Page 105 of Shattered King

“Does too.”

She opened her mouth to fire back another “does not” when our waiter dropped our bill on the table, giving us a look that, if I wasn’t half drunk, might have made me quiver in my shoes, or at least made me feel bad about the scene we were obviously making.

Ruby covered her mouth with her hand and the laugh she was trying to suppress came out like an explosive raspberry against her fingers. I quickly grabbed my purse and threw some cash on the table. I was using the last of my savings, but I’d decided a night out was worth it.

I glanced up at our sour-faced waiter. “We’ll just be on our way.”

Ruby shot up in her seat, grabbed my hand, and we wobbled out of the place on our stilettos. We’d just gotten out the door when Ruby swung around to me. “Let’s go to a club. I feel like dancing.”

I kind of felt like dancing, too. I hadn’t been out dancing in . . . well, as long as it had been since I’d gotten drunk. “Okay, let’s go dancing.”

Ruby had just lifted her hand to hail a cab when Neco materialized out of the shadows like some kind of man-chameleon. . . . A chameleon-man? A chameleman? Whatever. Anyway, one minute he wasn’t there, then the next he was, and announced, “I’ll drive you home.”

Neco was wearing jeans, boots, and a black long-sleeved tee that fit like a glove. He was also wearing a scowl, and it was aimed at my friend. He looked super pissed. Maybe I’d been wrong about the lust fest between them? It wasn’t like I was some expert on love. Look how I’d screwed up my own life.

I glanced behind him. A small—okay, a large part of me was hoping Hunter was with him. But he appeared to be alone.

“We’re not going home. We’re going to a club. We’re in the mood to dance.”

His gaze dropped, taking Ruby in from head to toe. The scowl got deeper. “I’ll drop you off at the club.”

Ruby and I tried to protest. The last thing either of us wanted was a damn bodyguard, especially not Hunter’s best friend. But Neco was stubborn and refused to change his mind. We didn’t stand a chance.

He dropped us at the club, and I expected him to leave or wait outside like he had at the restaurant, but he followed us in. Ruby did not look happy, not at all. Having an extremely tall, extremely pissed off—I still hadn’t worked out what he was pissed off about—guy following you around was kind of a buzz kill.

As soon as we got drinks, Ruby grabbed my hand and dragged me to the dance floor. Neco thankfully didn’t tag along—though I would have handed over the last of my savings to see him stand like a damn statue in the middle of the dance floor, scowling, while we danced around like lunatics. Instead, he took up position by the wall and watched us, or mainly Ruby.

It wasn’t long before we forgot he was there. The music was good, and there was a decent crowd, but not so busy you were bumping into everyone. We danced and laughed, sang our heads off, badly, and laughed some more. It was nice. To feel my age, to have fun with a friend. To not spend the whole time looking over my shoulder.

I hadn’t noticed we had company, not until someone bumped into me. A couple of guys had moved in and were kind of dancing with us. They grinned and we grinned back. They seemed harmless enough. They were hot, not Hunter hot, but good looking in a “boy next door” kind of way.

That’s when I felt it, a tingle down my spine, across my shoulders.

I glanced over at the wall Neco had been propping up. The big man was still there, but his expression wasn’t pissed anymore, it was murderous. He also wasn’t alone—Hunter was standing beside him. He looked like he was seconds away from pulling out his gun and blowing someone’s head clean off.

Our eyes collided and he pushed away from the wall, started striding purposefully toward me. I took an involuntary step back and crashed into one of the guys. His hands came up and settled on my hips to steady me, and then he leaned in. “You okay, babe?”

Hunter’s eyes narrowed to slits. Shit.

I tried to wriggle free, but the guy swung an arm around my neck and pulled me into his side. “You wanna get outta here?”

What? After barely one dance? The guy had a seriously overinflated opinion of himself.

Then Hunter was there. I took another step back when I got a better look at his face, which brought me closer to Mr. Boy-Next-Door. He took it as an affirmative answer to his question, and he pulled me in closer.

I tried, unsuccessfully, to wriggle free, but I wasn’t going anywhere with the guy’s arm wrapped around my neck like an iron band. How the hell did I get myself into this situation? Seriously.

Hunter stood in front of me, but his eyes were trained over my shoulder. “You might want to get your fucking hands off my woman.”

I was ashamed to admit, that the way he said that, kind of gave me a rush of excitement. A big one. I blamed it on the alcohol. I was still pretty tipsy, and right then I couldn’t think of a good enough reason not to throw myself at him and wrap my body around him like a python about to devour her favorite meal.

“Well, your woman just agreed to go home with me, so take a hike.”

All the happy tingles fled screaming in terror. I spun to the idiot, still holding onto me. Not good. I looked back to Hunter and shook my head. “No. That’s not . . . I didn’t . . . I. . . .”

Hunter’s nostrils flared like an angry rodeo bull, gaze cold and scary as hell. “I said, take your fucking hands off her. Now.”

This time the charmer at my back got the message. His arm dropped and he stepped away, lifting his hands in surrender. “Jesus. No offense, yeah?”