“Yes.” I take a sip of wine and glance at the table next to us. He’s literally less than four feet away, but it might as well be the Grand Canyon.
Darin, Jay, Jack, and Coty sit at the table next to ours. Darin and Jay focus on us. Jack and Coty are watching our surroundings. Of course, Jack has his eyes on Lily, too. Coty also watches Kayla behind the bar. Bankz is bartending tonight, too. Hendrix and Colt have the door. We’re safe here.
“I don’t like seeing you two fight.” Lauren pushes her glass away.
My eyes meet Darin’s again. I swear, his eyes never leave me. I don’t like fighting with him. I hate it. For the first time in my life, a man has shown me what real love and care feel like. I never want to lose that or him. How Lauren has survived nineteen years with Jason, I never want to know.
“You love him,” Lauren says.
Darin’s eyes flick to her and back to me. Oh, yeah. He’s close enough to us. The music and crowd can’t drown us out.
“I do,” I admit.
For the first time in days, the corner of his mouth twitches. His eyes soften. So do mine. What a way to tell a man for the first time that you love him. Well, in my defense, our lives aren’t exactly normal.
“How’s it going, ladies? Can I get you another drink?” Emily Powell holds the serving tray against her chest.
Our guys aren’t the only ones angry tonight. Bankz and Hendrix aren’t happy that Kayla slipped Emily in as a servertonight. I don’t understand why. She’s doing great, and the customers love her.
My glass is half full. Lauren’s is almost gone. We shake our heads.
Lily hands Emily her empty beer bottle. “Bring us another round in about thirty minutes.”
“Will do.” Emily takes the bottle and moves to the next table.
“Angel,” Jack warns.
Lily nudges me to let her out of our booth. “We’re going to dance.”
“What? I haven’t danced in years.” I think the last time was in high school.
“I don’t dance,” Lauren says.
“Angel, that might not be a good idea.” Jack tries to change her mind.
Lily points to the dance floor. “We’ll be right there. You boys can see us just fine from here.”
“How many have you had to drink?” I ask.
“Too many,” Jack answers for her.
Not listening to any of our protests, she pulls Lauren out of the booth and drags us toward the dance floor.
“Pfft.” Lily huffs and keeps moving.
We make it to the dance floor as a new song starts. Lily and her tipsy self shows us a few moves. Surprisingly, Kayla leaves the bar and joins us. It’s awkward at first, but by the third song, Lauren and I move like we never stopped dancing. Okay, not exactly true. We still stumble a lot.
A really upbeat song, one I’ve never heard, plays next. Lauren manages to bow out and returns to our table. Kayla refuses to let me go. I don’t like this style of music. The college kids, however, love it. The majority of them are on the dance floor now. Every move I make bumps me into someone. Kayla takes my hand andtwirls me around. A group of girls moves between us, forcing Kayla to let go of my hand.
I move around the dance floor, trying to get through the crowd and back to our table. No one apologizes when they bump into me. These college kids need to learn some manners. Someone grabs my hand and pulls me through the dancers. I can see his black leather coat with no logo. Darin’s overcoat doesn’t have their logo on the back, just a small one on the left front. This isn’t Darin, though. I’m not sure which Viking this is. If he’s leading me back to our table and Darin, I don’t care who he is.
We exit the dance floor near one of the hallways, not the tables. When a large coat with a hood is tossed over me, I know I’m in trouble.
“Darin!” I yell.
“Shut up.” The man behind me pushes me forward.
The one gripping my hand keeps walking toward the exit door. Two more men are waiting for us. One pushes the door open. The alarm doesn’t go off like it’s supposed to. Oh no. If they cut the wires, Bankz won’t get an alert on his phone. I scream at the top of my lungs as I’m pulled through the door.
