Undisputed (6 page)

Repeating her word from earlier, I say, “Touché.”

“It’s my birthday today,” she announces, which causes me to crane my head around.

“What? It’s your birthday and you were on your way home to your couch and Netflix?” I look at her with mock horror.

She laughs again.

“Or were you really going home to Netflix and chill?” I quirk an eyebrow at her.

Her eyebrows draw together. “Uhm, I guess I was gonna chill?” It’s a question.

Surely, she knows what I’m referring to, but I ask anyway.

“You do know what that means, right?”

Shaking her head slowly back and forth, she replies, “No. Should I?”

I gasp and bite my knuckles to keep from filling her in on the dirty details of her supposed night alone. “So, it’s your birthday. Where are your friends?” I ask, making a show of peering all around her.

She shrugs, unimpressed. “Well, really, they’re more like coworkers. And I would assume they’re out there shakin’ their asses to whatever song this is.” She stirs the straw around her plastic cup of ice.

I motion the bartender over once more. “It’s her birthday!” I shout over the music. “I believe another shot of water is in order!”

He rolls his eyes, barely acknowledging that I’ve spoken.

So I turn back to Sidney and gesture with my thumb. “Some people just don’t recognize an occasion to celebrate.”

The red is still painting her cheeks when he sets the drinks in front of us. I hand her the fresh water.

After taking a long pull of my drink, I say, “Coworkers, huh? What do you do for a living?”

Smiling around her straw, she counters with, “What do
you
do? Wait, don’t tell me. Let me guess.”

After setting my drink down on the bar, I rub my hands together, “Oh, this should be good. Bring it on.”

She tips her head to the side and makes a show of studying me. “Bodyguard for a celebrity?”

I bite the inside of my cheek and then shake my head.

“No? Hum. Professional football player?”

I’ve heard that once or a million times. I roll my eyes and groan. “Gah. Is that all you’ve got?”

She runs a hand through her silky, red hair, and I can’t help but notice how soft it looks. My fingers itch to touch her, but I keep my hands to myself.

“I’ve got it! Professional javelin thrower?”

I burst out laughing. I’m not even sure what the fuck a javelin is, but the way she laughs at her own guess has me wishing I could say yes and shock the shit out of her.

“Man, you’re terrible at this game. Okay, my turn.” I don’t tell her what my actual job is because I don’t want to scare her off.

Most women adore the idea of taming the prize fighter. Though I have an idea that this one might just run for the hills at the idea of any kind of violence. Anyone could see that, drunk or not, this woman is as wholesome as they come.

Taking a page out of her book, I rake my eyes from her head to her toes. My gaze lingers on her face a little longer than necessary.

Her cheeks pink before she rolls her eyes.

Snapping out of it, I begin guessing. “Well, you’re beautiful. Obviously you’re a fashion model.”

She’s at least a foot shorter than I am, so she won’t be walking any runways, but the way her eyes light up at my compliment have me patting myself on the back.

She throws a wadded-up napkin at me. “You said I was bad. You’re worse than I am!”

I dodge it easily. “Okay, well, you’ve missed your calling. Used car salesman—excuse me, used car sales
woman
?”

Her jaw drops. “Holy shit. How did you know? Wait, did I sell you that Kia minivan last week? I thought you looked familiar.”

She’s teasing me, and I’m loving every minute of it. I’ve never had such a light, easy conversation with a woman before.

I curl my lip. “You must have me mistaken with a different javelin thrower. There’s no way I’d be caught dead in a Kia.”

Unable to resist any longer, I rub the ends of her wavy hair through my fingers. It’s just as soft as I’d imagined it would be. I lean forward, intent on kissing her, but I’m stopped by a hand pushing against my shoulder.

O
h my God, this guy is gorgeous.

I was having a good time dancing with Mindy when I realized I hadn’t let Abby know I was going to be late. After telling her that I needed to make a quick call, I left Mindy dancing with one of the other girls from the office.

It wasn’t until I pulled my phone out that I realized I hadn’t charged it after leaving work. Kicking myself, I went off in search of a place to plug it in and ended up crawling around on the nasty floor near the bathrooms. Apparently, there was no type of code in nightclubs, because there wasn’t an outlet to be found.

I was still hoping for a miracle when I heard a deep voice behind me ask if I was okay. The bitchy response was out of my mouth before I could stop it, and as soon as I looked up to see who was speaking to me, I regretted it.

Leaning against the wall in front of me was the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. Standing nearly a foot taller than I am, he was all muscle. His blue eyes sparkled mischievously under a strong brow, and his full lips were split wide in a smile. His nose had clearly been broken, but his strong jaw more than made up for it. He was rugged and handsome, and my body immediately responded to him in a way it had never done before.

