Page 22 of Bodyguard By Night

Clay sat up, sliding his arm away from Rachel. “Nah, man, it’s early.”

“It’s cool. Catch up with your guest. I have some shit to finish up tonight anyway.”

Clay’s eyebrow rose. “And what would that be?”

“None of your business anymore, pal. You fired me, remember?”

What did that mean? I knew Ransom had a security background, but not that his job ended.

Then again, I’d made myself scarce after the big holiday engagement. My Aunt Laverne had been giving me the matchmaker side-eye. I definitely didn’t need that in my life right now.

I set the darts back in the holder beside the board.

A couple of guys sauntered over. The lighter-haired one smiled widely, full of asshole peacockery as he sipped from a bottle of Bud. “You can play with us.”

A glass thudded as it hit the table. My head swiveled to see Ransom’s shoulders tightening. His long, blunt fingers gripped the top of his glass, but then he released it and hustled down the stairs and through the bar without looking back.

I gave the blond a tight smile. “I’ll sit this one out.”

“Aww, c’mon. We were watching you with grandpa. Kicking ass.”

“And I’m sure I’d kick yours too, but I’m going to go visit with my sister.”

He glanced at the table with a whistle. “Cherry and a bit of chocolate. Maybe both of you want to play.”

Clay started to stand, but I waved him off. “Do you think that kind of line works with women?”

He gave a harsh chuckle then looked at his buddy. “Sure. Sometimes.”

“No times.” I strode to the darts holder and grabbed two darts—one red and one blue. I came back to the guy. “Let’s throw for it. You beat me, then I’ll play.”

“You’re on.” He took the red one.

I swung my arm open. “You first.”

Of course he went right to the line. The guy didn’t have a chivalrous bone in his body. He took another swig of his beer and tossed the dart.Thwack!Then he lifted his beer into a salute. “Beat that.”

Of course he threw it into the secondary bullseye.

Maybe some of Ransom’s sharpshooting was still in the dart. I tried not to think about the last dart I threw falling to the floor. I blew out a slow breath as I threw and smiled when it hit the direct center.

“Aww, sorry.”

The guy’s eyes narrowed and the meanness he’d been hiding bracketed his mouth. “I didn’t want to play with a chick anyway.”

I rolled my eyes and went to the board to put away the darts as the assholes went off to troll elsewhere.

“Since when do you play darts like that?”

I slid into the chair beside my sister. “Me and Merry—one of my roommates—get bored during the week sometimes.”

A pang from my sudden departure from the house hit me out of nowhere. I took a deep drink from my margarita to wash away the bitterness. The mix of fruits and tequila did its job. “We go to a dive bar near the apartment to kill time and fleece executive dudes who think we’re poor little college coeds who don’t know what we’re doing.”

Rachel laughed and slid her arm through mine. “I miss having you around.”

“I missed you too.” I rested my head on her shoulder. “So much.”

“Everything okay?”

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