Page 5 of Fearless Protector
His lips lower and capture mine in a kiss that takes my breath away.When he finally breaks our kiss, he strokes a finger down my cheek.“You have nothing to be ashamed of; attraction is the most natural thing in the world.When you look in the mirror tomorrow, all you’re going to see is a beautiful woman who was having a great time and had the attention of every red-blooded male in the bar tonight.”
“Except you.”
“Not true, sweetheart.If you hadn’t had so much to drink, you’d have found yourself waking up in my bed tomorrow morning.Know that.”He kisses me again and pushes my hair from my face.“I think you owe me a souvenir of the night, beautiful.”
I inhale, feeling immensely better about the situation and me as a human.“What do you want?”I ask, my eyes narrowed as he contemplates his ask.
He smirks.“Your panties.Take them off and give them to me.”
My mouth gapes.“You can’t be serious.”
He shrugs.“Maybe, but I am.I can’t think of a more perfect souvenir.”
I shiver as the wind blows right through my light jacket, and my face stings from the wind.“The moisture in the air is turning to ice.We need to get back.”
“Your choice.You take them off now and give them to me, or I get to take them off later on.”
My stomach dances with butterflies, and I feel like a girl about to embark on my first date, but it’s not really a date.In fact, it’s nothing of the sort.“I think I’ll hang on to my panties for now, kind sir.”
He smirks and takes my hand as we walk back down the trail path toward Eagle’s Swallow.The light snow that is starting to feel a little bit more wet but looks glossy on the ground.I gesture to the ground.“It’s getting icy.”
His jaw tightens as he guides me into the bar with a hand to the small of my back.He looks around, and neither of us see Jules anywhere.He gestures to the dance floor.“She was dancing with a big beefy tall guy in a black hat just before we left the bar.”
Even in my condition, her leaving the bar without texting me and being with that guy means trouble.“She was with Bobby Ray.Jules had way more to drink than I did and was probably just dancing with him to be nice or keep the peace.”
Mason’s hazel eyes go hard, penetrating me with their intensity.“Tell me what you mean by that, PJ.”
I swallow hard, my blurry mind already swirling with a thousand scenarios of where they could be or what could be happening to Jules.“He’s been hanging out with buddies of Jake Eldridge.Cole, Garrett, and your bodyguard friends may have sent Jake packing out of town a while back, but his friends haven’t forgotten that Lacy is the one who got him run out of town or that we are friends with her.Mason, we really need to find Jules.”
His jaw locks tightly as he leaves my side, moving in and out of the tables before stopping to talk to the waitress who was taking care of us tonight.It doesn’t take long before Mason’s walking quickly back to me and takes my arm.“Where would he have taken her?His place or hers?She said they left together a short while ago.Let’s go.”
My chest tightens and intuitively, deep in my soul, I know something is wrong.“Wait, coffee.I’ll be more help to you with a strong black coffee.”I walk to the counter of the bar with Mason at my heels.Jared the barkeeper I’ve known all my life, gives me a long glance.“You okay?”
“No, Jules left with Bobby Ray.We’re going to find her.Can I get two large coffees to go, really fast, please?”
Jared nods and turns to the coffee pot on the back counter, then pours two large while I toss some bills on the counter.Mason takes a long, hard look the county map that’s under the glass of the bar until Jared walks over with our coffees.“Bobby Ray wouldn’t hurt Jules,” Jared says.
I narrow my eyes at the well-meaning but naïve bartender who is friends with everyone in town as I take the cups.I don’t answer him because there’s no time to get into an argument about it with him.“Thanks for the coffee.”I catch up to Mason who clearly has no patience for what Jared does or does not think and follow him out to his SUV.
Mason opens the door.I hand him his coffee before climbing in with mine, while he closes the door and walks around to the other side.He places the cup in the holder next to mine and cranks the heat before rubbing his hands together as he settles in.“It’s getting colder; you see the moisture swirling in the air.“Where does Jules live?”
I take another drink of coffee, never feeling as helpless as I do right now as he pulls out and heads to the main road.The one night I decide to let loose a little and get absolutely loaded something like this happens, leaving us to depend on someone I barely know.A stranger who doesn’t know his way around town or anything.“PJ, I asked you where does Jules live?”
I look at him.“Sorry, I’m just worried.Jules lives all the way back in town.”
He looks both ways down the long, dark road.“Where does Bobby Ray live?”
“He lives farther out this way somewhere.It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been out this way.I vaguely remember driving by his place before, but I’m pretty sure I can get us there.Take a left, and it’s about three or four miles before you turn off toward his house.”
Mason peels out and then veers down the long stretch of highway.“Call Garrett.”The dashboard lights up as the connection between the car and his phone connect.“Garrett here, I was just going to call you, Mason.Do you have PJ and Jules?”
Mason’s hand clenches on the steering wheel.“I’ve got PJ.Jules left the bar with a man named Bobby Ray.PJ told me he’s friends with Jake Eldridge.We’re heading out to his house now.I was calling you to make sure you had Lacy and Patti.”
“We’ve got the ladies, but only thanks to Tommy’s men and the fact that we haven’t let up on her security since Jake Eldridge left town.There were too many red flags that kept popping up and too many of his old buddies still running around this town for me to be comfortable loosening up her security.”
“Good thing you didn’t, Garrett.Damn, I hate like hell this is happening on the night before you wedding.How’d it play out; anyone hurt?”he asks, watching the road ahead intently as we drive.
“Jake Eldridge had some of his friends try to pick the ladies up at the new bar they were at, but thankfully Tommy’s guys intervened before they could snatch Lacy.I’m just glad they were here so we could enjoy the night.Him and his boys took the guys who tried to snatch the ladies with them when they left.”
