Page 29

Four shotsof Jameson puts Liv and me in the middle of the dance floor. The band has gotten nearly every person in the place up and dancing. Bodies surround me, and the alcohol coursing through me has almost made me forget about the two hundred pounds of muscular sex appeal that stands fifty feet away from me. It’s hard not to notice him when everyone in the bar seems keen on grabbing his attention. I swear, every single person has spoken to him at least once tonight.

A guy with close-cropped hair dips between where Liv and I are dancing.

Watch it, Shaggy Rogers.

I’m instantly annoyed, but Liv’s smile brightens when she looks at him, so who am I to shove away her good time? Her wide eyes flit to mine and I hold up two thumbs.

“Yes!” I mouth, backing up a little giving them some space.

My eyelids flutter close and I let the music—and maybe the Jameson—take me away. My arms become weightless as I throw them over my head, and I swing my hips side to side to the rhythm until I stumble into the wall behind me.

Not a wall.

I’m instantly engulfed in a warm and aromatic scent that I have grown to know well. I inhale, but it only makes me more lightheaded. He seems to have that effect on me. I roll my shoulders back and turn on my sneaker-covered heel, coming face-to-chest with the man that I’ve been avoiding all night. I tilt my head back, looking into his eyes, only to find them several shades darker than I have ever seen them.

“If you came over here to play protector for your sister, leave her alone. She’s fine.”

“I didn’t come over here for her,” his husky voice grumbles.

My heartbeat intensifies.

“No?” I angle my head. “Where’s your girlfriend from the bar?”

He rubs a large hand over his mouth, attempting to hide his smile. “You jealous, Nova?”

Is that what that feeling was?Was I jealous?I refuse to come to terms with what that might mean in the middle of this bar.

“What’s jealousy?” I ask, shrugging a shoulder. “Never heard of her.”

Knox steps closer, his hand gently finding the slope of my waist. His mouth dips to the crook of my neck, causing every hair on my neck to stand. “It’s how I feel every time someone walks past you, their bodies grazing your shoulder, your back.” He drags his fingers from my shoulders to the small of my back. “Or the last man who slid by you by brushing against your ass.”

My lips part slightly, my tongue running along the back of my teeth. I assess my options. “Do you dance Knox?”

“Not usually.”

I take a step back, creating some distance between us that I already wish to crush. The music that I had managed to tune out kicks back in, and my hips dip and sway. I trail my fingers in a line from my thighs up my waist. I’m flirting with a dangerous line. I know it, but I’m consumed by the way he looks at me when I do.

Knox’s nostrils flare, and in one step, he’s closing the distance that I deeply regretted putting between us. His large hand finds my body again, fingers digging into mywaist where my own touch had just traveled. I’m suddenly furious at his arm in the sling for preventing him from putting both of his hands on my skin. Before I know what I’m doing, my fingers are brushing lightly against his shoulder.

His eyes are darker than the bottom of a bottle when he follows the trail of my fingers along his collarbone. A muscle in his jaw ticks, as if this tiny movement is enough to test his restraint. The rhythm of the music blares through the bar, but standing this close to Knox, my heart hammers louder.

“Okay. I’m ready,” Olivia declares, her head popping up between us. I pull my hands away from Knox like I’ve been caught making out under the bleachers at a middle school football game. I flash him a coy smile, telling him just how thoroughly I was enjoying that moment, before finally looking at his sister instead.

“What happened?” I ask her.

“What always happens. He got weird and asked if I wanted to go back to his place. When I said no, he said he would never have hooked up with me anyway and bailed.”

Well, that won’t fly.

“Where’d he go?” I look over her shoulder.

“It’s fine.” She rubs her arm timidly.

“No, come on. I’ve put dudes in their place for way less,” I tell her. Her shiny eyes land on me, and her lips twitch in an appreciative smile. “I’m serious, Liv. Your enemies are my enemies.”

“I appreciate it, really, but I’m okay.”

She’s so sincere, like my willingness to defend her honor is something new to her, but I can’t imagine anyone in this townnotgoing to bat for this girl.