First Matt, and now me? She was so much better than a drug dealer or a wiseguy, and I needed to protect her until she figured that shit out. Of course, the thought of Ariana with any man bunched up my shoulders and made me want to hit something. Angry just thinking about it, I hurried to the elevator and out to the bus stop.
One look at Ariana’s work uniform made me regret that I’d convinced her manager to rehire her. The top of the black one-piece tank-skirt thing dipped down between her breasts and the bottom ended right below her ass. I didn’t know where to look first, her long sexy legs or her inviting cleavage. She shouldn’t be wearing that in public. Hell, she shouldn’t even be wearing that around me. As she stood inside the plexiglass shelter, watching her phone, some pervert stared at her ass. Not me. Some other pervert.
I moved to block his view and loomed over Ariana. “Hey,” I said.
She startled, which told me she wasn’t paying a lick of attention to her surroundings. Any asshole could have nabbed her, and she wouldn’t have even seen it coming. That would be the first thing we addressed when I taught her self-defense.
“You ready for me to take you to work?” I asked.
She recovered from me scaring her and stared me down. “I told you, I can take the bus.”
Unaffected by her bitch face, I closed the distance between us and lowered my voice. “Listen, babe. Either you come with me, or I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here. I’m protecting your sweet ass, whether you like it or not.”
She pulled back enough to look in my eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
I shrugged. “Try me.”
The bus was approaching. My ribs hurt like hell, but I wouldn’t hesitate to follow through with my promise. If she made for that bus, I had every intention of intercepting her. She must have seen as much in my expression, because her shoulders sagged in defeat.
“Fine. But you’re a real asshole, you know that, Bones?”
“I’ve been called worse. Come on.” I led her away from the bus shelter toward the front of the building where the valet had my Jeep waiting. I opened Ariana’s door for her before climbing in behind the wheel and heading out.
She brooded in the passenger’s seat as I fought traffic on the strip. Knowing I needed to fix things between us, I threw out an olive branch. “You have some time before your shift starts. You hungry?”
“Nope,” was her clipped reply.
“Have any errands you need to run?”
“Nope.”
I blew out a breath. “Look, I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have said that shit. I just… I don’t want to see you get hurt again. You probably don’t remember that night we took you to the hospital, but I do. I thought you were gonna die. And that fucking outfit...”
She glanced down at herself. “What’s wrong with my outfit? This is my uniform.”
“I know. I just wish there was more to it. You shouldn’t be walking around Vegas dressed like that.”
“Wow.” She stared at me. “Do you ever get tired of telling people what to do? You gonna complain to my boss and get our dress code changed next?”
I was screwing this up again. I went to scrub my hand through my hair in frustration, but winced as my rib shifted. Settled my hand back on the steering wheel, I sucked in a deep breath.
“You okay?” Ariana asked.
Even pissed at me she was still concerned, and that was the kind of shit that did me in about her. As the hired muscle, I wasn’t used to anyone other than Angel worrying about my well-being. I usually didn’t let people get that close to me, but somehow Ariana had weaseled her way in, which felt both comforting and disconcerting. “Yeah, just sore,” I replied.
She eyed me. “You got stitches.”
“Angel’s good with a needle.” And I didn’t like talking about myself. Changing the subject, I asked, “So… do you need to go anywhere? Do anything? Consider me your private pro bono taxi.”
“I’m sure they’re not paying you enough for all that, Bones. You don’t have to hang out with me. You can drop me off at work. I can walk the casino until it’s time for my shift.”
Stung, I asked, “Is that what you think? That I only hang out with you because it’s part of the job?”
“Your words, not mine.”
I tried to think back to what I’d said that made her believe that, but came up short. “Ari, I like hanging out with you. For a chick, you’re not half bad.”
She cracked a smile. “Thanks. I think.”
