Jeff forced an easy smile. “I was fooling around, Dane. Really. It was just supposed to be a bit of harmless banter. Right, Vienna?”
“Don’t look at her,” Dane said to him. “Look at me.”
Jeff’s gaze flew back to his. “Dane, man, it was just—”
“A joke, banter—yeah, I heard you. The thing is … I know you’re lying to me. But I don’t think you truly believe my Vienna’s a gold-digger. You just wanted to hurt her. Why would that be, Jeff? Were you one of the ones who singled her out when she first came to work for me? One of the ones who crashed and burned?”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt her—”
“You’re still lying to me.” Dane tipped his chin toward the exit. “Why don’t you come outside with me, Jeff?”
Uh-oh. I gripped the table, ready to push to my feet if necessary. “Dane.”
Jeff shook his head. “I’m not going to fight with my boss.”
“I’m not your boss anymore,” Dane told him. “As of two minutes ago, you no longer work for me. Now get outside.”
I stood. “Dane, he’s not worth it.”
“No, he’s not. But you are.”
Jeff stood his ground, the dumb bastard. “Why go outside? Why not just take care of this in here?” He cast a quick glance at our group, and I realized he expected one of them to intervene and stop the fight before it could start. But no one said a word or made a single move, as if striving to remain off Dane’s radar.
“Because if we do it in here, I’ll have to make sure it’s over with quickly—the management will overlook a sucker-punch, but it doesn’t like brawls.” Dane took a fluid step toward him, so tightly controlled yet so alive with menace. “Outside.”
“Nah,” said Jeff. “I say we just—”
Dane slammed his fist into the prick’s jaw like a fucking pro. Jeff’s head snapped to the side with the force of the blow, and his eyes went out of focus. Lights out. Jeff dropped to the carpet, almost knocking down his chair. It all happened so damn fast … and I wasn’t as progressive as I’d like to believe, apparently, because all that strength and power affected me on a very primal, viciously sexual level.
God, I needed help.
I rounded the table and touched Dane’s arm. “We should go.” The spectacle hadn’t gone unnoticed, and I didn’t fancy watching my fake husband get arrested. “Hanna, thanks for inviting me.” I promised to call her soon and then exited the bar with Dane.
Outside, I took a long breath. I didn’t know who I was angrier with—Jeff for being a sack of shit, Dane for coming here to pick me up like it was past my curfew, or myself for finding that little display of violence something of a turn-on.
“Well that was fucking fun.” I sighed. “Why did you come here?”
“It would have looked rather strange if I hadn’t, since I’m a man who wouldn’t like even the thought of my wife sitting in a bar without me right beside her. You should have called me the second things got ugly in there.”
“I was handling it.”
“You shouldn’t have to. Did anyone else in there try some ‘banter’ with you?”
Knowing a bunch of people would lose their jobs if I told him what happened, I instead replied, “No.”
Dane put his face close to mine. “I want their names.”
“Nobody said—”
“Don’t lie to me, Vienna. I want every name, and I want to know everything they said. You can tell me about it in the car.” Dane took my hand and began to lead me across the wide road. “Is this going to become a thing now?”
I frowned. “What?”
“You not coming straight home from work.”
“No more than you returning to o-Verve or attending late dinner meetings has become a thing, I’m sure,” I said primly. As we reached the center of the road, I dropped my purse. “Shit.” I bent down and grabbed it.
Hearing an engine rev up and tires screeching, I looked to see a pair of blinding headlights speeding through a red light while swaying almost drunkenly. The jeep collided with another car, sending it skidding along the road … toward us.
I froze for what felt like endless seconds as an old memory hit me hard. But I snapped out of it when Dane began yanking me toward the curb.
I could hear the car still skidding toward us. I could smell the burn of rubber chafing the ground. It slowed to a halt just as we reached the sidewalk. It was right then that my heel caught on something and I tripped.
Only Dane’s grip on my hand stopped me from falling flat on my face on the sidewalk. Stumbling, I reflexively threw out my free hand to help brace myself, hissing as my palm scraped along the ground.
Dane helped me stand upright and looked me over, his face hard. “You okay?”
My heart pounding, I blinked at him. “I’m fine. You?”
He gave a curt nod.
I looked at the two cars and took in the crumpled metal and ghost-white faces of the passengers that were jerkily sliding out of both vehicles. None looked badly hurt, but one had a vicious cut above their eye.
Dane slid an arm around my waist. “Come on, let’s get you out of here. You sure you’re okay? You’re pale.”
I licked my lips. “Yeah, I’m good. I … I was hit by a car when I was nine and, yeah, the past and present kind of fused for a second, but I’m okay.”
He led me to the car, assured Sam we were both fine, and ushered me onto the rear passenger seat. Sliding in beside me, he took my hand in his, and I flinched. Frowning, he looked at my palm.
“It’s just a graze from where I tried to steady myself when I almost fell.” It stung like a bitch.
I wrapped my arms around my middle, feeling slightly chilled. It was only then I realized I was shaking a little.
Dane’s arm came around me, warm and strong. He gently drew me to him and tucked me into his side. “Settle,” he said, smoothing his hand up and down my arm. “You’re shaking like a leaf.”
“I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“I know, it’s just the adrenaline. You’ll be all right.”
I shamelessly burrowed into him. “At least all the passengers were okay.”
“Hmm. You were hit by a car when you were nine?”
I nodded.
“How badly were you hurt?”
“I had a broken leg, a skull fracture, and some bruises. I didn’t really feel the pain until I got to the hospital. I was in shock.” I could still remember how numb and disconnected I’d felt. Could remember how everything around me had seemed so distant. The driver and bystanders had talked to me gently, but I hadn’t really been able to absorb their words.
“I kept telling the driver—man, the guy was a mess—that I was okay to walk home,” I added. “What’s weird is that it all happened so fast I didn’t get the chance to feel scared. And yet, I had nightmares for months after.”
His arm tightened around me. “I’m pretty sure anyone would have.”
Silence fell between us. I stayed snuggled into Dane, letting his body heat chase away the chill in my bones. At one point, he dug out his cell phone. I rolled my eyes. We’d almost been hit by a car and he was casually answering work emails. Typical.