Chapter 4 #2
Another low growl bursts from my throat, and my skin burns.
It feels like all my hairs are standing on end, and they’re prickly, as if they’re made from tiny quills.
Something is happening inside me. Something that’s scaring the hell out of me.
I gasp for breath as my insides start to crunch and twist excruciatingly.
“Come here, little wolf. Come to daddy,” he croons.
I back away some more, wondering what the hell I’ll do if he grabs me now.
The front door bursts open.
And I stop breathing altogether.
Because there is Beau.
His big sexy frame fills the doorway. Shoulders massive, hands hanging loose at his sides. Blue eyes narrow and blazing as he takes in the scene.
He didn’t leave.
My heart shudders in my chest.
My knees tremble.
Every little bit of me longs to run to him, throw myself into his arms.
He strides across the bar, his feet pounding on the floorboards. And his voice booms, like the voice of a god, capable of knocking mortal beings senseless:
“You’ve got two seconds to get the hell out of here, before I turn you and your brother into a pair of fluffy white rugs.”
The big oaf shuffles around on the bar until he can see who’s addressing him.
He’s beefier than Beau, but he lacks his pure muscle, and as his eyes turn shifty, I can see he knows it. Totally outclassed.
Beau doesn’t give him any more time to think.
He strides over, grabs him by the back of his shirt, and hauls him right off the bar.
Then, keeping ahold of him, he drags him to the other side of the room, where his brother is standing paralyzed.
Beau snatches his brother up, too, and aims the two of them at the door, one after the other, like a pair of bowling balls.
They tumble through, with two almighty crashes.
I hold my breath, expecting them to return, but they’re gone. There’s a flash of color as their bulky shapes pass the barred windows.
Then I turn back to Beau.
He’s standing in the middle of the room, feet apart, all relaxed like the past couple of minutes didn’t just happen. He’s an alpha. His power pours off him in waves. I feel it, deep in my bones.
Then his eyes lock onto mine, and he’s there, at the bar, his big hands reaching for me. “Are you okay, girl?”
I take two quick strides and lay my own hands in his. They’re warm, and they wrap around mine, wrap around my soul. His touch feels like home.
I close my eyes, relief flooding through me. “I thought you were leaving.”
He doesn’t reply right away, and when I open my eyes again, the vulnerability in his handsome face startles me.
“I couldn’t,” he says shortly.
My lips purse into a why, but I can’t bring myself to form the word.
“I needed to protect you.”
Protect me.
I draw a deep breath and it comes out ragged. “H-how did you know what was happening?”
“I didn’t.” His cornflower blue eyes are steady.
Trembles go through me, and I start to shake all over. Because I think I grasp his meaning. He leans closer, his lips swim toward mine. My heart hammers and yearning, anticipation rises up in me. I edge closer, closer—
And the front door bursts open again.
“You again? Thought you were leaving.” Meredith’s voice blasts across the room.
We jerk apart.
“And a good evening to you, too.” Beau turns unhurriedly and throws her a casual smile. And my heart flips. Because he’s absolutely gorgeous.
She storms over, takes in the shattered glass and spilled tableware. “You been causing trouble?”
“He saved us from two nasty men,” Elinor pipes up from the other side of the bar. I’d forgotten about her. And my cheeks warm at the thought of what she just saw happen between Beau and me.
She stalks over, hands on her hips. “We would’ve been toast if he hadn’t arrived when he did.”
“I’m not sure that’s true,” Beau drawls. “Think these girls were doing a pretty good job of holding their own.”
My skin prickles as I realize he’s looking at me with something like admiration.
“Oh, it’s totally true. We would’ve been eaten alive,” Elinor shrills, flapping her hands. She’s hectic, upset by all the disturbance.
“Well, good job, all of you.” Meredith scans the three of us, a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips.
“Guess I owe you a free meal,” she says to Beau.
“Oh, I’m not hungry yet—” His eyes flicker to me. “I’ll accept a beer though.”
“Sure thing.” Meredith barges behind the bar and pulls it herself, before placing it in front of him with a flourish. “You’re free to drink here from now on. Long as you don’t cause any trouble.”
Beau raises his glass. “No trouble, guaranteed. You won’t even know I’m here.”
He slinks off to a corner and settles down on a high stool with a contented sigh.
It gets busy again and I try to focus on my work, but all I can think about is the big wolf shifter lolling at the end of the bar, sipping his beer, scanning his phone and, very often, turning his burning eyes on me.
Whenever we happen look at each other at the same moment, a fork of lightning sizzles through me, rocking my body from head to toe. How am I supposed to focus and chat to customers, when I can hardly breathe? When Beau scorches my skin with his gaze?
Just before seven p.m., another girl turns up to take over my shift, and Meredith tells me I’m done for the day.
“Good job,” she says and hands me a bunch of bills.
Cash. Money of my own. I want to hug her.
Beau dumps his empty glass on the counter. “You ready?” he says.
I blink. “For what?”
“To go home, of course.”
“But I’m staying here.”
He shakes his head calmly. “No, you’re not. You’re coming with me.”
“I am?”
“Of course.” He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, and my heart soars.
Because I want to go home with him, back to Bertha, more than I’ve wanted anything in my life.
Beau picks up my backpack, raises a hand to Meredith and Elinor, and saunters outside.
For a few seconds I freeze, caught in indecision. Worrying that he didn’t really mean it.
Then I hurry after him, heart pounding like a jackhammer.
But when I hit the sidewalk, I turn circles in confusion.
He’s nowhere to be seen.