04 - Born to be Wilde.txt (13 page)

Joel appreciated his friends' support, but he didn't want to make a scene if it could be helped, and the daunting sight of four big, strapping guys striding across the establishment would attract way too much attention.

"I'll take care of this," he said, one hundred percent certain that he could handle the smarmy guy on his own.

"We've got your back if you need it," Ben told him, even though it went without saying.

With a nod, Joel made his way through the crowded bar, his gaze never leaving Lora or the blond-haired guy who was invading way too much of her personal space. His temper spiked when he saw her shake her head at something the other man said, then try to step around the guy only to have him grab her arm to stop her.

Ten more seconds and he reached Lora's side, every one of his five senses sharp and alert, along with a strong protective impulse that went above and beyond the call of duty. This unfamiliar feeling was far more possessive, and it set off warning signals he pushed aside in order to deal with the issue at hand.

He pinned the other man with a dark, menacing look. "I suggest you let go of her and back off, unless you'd rather I remove your hand for you."

The man had the good sense to drop her arm, but was stupid enough to challenge Joel. "Who the hell are you? Her bodyguard?" he sneered, his breath reeking of whiskey, which explained his show of bravado.

"Actually, I'm your worst fucking nightmare," Joel said with deadly calm. "The lady is with me."

The man looked him up and down, his gaze brimming with alcohol-induced insolence. "Yeah? Why don't we let her decide who she's with? She might not like the Neanderthal type." He shifted his gaze to Lora and attempted a cocky grin designed to charm her. "Come on, sugar, let's get out of this joint and go somewhere quiet and private where we can get to know each other better."

Lora opened her mouth to speak, but Joel squeezed her arm to shut her up.

Confident that Lora was interested in him, the guy took a step toward her. Blood simmering with annoyance, Joel instantly stopped him with a flattened palm to his puny chest. He ruled this particular man out as a suspect, and saw he was rather a too-aggressive womanizer who thought way too much of his power of persuasion when it came to the opposite sex.

Still, Joel wasn't about to let any guy near Lora—a direct threat or otherwise. "Do not touch her again. If you do, I'm going to have to kick your ass."

The other man let out a bold, you-don't-scare-me laugh. "Yeah, you and what army?"

Joel could easily take the guy single-handedly. All it would take was two seconds and he would have the man's arm jammed up the middle of his back and his face pressed against the nearest wall, but Joel truly didn't want to engage in any kind of physical altercation if it could be helped.

So he opted for a more intimidating tactic. "Me, and that army right over there." He pointed to his three friends, who were still standing across the room as they watched the scene play out. Their arms were folded over their chests and the ominous expressions they wore would make any man think twice about doing something stupid.

This guy was no exception. Finally realizing just how outnumbered he was, he cast a disgruntled look toward Joel. "She's not worth the trouble." He turned around and went back to the bar to order a drink and nurse his bruised ego.

Once Joel was certain he'd diffused the situation, he glanced back at Lora. He wasn't sure what to expect from her, but it damn sure wasn't the amusement glimmering in her eyes or the way she was biting her bottom lip to contain her laughter. She didn't display an ounce of fear or trepidation over the man's overzealous confrontation, and Joel wanted to shake her for being so trusting. So naive. Just like she'd been earlier in the evening by not checking who'd been at her door.

She had no idea what she was up against. Or just how vulnerable and defenseless she was right now. That any guy who approached her could be someone who wanted her dead.

That thought, mingled with the realization of just how personal this job, and Lora, had become to him, increased the gut-twisting turmoil within him. His entire body was strung so tight he felt as though he was going to snap.

He made a split-second decision based on his surly mood. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Before she could suggest otherwise, or remind him that he owed her a dance, he grabbed her hand and led her back to their table to collect her purse and jacket, then escorted her out of the joint. As if sensing his need for space, she didn't say a word when he handed her a helmet to put on, nor did she ask where they were going as he revved up the motorcycle and told her to get on behind him.

Once he was on the interstate, he increased the speed of the bike, which also gave him the surge of adrenaline he was looking for. His motorcycle had always provided a therapeutic release for him when he was feeling irritable or restless, a way for him to relax and take the edge off of any aggression or tension that might be riding him hard.

Then again, hot, mindless sex had always been a great stress reliever for him, too, and with the provocative feel of Lora straddling the bike behind him, that's exactly where his mind and body had wandered. And it didn't help matters that her gloved hands were splayed on his thighs instead of clutched around his waist. Between the heat and throbbing vibration of the bike between his legs, the grip of her thighs against his hips as they leaned into a curve in the road, and the occasional brush of her fingers against the fly of his jeans, he was hard enough to pound nails.

She was teasing him again. Making him achingly aware of her willingness to indulge in the kind of carnal pleasures that would put an end to his sexual frustration. To that end, she was slowly, seductively driving him out of his ever-loving mind.

Needing a breath of cool night air to douse the arousal humming through his veins, he turned his bike off the main road and onto a narrow pathway. The trail led to a secluded area along Lake Shore Drive that he'd discovered a few years ago but hadn't visited in a while. The clusters of large trees gave the place a modicum of privacy and seclusion, and had always provided a peaceful, solitary escape for him. Especially during the first few months after he'd returned from Iraq, when the nightmarish memories of that last mission in Baghdad seemed to drag him down.

He wasn't sure why he'd brought Lora here now, considering he'd never shared this spot with anyone else, but it was the first place he'd thought of heading to after leaving the bar.

He brought the motorcycle to a stop, cut the engine, and parked the bike up on its kickstand. Lora slid off the back of the seat, pulled her helmet off, and shook her hair out so it fell in soft waves around her shoulders. Pale, silvery moonlight shimmered and gleamed off of those long, lustrous strands, making him wonder if its heavy weight felt as soft and rich as it looked.

