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L ord Jesus, it was her. She hadn’t seen him yet, thank god.

Ethan pulled his baseball cap low over his eyes and rounded his shoulders over his glass of rum and Coke.

He kept his head low, but his eyes trained on her.

Riley wore denim cut-off shorts and a white lace crop top that revealed her flat, lightly tanned stomach.

The man beside her passed her another shot.

She tossed it back expertly. Ethan slid his thumb over the cool glass in his hand.

That’s two now, and before the shots she’d been sipping on a brightly colored cocktail.

That was a lot of alcohol for someone her size.

She passed the man her empty shot glass.

He slid an arm around her back, inching closer to her.

For a flicker of an instant, her face changed.

Her eyes grew small and her jaw tensed. A shaky smile returned when he touched her chin and turned her face toward him.

Her fingers toyed with a long tendril of her hair that fell in soft waves around her breasts.

The man tucked her hair over her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. She bit her lip.

Shit.

Ethan tightened his hand on the sweating glass. She didn’t know the dude. All he had to go by was instinct and his experience on reading people. One thing was for sure, the asshole was all over her. If he was her boyfriend, he wouldn’t be trying so damn hard.

Dammit, he shouldn’t care. She wasn’t his problem. Since he’d moved in next door to her a couple weeks ago, she’d been friendly but completely disinterested in his attempts at small talk. Not that he’d done anything but be polite to her.

Riley had a wall of ice behind her green eyes and tight smile. No one was getting beyond that guard…except the douchebag that kept touching her.

The man trailed a finger over Riley’s collarbone, his face tucked closely to her ear.

Her cheeks turned a ripe shade of pink. She ducked her chin away from his face, but the man brought his hand to her jaw and turned it sharply toward him.

The planes of the dude’s face turned hard and his fingertips held her face inches from his.

Even at this distance, Ethan could see that he dug his grip too deep, making her soft skin pucker around his fingertips. His hold demanded her obedience.

Who the hell did this guy think he was handling a woman like that?

And more importantly, why was she standing for it?

He lowered his hand to her bicep and rotated her body into him. With Riley’s back to Ethan, he watched as the predator smoothed his hands over her ass. She grabbed his wrists, shifting his hands to rest on her hips.

The guy put them right back on the rump of her shorts.

An iron fist of disgust gripped Ethan’s lungs. The prick was insistent and downright rough. His instincts went to war. Getting involved wouldn’t do him any good, but something wasn’t right.

“Mind if I have a seat?” A tall woman in a tight red dress blocked his view. He lifted his eyes to her face and then dragged them away. On any other night, he’d be game. Hell, he’d be more than game. But tonight, he couldn’t take his eyes off the blonde across the room.

“I’m waiting for someone, but you’re welcome to have a seat.” Manners forced the words from his mouth. He shifted his gaze around her full, sexy hips to locate the woman across the bar. His disinterest didn’t sway the woman in red.

She pulled out a chair and sat. Her legs crossed and uncrossed. “You’ve been waiting an awful long time.” She rested her chin on her palm. Warm, olive eyes met his. God, she was beautiful. Her lips were full and painted in a warm neutral tone, her dark hair curled around her exposed cleavage.

Every male hormone in his body screamed at him for not taking an interest. But he couldn’t.

Not when his sixth sense was on high alert.

He couldn’t pretend that he didn’t have any clue as to what the slimy bastard was planning on doing with Riley.

He forced his attention to the woman in front of him.

“I’m sorry, I’m distracted tonight and not in the mood for conversation. ”

A slow smile crept over her face. “I’m not in the mood for conversation either.”

Jesus, she was direct. He liked direct, he liked women who knew what they wanted and took it.

Sex in particular. He was here on vacation to clear his head and figure out his next steps and he wanted to enjoy it.

And that meant sex. Lots of it. Of course, this would happen tonight, when he wouldn’t be able to act.

Because of Riley. Just his luck.

The waitress stepped up to his visitor, and propped a tray on her hip. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll have a mojito, please.”

Now he was buying her a drink? How in the hell had that happened? He craned his neck around the two women. A new couple stood in the same spot where Riley and the asshole had stood only seconds before.

“And for you?”

He waved his glass at her. “Rum and Coke.”

