He’d been impressed how well she’d dealt with that asshole Shawn. He hadn’t realized what was happening until Jag said something and stood up. When he saw Kenna trying to pry Shawn’s hands off of her friend—and then push him—he’d almost had a heart attack.
It was obvious Shawn hadn’t taken Kenna’s actions well, and by the look on his face, Aleck thought he was getting ready to shove her back. All sorts of awful scenarios had run through his head as he rushed across the bar.
“Hey.”
One word, that was all it took for Aleck to snap out of his own head and focus on her.
He and Jag had been waiting by the front of the restaurant for Carly and Kenna. Midas and Mustang had taken their women home a few minutes earlier.
“Hi,” Aleck returned, eyeing Kenna carefully. She looked okay. Tired, but not freaked out. Which was a relief.
“Thank you both for walking us to my car,” Kenna told them.
“No way in hell we were going to let you head off into a dark parking garage after what happened,” Aleck told her honestly.
She narrowed her eyes. “Let?” Kenna asked.
Aleck sighed.
“You guys have your conversation, we’ll head to the car,” Carly said with a tired smile.
It was a testament to her resiliency that Carly also seemed to be all right. She headed toward the street with Jag at her side. His friend had been fairly quiet after he’d made sure Carly was okay. Jag wasn’t the most talkative man, but he’d been even less chatty for the last hour or so.
“I suppose I should say that came out wrong…” Aleck started.
“But it didn’t, did it?” Kenna said.
“No,” he said. “Look. I’m not saying you aren’t perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. But the fact remains that I’m stronger than you. As is that Shawn asshole. He’s a typical bully. Backs off when confronted by someone his own size, someone stronger, but has no problem manhandling you or Carly. I’m well aware we just met, and that you’ve been taking care of yourself for years. But when I saw that asshole glaring at you, all I could think of was making sure he didn’t get the chance to do anything.
“I’m not the kind of person who can simply turn my back on someone who needs help. So yeah, I wasn’t going to let you and Carly walk through a dark parking garage to your car when we don’t know where that asshole is.”
“He’s probably still at the police station,” Kenna said.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Aleck’s voice lowered. “I’m not trying to be controlling here. I swear.”
Kenna eyed him for a moment, then nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m being unreasonable. I’m actually grateful you and your friend are here. Paulo or Justin usually walk me to my car after work, but having you here is…”
Aleck raised an eyebrow when she didn’t finish her thought. “Is?” he asked.
“Nice.”
“Come on,” he said, gesturing ahead of him. “I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
Kenna smiled slightly at him and nodded. “Yeah.”
They walked side-by-side until they got to the street and took a right. They could see Carly and Jag ahead of them, and there were quite a few people milling around the sidewalks, even at the late hour.
The silence between them was comfortable rather than awkward, but eventually Kenna broke it. “Tonight’s been…interesting.”
Aleck smirked. “That’s one word for it.”
Kenna returned his smile. “I…” She paused, then muttered, “Shoot.”
“What?”
“I hope after everything that’s happened, you might still want to chat?”
Aleck looked down at her. “Chat? Oh yeah,” he assured. “You’re the most interesting person I’ve met in a very long time, Kenna. I definitely want to ‘chat’ with you some more.”
“Good. Me too.”
Without thought, Aleck reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away when his fingers curled around hers. And long before he was ready, they reached the parking garage, where they got in the elevator with Carly and Jag and headed up to the floor where Kenna had left her car.
She led them toward a brown Chevy Malibu that had seen better days. Figuring he didn’t want to push his luck, Aleck refused to comment on the beat-up looking vehicle.
As if she could read his mind, Kenna said, “It looks much worse than it is. I’ve got a great mechanic and he keeps her running. Besides, no one’s gonna want to steal it.”
“That’s for sure,” Jag muttered.
Kenna simply chuckled.
“Thanks for the assist tonight,” Carly said, speaking for the first time since they’d all gotten in the elevator together.
“You’re welcome,” Jag said.
“Of course,” Aleck told her.
“First thing tomorrow, go and apply for that protective order,” Jag ordered.
“I will.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you kept me updated,” Jag told her.
Carly looked uncertain. Then, even though Aleck and Kenna were standing there, she blurted, “I’m not looking for another boyfriend.”
To Jag’s credit, he didn’t even flinch. “What about a friend?”
The look on Carly’s face screamed “skeptical.” She turned and looked at Aleck. “Has he ever had a friend who was a woman before?”
Aleck was immediately uncomfortable. He didn’t want to throw his buddy under the bus, but no, Jag hadn’t ever had a female friend as far as he knew. Hell, he didn’t have any friends period, other than the guys on the team.
On the outside, Jag looked friendly and easygoing, but he was definitely the most intense—and deadly—of everyone on the team.
“Right, that’s what I thought,” Carly said, when Aleck took too long to respond.
“If Jag says he’s okay with being your friend, you can absolutely trust that,” he said quickly.
“And I think he’s proven tonight that you can count on him,” Kenna threw in.
“Fine,” Carly sighed. “But at the slightest sign you want to cross that line, we’re done,” she warned.
“Thank you. You won’t regret it,” Jag told her.
Kenna let out a small chuckle.
“What?” Carly asked.
“I never thought I’d see the day when you had to warn someone not to get too attached to you,” Kenna told her.
Carly blushed furiously. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I know,” Jag said. “Come on, let’s get you settled.” He threw a look at Aleck, then returned his attention to Carly. “You need to get home. You’ve had a hard night.”
Aleck nodded at his friend and pulled Kenna around to the driver’s side of her car. He turned his back on Carly and Jag and squeezed her hand. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she reassured him. “I wasn’t the one Shawn was pissed at tonight.”
“Well, you weren’t at first,” Aleck said dryly.
“Yeah, he wasn’t real thrilled with me, was he?”