Page 39 of The Bear's Chosen Mate
A low grumble escaped Alex.“Pooh-bah.”
Amber frowned.“What?”
“It’s Grand Pooh-bah—me, as the head of security, yada-yada.Not pooh-bear.That’s a stuffed animal in a stor—”
“Iknowwho Pooh Bear is.”Amber spoke so dryly that James snickered, covering it up when his brother flashed him a dirty look.She continued.“When andifI ever have something important to tell you, I will.Until then, keep your furry butt out of my business.”
Alex still looked annoyed, but he gave a brief nod and stopped trying to push her around.The tension that had slowly built faded.
Cooper eased away as Amber relaxed and picked up her drink.
James let his gaze drift over the bar.Between Alex knowing better than to pick a fight with someone he couldn’t win against, and Cooper acting as backup for his personal assistant,ifshe needed it, which wasn’t likely, there was nothing James needed to worry about.
Kaylee and Lara were coming back toward the booth, walking side by side and laughing as they wiggled their way through the crowd to where he waited.
Until someone stepped in front of them.
James didn’t recognize the man, or his friends, and he didn’t want to go off the deep end if blocking the women’s path had been an accident.He was on his feet anyway because, dammit all, Kaylee washisand he planned to take care of her, no matter what.
Blood rushed to his brain as fury rose, and he was moving rapidly across the floor.
The road block wasn’t an accident.Somebody was looking for trouble.
“You’re a sweet thing,” the man said, raising a hand as if he were going to stroke his knuckle down the side of Kaylee’s cheek.“Far too sweet to be hanging out with this kind of trash.”
Kaylee knocked his hand away before he could touch her, even as another man reached for Lara.
Someone in his path raised a fist.James countered it in self-defense.
And then like most nights in a northern town once the violence had hit the floor, it kind of rumbled out in a widening wave until it encompassed the entire gathering.
Fists swung, bodies crashed.Tables creaked, and glassware shattered.Through it all, James moved forward like the bear he was.He wasn’t aware of making impact, he only knew he needed to get to Kaylee as quickly as possible.
Wading forward, bodies flew out of his way as if teleported.Or maybe those were his fists connecting with convenient body parts.
But when he got to the other side of the crowd, Kaylee was standing with her arms folded over her chest, glaring at the first man who had tried to touch her.
The one who was currently lying on the floor, moaning.
“Kaylee.”James rushed forward.
That’s when he noticed Lara had another man on his knees, his body twisted into a painful position.She had one of his arms shoved up behind his back, and the fingers of her free hand were tangled in his hair, his head pulled in a painful angle.
Lara wore a disturbingly sweet expression as she spoke softly to Kaylee.“Rude people in this bar.”
“Unusual crowd,” Kaylee offered with equal saccharine sweetness.“Must be a full moon or something.”
Behind Lara, at the edge of his peripheral vision, Alex and Cooper had another two of the troublemakers in headlocks.James’s gaze remained locked on the man on the floor attempting to crab crawl to safety.
Blood pounded at the back of James’s eyeballs.“You tried to touch Kaylee,” he said.“Prepare to die.”
16
Kaylee had a slight ache in her entire body.It was all good and well that James wanted to be her mate, but this?Seriously?
As the big galoot waded forward, she stepped in front of him, smacking into his chest.James stopped instantly.
“Prepare to die?Who do you think you are, Inigo Montoya?”