He was obviously drunk, but it didn’t stop him from being charming. Usually, guys who drink too much are a turn-off, but his quick wit that kept me laughing made it easy to overlook the fact that he’d had one too many Crown and Cokes.

Sitting at the bar, joking back and forth, I couldn’t get enough. When he ran his fingers through my hair, I thought my heart would never start beating again. And the way he keeps looking at my lips like he wants to kiss me has my stomach doing somersaults.

He leaned forward, and I knew he was about to kiss me. So I gave him a gentle push on his shoulder, stopping his forward progress.

“Hey there. No kissing on the first date.”

He pokes his lower lip out at me again. “But your lips looked so lonely. I was just trying to introduce them to mine-you know so they could get to know each other.”

I can’t help but laugh. Tossing my hair over my shoulder, I quirk my lips. “Another cheesy pickup line? You are really putting it all out there. Puppy-dog face isn’t working this time though.”

Even though I am saying the words, my mind is screaming for him to ignore me and let his lips have their way with mine.

He stands and moves in so close that I catch a whiff of his cologne. It’s masculine and strong, but not overwhelming. It’s the most amazing scent, and I don’t even care if it borders on crazy—I decide I’m asking what it is so that I can buy a bottle to keep by my bed at night.

Leaning over, he whispers in my ear, “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. But I’ve been staring at your perfect mouth all night. Every time you lick your lips, my tongue gets jealous. I need to taste you.” He pulls back, and there’s a half smile on his face.

My stomach drops, and I tip my face up to his. My stupid kissing rule be damned. I want his mouth on mine more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.

The corners of my mouth tip up slightly, giving him permission to have his way with me, and I close my eyes as he begins to lean in.

Suddenly, someone grabs my arm and jerks me off my barstool. My eyes fly open, and I see Jake beside me, red-faced.

“Wha—” I start before he interrupts.

“Back the fuck off, you cocksucker!” He’s shouting, but I have no idea at who.

Brock is in my line of vision again, and his face is twisted in rage. He grabs my other arm and pulls me towards him.

“Who the fuck are you?” he shouts at Jake.

I’m being pulled back and forth between them like a rag doll. Brock’s strength wins, and he pushes me behind him before getting in Jake’s face.

Shoving him, Jake barks, “Get your hands off my woman, you asshole.”

I shake my head in shock.

His woman?

Stepping around the wall of muscle, I shove my way between the two men. ”Hey, hey, hey. Let’s calm down.” I glance back and forth before narrowing my eyes at Jake. “And I am
not
your woman.” I tell him sharply.

Jake grabs my arm again and pulls me in his direction. I trip over his feet and land squarely on my ass, screaming as I fall. Jake’s eyes narrow to slits moments before he takes a swing at the gorgeous man I’ve spent my evening talking to. Brock dodges Jake’s fist easily enough and glances down to where I’m sprawled on the ground. I landed hard on my wrist, so I’m clutching it my chest while trying to scramble to my feet.

Brock grabs my good arm. “Are you okay?” he slurs, concern written all over his face.

Nodding, I tell him, “I think I sprained my wrist.”

A flurry of motion to my left catches my attention, as Jake charges once again. Dropping my arm, Brock turns and buries his shoulder in Jake’s stomach, sending him flying. Jake lands on the bar, and Brock instantly jumps on him.

Crawling out of the way, I scream at them to stop. Mindy materializes beside me and pulls me away from the melee. I’m still screaming when another guy almost as big as Brock grabs him around the waist and pulls him away from Jake.

As soon as Jake scrambles free of his grasp, he snatches a beer bottle off the bar and launches it at my suitor’s head.

As quickly as it began, bouncers break it up and Jake is tossed out of the club. Grabbing my purse, I follow Mindy out of the bar. I search for Brock, but he’s nowhere to be found.

I’m disappointed in the way the evening has ended, but I say nothing as I allow Mindy to lead me toward our cars.

Pulling out of the parking lot, I look back at the club one last time. As I round the corner, the bouncer Mindy knew throws Brock and his friend out. I slam on my brakes, intent on going back but deciding better of it.

Talking to him tonight was so much fun, but his aggression and violence freaked me out. I continue to watch him interact with his buddy in my rearview mirror.

From way his friend’s hands are swinging wildly, it looks as though they’re arguing about something. After a few minutes of their back-and-forth exchange, his friend places a phone to his ear.

Moments later, a cab pulls up and the friend shoves him in the back seat before scrambling in after him.

Shoulders sagging, I take one last longing look at the most interesting man I’ve ever met before I put the car in gear and head home.