Page 23 of Eye Candy

“I need to go home,” I had to shout to Kelly. “I’m tired.”

“Awe, are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. You stay, have fun. I’ll message you later.” I gave her a smile that I hoped backed up my words. Just because I was leaving the club didn’t mean she had to leave it with me. If she wanted to stay and party it up until the club closed, then she was more than welcome to. I doubted I’d ever be on that level of partying.

The concern on Kelly’s face gave way to a smile, and she nodded once. “It was fun. We need to do this again!”

I agreed, and then I gave her a wave. I watched as she turned to rejoin the dancing mass of people, heaving a sigh asI wiped the sweat off my forehead. The air felt like it was boiling. It certainly was a workout, dancing like that amongst all those people.

“Ready to go?” Kieran’s voice spoke over the music.

Giving him a nod, I started to walk toward the exit, but something in my right calf twinged, a muscle pulling or something. I immediately lost my balance in the heels—and I would’ve fallen to the floor if it wasn’t for a set of strong, calloused hands that grabbed me after that. Mike had caught me, and he helped steady me.

“Thanks,” I told him. “I guess my legs are weaker than I thought they were.” I tried to take another step, but again my leg hurt too much. If it wasn’t for Mike’s hand still on my arm, I wouldn’t be upright.

“This was too much, too soon,” Kieran said, sounding annoyed. His gaze had zeroed in on the hand on my arm.

I was seconds from telling him off—mostly because he had no right to get all prickly and jealous when Mike was just helping me, not after I’d seen him dancing with Kelly—but any response I might’ve said died in the back of my throat when Mike picked me up.

Yeah. The dude legit picked me up. He picked me up like I weighed nothing, like my body was light as a feather, the opposite of a burden. His strong arms curled around my back and my legs, cradling me against his wide chest. My heels slipped off in the process, falling to the ground, and I was too stunned to speak.

The people around us had noticed Mike picking me up, just as Kieran had. Although, the bystanders were more in awe of Mike’s stature than Kieran was.

As Mike started toward the club’s doors, Kieran bent to pick up my shoes, the frown deeper on his face.

I thought about telling Mike I didn’t need him to carry me to the car, but my legs did hurt, and I’d probably only limp my way there. So, really, him carrying me was the quickest and easiest option.

Plus, as I’d discovered earlier when I had my mini freak out, I liked the feeling of Mike’s arms around me. He was impossibly strong, but he could be so remarkably tender.

It was only when we emerged from the club, only when the cool night air hit us that Kieran mumbled, “You didn’t have to carry her out of there like a baby.” He held onto my heels like he wanted to use them as murder weapons, my guess against Mike.

“She’s been locked in a room for two years,” Mike spoke. “Her legs will probably hurt for days after tonight.” His head turned toward me, the moon hanging high in the sky shining its silver light into his hazel eyes as he looked at me. “You should take it easy for a while. I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

I was stunned. Really. That was the most Mike had ever said at once to me. If anyone else had said it, I’d argue. I’d tell them off. I’d convince them that I was fine and this was just a momentary weakness on the part of my legs… but I couldn’t argue with him.

Kieran grunted. “As much as it pains me to admit, he’s right. You should work on getting your stamina back up. I can see about getting some things for a home gym for you. A treadmill, yoga mats, some small weights.”

“Will you work out with me?” I asked Mike.

It took Mike a few moments to say, “If that’s what you want.”

I pretended not to notice the way Kieran stared at Mike after that, almost as if he was imagining stabbing him in the eye with one of my heels. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know Kieran was jealous.

Jealousy was an ugly color… but on my step-uncle, I thought it was beautiful.

Chapter Eight – Mike

When Lola and Sylvester told me I’d be on guard duty for the mayor’s daughter, I’d wanted to argue with them. I’d wanted to tell them that I’d had enough of guard duty when Richie had put me and Viper on Lola, when he’d made one of us be with her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It was boring, and when it came to Lola, someone who wanted to either be killing or fucking every minute of the day, it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.

Oh, yeah. I’d seen things, things I probably should’ve turned away from, but that was neither here nor there. Things were different now.

Things were so different.

Laina was both like Lola and unlike her. Spending so much time around Lola had helped me see it, see the signs that everyone else seemed to miss. Laina was hurt, just like Lola, only in a different way. Whereas Lola had been abused for years by her brother while her parents looked the other way, Lainahad struggled to make her father see her, she’d been kidnapped, and when she finally managed to escape, she came back to her life only to find her father had essentially moved on.

Vance had gotten a new wife, a new job, and was making a name for himself. It was more than plain he didn’t need her.

And Laina was smart enough to know it. Maybe that was why she wanted to act out a bit; she’d spent her life before doing what her father wanted, and look at where it had gotten her. Kidnapped.

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