Brad looked from me to Jackson, protesting, “Aren’t you a first responder? Did you see what he just did?”
Jackson laughed. “Good luck with that. You don’t have any friends in this town. You can either keep playing stupid, or get the hell out of here.”
Brad stared at us for a beat before spinning and jogging across the parking lot to climb into his car. Jackson and I waited in silence until the sound of the gravel crunching under his wheels ended as he turned out of the parking lot onto the road.
When I glanced back toward the bar, I saw Jade standing in the doorway with Shay beside her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jade
My heart was thumping hard against my ribs, and I had a sick, twisty feeling in my gut. I stared at Walker across the parking lot.
“Are you okay?” Shay asked from my side.
I didn’t break my gaze from Walker’s. Although I couldn’t sort out a single feeling, looking into his eyes, even from a distance, helped me to settle inside. Something clicked into place inside, and I finally managed a deep breath before I turned to look at Shay.
“I’m pissed off, but I’m okay.”
“Pissed off…” Her words petered out when she looked toward Walker and Jackson, who were approaching us now.
By this point, Walker and Jackson reached us. Walker was fairly vibrating with energy. He had it in check—because he was always self-contained—but I could sense the tension humming through him. I wasn’t going to lie; it’d been just a little bit—okay maybe a lot—satisfying to see him so easily lift Brad and give him a shake.
Brad was such a coward. That’s what I told him that night. Trying to drug me to likely rape me was more cowardly than just raping me. I realized how insane that sounded. My therapist had told me it was perfectly fine to think thoughts like that. She said it was part of my process.
Before I thought about it, I was stepping close to Walker and reaching for his hand. His eyes were searching my face. The sound of Jackson clearing his throat snapped into the moment of silence as Walker and I stared at each other.
Whipping my head in Jackson’s direction, I considered him for a moment. I flicked my eyes from Walker to Jackson and back. “Thank you, both. I still can’t believe Brad just showed up here. I’ve covered shifts here for years. Brad had to know there was a chance he’d see me if he came here.”
“He’s an asshole,” Shay said forcefully. “We all used to be friendly with him.” She looked toward Walker. I supposed she was trying to explain.
Walker inclined his head. His hand was firm around mine, and his thumb brushed back and forth on the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist.
Fire feathered outward from there, moving over my skin like a breath of air. I couldn’t explain any of what I was feeling. Brad’s presence had unsettled me. When Shay and I followed Walker and Jackson down the hallway, I’d felt cranky and irritated. I didn’t need Walker to protect me, yet he had.
He was so alpha, so instinctively protective. I couldn’t believe how it made me feel. Although part of me wanted to push against it, I also savored it and wanted to envelope myself in his strength.
“You ready to go?” Walker asked, his tone low.
I nodded because I couldn’t find any more words. He was turning away with my hand in his before I realized we hadn’t said anything to Shay and Jackson. Glancing back, I saw the understanding in her expression.
Shay’s eyes searched my face before she said, “Good night.”
Walker looked at Jackson. “Thanks, man.”
Jackson shrugged. “I’ll be your backup anytime. ’Specially when it’s not in the middle of a crowd.”
Walker chuckled, and we kept walking until we reached his truck. “How’d you get here?”
“I hitched a ride with Shay. Are you giving me a ride home?”
“Absolutely,” he replied, his voice raspy, right before bending low and fitting his mouth over mine.
Whether Walker knew how much I wanted him didn’t really matter. All that mattered was his lips on mine, and the feel of his strong arms pulling me close.
He turned us, pressing my back against his truck. The feel of the cool steel sifted through my thin cotton blouse, a marked contrast to the fire burning me up inside. By the time he gentled our kiss, leaning his forehead against mine as we both gulped in heaving breaths of air, I’d completely forgotten we were in a parking lot. A very public parking lot, as evidenced by the sound of a car door slamming and voices drifting over to us.
“We should go,” he murmured.
His lips were still so close to mine I could feel the subtle motion of them. Each brushing touch kindled the fire hotter and hotter inside of me. When I opened my eyes and collided with his, I was jolted by the sense of intimacy enveloping us. For several beats of my heart, his thumping in time with mine because I could feel it pressed against my chest, panic clawed at me inside.
Not fear related to Walker in the sense that he might do anything to hurt me. I had absolute faith that he wouldn’t. That very faith was what sent the wheels of panic spinning madly, scrambling to catch purchase and keep me from falling deeper and deeper into the abyss.
The idea that my trust was faulty terrified me. Because I’d been so thoroughly proven wrong before.
Just as the claws of panic sank deeply, Walker straightened slightly, lifting a hand to brush my hair
