She leans over, placing her arms on top of the bar, flattening her palms. “Champagne. No, wait.” She pauses, her gaze moving across the bottles against the wall. “I need something stronger. Whatever you’re having, I’ll take.”
I nod, motioning toward Jimmy, the bartender and someone I’ve known since I was a kid. “Two shots of whiskey and two whiskeys neat to sip,” I tell him, not bothering to look at Arlo.
“I can’t…”
I hold up my hand off to the side. “And two waters.”
He nods, making quick work of the drinks as Arlo fidgets at my side. The girl is wound up, but after what she just went through, I’d be wound tight too.
When the drinks are in front of us, I push three glasses in front of her, finally bringing my attention back to her pretty face. “Shot first,” I tell her.
“I really shouldn’t…”
I lift my shot glass, ticking my chin toward her shot. “It’ll take the edge off, and from the looks of you, you need it, darlin’.”
“Arlo,” she whispers like I forgot.
“I didn’t forget.”
Her eyebrows rise for a brief moment before she wraps her slender fingers around the glass and brings it toward her lips. The liquid inside sloshes. “I’m shaking,” she says, her eyes focused on the drink and the movement I didn’t miss.
“I know. It’s why you need two. The first one will hit quick, and the second is to enjoy.”
Her gaze darts to me and then back to the glass in her hand. She pauses, and I use my free hand to push the shot closer to her lips.
“Down the hatch.” I smile before tipping back my shot, swallowing the liquid.
She follows, immediately grimacing and then wincing as the whiskey no doubt burns her insides as it slides toward her belly. “Shit,” she hisses, clutching her chest and slamming the empty shot glass back on the bar. “That was…”
“Sip your water.”
She blinks, sucking in a breath as if she can’t shake the burn. “What?” she whispers.
I push the tall glass of ice water closer to her. “Drink the water. It’ll help.”
My eyes never leave her face as she wraps her hand around the ice water and lifts it toward her lips, her gaze moving away from me.
“Better?” I ask after her first sip.
She nods with an uh-huh, looking everywhere except at me.
“Good.” I smile at her again, seeing her shoulders relax even if her eyes are on full alert, moving around the bar area.
She tips her head back, exposing her beautiful neck, before chugging the water like she’s at a frat party trying hard to get drunk as fast as humanly possible.
Before the glass touches the bar again, only a few inches of liquid are left.
“You okay?” I ask her again, watching her movements carefully.
Her hands are barely shaking, and although she doesn’t look completely comfortable, she’s not as tense or as fidgety.
“Much better,” she says. “You can go now, though. I got this,” she dismisses me.
“Go?” I raise an eyebrow. “Where am I going?”
She looks over her shoulder at the people still celebrating around us, acting like there isn’t a new year every 365 days. “Back to your friends or your girl.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “It’s just me—and now you.”
Her eyes flash for a moment. “How?”
“How what?”
“How are you alone on New Year’s Eve?”
I shrug. “I felt like being alone…until now at least.”
“But you’re…you’re,” she says and stops.
“I’m what?” I push her.
“You’re hot.” She rolls her eyes and waves a hand at me. “Like super hot. With your pretty face, perfect nose, high cheek bones, chiseled jaw, and I’m sure you have a six-pack underneath your pressed dress shirt.”
“Babe, I’m a man who doesn’t get manicures, likes to get dirty, and don’t need a date or the extra drama just because it’s a holiday. And, in case you haven’t looked in the mirror lately, you’re the one who’s super freakishly hot. You’re stunning and could get any man in this place or outside of here.”
“Well, I…I,” her voice dies and she reaches for the whiskey neat, taking a big sip, swallowing down whatever she was going to say in rebuttal. “This has been a long day. I think I need some sleep.”
“We’re finishing this drink, I’m walking you to your car, and then I’m going home to get some sleep. I’m over this day.”
“You don’t need to walk me to my car.”
“Babe, after what just happened to you, I can’t leave without walking you to your car, watching you get inside, and seeing you drive away without that guy getting anywhere near you.”
“You really don’t need—”
“Don’t argue,” I tell her, cutting her off. “I’m doing it.”
“I can have one of my friends walk me out.”
“And where are those friends?” I shift my body, leaning my hip against the bar and turning to face her. “Where were they when he had you pinned against this very spot?”
She sucks her pouty bottom lip into her mouth, nibbling on it with her teeth. “Well, they were…” Her voice drifts off, and she looks into the crowd. “They’re somewhere around here.”
“They’re probably shit-faced. I’ll walk you out. I won’t sleep right unless I know you’re safe.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why does it matter to you?” she asks, blinking at me like I’ve said the craziest shit she’s ever heard.
“It’s how I was raised, Arlo. You see someone in trouble, you help. You see a woman in trouble, you step in and protect. Until you drive away, I got your back.”
She gawks at me again, her eyes searching my face, probably not believing a word I’m saying. “But I’m no one,” she says almost flippantly, but there’s something about the look in her eyes that makes me feel like she believes that about herself.
I tip my head to the side, furrowing my brows. “Say that again.”
“I’m no one,” she repeats, but she doesn’t look at my face as she speaks. “And I’m most certainly not your problem. I’m sure there are plenty of pretty girls here who’d like your attention.”
“Babe,” I clip out, pausing for a brief moment until I have her full and undivided attention. “One, don’t ever say you’re no one. You’re someone. Two, I don’t give two fucks about all the other pretty girls here. Three, the only beautiful woman I care about is the one standing in front of me. And four, you’re not a problem, and even if you were, I could use a problem like you.”
Her body stills as I speak, and she clutches her chest, lips parted, blinking. “Well, I…”
“And seeing as you shouldn’t drive after you’ve had too much to drink, we’re going to order some fries or maybe a greasy burger, talk for a little while, and then I’ll set you on your way.”