Page 14 of Keeping Mr. Sweet

“I’ve got her,” I grumble, not particularly caring if Jack hears me or not while I stalk across the room to get between her and the jerks who think this show is for their entertainment.

I march right up to where she’s swaying, her feet still beating a rhythm on the wood and bark, “Get down now.”

She prowls further along the bar, before glancing back at me. Bright red lips form the word ‘No’ before she brings one slender finger to her pout.

“Right now, Ash.” I thump my fist down on the counter, and a couple of the guys side eye me. “Get the hell off the bar. We’re leaving.”

“Why don’t you leave her alone?”

“Why are you trying to ruin our fun?”

“Who are you? Her father? Fuck off, man.”

“Yeah, why don’t you listen to my new friends?” Ash turns back, drops not quite gracefully to her knees and starts to crawl toward me. “They like me like this.”

I like her like this, watching her dance, the way her hands on her body make me imagine they’re my hands on her body. I’d like it more if she wasn’t doing it in front of a group of horny strangers who don’t give a shit about why she’s behaving like this. I’d like it more if it was just for me, the way it used to be when she’d turn the music up real loud and do an impromptu little striptease for me. But telling her that I wish she’d never left isn’t what she needs right now. She doesn’t want to hear how much I miss her. That’s not why she’s pushing my buttons.

“Show us your tits, love,” someone in the crowd calls out.

“Come on, Ash.” I reach out my hand to her. “Let’s get out of here before you do something you’ll regret.”

“You wanna go home?” She slips her hand into my palm and taunts me. “Fine. But tell me…what are you going to do with me when we’re there, Sam? Are you going to pretend everything is peachy? Are you going to pretend like you don’t want to fuck me?”

“Trust me, Ash. The last thing I want to do with you right now is fuck you.” It takes all my willpower to keep my voice level and unaffected by the lust pumping through my veins. “You acting like this isn’t turning me on. But I am going to make sure you don’t get into any more trouble tonight.”

“Is that so?” She smiles, a molasses kind of smile that makes my heart trip, and then she pulls my hand to her knee and slides it up the inside of her slender creamy thigh until my fingers skim hot silk. “What if I say I don’t believe you? What if I don’t want to stay out of trouble?”

Christ. She has no idea how her taunting gets to me. Makes it hard to think logically, when my entire body is wound tight. I pull my hand from between her legs. “Either you get off the bar right now, or I am going to get you off myself.”

“Please,” she says and then bites her lip, two small white teeth leaving dents. “I want so much to get off. You always know how to make me feel better.”

Bad choice of words. “Wrong answer.”

I grab her wrist, and then sling my arm around her waist to lift her down. The moment her feet touch the floor I’m pushing through the crowd, dragging her along with me.

“I’ll get you off, love,” one of them says, getting in her face, his dirty leer itching to be knocked off his scrawny face.

Pulling her behind me, I get in his way. Chest to chest I stare him down. The guy isn’t as tall as me and probably doesn’t weigh more than a buck ten. He might be quick in a fair fight, but if he gets any closer to her he won’t see me coming. “Don’t touch her.”

“Maybe she wants me to touch her.” He tries to peer around me so that he can wink at her. “You want me to touch you, darlin’? I’ll make you feel good. I promise. Bobbie’s got what you need.”

“Step back,” I snap, barrelling forward and not giving him a choice.

A couple people voice their disapproval. One of them tells me to get fucked, another yells that he’s going to call the police as I haul Ashleigh away from the group. Let them try to stop me. I’m not leaving her here with them.

“Show us your vag, sweetheart,” some cunt bellows. “We all seen the video.”

I’m this close to snapping, my free hand curling into a fist, my pulse pounding in my temples as I grit my teeth and focus on the exit.

“What video?”

“The one of her taking it up the ass.”

“I want to see that,” another calls out.

“I’m sure you can find it on the internet,” she snarls at them. Though she stops fighting my grip on her, I can sense the burn of her glare on my shoulder.

Jack comes out from behind the bar, walks up to us, motioning to the security guy by the door to join him. “Better get her out of here before this gets out of control.”

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