Page 27 of My Secret to Protect

‘He did.’ Arlo’s deep voice causes Zoe and me to turn surprised, and my eyes meet his. ‘Can I have a minute, Bree?’ Zoe squeezes my hand and steps away as Arlo takes her place at my side. ‘Can I get you a drink?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘How about a dance then.’ I turn to him, and he smiles softly. ‘For old time’s sake?’

Releasing a laugh, I stare at him, one eyebrow raised. ‘Old times?’

‘Yeah, we have a lot of history, right?’

‘Asshole.’ The word is soft on my lips, lips that are betraying me by curving up.

‘Thank you for letting me join you and your friends tonight, Bree.’

‘Well, I didn’t invite you,’ I sass, and he laughs.

‘True, but you didn’t uninvite me either.’

As the music changes, Arlo holds out his hand, and I take it, letting him lead me to the dance floor. He wastes no time or space, pulling my body flush with his and making my breath hitch.

‘I missed that sound,’ he says softly, close to my ear, and I close my eyes, breathing him in. His hand on my lower back holds me close while the one holding my hand brings it to his chest, and my heart is racing. ‘Smile, pix, dancing is supposed to be fun.’

I look up to find him smirking, and I smile as we move, and I know I’m in trouble. This man came ready to play, and I feel like I’m going to struggle to keep up.

You Feel Like Dancin', Short Stuff?

Arlo

‘So,whatbroughtyouhere to our little town?’ Nick asks as we sit, drinking beers. The girls are dancing, and my eyes keep drifting up to check on Bree. I can tell myself it’s in the interest of her safety all I want, but I know I’m lying to myself.

When I met her two decades ago, I knew I wanted to give her every part of me. I wanted her to know what monsters hid in the dark, and I wanted to let her light into even my darkest corners. Now, I’m hiding in her dark, trying to find her monster, trying to bring her back to the light.

‘Just wanted a change. City life and living in an apartment wasn’t good for me or Beans. I’m getting too old for it.’ I grin. ‘We needed space, you know? Clean air.’

‘Well, it doesn’t get much cleaner,’ Doug says, ‘do you fish?’ he asks, and both Leo and Nick groan.

‘Never tried,’ I admit, amused, and Leo rolls his eyes.

‘Don’t tell him that. He will force you to go and sit by the side of the lake for days on end.’

‘Yeah, but at least we have Nick’s cabin nowadays,’ Doug says, amusement in his tone. ‘Fresh food, cold beer, and real beds.’

I can’t help but smile at how warm these men are. It’s been a long time since I had friends, and I’m not really sure I ever did. I had the brotherhood of the club, then associations in prison, but that was out of necessity. Since I got out, I’ve had Mrs. C, my employees, and Beans.

I get the impression Doug doesn’t know Bree and I have history. I’m surprised because I thought Zoe was going to kill me when we met, so I would have expected Doug’s reception to be just as,if not more, frosty. I don’t know what story Bree told her sister to make me the bad guy, but it’s her family, so that’s up to her, but there’s nothing but warmth from her brother and his friends, and it’s unsettling but kind of nice.

‘Always willing to try something new,’ I say, smiling, glancing once more to where Bree is standing, selecting music at the jukebox. She’s beautiful. It pains me that she still affects me the way she does. I’ve been with a lot of women before and after Bree, but none of them left me with the lingering yearning that she does, that she always did.

‘Can’t help but notice you checking my sister out,’ Doug says, pulling my attention back to him to find him grinning, and I drop my head, smiling.

‘Sorry, man. Can’t seem to stop myself.’ This is needed. I need them all to see me checking her out. I need her to see it because I need to set this thing in motion.

‘Hey, if she’s happy to have you looking, keep looking. Just don’t hurt her because I would hate to have to kick your ass.'

I laugh. Not because I think he wouldn't kick my ass, or at least try.

'No offense, Doug, but I’m getting the sense that if anyone hurt your sister, she'd be the one doing the ass kickin’.'

The three men laugh and nod, and I get the message that Bree hasn't lost any of her sass in the past twenty years. I hate that I like that—it's not my damn business.

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