Page 32 of Second First Kiss

Kat only had room for short and casual flings—emphasis on the short. Going to La La Land with the brother of her best friend’s fiancé was a bad move. Going to La La Land with a man who made her toes curl was bad for her well-being.

If anything went wrong, and with her history the odds weren’t in her favor, then she could complicate things within their friend group. Kat’s friends were her family, and she couldn’t afford to lose any more family.

“You didn’t screw up, Nolan. Shit happens. You couldn’t have foreseen this,” she said.

Ever so slowly, he reached out and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, sliding the strands between his thumb and finger as he followed it down her neck. When he reached the bottom, he pulled his hand back.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree.”

Maybe she was wrapped up in the anger from her vandalized car, or maybe it was the way he was looking at her, but she hadn’t stopped to wonder why he’d come out after her. In fact, as far as she knew, he’d taken off for the night. He’d sat vigil at the end of the bar, like her own personal protector for about an hour, then said goodbye to his family and bailed.

“I thought you already went home,” she said.

“I did.”

He’d likely pulled a ten-hour shift, learned that someone was stealing from him, then had to deal with a mouthy employee.

Shit.

Panic shook her hands, so she stuck them in the jacket pockets as her mind raced for ways to fix this mess. She’d meant what she’d said to Tim about not liking to owe favors, and she already owed Nolan for getting her sister out of the sheriff’s department. She couldn’t stomach going over Eli’s head and asking the big boss to make an exception. But before she could stop herself, she asked, “Did you come back to fire me?”

His eyes narrowed with confusion, followed shortly by anger. “You’re not getting fired. You think I blame you for tonight?”

She just shrugged.

“Never,” he whispered and raised his hand to cup her cheek. But right before he made contact, he froze, letting it drop to his side. Like he couldn’t stand to touch it. “I’m here to make sure you’re okay and promise you that things will be changing. I am going to double security so that nothing like this will ever happen again.”

“Oh,” was the only response she could think of. She’d never been on the receiving end of that kind of fierce protectiveness as she was right then. And she didn’t know how she felt about it.

“I also want to assure you that the company will cover the cost of repairing your car.”

A sting of pride had her chin going up. “Why? Because I’m broke?”

“Because it happened on company property, while you were working. That’s a security problem on our end.” He was talking to her in this gentle tone she’d heard him use with his friends and family—never with her. With her he acted as if she were a speeding ticket at the end of a very long shift.

“I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if you’d interrupted them.”

“But I didn’t,” she assured him. “And R. J. is all bark and no bite.” He looked at her cheek and lifted an argumentative brow. “Honestly, he was more shocked than I was when I stumbled into the bar.”

His jaw clenched so hard she was surprised it didn’t dislocate. “I want to kill him.”

“You shouldn’t say things like that, because when I kill him I can always point the finger in your direction.”

“I’m serious. When I saw where he touched you…” He shook his head. “The only thing between him and a shallow grave was my brothers.”

“I can take care of myself, big guy.”

“I know. But you shouldn’t have to. Why the hell didn’t you ask security to walk you to your car?” he asked in a piercing tone that had her hackles bristling.

“Eli?” she asked with disbelief. “He’d have to put down his phone for that.”

Nolan looked genuinely confused. “What does that mean?”

“He spends more time monitoring his phone than the patrons. And he hesitated, Nolan,” she said. “When everything went down, he just stood there as if hoping someone else would step in and solve a headache he didn’t want. So I stepped in.”

Nolan shook his head. “Eli was a good agent. Good at his job. We were partnered for six years.”

Kat gave an ironic laugh. What did she think was going to happen? That just because he was being sweet a moment ago that he’d side with her over one of his oldest friends? Still, it stung. “Believe me or not, I don’t care. But as an employee speaking to her employer, security around here sucks.”

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