“No. I have…something else I need to take care of.”
The blonde narrowed her eyes. “Whatever.”
“I—” He had nothing else to add. And he was needed at the end of the bar. “See ya.”
The blonde shook her head. “Not as much of me as you could have.”
Chase actually chuckled at that. Touché. He turned and headed straight for Bailey and the jerk who was still leaning into her space.
Chase moved in behind her, put his hands on her shoulder, and said, “Hey babe, sorry I’m late.”
Bailey stiffened, obviously in shock. Chase stiffened—particularly below his belt—because…damn. She smelled fucking amazing. He wanted to know how she tasted now.
Fortunately, he was only part asshole, and he realized immediately that all of that was super creepy to be thinking when he was over here to help her get away from the other asshole who was likely thinking about how delicious she’d taste, too.
He straightened and met the other guy’s stare.
“Who are you?”
“Chase Dawson. Who are you?”
“Justin Banks.”
“Well, Justin, I’m going to need Bailey to come with me now.”
“Is that right?” Justin looked down at Bailey.
But Bailey had craned her neck and was looking up at Chase. Her expression was…befuddled. That was the best way to describe it. Chase grinned at her.
“You ready?” he asked.
Had his voice just gotten a little husky? It had. Not on purpose, but he did like the way her lips parted slightly at the sound.
Was she ready? Was he? He had no idea what this even was but, yeah. He was ready.
“I um…” She trailed off, took a deep breath, glanced at Justin, then back to Chase. “Yeah. I’m ready.”
“Wait a second,” Justin said. “You’re going with him?”
“Well, that’s really none of your business,” Bailey said, before Chase could cut in.
Chase watched Justin. His jaw tensed and he took a deep breath. “Bailey—”
He reached for her arm, but Bailey pulled away before he could touch her.
That was enough for Chase. He stepped around Bailey’s stool, pushing in between them. “Okay, that’s enough. She said it’s not your business.”
Justin gave him an annoyed look. “I need another minute.”
“No.” Chase stepped into the other man, backing him up, away from Bailey. “You don’t.”
“Look, man—”
Chase put his hands on Justin’s chest and pushed. “No. You. Don’t.”
Justin glared at him and shoved Chase back. “Relax. Just back up.”
“Um, no.” Chase realized sometimes his asshole side could be of use. He spent a lot of time with other assholes—his brothers, his friends back in Virginia—and he could recognize when one was thinking he was the biggest dick, or had the biggest dick, in the room.
“Listen, Chase, I don’t know what—”
Chase pushed him back again. “You don’t need to know anything except the way to the door.”
Justin looked over at Bailey. “You gonna say something here?”
Chase watched Justin but waited for Bailey’s answer.
“No, I don’t think I am,” she said. She sounded amused.
“Door’s to your left,” Chase said, tipping his head toward the exit.
Justin looked like he wanted to say something more, but instead he smoothed the front of his shirt, gave Chase another good scowl, then said to Bailey, “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Chase frowned. “Dude, fucking take a hint. No. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Leave her the hell alone.”
Justin shook his head. “It’s not quite that straightforward.”
Okay, enough was enough. Chase pulled his arm back, his fist balled.
But before he could swing, he felt small hands wrap around his biceps. “Chase. No. It’s okay.”
Honestly, her words might not have been enough, but Bailey Wilcox’s tiny, covered-by-baggy-clothes body was now pressed against his back and Chase suddenly couldn’t remember how to punch someone. Not that he’d done a lot of punching. But he had done a lot of pressing up against women and his brain automatically switched into that mode.
Clearly, he was still part caveman.
He dropped his arm. “Get the hell out of here,” he said shortly to Justin.
Justin gave him a smirk and then did, actually, move off. But he didn’t leave. He found a stool halfway down the bar and ordered a beer.
What a prick.
“Son of a—”
“Come here.” Bailey still had her hands on his arm and she started tugging Chase in the direction of the hallway that led to the bathrooms and a back exit.
Chase followed. Because he wanted to smell her neck again.
Yep, super creepy.
He was going to keep that totally to himself.
Chapter 2
Bailey stopped at the end of the hallway where there was a small alcove full of brooms and mops.
She dropped her hold on him and crossed her arms. “What was that?”
“I could tell you didn’t want to talk to him and I was helping you get out of an awkward situation.” Chase shrugged. “You were obviously busy and he obviously couldn’t take a hint. Or an outright refusal.”
She tipped her head. “That was…nice. I guess.”
He grinned. “No guessing. It was.”
“Are you flirting with me?” She looked puzzled.
Was he? He supposed he was. She was definitely not his type. But there was a little hint of challenge here. Could he make her smile? Could he make her flirt back? Could he figure out just what that scent on her skin was?
He moved in a little closer. “If I was flirting, what would you do?” he asked.
He was stereotyping her. Just because she didn’t dress up to go out to the local bar, wore glasses, and brought a highlighter along while she drank beer, didn’t mean she wasn’t a sex kitten under it all. It didn’t mean she wasn’t doing all of this on purpose to keep guys from hitting on her…
Oh.
Yeah, that was very possible.
Chase leaned back.
“I would ask why,” she said.
“Because…” He trailed off. Which was maybe not the wisest way of answering that question. But why did people flirt? To convey attraction. To further a conversation into something else. As a prelude to more.
“I wanted to see if I could get you to smile.”
The arched eyebrows and the slight lean back told him instantly that was the wrong thing to say.
“Smile? Why do you care if I smile?” she asked. “I was perfectly fine sitting at the bar, going over those reports, being left alone. Just because I wasn’t smiling didn’t mean that I wasn’t completely content. Just because the erosion of the Louisiana coast and the plight of the freshwater animals and plants that live inside the barrier islands doesn’t make me happy, doesn’t mean that studying it and ways to combat the problem isn’t exactly where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing tonight.”
Chase stared at her.
Yeah.