I use the hand I’d placed on his chest to push. I only end up pushing myself backward. The man is a freaking pillar of stone. “I said I can’t.” This time I let the harshness into my tone.
“Come on, baby,” he murmurs, stepping toward me.
I take a huge step back this time, starting to actually be afraid.
“The lady said no,” an angry voice interrupts.
Nash turns to see Drew with his arms crossed over his chest and a furious expression marring his handsome features.
I can see the war on Nash’s face. Tell this guy to mind his own business, or decide it’s not worth it? Even without my ability, I already know what he’ll choose. This isn’t a guy who’s used to having to work for a piece of ass.
“Whatever, man,” he says, stepping back. He looks at me, clearly disappointed. “Take care, CJ.”
I glare at him until he leaves. Because saying what’s on my mind isn’t going to help anything.
Drew approaches carefully. “You okay?”
I take a deep breath and nod. “I am. Thank you. I could’ve handled it, but I appreciate the help anyway.”
Drew looks notably relieved. “Oh good. I didn’t know if you’d be mad at me for stepping in, but I couldn’t just let that go down.”
I shrug. “I probably gave him the wrong idea tonight by complimenting him and being female.”
Drew smirks. “So does that mean you’re not interested in me either?” he teases.
“I don’t remember complimenting you tonight,” I reply jokingly.
“You sure did. You told me I looked unbelievably fucking gorgeous,” he says.
I laugh loudly and smack him lightly on the arm. “I said no such thing!” I think back. “You said, ‘You look …’ and then I said, ‘You too.’ At no point were the words ‘unbelievably fucking gorgeous’ uttered.”
Drew leans in. “Guess I forgot to say that part out loud then,” he murmurs, his eyes locked on mine.
My heart leaps into my throat as I gaze up at him.
“Give me a few minutes to finish up here, then I’m going to see that you get home safely.” Drew’s tone is more intense than I’ve heard it yet. He doesn’t give me a chance to object, disappearing back into the kitchen.
Since I don’t know how long he’ll be, I head onto the patio. It’s a little cold but breathtakingly beautiful. The walkway along the coastline is completely silent and still, as is everything else along the waterfront. As I soak in the quiet evening, it feels like the city is holding its breath.
“Hey, it’s cold out here,” Drew says from behind me.
I look up to see him shrugging out of his brown leather jacket. He places it over my shoulders, and I didn’t realize I was so chilled until its warmth envelops me. It also gives me a good look at Drew in his fitted white T-shirt. His broad shoulders and huge biceps are more than a little appealing, and I’m suddenly shy at the thought of being alone with him.
“You really don’t need to take me home, I can call a car,” I assure him.
Drew shakes his head and smiles. “I have it on good authority that that douchebag is downstairs talking Lisa out of her panties. I’m not letting you go down there alone.”
I pull a face, realizing Lisa must be the hostess. Not that I hadn’t already seen that one coming. But he’s right. I don’t want to go by myself, because at best it’d be awkward as ass, at worst, well, lord only knows what kind of ideas he’d get.
But then, letting Drew take me home might give him ideas too. I have to admit, though, that a part of me doesn’t mind him getting those kinds of ideas.
“Are you this nice to all the girls who come here?” I tease.
A smile creeps across his face. “I’ll take that to mean you’re letting me take you home.” He stands up and gestures for me to precede him out. “And, for the record, no, I’m not.”
When we reach the stairs, he wraps an arm protectively around my shoulders as we descend. I sink into him, grateful for the warmth and reassurance. It doesn’t, unfortunately, save me from seeing Nash leaned against the wall next to the podium, chatting up a clearly engrossed Lisa.
Nash looks up as we hit the foyer and gives Drew a death glare when he sees us.
Drew’s mouth twists to the side trying to contain his smile. He leans in and whispers in my ear, “Looks like he’s pretty pissed that Plan A failed.”
I look up at him and smile. I’m pretty happy it failed too, but I resist telling him Nash had always banked on both plans panning out.
We ignore them the rest of the way out. Drew keeps his arm around my shoulders as he leads me down the street to a well-lit lot where only a few cars remain. He approaches a black SUV, clicks his key fob, and opens the passenger door for me. Once I’m in, he closes the door for me and walks around the car to get it on his side.
“So how’d the night go?” Drew asks after I’ve given him my address. “Apart from the douchebag, of course.”
“Really good, I think,” I reply. “And thank you for insisting on the drink. I was completely wound up and in my own head.”
“Glad it helped,” he replies with a wink.
“Do you like working there?” I ask curiously.
“Mostly,” he replies thoughtfully. “I’d love to have my own restaurant someday, though.”
“Yeah? What would you cook?”
He pushes out a breath. “Whatever the fuck I wanted,” he finally replies.
“So you don’t design the menu now?”
“Not really. I have some leeway but not the final say. And they take the whole ‘local, sustainable’ crap to a level that affects the food. Not everything can be local and sustainable. I mean, in a perfect world, but …” He looks up. “Sorry, I don’t want to ramble on about stuff that you probably don’t care about.”
I roll my head toward him. “I like your rambling.”
Drew laughs. “You may be the first person to ever say that.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
“No. Way.”
“Waaaay,” he teases. “People are always telling me to stop talking.”
I shrug. “I like it when other people talk. It means I don’t have to talk as much.”
“Yeah, you are a quiet one,” he says looking at me suspiciously. “But I bet you’ve got a lot to say.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe I just like listening because it gets me out of my own head.”
“Sounds like you need a lot of help in that department.”
The car rolls to a stop, and it takes me a moment to realize we’re in front of my house. But his last words ring in my ears, and I can think of something else that gets me out of my own head. Something I’d very much like to do with Drew. But not yet. Not tonight.
“You live alone?” he asks.
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Dude, I don’t know you that well. I’m not sure if I want to answer that.”
Drew laughs and raises his hands. “Just making sure you have someone in there with you. If I had a sister, I wouldn’t want her going home to an empty house.”