His eyes scanned the crowd. The waitress took the empty glass and sidled around the table. He leaned in his seat, not caring if he was being inconspicuous or not. Women gyrated on the dance floor, the thumping of the bass vibrated through the soles of his shoes, racking up his pulse.

The top of Riley’s blond head passed through a gap in the throng of bodies. The man she’d been with had his fingers circled around her elbow, leading her to the exit.

Ethan leapt to his feet, opened his wallet, and slapped some bills on the table. “Have a good night.” He moved his way through the crowd, keeping his eyes on his target. The woman he’d left behind scoffed and made a rude remark.

He didn’t care.

People loitered near the exit. Without slowing down, he parted the crowd. The warm night air hit him in the face. The late July humidity made his shirt cling to his chest when he stepped outside.

His eyes zeroed in on them. They were halfway across the parking lot.

The dude’s hand curled possessively around her elbow as he dragged her across the gravel.

Much too quick for Riley’s staggered footsteps.

She didn’t appear to be putting up a fight, but with the drunken wobble of her legs, that didn’t reassure him. Distaste swirled over Ethan’s tongue.

Don’t overreact. This is none of your business.

It wasn’t his business, but goddammit, he couldn’t stand around and let her leave with the douchebag.

The reasonable part of his brain that still worked shouted at him to remain cool.

He had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

For all he knew the guy was going to put her in a cab.

He wouldn’t step in unless it appeared otherwise.

Any man that took an intoxicated woman home from the bar had only one thing in mind.

She threw her head back and cackled, her steps wavered, and she slouched against the man’s side.

The guy’s hand extended in the air. A soft beep-beep sounded through the night, and the headlights of his red Ford Mustang flashed. Every muscle in Ethan’s body tensed.

Like hell.

She laughed again at something he’d said. Her cowboy-booted toe caught the gravel and she pitched forward. She landed on her hands and knees, and then rolled to sit on her ass, her giggles erupting through the night. She was plastered.

His feet crunched over the gravel as he approached. The man slid his hands under her arms and hauled her to her feet.

“I want smum more alcohol.”

The thundering of blood through his skull drowned out the soft slurs of her voice.

“Come on girl, I have tequila at my house.”

“Let her go.” Ethan’s voice boomed through the wall of humidity.

The screeching cicadas around them silenced before beginning their symphony again.

His movements didn’t slow. The man lifted his bent head, the salacious smile evaporated from his face.

He took a step back. He was of medium-build, but next to Ethan, he lacked size and mass.

Riley reeled to face him. Her eyes widened on his face. “What are you doing here?”

Fire shot from her green eyes, enough to sear him to the spot. Huh. Two minutes ago, she’d been drunk and on her ass. Now she didn’t slur a single syllable. There was no way she’d sobered up that quickly. What the hell was she trying to pull?

Ethan stopped inches from her. “Hello to you too, Riley.”

“Do you know him?” the man’s voice wavered, his eyes racked over Ethan.

Riley’s gaze never left his. “No, I don’t.”

She turned, but Ethan stopped her. The skin above her elbow was smooth beneath the rough pads of his fingers.

When the prick reached for her, Ethan stepped between them.

With his back to him, Ethan’s senses sparked.

The muscles in his back bunched anticipating an attack.

His training still deeply ingrained in his psyche.

“You’re drunk, and I’m not letting you leave with this douchebag, all right? I’ll call you a cab.”

Her brow snapped down. She was so short next to him, her eyes were level with his sternum. She yanked her arm out of his grasp. “I’m fine. Mind your own business.”

She stepped around him. “Come on, Ryan.”

Her eyes burned into Ethan’s. “Let’s go.”

The man snickered and welcomed her to his extended arm. “See ya later, bro.”

He should back away. He should let her do whatever the hell she wanted. He cracked his knuckles. Not happening.

In one swoop, he caught the man’s shirt collar and yanked him backward. Ryan stumbled and flopped across the loose stones on his ass. Ethan stepped over top of him, his hand fisted at the throat of his shirt.

“Let him go, you maniac.” Riley shrieked behind him. She pulled on the back of his shirt with the strength of a squirrel. He ignored her.

“You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing getting a young woman plastered and taking her home?” Ethan gave him a shake when he didn’t answer. The man’s hat flew off revealing dark, close-cropped hair.

“She came on to me, man,” he wailed. “I didn’t know she was with anyone.”