“No.” I could smell the female lust on him like it was his own personal aftershave.
I bet he wanted to add mine to it. Sucked to be him tonight.
“You look pretty alone.” He moved closer to me.
I flexed my ankle. These heels were sharp. “I wouldn’t get any closer if I were you.”
“Sure? I could keep you company while you wait for your friend.”
“I’m wearing four-inch stilettos and my friend is six foot three and probably has twenty pounds on muscle on you. Come on closer, doll.” I smiled sweetly and tilted my head to the side.
Two glasses of water appeared on the table next to me, and I felt rather than saw West grip the back of the chair and lean over me.
The guy in front of me took one look at him, snorted, and walked away.
“He bothering you?” West said into my ear. His breath was hot, and I could hear the undercurrent of protectiveness. It was a foreign sound to me.
I shook my head and took a few sips of water. “I think I’m ready to go though.”
“Sure. Let’s go.” He came around and took my hand, looking out at the club.
The people made it impossible, but for the first time, I was truly glad he was with me. If he hadn’t been, that guy might not have backed off.
West held my hand the entire way back to the car. “Did you get anything useful?”
“I think so,” I said quietly, reluctantly taking my hand back.
His hold had been strong and confident, and despite my words, the guy’s insistence had shaken me a little—so had the knowledge that West had probably saved me from having a forced lap dance.
Now that we were away from the main hustle and bustle, in the parking lot, it felt like a different world. Sure, I could hear the music from Rock Solid, but I was tired. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but my feet were hurting and I just wanted to crawl into bed and think about this tomorrow.
“You should have come and got me when that prick made you uncomfortable.”
I turned to face him. “Are you seriously telling me off?”
We paused as the traffic stopped, and he cut his gaze to me. “I couldn’t see you at first. I told you it wasn’t safe for you to go alone.”
I rolled my eyes. “He was only there for two minutes. I would have stabbed him with my stiletto before he could do anything.”
“And I believe you, but it doesn’t change the fact that he made you uncomfortable.”
We turned a corner.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you just because you’re determined to do market research.”
“Nothing happened to me.”
“Mia, it doesn’t change the fact that it couldn’t. He only left because I showed up. I watched almost the entire fucking thing.”
“And you only came in at the end? Gee, thanks, West. Knight in fucking shining armor right there, aren’t you?” I ran my fingers through my hair and looked away. The light curls were still in place, although they were more of a lazy wave at this point, and I stared at my reflection in the side mirror. “We should probably not do this again.”
“On the contrary, I was having fun until the end. I don’t have fun much.”
“Looking out for me was fun? Yeah, okay.”
“I told you,” he said, pulling up outside my apartment block, which was really more of a converted three-story house. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’d feel bad.”
“Well, thanks. I’m gonna look over these notes in the morning and I’ll e-mail you. Okay?” I paused with my hand on the door and glanced back at him.
He was out of the fucking car.
Why was he out of the fucking car?
“Why are you out of the car?”
He smirked. Damn that smirk. “I’m taking you up.”
“Like hell you are.” I slammed the door and walked around the sleek Audi to stand right in front of him. I looked up at him and caught his gaze. “I can make it in and out of an elevator.”
“I’m sure you can. But I’m still taking you up.”
“No. You’re not!”
“All right, then.” He grabbed my waist and lifted me.
A shriek escaped between my lips as he swung me upward and over his shoulder. I scrambled to keep hold of my purse, but he ignored me as he carried me inside and pushed the elevator button.
“West! Put me down right now!”
He ignored me again and tightened his grip around my thighs when I tried to wriggle down. His strength was crazy. I was stuck there.
“Put me down! Now!”
He shook his head, this time acknowledging my words. But that was it. A fucking head shake.
“This is hardly professional!” I yelled, my voice echoing off walls of the metal box that was the elevator. I couldn’t believe he’d slung me over his shoulder like some kind of caveman.
Yo, Wilma, Betty? Fred and Barney escaped. I found one of them.
“West Rykman, I swear to a god I don’t believe in that, if you don’t put me down right this goddamn second, I’m going to tear your balls off with my bare hands and shove them up your ass!”