"I was going to say caveman."
My mouth twitches despite myself. "Noted."
She crosses her arms, and I try very hard not to notice the way it pushes her breasts up against the neckline of her tank top.
"I can take care of myself, Troy."
"I know," I say again. And I do. She's tough. She's been handling herself long before I showed up. But that doesn't meanI'm going to stand there and watch some asshole put his hands on her.
She holds my gaze for another beat, then exhales. "Thank you," she says grudgingly. "But next time, let me handle it first."
"Deal."
Kevin clears his throat behind me. "He's gone. I'll file a report just in case he comes back."
Ainsley nods. "Thanks, Kevin."
"Anytime." He glances at me, something like approval in his expression, then heads back to the bar.
I stay where I am, close enough to Ainsley that I can smell her perfume under the scent of beer and lime. She looks up at me, lips parted like she's about to say something else.
Then Steph calls her name from the other end of the bar, and the moment breaks.
"I should get back to work," Ainsley says.
"Yeah."
She hesitates, then adds, "I'll see you at home."
The word home lands somewhere in the center of my chest and stays there.
"See you at home," I echo.
She turns and walks back behind the bar, and I head back to my stool, where Levi and Ace are both grinning like idiots.
"Just roommates, huh?" Levi says.
I don't answer. Just pick up my beer and take a long drink.
Because they're right.
I'm screwed.
Chapter 6
Ainsley
"Okay, but seriously," Steph says as we’re getting ready to close and the bar is empty. "Your roommate is hot."
I focus very hard on wiping down a section of bar that's already clean. "He's just a roommate."
"Just a roommate," Steph repeats, laughing. "Ainsley. That man moved across the bar as if you were being attacked by a grizzly bear. That was not 'just a roommate' energy."
"He was helping. Kevin helped too."
"Kevin's a cop. That's his job." She leans against the bar, arms crossed, grin in place. "Troy looked like he was two seconds away from throwing that guy through a window. For you."
Heat creeps up my neck. "He was just being nice."
