The guy scoffed, swaying slightly. “Relax, man. I’m just being friendly.” His grin widened as he shifted closer. “Aren’t I, sweetheart?”
He reached out to me, but Ledger was faster.
His hand closed around the guy’s wrist, not yanking, not violent, justunyielding. The kind of grip that didn’t need force to make its point. The guy sucked in a sharp breath, his grin faltering.
“Don’t touch her,” Ledger said evenly, his voice low and dangerous in a way that made my pulse spike. “Or you’ll be leaving here and heading to the hospital.”
The space around us went quiet.
The guy blinked, laughter bubbling up, thin and nervous. “Okay, okay,” he said quickly, raising his free hand. “Didn’t realize she was with you.”
Ledger didn’t loosen his grip. “She’s my wife.”
That did it.
The guy nodded frantically. “Right. Yeah. Got it.”He pulled back the second Ledger released him, muttering something under his breath as he retreated into the crowd.
Only then did I release a shaky breath. My heart hammered.
Not because of fear. But with something sharper. Hotter.
Ledger turned to me immediately, the steel in his expression melting into concern. “You okay?”
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Yeah. I am.”
What I didn’t say, what I couldn’t quite wrap my head around yet, was howgoodit had felt to have someone step in without hesitation. Without asking if I needed help first. Without making it about ego or ownership.
He hadn’t acted like I was fragile.
He’d acted like I wasworth protecting.
Something I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced before.
His hand hovered at my lower back, not touching, just there, until he was sure.
Something inside me shifted.
This wasn’t pretend. Not anymore.
Not the way my body leaned into his space. Not the way my heart expanded when he defended me without hesitation. Not the way I suddenly couldn’t remember a time when I hadn’t wanted him looking at me like that.
The game finished, and I lost. Barely.
Ledger studied me for a second, then smiled. “Last time, this didn’t end so well.”
“No,” I admitted.
“This feels better.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “It does.”
As the night wore on, I found myself watching him instead of the room. The way he laughed—head tipped back, unguarded. The way he checked in with me without making it obvious, a quiet glance or a subtle shift closer. The way his knee brushed mine under the table and didn’t move away.
Want settled in my chest, heavy and undeniable.
This wasn’t curiosity anymore. This was desire.
And it terrified me.
