Page 102 of Her Guarded Hero

“Honey, the guy on the floor is still vibrating, you used some kind of stunner on him, and I’m going to hand it over to the bouncer. He’s going to want to confiscate it for the rest of the time you’re here.”

“My name is Riya Patel,” she corrected him. “But for the first time ever, I like the nickname Honey.”

Damn, she made him feel like it was just the two of them, yet they were surrounded by at least a hundred people.

“Stun-gun,” he quietly commanded.

Riya grinned at him mischievously. “You’re not easily deterred, huh?” She held out the weapon.

“Oh I think you might be able to dance around me,” Gray smiled slowly, happy he was finally making contact with the woman who had been driving him insane all night long.

He heard Dex cough loudly behind him. If he wasn’t mistaken, he was covering up a laugh.

“Lieutenant, here comes the bouncer,” Dex warned.

Gray took the weapon and turned to see a different bouncer headed their way. Griff was helping the shaky executive to his feet.

“What seems to be the problem?” the bouncer asked roughly.

Ten women started to talk at once, but Riya stayed silent. She just moved closer to Gray and that was alright by him. The bouncer turned to the pin-striped-suit guy.

“I saw you go down. What happened?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” the man answered shakily. “It was all a misunderstanding.” He slid his way past the crowd of women and disappeared. Riya swayed in front of Gray and whisked the gun out of his hand and deposited it into her purse. It was a slick move.

“Ladies, we don’t need any problems here. You got me?” the bouncer glowered. Gray stifled a grin as he saw the younger bouncer from before come up behind the man giving the lecture.

“Harry, these guys just took down the shooter over near the Swing Bar,” he said as he put his big hand on his co-worker’s shoulder. “Phil said to set them all up with free drinks for the rest of the night. That includes their pretty lady friends.”

Harry looked disgruntled. “There was a problem over here, Tony. One of these ladies took down a man, and I think she used some kind of stun-gun to do it.” He pointed at Riya.

“Is the guy dead? Is he injured? Is he pressing charges? Where is he?” Tony smiled and winked at Riya as he shot out the questions. Gray put his hand around her tiny waist. Tony smiled even broader, as he watched Gray’s less than subtle claim.

“He left,” Harry admitted.

“Then we’re done.” Tony surveyed the women, and saw Griff with Miranda, Dex with Kenna and Gray’s hand on Riya’s waist. Tony then offered his arms to a blonde and to Susan, the bride-to-be. “Let me escort you ladies back to your table. Then I’ll get Trixie to set you up with a round of drinks.”

“So are you going to finally come and sit with us, instead of just watching from the back?” Riya asked as she peered up at Gray from beneath her bangs.

“I’m not sure Miranda and Kenna want their men honing in on their fun,” Gray said.

Riya’s eyes cut over to where Griff and Dex were settling in next to their wives, then looked pointedly back at Gray and grinned.

Dimples, she has dimples.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she teased.

He glanced back at the table. Yep, they were being welcomed, especially Griffin. Then Gray realized it probably wasn’t that often that the young parents had a night out. His eyes narrowed when he saw that Kenna was drinking a glass of water, instead of the margaritas that the rest of the ladies were favoring. He looked over at Dex and saw an even more proprietary gleam in his eye than when he had called off the bouncer.

Well hell. If he had to guess, Kenna was pregnant. It must be pretty recent news if Dex hadn’t told him. Good for them.

“Okay, your point is taken,” he admitted ruefully to Riya.

She grabbed his hand. Her grip was firm, despite the fact that his hand dwarfed hers.

“Come on.” She tugged. She didn’t pull him to the table. Instead, she tugged him toward the dance floor. Gray realized they were playing a sexy ballad.

“Are you sure?” he asked.