Pretend You’re Mine (The Protectors)

Chapter 1

Devon

“Why are you being such a little bitch about this, Seb?”

I paused what I was doing as the angry voice drifted over the back fence. My dog, Kirby, began whining nervously as he paced back and forth in front of the tall, rickety panels.

“Sebastian,” I heard a second voice say quietly… too quietly.

“Do you have any idea how bad you’re going to make me look if you back out now?”

“I can write a check instead—”

“A check? Are you fucking kidding me? You’re the talent, Seb!

The only reason most of those people are going tonight is because they were promised a private performance by the great Sebastian DeVille.

” The last part of the statement was said with a sneer, then the asshole attached to the nasty voice added, “They don’t know what a spineless whiner you are.

You need to just get over yourself, Seb. ”

“Rick—” the quiet voice that I assumed belonged to the Sebastian guy began to say, but he was rudely cut off once again. By that point, I’d already moved closer to the six-foot fence, though I had to crouch down a little so my head wouldn’t be seen from the other side.

“Enough,” Asshole snapped. “Don’t push me on this, Seb. I won’t be made a fool of.”

There was a beat of silence and I practically held my breath as I waited to hear what Sebastian would say in response.

Kirby came up to seek out the comfort of my hands.

I’d gotten the little mixed-breed rescue only a few months earlier and while he was settling in well, raised voices and loud noises were among the many things that still made him anxious.

“Will he be there with you?”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Asshole snapped. My blood began to boil in my veins.

“Okay, buddy, I need your help,” I whispered to Kirby.

The little dog beat his curly tail on the ground, then jumped up to lick my face.

“Just be you,” I said to him as I reached for the bottom part of the fence.

Most of the wood panels had rotted through their fastenings on the lower part, so it was easy to make a small opening for Kirby.

“I’m right behind you,” I said to the dog.

I smiled when Kirby gave me another sloppy kiss, then wiggled through the fence.

I was on my feet a second later and striding toward the gate about halfway down the yard.

Since the fence was on my property, the latch for the gate was on my side and I hadn’t been good about keeping it locked since the house next door had been vacant for a while.

“Are you serious right now?” Asshole yelled. “Why do you always obsess over shit that doesn’t matter? I explained why I never told you about Darren. I swear, you’re just fucking like him. Always complaining when things don’t go your way—”

Kirby’s well-timed bark cut off the man’s tirade.

Good boy, Kirby.

“What the hell?” Asshole said just as the quiet voice murmured, “Hey, little one, where’d you come from?”

A weird shiver ran over me at the lyrical quality of the man’s voice.

Another bark reminded me that my dog was waiting for me to do my part.

“Kirby,” I called in my best concerned voice. “Kirby, where are you, buddy?”

“He’s here!” I heard the yummy voice call back. “Next door.”

I waited a beat, then opened the fence door and hurried through it like I was in a complete panic. “Oh thank—”

My words got caught in my throat as my eyes settled on the man holding my dog.

“God,” I blurted as I stopped just a few feet from the gorgeous specimen cuddling a very content-looking Kirby in his arms. My dog was licking the man’s cheek.

“He’s okay. I think he managed to sneak through the fence,” the guy said as he looked at me nervously. I felt something stir in my belly when his eyes met mine.

He was beautiful.

Never in my life would I have thought I’d use that word to describe another guy, but nothing else fit.

He was several inches shorter than me and not anywhere near as heavily built.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t muscled. That was pretty clear from the skin-tight yoga-style pants he was wearing.

His leg muscles were incredibly toned and shapely, giving his lean body plenty of definition.

He was wearing some kind of loose-fitting tank top so I could see that his upper half was just as fit as his lower half.

His skin was pale and flawless… I didn’t even see a stray body hair or bit of facial scruff on him.

His big, dark green eyes were framed by thick black lashes that contrasted heavily against his light skin.

There was a tiny hoop earring in his right ear and his black hair was cropped short.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I managed to get out, though for some reason, I was having trouble pulling my eyes from his. “I should really get that fence fixed.”

“It’s no problem. I think my fence,” – he motioned to the rest of the fence that surrounded his yard – “is pretty new. He wouldn’t have gotten far.”

