I buy a round of drinks and we all squeeze into the small table. I don’t mind that Evie practically has to sit on my lap. I welcome the excuse to be as close to her as possible, especially in public. I’ve already caught several men staring at her for a beat longer than I’m comfortable with, and I want to make it crystal clear that she’s here with me.
Landon leans toward me and asks, "So, Jake, you’re from Cincinnati?"
I pause for a second, discombobulated, but then I realize that Evie probably hasn’t had a chance to tell him too much about me, and he’s just asking a simple question. So instead of saying, yeah, I grew up in Northside just like Evie. I say, "No, actually, San Diego."
"California? Really? I love San Diego. I’ve been there twice. I stayed in Pacific Beach with a friend of mine. Where did you live?"
"La Jolla." I take a drink of my water, chewing a piece of ice.
From a run-down foster home in Northside, Cincinnati to a mansion on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. And each was a different sort of hell.
He stares for a minute. Obviously he knows the area. He whistles. "Nice part of town. What brings you here?"
"My father’s company has an office here. I started running things about six months ago."
Landon nods, raising his eyebrows and glancing at Evie.
Jeff says, "You must miss the sunshine."
I look at Evie. "Plenty of sunshine here too." I smile at her.
"Cheesy," she laughs, but pulls my face toward her and gives me a quick kiss on the lips.
We look at each other grinning for a minute, and when I look over at Landon and Jeff, they’re both looking back and forth between the two of us, huge smiles on their faces.
I pull Evie against my side and look toward the guys. "So, Landon, Evie tells me you’re in school at U.C. What are you studying?"
"I’m getting my business degree," Landon says.
I nod. "Cool. When do you graduate?"
"Still a couple years away. I’m on the slow track," he says, smiling and taking a drink.
I nod again, smiling too. "What about you, Jeff? What do you do?"
"I’m an engineer," Jeff says.
"Oh really? What type of engineering?"
He tells me he’s a mechanical engineer and we talk for a few minutes about his job and what my company does.
After a few minutes, I hear a good song come on and I stand up, pulling Evie with me, and whisper, "I want you on the dance floor." I need to feel her against me. She looks hesitant but gives a little wave to the guys and starts following me.
When we make it to the middle of the dance floor, she puts her arms up around my neck and we start moving to the beat. The combination of our bodies moving against each other and the intense beat of the music is sexy as hell. I look down at her and her eyes are filled with the same thing I’m feeling.
"I should have known you'd be a good dancer," she whispers to me, and the feel of her breath at my ear sends a lightning bolt of arousal through my body. I press more closely into her.
Landon comes up behind Evie as the song changes and I take the opportunity to go to the restroom.
"Take care of her," I say to Landon as I hand Evie over.
When I return a few minutes later, I see a big, overly muscled meathead pulling Evie toward him as Landon tries to pull her in the other direction. A red haze comes over my vision and suddenly, I’m fourteen again and someone is pushing Evie around at school. Only now there’s a sexual element to the bully’s motives. It’s all I can do not to tackle the ass**le and pummel his face into the bar floor. Instead, I grab the back collar of his shirt and haul him back toward me.
I get right up close to him, and say, "Hey ass**le, you need to learn what no means." He sizes me up for a split second. He’s bigger, but I’m taller and my expression must tell him that I’m willing to push this because he says, "Whatever, man," and holds his hands up in mock surrender and pushes me back off him as he walks by me. Stupid meathead. I look over at Evie, and for a second our eyes lock and the rest of the club fades away as she tilts her head, looking dreamily at me. She knows. But just as quickly, she shakes her head very slightly and smiles brightly at me, crooking her finger to come to her. I do. When I reach her, she looks up at me and whispers, "My hero."
I look down into her slightly buzzed expression, shaking my head and smiling at her ability to disarm me. Sweet, beautiful lion tamer.
We dance next to the guys for another forty five minutes or so. Landon is funny as all hell and I can see why Evie likes him. Troublemaker by Olly Murs comes on and Landon starts doing these dance moves I swear I’ve never even seen before. We’re all laughing at his show as people start to stand back to watch and cheer him on. I look over at Evie and I can’t stop smiling, watching her as she laughs and has fun, living in the moment. Time seems to slow and the music fades out. There’s only her, and I think, this, this makes my soul feel full.
The music comes slamming back into my head, and time resumes as Landon pulls Jeff forward, and now everyone is clapping for the both of them. Jeff isn’t nearly the dancer Landon is, but he manages to hold his own. It’s entertaining, but I’m ready to get Evie home to bed. The adrenaline rush from tearing the big guy off of her, and all the sweaty dancing has me worked up. All I can think of is getting her beneath me in bed and sinking into her tight, wet warmth.
As the crowd fills back in and Landon dances over to us, I lean toward him and tell him I’m going to get Evie home. He nods, saying, "It was great to really meet you." I smile and nod to Jeff a few feet away, and Evie blows him a kiss and waves to Jeff as I lead her off the dance floor.