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Skyla swallowed, her whole body tensing from the sheer force of his voice, but she maintained eye contact with the woman. Her brown eyes with too much eyeliner were slightly moist, and her dark hair with red lowlights in it was neatly pulled back in a clip. She wore a sequined top and skinny jean that hugged her curves perfectly. What she was doing with a guy like Hank, Skyla couldn’t even begin to imagine. “We have a ladies’ room in the far corner, if you need it,” Skyla said, hoping the woman would catch her drift.
Before the woman could respond, Hank’s large, meaty hand grabbed Skyla’s arm and shoved her back a good few inches. “I already told you what I need, now get -”
Hank didn’t have a chance to finish whatever he was going to say, when someone came up from behind Skyla and delivered a blow to Hank’s arm, breaking his hold on her.
The moment she was released, she was pushed behind a large body just in time to miss the flailing return hit from Hank that unfortunately connected with the face of whoever had just saved her.
Shielded by her protector’s broad back and shoulders, she didn’t miss the blonde curls and the familiar scent of leather and mint. Blake. He’d come to her rescue. Again. A small part of her melted at the gesture, but she didn’t need to be protected.
She started to take step away from him, but Blake reached behind him with one arm, his hand landing on her hip. A sure sign he wanted her to stay right where she was. Skyla swallowed, hard. Did he even realize what he was doing?
“The police have been called,” her bartender announced. A moment later, Blake had Hank in cuffs.
“I’ll let local police bring you in, but make no mistake, you are under arrest, so I’d keep your mouth shut unless you want to dig yourself into a deeper hole than you’re already in.” Blake’s warning was met with a nasty glare from Hank, but Blake didn’t care. He turned to face Skyla then, scanning her from head to toe. When their eyes finally met, those baby blues stared at her incredulously, seeking answers to questions he hadn’t even asked. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” she said, absently, more concerned with the rapidly forming black eye Hank had just given him. “Oh, Blake.” Her hand shot up to his face, her fingers gently brushing along the freshly bruised skin. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
The vulnerability she’d only seen glimpses of in his baby blue eyes suddenly shone through, and warmth surrounded her wrist as his fingers wrapped around it with a feather light touch. The world faded away, and in that moment, it was like they were the only two people in the room. Did Blake even realize the effect he had on her?
“I’ve had worse,” he said, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.
Skyla quickly pulled her hand back and instantly missed the warmth of his skin on hers. “Right.” How could she forget? He stood there watching her for a moment longer, dropping his eyes to her mouth right before turning his attention back to Hank, and the woman he was with.
Dazed and slightly terrified of the man who made her feel things no one ever had, Skyla let out a breath she didn’t even realize she’d been holding. No one had ever thrown themselves in front of her to shield her from a hit, or kept her at their back to protect her from - well - anything. She’d had to build up her own shields, be her own protector and champion in this world. To have Blake storm into Madigan’s and take on that role - she honestly wasn’t sure how she felt about that. And when she touched the red spot on his face, he hadn’t pulled away. Hadn’t swiped at her hand. It was like he was just as transfixed as she was. And it only made her want more. But no, she couldn’t…
“I want to go home,” the woman with Hank said, and her voice jarred Skyla back to the present moment.
Mentally shaking off the ‘Blake effect,’ since she had no other way to describe what this man did to her, Skyla asked, “Would you like me to call you a cab?”
“I’ll call an Uber,” the woman said. “Thank you.” She stood, clutching her purse and went across the room, taking a seat at the bar. Skyla didn’t blame her for wanting to get as far away from Hank as possible.
When Hank tried to stand, Blake placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, forcing him to remain seated. “Don’t move,” he ordered.
A few minutes later, two police officers arrived to take Hank away. Relieved that part of the night was over, Skyla turned her attention back to Blake. His eye didn’t look too bad, but he’d definitely have a shiner. “I have an ice pack in my office. Come on, I’ll get it for you.” It wasn’t until after the words were already out that she realized what she’d done. Inviting him to her office was like bringing him into her home, or her bedroom. It was her personal space. Her sanctuary. She could’ve gotten the ice pack and brought it out to him, but as his footsteps followed close behind her, she couldn’t bring herself to regret her quick decision.
She motioned for him to sit in her chair, momentarily noticing how good it felt to have him here. It was a small space, crowded with lots of things, but having Blake here didn’t make it feel smaller. If anything, it made her feel safer, and like the space was just the right size to fit everything important to her.
She pulled out a disposable ice pack from one of her shelves, and twisted it to activate the cooling mechanism. Handing it to Blake, his fingers brushed against hers, sending jolts of electricity up her arm. Her gaze flew to his, but his eyes were firmly locked on their fingers, and that just made the tingles going up her arm and through the rest of her body that much more intense.
“Are you sure you’re okay? I can drive you to urgent care,” she offered.
Blake smirked, lifting his gaze to meet hers. “I’m fine. This is good. Thanks.”
His subdued amusement made Skyla smile. “Of course. And you really didn’t have to do that?”
“I should’ve let that asshole clock you in the face?” Blake’s expression hardened, and oddly enough this was the Blake she was more familiar with. But it wasn’t a turn off. Far from it. “What were you thinking approaching someone like that?” The oddly possessive tone to his words caught Skyla off guard.
“My bouncer has the night off, so it was either I step in or that woman…” Her voice faded as she sat on her cot across from Blake. Skyla knew what it was like to have a man larger and stronger than her have that kind of power over her, and she’d never let it happen to anyone - especially not at Madigan’s - if she could help it. “I’ve dealt with plenty of guys like Hank. Most are all bark and no bite when it comes to strangers. I knew Hank was a piece of shit, but I never thought he’d strike out like that.” She laughed suddenly, releasing all the pent up tension in her body.
“What?” Blake asked, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, his blue eyes fixed on her, a place she was growing more comfortable with.
“Hank accosted a federal agent. He has no idea how much trouble he’s in.”
Blake barked out a laugh. “I wasn’t planning on pressing charges. I just wanted to get him out of here and make sure he didn’t come back. But when you put it that way, maybe I should. It might just be the wakeup call he needs to turn his life around.” The humor in Blake’s tone, the light in his eyes, the easy smile on his lips.
Skyla had the tallest and strongest walls of anyone she knew, but this man was dangerously close to demolishing them.
Permanently.
