Page 78 of Delicate Escape

“You mean thebest,” she shot back.

I felt Shep before I saw him. Some part of me recognized his heat. It had its own unique signature. His strong, tanned arm wrapped around me and deposited my club soda, then he bent, whispering in my ear, “You good?”

I nodded. “This band is pretty great.”

Shep chuckled. “Doubting our ability to have good music in the sticks?”

I grinned up at him. “Doubtmight be too strong a word.”

The first strains ofYou Shook Me All Night Longcame through the speakers, and Rhodes was instantly off her stool. “Come on, we have to dance!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Big AC/DC fan?”

“It’s a classic,” she argued.

“She’s lying. She just loves to dance,” Anson grumbled.

Rhodes rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. “I already knowhewon’t dance with me.” She turned to me and grabbed my hand with her uninjured one. “Pleeeease?”

“Rhodes,” Shep warned.

But I was already off my stool and taking Fallon’s hand. “Let’s do this.”

Rhodes let out a little squeal as she tugged us toward the dance floor. And for the first time inyears, I let go. I didn’t think about Brendan, the pictures, or the millions of doubts racing through my head on a typical day. I felt…free.

We danced to rock songs and country tunes; even a pop song slipped in here and there. Before long, I was hauling my hair into a pile on the top of my head because it was sticking to my neck.

A guy slid in behind Fallon, wrapping an arm around her waist. She startled, quickly extricating herself from the guy’s hold and waving him off. He sent her a slightly intoxicated but apologetic smile and began backing away.

But it wasn’t quite fast enough. Because Kye shoved through the crowd, glowering at the guy who had paled to the shade of a vampire. Fallon tugged on Kye’s black tee with some sort of design printed on the back. It wasn’t long before the two of them were in an all-out argument, and the drunk dude was escaping into the crowd.

Rhodes rolled her eyes. “They’ll yell at each other for a while. Want to get a drink?”

“Fallon’s okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” Rho said quickly. “She just gets annoyed when Kye gets overprotective.”

I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder at the two of them. Kye towered over the petite woman. But as shy as Fallon seemed in certain circumstances, she showed no fear with the mountain man, jabbing a finger into his chest.Interesting.

“What do you want?” Rhodes yelled.

“Just water.”

As she leaned over the bar to order, a hand curled around my arm, giving me a tug. I nearly fell back on my ass but righted myself, only to come face-to-face with one of the last people I wanted to see.

Russ Wheeler.

His eyes were glassy as they tracked down my body, stilling at my cleavage. “Thea. You clean up real nice.”

I had the urge to cross my arms. I tried to pull free of Russ’s grasp, but he only gripped me harder, his hold so tight I let out a squeak of pain.

Russ’s eyes lit at the sound, and he licked his lips. “Putting on quite a show out there. But why don’t we take this party somewhere private-like?”

My stomach roiled, and I yanked hard on my arm again. “Let me go.”

“Don’t play those games with me. You’re begging for it. Come on, baby. I’ll make you feel good.”

The nausea intensified. “I said, let go,” I snapped, shoving at Russ’s chest with my free hand.

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