Part of me really wanted to tell Tanner to screw off, but there was another part of me that respected him for making himself perfectly clear about the way he cared about Lauren.
Tanner and his family were all Lauren really had for family now, and I couldn’t blame the guy for wanting to make sure she was protected.
Hell, for some reason, I wanted to protect her myself, and that definitely wasn’t normal for me.
“Understood,” I said firmly, making it apparent to him that I didn’t want to discuss the subject anymore.
Hell, I was still conflicted myself about how I felt about Lauren.
The woman made me want to do things I’d never even thought about before.
I certainly couldn’t explain myself to someone else right now.
“Good,” Tanner said in a satisfied voice. “Now, I’m thinking you probably need to ask her to dance. If you don’t, she’s going to end up dancing with Todd Massey. He’s been eyeing her all night, and he looks like he’s about to get up and approach her. He has a temper, and he’s had way too much to drink tonight. I think she’d be safer with you.”
Fuck!I didn’t want to admit to Tanner that I’d noticed exactly the same thing.
I’d been watching that bastard all night becausehe’dbeen watching Lauren.
My cousin was right.
The man looked like he was about to get up.
Suddenly, the guy stood.
Damn straight, Lauren will be safer with me!
Massey was a few years older than Asher, and his dad had been one of my father’s drinking buddies. Todd had been well on his way to becoming just like his father when Asher and I had left Crystal Fork.
I’d also watched him put away more drinks than most men could handle tonight.
There was no fucking way I was letting him anywhere near Lauren.
“I’m on it,” I rumbled and got my ass out of my chair.
I was so focused on my mission that I never had a chance to see the slightly amused look on Tanner’s face as I strode away.
Lauren
I’d just said goodbye to my old high school friend and had started back toward our table when I was grabbed suddenly by my upper arm to stop my forward progress.
I winced because that grip was tight, and it was uncomfortable.
My head whipped toward whoever was holding my arm, only to discover that it was a man I’d never talked to before.
I thought I’d seen him around town, but we weren’t acquainted.
“We’re gonna dance,” the heavyset man told me in a voice slurred from an overabundance of alcohol.
The guy was probably in his forties. He had a definite beer belly, and he was starting to lose some of the dark hair on top of his head.
But it was his eyes that made my body tense.
His glare was as cold as the Montana weather right now.
I was torn.
It was a small town, and I usually had no reason to refuse to dance with anyone, no matter their age or what they looked like.
