Not wanting to show how scared of him I truly was, I met Joe’s gaze directly and narrowed my eyes. “Let go of my arm.”
He chuckled, not the least bit intimidated. “Who’s going to make me?”
A rich male voice rang out from behind me. “Me, that’s who.”
I didn’t recognize the voice.
Flustered, my head jerked in his general direction, wanting to get a look at the bystander who was brave enough to step in and stand in my defense. With just three little words, he’d drawn the defining line between the Barlow brothers and me.
The dark-haired man’s chiseled jaw was held tight and his arms were crossed, as if he were waiting for the idiot body builder to release me on command. Something I didn’t see happening anytime soon.
“Why don’t you mind your own business, dickhead?” Joe told the man, waving him off with his free hand.
The unknown man smirked at that. “I’m making this my business. Let go of her. Now.”
“And if I don’t?”
The man took a step forward just as Mandy Barlow walked over. “Hey, guys. What’s going on over here?” She took notice of Joe’s fingers wrapped around my arm. “Joe, you stop it right now, ya hear? If you don’t let her go this instant, I’m gonna call Momma and tell on you.” She glared at her other brother standing on the sidelines. “On both of you.”
“Aw, Mandy, we’re just playing around,” Clay said. “We weren’t really gonna do nothing to her. Were we, Joe?”
Joe smiled at me, but released my arm. “Of course not. Just talking to her, that’s all.”
Mandy looked at me and smiled warmly. “Anna, right? You’re Cowboy’s friend?”
I nodded silently, though I was pretty sure Cowboy and I weren’t friends after I’d slapped him in the middle of the dance floor.
“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure these two don’t bother you anymore.” Mandy gestured to her brothers who were still in a stare-down with the stranger who had stepped in to rescue me. “Come on, fellas. Let’s leave Anna and her…uh, friend alone now. You two have caused enough trouble for one night. It’s time to go.”
Clay grumbled under his breath as he followed Mandy toward the door. She stopped a few feet away, apparently realizing Joe hadn’t moved from his position. “Joe! I said it’s time to leave. Come on, or you’ll be walking home.”
Joe slowly backed away from the dark-headed man, though they were both still eyeing each other. I breathed a sigh of relief as the Barlow clan disappeared out the front doors, then turned to the man standing beside me. “Thank you for stepping in. That was very sweet of you.”
“No problem, ma’am.” He winked at me and offered his arm. “You seem a bit shaken up. How about I buy you a drink and show you the proper way a man should treat a lady?”
I considered his offer carefully. He seemed like an okay guy, but the last thing I wanted to do was lead him to believe that a drink would turn into anything more. I wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship—casual or otherwise—and was happy to go home alone.
Okay, so maybe that was a lie. No one wanted to be alone. Not really. I’d spent a lot of time alone after my mother died and wouldn’t wish that kind of isolation on anyone. But the thought of taking off my clothes and bearing my soul to a complete stranger wasn’t very appealing, either.
So maybe I did want some companionship, after all. Just not with him. Unfortunately, he was the only one offering me anything at the moment. I couldn’t very well say no without coming off rude, could I?
Things had worked out in his favor with the brothers, but they easily could’ve taken a nasty turn if Mandy hadn’t stepped in when she did. The Barlow boys didn’t come off as deep thinkers so I doubted they’d have outsmarted this guy, but they definitely would’ve outnumbered him. The least I could do was have a drink with my rescuer.