Page 108 of Need You Now

“Everything okay?”

Sal’s soft voice jolts Seth out of his staredown with Beau. She’s giving the two of them a curious look.

Seth forces a grin. He extends an arm, drawing Sal close to him and away from Beau. “All good here. Beau was just leavin’.”

Beau’s face darkens at being handed his exit. But instead of saying anything, he slaps his hands on the thighs of his jeans. “I’ll be seein’ y’all around.” He tips an imaginary hat to Sal. “Ma’am.”

As Beau heads out, Sal presses a hand against her stomach. “What’d I interrupt? Looked serious.”

Seth clears his throat and shakes his head. “Nothin’. Don’t think that guy would know how to be serious even if it bit him in the ass.” He frowns, curling his arm tighter around Sal’s shoulder. “He ain’t stayin’ with us, is he?”

“No. He’s on the other side of the property. Thank God.”

A long moment of silence, then Sal glances up at him. “I know what you’re doing with Lacey,” she says quietly.

Seth freezes. “Sal, I—”

“Steppin’ in for a dance, getting her out of there so that creep couldn’t bother her all night.” Her eyes narrow in the direction of Beau’s exit. “Lacey doesn’t need that, especially after what she went through. She doesn’t need some asshole wrecking her heart.”

The words hit him square in the gut. Seth stares. Ice cold. That’s Sal. He ain’t never seen her this way. Protective. Watching Lacey with a big sister eye as she’s snagged by Luke and pulled into a clumsy two-step on the dance floor.

Sal puts a hand on his arm. “I really appreciate it, Seth. You looking out for my sister.” She smiles up at him, her green eyes sparkling with tears. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

With that, Sal turns, heading back across the dance floor to Luke and Lacey.

Seth stares after her, his mouth as dry as cotton.

He doesn’t deserve Sal’s gratitude. Her faith in him. Hell, he’s the one lying to her. Sleeping with her sister.

Fuck.

He’sthe asshole.

Lacey stumbles into her bedroom, head spinning from the shots, and fumbles for the light on the wall. A low rumble of a chuckle sounds from the dark. And then Seth’s dimming the light, drawing the blinds.

“Easy, princess,” he says, watching in amusement as she tugs off a heel, swaying as she balances and chucks it across the room.

A toss of her hair. “I’m fine, Seth.”

She’s drunk.

It’s about damn time she loosened up. Ever since the bar, since Emmy Lou’s words, she’s been wound tight. Wondering, worrying about whether she and Seth will even work when they go back to their lives. But her dance with Seth shook off her nervous feeling. Had left her wanting to live in the moment. Take risks.

Seth steps up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. Steadying her. Pulling her back into him. They sway slow and steady. She smiles as he buries his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. “You have fun tonight?”

“Yeah.” She turns around in his arms, staring up into his blue eyes. “Did you?”

“I did.” He fiddles with a lock of her hair. Then, a dark look passes over his face. “With the exception of Beau.”

“Oh, now look who’s jealous,” she teases.

“Damn right, I’m jealous,” Seth grouses, his handsome face boyish and chagrined. “You lookin’ like that. Hot as hell and me not bein’ able to touch you. Then we got Beau leerin’ at you all night—”

She arcs a brow, amused. “Leering?”

“Leerin’.” He scowls, pressing a kiss to her brow. “You don’t need that shit.”

“Well, don’t be jealous. He’s obnoxiously harmless, not to mention a nightmare of a human being.” They continue to sway. “Besides, look who I’m with.” She nuzzles his throat, nipping at his collarbone. “You, Seth. You, you, you.”

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