“I like your birthday suit too, but I’m not sure the men there would appreciate it though. You’ll give them a complex.”
I smiled, looking down at my bare chest and rubbing my hand over it. I liked that she liked my body. I wasn’t sure why I cared, but I did. “Then a suit, it will be.”
“Thank you so much for doing this. I’ll owe you big time.”
“I’m going to remember you said that,” I warned her.
She giggled again. “Is it crazy that I am looking forward to you calling in your debt?”
“Nope. I’ll see you tonight.”
We ended the call. I was not looking forward to another party, but it didn’t put me off as badly as it usually did. I wasn’t required to mingle. I was going to be there acting as the bouncer. I would absolutely bounce any asshole that messed with her.
I headed inside to take a quick shower. I had been planning on a night in and was going to work on the design for the client on the side. I would work on it until it was time to go to the party. I was truly looking forward to seeing her.
I wasn’t familiar with the feeling of missing someone. I was never close to my family and therefore didn’t miss them when my parents moved out of state and my brother was shipped overseas.
I missed Evie. I didn’t really know her that well, but I wanted to know her better. On a strictly friend basis. I spent the rest of the day watching the clock. I couldn’t believe I was actually looking forward to a party. I dressed for the event and called a car to take me to the downtown address. The party was being held in one of the tall office buildings. I found the right floor and took the elevator up.
The doors slid open. The law firm was throwing the party but was obviously too cheap to spring for an actual venue. My eyes scanned the area that was much larger than I thought it would be. It appeared most of the typical office furniture had been removed. There were a lot of suits. A lot. It wasn’t hard to spot Evie. She was wearing a blue dress with a very high neckline and sleeves. It was the kind of dress I would expect to see on a woman going to church.
I moved toward her, watching as a man, probably in his forties, leaned in close. She stepped back, clearly uncomfortable. I walked up, put my arm around her waist, and dropped a kiss on her lips. My back was to the other man, making it very clear he didn’t matter.
“Hi,” she breathed when I pulled away.
“Hi,” I replied.
I turned to stand beside her, my arm around her waist. The man who had been hitting on her disappeared.
“Thank you,” she said on a sigh.
“No problem. Is that normal?”
“With this group, yes.”
I looked around at the men talking and laughing. Some had removed their suit jackets and loosened their ties. Others were still buttoned up tight. “They are lawyers?” I asked.
“Yes. The expensive kind. They have one of these parties every few months. They always ask for me. Every party is always the same. The married men are on the prowl. They are worse than the single guys.”
“What do you mean?” I growled.
“They are relentless. They think they are god’s gift to women. They do not understand the word no or what marriage vows mean.”
“Assholes,” I murmured. “I’ll make sure they know it is not okay.”
She smiled up at me. “I think you being here is definitely going to change things. I’ve claimed I had a boyfriend at past parties and they don’t care.”
“They will now.”
“There’s one of the partners. I need to talk with him.”
“I’ll go with you,” I insisted.
Her pretty smile made me very happy I showed up. “Thank you. I think he is one of the worst of all.”
That didn’t make me happy. I stuck by her side as she crossed the room. I glared at a few of the men that were checking her out. “Mr. Calhoun,” Evie said. “How is everything?”
The man was looking at her tits. I wanted to throttle him. I cleared my throat to get his attention. He looked at me. I glared back at him. “Everything is fine,” he said, looking away from me.
“Great. This is my boyfriend, Xander. He’s here to help me tonight.”
“I thought you hired caterers,” he said, clearly not happy to have me there.
“I do,” she said. Her smile never slipped. “He’s here to help me put out any of those little fires that tend to pop up with events like these.”
The man’s face turned red. “I’m sorry about that incident. We’ve talked with our team, and I assure you, there will be no more drunken antics that not only embarrass the parties involved but the firm as a whole.”
“I appreciate that. Xander will make sure of it.”
He looked at me once again. I didn’t know what the incident was, but I didn’t like where my mind was going. I was going to ask her. She walked away, and like a good bodyguard, I stayed right beside her.
“What was that about?” I asked in a low voice when we were out of earshot of anyone else.
She shook her head. “It was no big deal.”
“What was no big deal?” I pressed. The more she held back, the angrier I got.
“One of the partners got a little drunk. No, very drunk. He seemed to be struggling with the concept of no.”
“Did he touch you?”
She was blushing. “Nothing terrible. He was pulled away.”
“Why do you keep doing their parties? Why not tell them to fuck off?”
She burst into laughter, quickly covering her mouth. “Because I like my job and I think I’m better able to handle it than anyone else at my company. It was a drunken moment and I don’t think it will happen again.”
“But you wanted me here to make sure it didn’t happen again?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Yes. You are kind of an intimidating man.”
“I certainly can be. If one of these yahoos touches you, I will put him down.”
She touched my arm. “I appreciate that, but don’t go too caveman. I do need to work.”
“I’ll do my best,” I told her.
The looks that were directed her way all night were exhausting. For every leer, I returned a glare. I made it clear she was mine. I couldn’t understand how she could put up with that kind of bullshit. I hoped after tonight, she didn’t have to. Then I realized she probably had to put up with this kind of thing all the time. She was a stunning woman and any man would want to get his hands on her.
“Things are wrapping up. If you want to go, you can. Thank you so much for doing this for me tonight. It really helped.”
“I’m good,” I told her. “I don’t mind sticking around a while longer.”
She smiled and reached up to touch my cheek. “If you don’t mind breaking curfew, we could go out for ice cream. A little token of my gratitude.”
I gently wrapped my fingers around her wrist, keeping her hand against my cheek. “I would love to break curfew.”
She grinned. “Then it’s a date. I need to talk with the caterers and then get with the cleaning staff. I should be ready to go in thirty minutes.”
“I’ll be right here,” I told her. “Trust me, with the amount of alcohol these assholes consumed, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”