Page 76 of Bad Boy Next Door
Twenty-Two
Jade
Nick knocked on my door. Right on schedule.
Stan had sent me home after “the incident,” but Nick had to stay. We’d texted to arrange his coming over, and I had questions that neither texts nor a phone call would cover.
I opened the door to the gloriously greasy smell of hamburgers and fries.
“Breakfast.” He thrust the bags forward. “Or dinner? I don’t know at this point.”
“Thanks.” I set the paper bags on the table.
I was about to offer him a beer, but he engulfed me in his arms, pulling me tightly against him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Nick. Areyou?” I pushed back so I could see into his eyes. “Is that asshole okay? Is he pressing charges?”
All the fears running through my mind continued to race. Not the least of which was the fear that Frank had been right about Nick. That Nick was a dangerous guy. Violent.
“Guy’s fine,” Nick said. “Not pressing charges. Stan said the owner would take care of it.”
I pushed out of his arms and got a couple of beers from the fridge. He caught me from behind before I could open the bottles, hugging me tight, pressing his face into the hair at my neck.
“Nick.” I bucked at him. “Let go.”
His arms flew off me instantly. “Youarehurt.”
“No, but I want to talk before we get… distracted.” I set the beers on the table. “And let’s eat. The food will get cold.”
We tore into the greasy goodness Nick had picked up from an all-night diner near the club, and I was about halfway through my burger when he started to unwrap his second. I took a long swig of my beer and studied him as he ate, trying to decide whether he looked different to me after that violent outburst.
“How many people have you killed?” I asked.
He looked up from his food and stopped chewing mid-bite. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“None.” He chewed and swallowed quickly, chasing it down with beer. “What the fuck, Jade? Why would you think I’d killed someone?”
“You went after that guy pretty hard.”
His back straightened sharply. “He was groping you.”
I backed away from the table, my chair scraping the floor. “So, any man who touches me gets a beating?”
“No.” He shook his head. “The asshole, he had his hands on your ass.Your naked ass.One more second and he’d have had a finger inside you!”
“And that’s the first time a customer’s touched a dancer like that?”
“No.”
“So you’ve beaten up a lot of customers, then.”
He looked scared, unsure how to answer. “I—”
“Melodie said she’d never seen you like that.”
