Page 37 of Full House

Nate hugged her closer, dipping his head so their noses almost touched. “Only when it comes to you.”

“Come on, stud. Let’s get out of here and pick this conversation up at home. I want to be in the right place to take full advantage of your dirty mind.”

Their departure took longer than she would have liked, stopping to say goodbye to the people they passed, but soon they had a clear shot, making a speedy trip down the stairs, Victoria holding tightly to Nate’s hand and the railing.

All hell broke loose as they hit the last step. A girl appeared out of nowhere, shouting, “Oh, my God, you’re Nathan Reed.”

A blur of commotion soon followed. Victoria’s head was yanked back as someone gripped her hair, and her arm was then tugged. Her hand was ripped from Nate’s, and she lost sight of him as he was converged upon.

She heard Nate yell her name, but she was pushed back and to the side as the crowd around Nate grew, and she was too busy trying to keep her footing to even attempt to respond.

It was complete pandemonium. How things had gotten so out of hand so fast, she’d never know, but Victoria did know she had to get out of the way before she was trampled to death.

She took an elbow to the corner of her eye and one to the ribs before two strong arms wrapped around her from behind and broke her free of the crowd. People became a blur as she was scooped up and carried quickly from the club.

≈≈≈

Nate was seething as he stormed to the front entrance of the club, Victoria cradled in his arms. He knew his hold on her was too tight, but for the life of him, he couldn’t get his muscles to ease up. People parted as he approached, no doubt reading his expression and not wanting to fuck with him.

He’d never felt such a surge of panic as when he’d felt Victoria’s hand ripped from his. His need to get to and protect her had him muscling through the crowd not giving a shit who he hurt in the process. The minute it had taken him to reach her had felt the longest of his life. Searching through the sea of faces, looking for the one that meant the world to him, he’d pushed and shoved through the masses.

He’d found her in a crowd of people, looking unharmed and the feeling of relief that had rushed through him as he’d wrapped her in his arms almost had him collapsing. Until a jolt in the back had reminded him he had to get Victoria out of there. Scooping her off her feet, he’d used his shoulder, nudging people aside, to break free from the worst of the crowd.

A bodyguard at the door rushed to open it when he saw Nate approach, and he hit the pavement without a misstep, making a direct path to the valet station.

“I don’t have my ticket. Mine are the keys on thirteen.” Nate gestured to the pegboard with a nod.

“Right away Mr. Reed.” The valet scooped up the keys and jogged into the parking lot.

“I think it’s safe to put me down.”

“Not on your life.” He brushed his lips against her temple, and he felt her slight jerk. He changed his mind. Setting her down, he cradled her face and directed it up to the overhead light to get a better look at the spot. Her eye was red at the corner and slightly puffy. “What the fuck happened?”

Her face twisted into a grimace, and he realized he’d shouted. Rubbing his thumb over the apple of her cheek, careful to stay clear of the reddened spot, he said in a softer tone, “What happened to your eye?”

She did a little shrug, lifting only one shoulder. “I think it was someone’s elbow.”

“Are you feeling dizzy?”

She gave him a small smile, shaking her head. “No. It’s just a little sore to the touch.”

“Maybe we should stop by the hospital just to be sure. I don’t like you were hit in the head.”

Her eyes grew large, and she shook her head vigorously before sputtering, “No way.”

His eyes narrowed. “Do you dislike hospitals or more specifically doctors?”

She cupped his hands still holding her face. “No, nothing like that. I’m fine, really, and would feel silly going for something so minor. I just want to go home.”

He stared at her for a few beats, assessing her eyes. Not that he knew what the fuck he was looking for. He might have played a doctor in a movie once, but that was the extent of his medical knowledge. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before relenting. “Okay, I’ll take you home, but only if you promise to tell me if you start to feel dizzy at any point.”

Changing her grip to his forearms, she got up on her toes and kissed his lips. “I promise. And even sealed it with a kiss.”

“Actually,” he smirked, “you kissed me and then promised. You need to kiss me again to seal it.”

She chuckled, getting up on her toes to kiss him again. “There. It’s properly sealed.”

Nate heard a car pull up and turned his head to see the valet getting out of his car and jogging around the hood. He reached his hand into his front pocket and pulled out a twenty. “Thanks, man,” he said, slapping it in the guy’s hand and giving it a shake.

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