Page 51 of Love to Prove You Wrong

Okay, he had me there. I turned his way, half expecting him to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but instead he rolled up his shirt sleeve and flexed his bicep. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Good for you, but it’s still a no,” I said.

He bobbed his head up and down. “Okay, so you like to play hard to get. I can dig that.”

“I’m not playing anything.”

My words had barely left my lips when someone placed a hand on my shoulder and a low, familiar voice hit my ears. “Is this guy bothering you?”

My brain went into overdrive. Did Justin Miller just crash Layla’s bachelorette party and swoop in to save me from Lonely Tony?

“How did you get here?” I asked, turning around.

“By car.”

The guy made me roll my eyes so much that I might end up with permanent damage if he kept this up. “I mean, what are you doinghere? This is Layla’s bachelorette party, as in, no men.”

He motioned with his head to a group of guys sitting at a nearby table. “Ashley thought it would be cool to have Asher’s bachelor party coincide with Layla’s. We’re going to beat you girls at laser tag.”

“Beat us? You mean get beaten,” I said.

Tony didn’t like our chitchat at all, because he pounded a fist on the bar. “Excuse me, I was talking to this woman over here. Go find your own girl.”

“Dude, she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Justin said, putting a protective arm around my shoulder. I didn’t feel the urge to swat it away. In fact, it felt oddly nice to be in such close proximity to him once again.

“What are you, her boyfriend?” Tony asked with narrowed eyes.

Justin puffed out his chest. “Who cares who or what I am? If a woman says no, she means no.”

“He’s right,” I said. “I did mean it when I told you no.”

“Listen, missy—” Tony started, but the bartender cut our unpleasant conversation off.

“If you’re here to look for trouble, think twice, pal. Either behave or get the hell out of this bar.”

Tony muttered some curse words under his breath and walked away with stamping feet. I let out a relieved sigh. Good riddance, Tony.

I turned to Justin. “Thanks for helping me out, even though I didn’t need saving.”

He leaned against the bar. “You secretly love it that I save you from the big bad world.”

“I don’t. I can fend for myself.”

“You can, but you love being saved by me. Just admit it.”

“Shut it, Jussie,” I said with a laugh.

“You using that ridiculous nickname only spurs me on.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You look amazing, by the way. I mean, you always look great, but today… Wow.”

“Thanks,” I said, grinning.

I thought back to the night he tried to sing me a song and I ran away like a fool.

“Justin,” I started. “About the other night… I know we never talked about it, but I want you to know I only ran away because I was scared.”

Right at that moment, the bartender put my glass of water in front of me.

Justin gave me a warm smile. “And you think I’m not scared to death? Look at you. You’re this stunning woman, and I’m the guy who still gets looked at as the class clown. I don’t know how I can ever live up to your expectations.”

---