She took off her gloves and jacket and set them on the seat behind Joel, but left on the scarf he'd given her earlier to wear. After giving the place a quick look around, she flashed Mm a dazzling smile that accentuated the mischievous light in her eyes.

"Mmmm. This is a nice, quiet, make-out spot," she said with all kinds of insinuation lacing her tone. "Do you come here often?"

"It's been a while." He took off his own helmet and hooked it over the end of the handle bar, then pulled off his gloves. "And just so you know, I've never brought anyone here to make out."

"Maybe we'll have to do something to change that," she said, her low, husky voice wrapping around him like a sensual promise she intended to keep.

Or maybe not, he thought to himself as he got off the bike, then unzipped his leather jacket, welcoming the rush of cool night air against his T-shirt and the heated skin beneath.

She walked to the edge of the trail, which overlooked Lake Michigan and the sandy beach stretching out below them. He came up beside her, and a few quiet moments passed as they admired the gorgeous evening view of the harbor lights off to the right.

"You know," Lora said, finally breaking the companionable silence between them, "I have to say, between you and your guys, that was quite an impressive front back at the bar."

Grateful for a conversation that wasn't laced with sexual undertones, he chuckled as he recalled how fierce and formidable Jon, Ben, and Kevin had looked as they backed him up. From the moment they'd been assigned to the same unit, it had always been that way with them, a strong, united front all the way. In good times and in bad.

A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he stared at her lovely face. "What can I say? Old habits die hard. For all of us."

She tipped her head to the side. "Once a marine, always a marine?" she guessed.

He nodded. "In a lot of ways, yes."

She was standing so close, the urge to reach out and caress his fingers along her soft cheek, down the side of her neck, and across the full swells of her breasts pushing against her top nearly overwhelmed him. Instead, he slid the tips of his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans, which forced him to keep his hands to himself.

"Well, all that fuss over me at Nick's wasn't necessary," she told him, her voice vibrating with feminine confidence. "I could have handled that guy on my own."

He raised a brow at her claim, though he couldn't help but approve of, and be attracted to, that fiery independence of hers. Couldn't help but imagine how all that bold self-assurance would be a huge turn-on in the bedroom. "You think so?"

"I know so. I deal with jerks like that all the time at The Electric Blue." The impudent smile on her lips made Joel grin, too. Then her lashes fell to half-mast as she stepped toward him, placed a hand on his chest, and slowly, brazenly stroked her palm down to his abdomen, leaving a trail of burning desire in its wake. "On the other hand, it was kind of nice having a big, strong man like you staking his claim."

He curled his hands into tight fists, even as his dick throbbed to life when he considered just how close her fingers were to his fly. "Is that what I did?" he asked, his voice rough with arousal. "Stake a claim?"

"Yeah." Her sweet, tempting mouth held a delectable curve of humor and sensuality. "And just for the record, it was a tad barbarianlike."

"Can't say I'm sorry."

"Me, either," she admitted, and shifted closer so that her mouth was only inches away from his and invited his kiss. Her hand, still splayed low on his belly, seared his skin through his T-shirt. "I've never had any guy come to my defense the way you did," she said softly.

"Not even your ex-fiancé?"

Her eyes widened in startled surprise at his abrupt comment. She dropped her hand and took a step back, giving him breathing room that no longer contained her warm, enticing female scent, which was wreaking havoc with certain parts of his anatomy.

Her brows creased in confusion and curiosity as she stared at him. "How do you even know I had a fiancé?"

It was an easy enough question for him to answer. "You wrote to Zach while he was in the service, and we talked about our siblings and what was going on back home. He happened to mention your engagement, though I don't know the specifics of your breakup." And right now seemed like a great time to discuss something that would cool his ardor. "What happened?"

She shrugged, as if her broken engagement no longer mattered to her heart or her emotions, and Joel hoped that was true. "Soon after I accepted Brent's proposal, I moved into his place with him. I figured since we were getting married anyway it made sense that we cut costs and live together, instead of paying for two apartments."

She looked away, providing Joel with a silhouette of her profile and the way she absently stroked her tongue across her soft bottom lip before speaking again. "A few months after that, Brent starting acting strange. He'd pick fights with me over ridiculous things, like me taking up too much room in his closet, or if I cooked something he didn't like, and even the way I folded his clothes. I honestly thought it was because he was having a hard time adjusting to living with someone when he'd always lived on his own and that we'd eventually find some kind of balance."

"Except you obviously didn't," Joel said.

"No, we didn't." She glanced back at him. A faint smile touched her lips and her hands tugged on the ends of the scarf wrapped around her neck. "Things just got worse. Brent grew distant and started spending more time at work, and he'd even take off for a weekend, claiming it was for the ad agency he worked for."

Joel knew exactly where all those classic signs were heading, but he didn't say anything, just listened to her tell the story her own way.

"The stupid arguments we had, and Brent's behavior, reminded me exactly of the way my own parents' marriage started disintegrating, then eventually fell apart. I was only twelve at the time, but I remember it all so vividly. Having lived through my father's infidelity and what it did to my mother, I emotionally prepared myself for what I knew was coming. And it did."

She wrapped her arms around her stomach and exhaled a deep breath. "Six months after I agreed to marry Brent, he finally broke down and admitted that he'd been seeing someone else on the side for the past three months. And if that wasn't enough of a blow, he also told me that she was pregnant and he planned to marry her."

"Jesus, Lora." He scrubbed a hand along the late-evening stubble on his jaw, hating that some prick had treated her so badly. "I'm so sorry."