“Don’t thank him,” Laken said hotly. “We were doing just fine without him.”
Lila looked over at Laken in surprise. Laken could be fiery and tough, but she wasn’t rude. Duncan raised a brow, a quelling look in his eyes. Lila’s butt clenched. She knew that look. If it had been one of her men giving her that look then her butt would be in a world of trouble.
“That so, Laken?” Duncan drawled, crossing his arms over his wide chest. “And what if that cowboy’s buddies had decided to join him, were you going to take care of them too? All five foot two of you?”
Laken straightened her shoulders. “Actually, I’m five foot three and we would have been fine. We can take care of ourselves. No one asked for your help, so why don’t you run on back to wherever you crawled out of.”
“Laken!” Lila scolded as Savannah watched on, her eyes wide.
“Too far, little girl, too far.” Duncan took a step forward and Laken blanched but stood her ground.
Lila quickly stepped between them. “Duncan, can I buy you a drink to say thanks?” she asked loudly.
Duncan’s dark gaze shifted to her and softened. “No thanks, squirt. Is Gavin here tonight? I haven’t seen him.”
“No, we’re on a girls night,” she said. “You know what, I kind of feel like sitting down for a while. Good to see you again, Duncan, and thanks.”