Page 12 of Our Sweet Destiny
Chapter Seven
THE ROOM WAS spinning, in a good way. Jade hadn’t thought about Rex in at least twenty minutes, and blondie—what was his name? Tom? Tray? Tim? Tim, that was it—seemed really nice. Riley took down his information before she left and he said he’d take Jade home, but she wasn’t ready to go. Now that she was on the dance floor again, she wanted to dance.
Jade wrapped her arms around Tim’s neck and swayed to the music. His hands felt so nice on her lower back. She hadn’t realized how much she missed being touched. He inched his hand down, and something in Jade sobered. She was going home with this guy. That’s not what she did. But oh, his hand felt warm. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend he was Rex just to get through the night—to get past her desire for that sexy, frustrating man. Just one night to lessen her urges.
“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered in her ear.
She nodded, but her legs stood still as she focused on his face. He wasn’t that good-looking, but he was nice. Too nice. He was kind of a wimp.I’m going home with a wimp when what I really want is to go back to Weston and figure out how to get Rex to notice me. Rex. One-hundred-percent man. The big jerk. Why do I even want him?She remembered the way he’d turned her away earlier in the day, with all that anger bubbling beneath his skin. What was that all about? Thinking of his skin brought her back to his body, his muscles, the way he smelled, so masculine and…hot.
Tim took her hand and led her toward the door, stopping momentarily to snag her purse from the table. Her legs were moving, but she didn’t want to go. Her brain yelled,No! Stop!But her lips weren’t moving. She was too drunk and too conflicted to speak.
In the parking lot, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. His body was so lean. Too lean.
“I’m gonna kiss you now,” he said, putting his thin lips over hers.
Jade pushed him away, but he had too tight of a grasp on her arms. She was trapped between wimpy guy and the car—and he was far too strong to be pegged as wimpy. She pushed at his chest, the smell of his breath making her gag. Against his lips she eeked, “Stop!”
He came up for air, and Jade gasped a deep breath. She turned to flee, but before she could get away, he pulled her to him again. His eyes darkened and his hands clenched her biceps so hard it brought tears to her eyes.
“You know you want it, you tease.”
“No!” she finally yelled just before he slammed her back against his car and kissed her again.
She closed her eyes against the sight of him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She flailed, trying to get away, and suddenly his arms released her. Her lips were no longer pressed against his. She snapped open her eyes.
“The lady saidno.” Rex held Tim up by his collar, several inches off the ground. His teeth clenched, his bulbous muscles straining against Tim’s weight.
“Okay, okay. She wanted it. She was asking for it,” Tim said.
Rex lifted him higher with one arm and slammed him against his truck.
Jade was too stunned to move. What was he doing there? Why was he helping her again? He was gonna kill that guy. Rex cocked his right arm and her brain kicked awake.
“No, Rex! He’s not worth it,” she screamed in a shrill voice through her tears.
Rex looked between Jade and the guy, then with one snap of his wrist, pulled the guy to his face. Like an angry dog baring its teeth, he seethed, “If I ever catch you treating a lady like that again, I will rip you to shreds.” He tossed the guy to the ground and grabbed Jade roughly by the arm.
“Get in the truck.”
She took one look at Tim writhing on the ground and scrambled into the truck.
Rex started the engine, and without a word, drove down the road and then turned into a CVS parking lot, stopping beneath a streetlight. When he turned to face her, anger hovered behind the blatant concern in his eyes.
Jade’s body trembled and shook, and she couldn’t stop the flow of tears that wet her cheeks. She flushed with embarrassment. What would have happened if Rex hadn’t been there?
Rex gently took her face in his hands. They were so big, so strong, lethal when wrapped around that man’s collar, and now his touch was tender and soft.
“You okay?” he asked.
She sniffled, nodded.
“Did he hurt you?” His eyes ran down her arms.
Jade instinctively rubbed where Tim had grabbed her arm, and it hurt to the touch. Rex ran his fingers lightly down her arms. His body visibly tensed with the intimate touch.
“Why did you do that?” she asked. “Why did you grab him like that?”
Rex furrowed his brow. “He was hurting you.”