We ended up staring at each other for several long beats before Kirby broke the stillness when he licked the man again. His musical laugh filtered through me and seemed to land right in my balls.

What the hell?

“You just wanted to come introduce yourself, didn’t you, sweetie?” the man crooned at my dog and was rewarded with another lick. His eyes met mine again. “You said his name is Kirby?”

I nodded dumbly. He could have probably called my dog by any name he wanted, and I would have agreed with him.

I was that far gone.

“Well, Kirby, I’m Sebastian, it’s nice to meet you.” Sebastian actually held out his hand like he wanted to shake my dog’s paw. And damn if the little mutt didn’t do exactly that. So I wasn’t the only one who was strangely fascinated by the gorgeous creature we’d encountered.

What was happening here?

Gorgeous?

Yeah, he was a good-looking guy, but gorgeous? Why was I mentally calling him that?

He.

Was.

A.

Guy.

It wasn’t until Sebastian began shifting back and forth that I realized not only was I staring at him with what could probably only be classified as a dumbstruck expression on my face, I hadn’t introduced myself.

“Devon,” I said. “Devon Rhodes.” I stuck out my hand. Sebastian actually looked nervous as he shifted my dog to his other arm so he could put out his right hand and take mine.

“Sebastian DeVille,” he said, stuttering just a little. His grip was soft and warm in mine.

“Hi, Sebastian,” I murmured. I was once again caught in that weird state where it seemed like time had stopped around us.

There were no sounds of the surrounding neighborhood as people went on with their lives, there was no briskness to the damp spring breeze blowing in from the bay.

It was just me and him and the strange little zaps of electricity firing up and down my arm.

We were jerked back to reality when Sebastian was suddenly yanked back a few steps.

“Do you mind, buddy?” Asshole snapped as he glared at me. “My boyfriend and I were having a private conversation.”

“I’m not your boyf—” Sebastian tried to interject, but Asshole paid him no mind.

“So, take your little rat here…” The man reached for Kirby, but Sebastian took a step back before he could grab him.

The move earned Sebastian an even darker glare from the man who was easily twice his size.

Asshole grabbed for Sebastian’s arm, but at the same time I reached for Asshole, Kirby reacted and lunged forward.

He snapped at Asshole who took a surprised step back.

“I think it’s time for you to go, buddy,” I bit out as I stepped between him and Sebastian. Asshole was about the same size as me, but I wasn’t particularly worried about that. I’d been known to hold my own on the few occasions I’d used my fists instead of my words to get my point across.

Predictably, bully that he was, Asshole backed off. His eyes shifted to Sebastian. “Don’t try to fuck me over tonight, Seb,” he warned. “You won’t like what happens if you do.”

Asshole turned on his heel and stormed back toward the house. But instead of going through the sliding back door, he veered to his left and exited through the gate leading to the front yard.

Sebastian let out a little shudder and cuddled Kirby closer to him.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked.

He pulled in a breath and nodded. “Yeah, sorry about that. Rick tends to run a little hotter than most people,” he murmured.

“Yeah, well, Dick better find a way to cool off before he tries talking to you again,” I muttered without considering my words.

“Rick,” Sebastian corrected.

I eyed him for a moment, then said, “If he doesn’t, then Kirby here will be the least of Dick’s worries.”

A small smile slid over Sebastian’s pretty lips.

Pretty?

Huh?

What the hell was wrong with me?

“So, uh,” I stuttered before I immediately got caught up in staring at the young man in front of me. Kirby barking and squirming in Sebastian’s hold seemed to jolt us both from our respective dazes. Sebastian put my dog on the ground. Kirby immediately wandered off to explore the small yard.

“Sorry for interrupting you and your… friend,” I lied.

Sebastian let out a sad little laugh. “Not a friend,” he murmured. “I guess that should have been my first clue.”

“Clue?” I prodded.

Sebastian began walking back toward his small porch.

There was a single chair sitting on the little cement slab.

That bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

My own patio area was huge and places to sit took up just every available spot.

I had a grill too, along with tons of plants that were waiting to be planted in my garden.

They were the plants that I couldn’t use in my business because they needed a little extra TLC.

The result was that my porch looked well used, and considering my family came over for dinner at least once a week, I had no issue with that.