A breath escapes as a small laugh. “It’s not a movie, baby.”
“I don’t know what that means. You punched several of them.”
“Yeah, I did.” His left thumb strokes the knuckles of his right hand. “To keep them from getting their hands on you.”
My head tilts, watching him closely. “What do you think they would’ve done to me?” It’s only now that I’m even considering that.
“It depends.” His expression tells me he can see in his mind’s eye the exact possibilities.
I also realize I don’t want to think about it. The situation began and escalated because I could not stop confronting them. I justcouldn’t. What difference does it make how they planned to hurt me? Even if I’d known, it wouldn’t have mattered. My rage was out of control.
And Shane defended me, even knowing he was outnumbered. He could’ve left me to confront them alone, but he didn’t.
I sit back on my heels, blowing out a slow breath. A lot of the anger I’ve been projecting onto him drains away.
“I have a couple things to say.”
His palm turns up in a “keep going” gesture.
“I didn’t want you to pull me into the main room the way you did.”
“I know, but I had good reasons for doing it.”
“Like?”
“Like I want people to think you’re my girlfriend. That alone could make Casanova decide not to take you. And it will definitely prevent a lot of assholes from causing trouble for you.” His green gaze burrows into me. “Unlessyou humiliate them, the way you did with the Casanova Club. Then all bets are off because when men feel humiliated, they don’t behave rationally.”
I stroke the fur and then put the lid back on the box.
“All right,” I murmur. “I will pretend to be a sex kitten for you, but not as a punishment and not right now. I’ll do it because you stood between me and five angry men. And because you didn’t tell me to shut up or to stop grabbing roses, even though I was making a volatile situation worse. Whydidn’tyou tell me to stop?”
The corners of his mouth lift. “Because.”
I smile as well, realizing he understands exactly why it would’ve been wrong to stop me. I took a stand, and Shane made sure no one forced me to back down. It’s why I fell for him at fifteen and why I’m falling all over again tonight.
“You should wear the tail now. It’ll take your mind off how pissed you are.”
“No, it won’t.”
“You sure you don’t want to try? Anything else I do to you as punishment will make you sore.”
My stomach does a little flip. “I don’t…I’m not agreeing to a punishment.”
“Yeah, well, when I told you to stop digging your nails into me unless you wanted to get punished, you should’ve stopped.”
“You’re not taking my virginity as punishment. I will never agree to that.”
“There’s more than one kind of virginity. I’ll take the other one.”
It takes several beats for me to realize what he’s talking about. “Oh, my God, no.” My heart hammers in my chest, and I shake my head. “Have you done it before?”
He smiles like the devil. “Sure.”
Of course he has. “With which one? Which girlfriend let you?” I stare at his face and the way he cocks his brow shocks me. “More than one? No.”
He’s telling the truth; Shane’s not prone to exaggeration. In fact, quite the opposite.
I don’t like that he’s been doing dirty things with others, but the realization reinforces everything I’ve always thought about him. In high school, Shane was worldly in ways other boys weren’t. And that’s only intensified in the past two years.
