Page 40 of Nanny for the SEAL

My throat closes as the guy yanks me just a bit closer, and I can smell the beer on him.

Oh, God. This can’t be happening—not again.

THIRTEEN

Ivy

No one is making a move to stop this guy. I can see out of the corner of my eye that the bartender has noticed, and he’s staring wide-eyed, not quite sure how he’s supposed to handle this.

Bounce him? Come over here? Seriously, I’d take anything.

But it’s just then I realize how young the bartender looks, and I have a feeling this is his first time slinging drinks and dealing with this kind of thing.

“Please, I’m not interested. You need to leave me alone.”

My words don’t have the bite I want them to, and even I can hear the waver in my voice that completely diminishes my message.

I sound like a scared little mouse. Ifeellike a scared little mouse.

“That’s quite enough. She said no.”

The flaring alarm bells in my head falter, and I spin around toward the other end of the bar. The body behind me has gone, I’m not sure when, and coming from the other side of the room is Xaden.

“Xaden?”

He’s at my side quicker than I can say anything else, and he puts himself between me and the guy harassing me, a twinge of pain hitting my side as the offender’s rough hold is broken.

“Leave.”

That bite I wanted—and frankly, something a hell of a lot more intimidating and backed by pounds of muscle strapped to a six-two frame—lashes out from Xaden’s words. The guy who’s been shoved away from me goes white, and I almost wonder if he’s pissed his pants.

“Look, dude, I was just trying to?—”

“I knowexactlywhat you were trying to do,” Xaden cuts in. “And you’re not about to assault her. Get lost before I call the cops.”

The man—who is so much beefier than I realized when I was just looking at his face—hurries off, stumbling over the stool that sits close behind him.

My roiling guts start to cool down, and I can actually hear the world with my ears not clogged up by my heartbeat.

“Holy shit…he was going to…” Xaden turns around, his calm, serious stare meeting mine as my thoughts start to tumble again.

“Hey, you’re alright. I wasn’t about to let him hurt you. Are you okay?” He leans forward, putting his hands on either one of my shoulders, but I can’t answer. “Ivy?”

It’s a moment before I can finally blink, the weight of Xaden’s hands grounding me in the here and now.

“I…umm…” I start to nod, and before I can ask for it, I’m guided backward onto a stool. “Oh, yeah. This is better. I’m…I’m okay.”

Xaden’s face relaxes, his dimpled smile making me feel…safe.

“Good.” He smiles, but the creases between his eyebrows are still stark. “Look, I should take you home. I think you need to get some rest after…after all that.”

I’m nodding before I quite process what I’m agreeing to. When it clicks, I remember Sam at the other end of the bar.

Looking over, I don’t see her there, but then, from the back of the bar, I see her walking toward me with a confused expression on her face.

“Hey,” she approaches Xaden and me, her brows knitted together, “did I miss something?”

I can hear the concern in her voice, and my throat tightens before I can eke out, “There was this guy. He was harassing me at the bar. Got really…handsy. Umm, this is my boss, Xaden. He’s going to take me home, okay?”

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