Page 69 of Love Without Demands

“Your worst fucking nightmare,” I growled, letting him see the feral glint in my eye.

He paused and seemed to think about that before shrugging. “Yeah, well, I dint want to talk to her anyway,” he slurred. “She looks like a bi—”

He stopped talking when I cut off his airway with a firm hand around his throat. “Do you really want to finish that sentence?”

The asshole’s eyes bugged out and his face turned puce as he shook his head, and I had to remind myself he was drunk. Not that that was an excuse to harass a woman—my woman—but it did keep me from doing what I wanted to do, which was throw him over the bar and into the rows of bottles. Instead, I spun him to face a wide-eyed Lehra and loosened my hand just enough for him to speak.

“Apologize to the lady.”

“I-I’m s-sorry,” he stuttered out and then, with a flick of my wrist, I tossed him behind me and onto the floor.

Making eye contact with the bartender that rushed over, I jerked my head in the asshole’s direction. “Get a bouncer totake out that piece of shit.” He didn’t even question me, simply nodded and tapped out a message on the phone he pulled from his pocket.

Then I stepped closer to Lehra and ran my fingers gently over the arm he’d grabbed. If I saw even the hint of a mark, I’d rethink my decision, and the man wouldn’t be able to walk for a very long time. But he got lucky. The only thing I found were the goosebumps that followed my touch.

“You okay, Tink?” I asked, meeting her astonished gaze.

“Um, yeah, fine. He was just being a jerk.”

“He put his hands on you,” I growled, and she reached up and touched my face. Her fingers were soft and cool against my heated skin, and I calmed in an instant.

“Thank you, Cruz. That was really sweet… and totally hot.” Then she deepened her voice in an approximation of mine and growled, “I’m your worst fucking nightmare.”

She was so damn cute, and I laughed, taking both her hands to help her off the stool. “Where are your friends?”

“They were going to the bathroom upstairs. I came down to wait for you.”

Scanning the crowd, I saw them winding their way toward us through the crowd. “I see them. You ladies are dressed to kill tonight, aren’t you?” I asked the three of them once Nicolette and Gianna reached us. Nic was wearing a black dress with glittery threads running through it, and Gia was in a white minidress made of some kind of shiny material.

But Lehra…goddamn. She wore a silver sequin dress that pulled out the sparkles in her gray eyes.

“Thanks,” Gianna said, bumping me with her shoulder. “And sorry my husband pulled you away from whatever you were doing tonight.”

“No problem at all. I wasn’t busy.” I gestured toward the front just as two burly men picked up the asshole who had touched Lehra and dragged him away.

“What happened to that guy?” Nicolette asked, glancing back over her shoulder.

I smirked as I walked. “He made bad life choices.”

Once I’d gotten Nicolette safely home, I pulled into the underground parking garage and stepped out of the car.

“Alex,” I spoke to one of the security guards, “can you escort Mrs. Bouvier up to the penthouse?”

“Certainly,” he said, and helped Gianna out of the car before leading her to the elevator.

“Lehra, you ready?” I asked peering into the car, but she was curled up on the backseat, fast asleep. Smiling, I extricated her and cradled her in my arms, hanging her purse over my shoulder. “I’ll be back to move the car in a bit,” I whispered to the other guard.

“Nah, I’ll park it for you, and you can grab the keys in the morning.”

I nodded my thanks and carried Lehra up to her apartment. We both had emergency key cards to the other’s apartments, so I wrangled mine out of my pocket and unlocked her door.

“Cruz?” she asked sweetly as I hung her purse beside the door and carried her through her darkened apartment and to her bedroom.

“Yeah, Tink?” I asked, setting her on the bed and turning on the bedside lamp.

“Why don’t you ever ask me to get in hot tubs with you anymore? I think you’re a really good hot tub buddy.”

I suppressed a groan at the memories that brought back and smoothed her hair away from her face. “I think you are too, sweetheart.”

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