I offered to settle the bar challenge score with a game of pool.
“I think I should get you back. Plus I’m ready to claim my prize. I won fair and square.” Just as he said that, a short, stocky fellow took a seat at the bar next to me on my right.
The man next to me said, “Hi,” in a kind, friendly voice.
I turned toward him slightly and said, “Hi,” very blandly.
The man had one of those chests that stuck out in some futile attempt to make him look taller, and he wore a black muscle shirt that hugged his large, gunlike biceps. Not my style at all. “Do you live here or are you just visiting San Francisco?” he asked. I looked at Jamie first before turning back to answer. He swept his hair back out of his face and I could see his jaw flex, but his expression never changed. He looked unaffected.
I swiveled back toward the man. “I’m just visiting.”
He put his hand on my leg and rubbed it up and down. “Can I get you another shot?”
I gasped and pulled my leg away. I blinked twice and Jamie was suddenly standing on the other side of the man, gripping the back of his neck and pushing the guy’s face to the bar. Jamie lowered his own face to the man’s ear and spoke in a steely voice that was so quiet but so powerful that it gave me chills.
“You see that she’s with me, don’t you?” Jamie was looking right into his eyes. I could see the man struggling. He was breathing through his mouth. Jamie’s grip on his neck was so strong, the veins in his forearms and in the man’s neck were bulging and pulsing. “Answer me.”
The man nodded.
“Then keep your fucking hands off her.”
The guy stood from the bar and held his hands up in a defensive gesture. “Okay, man, back off.”
I stood as well. “I have to use the restroom,” I said quickly then marched off. I turned back just as I entered the bathroom door and saw Jamie standing at the bar, looking shattered as he watched me walk away. My heart was beating out of my chest. What do I say? That was so weird and possessive.
Gathering myself, I took two deep breaths and splashed cold water on my face. When I opened the door, Jamie was standing against the wall just outside the bathroom, waiting for me. His hands were in his pockets and he was looking down.
“I’m sorry,” he said to the floor. When he looked up, I noticed his eyes were misty. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m not a violent person at all. I would never lay a hand on you. I just want you to know that.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I just thought he was being really disrespectful, and I wouldn’t want anyone to treat you that way.”
“We barely know each other, Jamie. You don’t have to do that for me.”
“Did I ruin the night?”
I walked up to him and pressed myself against his body. Looking up into his eyes, I brushed his hair back and said, “I have mixed emotions right now. It scared me a little, but no one has ever done anything like that for me.” I kissed his cheek. “Thank you. It made me feel important.”
“You are.”
We walked several blocks back to the truck. Every time there was a shadow cast on the wall of a building, Jamie would push me into it and kiss me like Armageddon was around the corner. Once we were back at the parking garage, I felt like the world was spinning. I stumbled just before I got to the truck. Jamie braced me by the elbow. “I’m pretty drunk,” I said to him as he opened the truck door for me.
He cupped my face and gave me the lightest kiss. “I’ll take care of you.” He helped me in and then went around to his side and gave himself a shot of insulin.
I scrunched up my nose. “Smells like Band-Aids.”
“Yeah, the insulin has a really potent smell. Does it bother you?” He looked over at me apprehensively.
“Not at all. I was just making an observation, and I’m drunk. Just ignore me.”
“Never.” He winked at me then pulled the truck out onto the street and into the bustling city traffic.
“Didn’t you do that before we ate?”
“What?”
“Use the insulin pen.”
He looked up. His eyes were wide, and there was a faint look of fear in them. “Did I?”
“Yeah, you did.”
“I felt hot, so I thought . . .”
I giggled. “Maybe it was all the kissing.” His expression never changed. He looked bewildered. “Are you okay, Jamie?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said quietly as he looked up into the rearview mirror and over his shoulder to change lanes. “I’m fine.”
We were approaching the Golden Gate Bridge. Jamie was very quiet. I started to fade, and the last thing I remembered was laying my head in his lap and him stroking my hair.
Page 9
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