Page 19 of Dragon's Unwanted Love
Jackson didn’t answer right away. His eyes roamed up and down her body, then back up to her face. “What the hell are you wearing?” he demanded. “Do you have any idea what you look like?”
“I have a mirror at home,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I came to make sure that you make it home okay,” Jackson said, taking off his jacket and putting it around her shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked, shrugging off the jacket and handing it back to him. “I’m still working, I can’t leave yet.”
“Well, you can’t go back out there like that,” he said, scowling at her. “All those men were looking at you, it’s not right. You should find another job.”
“Despite this ridiculous outfit, I really like this job,” she said. “Not that it’s any of your business. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
She picked up the empty bottles and stomped off, letting her hips swish as she walked, an evil smile spreading across her face when she heard Jackson groan. “Serves him right,” she mumbled under her breath. “Tell me how to dress…”
To her disappointment, Jackson was sitting at the bar when she came back up front, a scowl on his face, but she ignored him, deciding that she’d take her time and make him wait for her. If he insisted on playing her knight in shining armor, there was nothing she could do to stop him, but she wasn’t going to make it easy on him, especially after he’d tried to order her around. He couldn’t begin to understand how important this job was to her survival; it paid more than any other job she could get, and the worst thing she had to do was show a little skin and put on some makeup.
She’d worked herself up into a good rage by the time the last job was marked off the list, but put a smile on her face when she told Clark goodnight. After grabbing her purse and coat from the employee locker room, she headed for the front door, aware of Jackson following her. Realizing just how stupid their little game was, she waited for him to catchup to her at the front door, deciding that one of them should act like an adult.
“Should I ask one of the security guards to walk me to my car?” she asked sweetly. “They won’t mind at all.”
“That won’t be necessary,” he said, taking her arm. “Nothing is going to happen to you with me around.”
“You’re awfully sure of yourself,” she said, letting him lead her outside. “Are you a superhero or something, you know, like Superman?”
“Very funny,” Jackson said. “You should take that act on the road.”
“I would, but you’d probably want to go with me,” she shot back, trying not to admit even to herself that she felt better with Jackson by her side. “I’m a one-woman show, in case you missed it.”
CHAPTER 11
***JACKSON***
Jackson’s laughter died in his throat when a wave of magic washed over him, crackling in the air and stirring the dragon slumbering deep inside him. Instantly on his guard, he pulled Abby to a stop, put his arms around her, and pulled her close, ignoring her protests.
“Someone’s out here, I can feel them,” he whispered in her ear. “Stop fighting me and hold still.”
Abby froze then put her arms around him, “How can you tell?” she asked, then gasped. “Oh, Jackson, look at my car.”
He took a quick glance over his shoulder, letting out a curse when he saw all four tires were flat and a puddle of oil was slowly spreading across the pavement. “Don’t look over there again, pretend you haven’t noticed,” he hissed in her ear. “It’s a trap. As soon as you stop to look at the car, they’ll jump you. We need to go back inside right now. I can’t fight them all.”
“How many are there?” she asked, eyes wide and full of fright.
“Too many for me to fight alone,” he said, easing her back toward the front door. “We’ll be fine once we get back inside.Act like you forgot something, I don’t want them to know that we’re onto them.”
Abby slid her purse off her shoulder. “I guess I should get the keys out,” she said, a bit louder than necessary as she began to rummage around. “Oh, no, I must have left them inside.”
He couldn’t help but smile as he guided her back to the door. “Remember what I said about taking your show on the road?” he asked as they walked inside. “After that performance, you might want to reconsider.”
Abby gave him a dirty look. “How can you be joking around?” she asked. “They flattened all my tires, and there was a huge puddle of oil under the car. This has to end; I can’t go on like this.”
“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. We’ll get your car fixed; it’s just some tires and an oil pan. What’s important is that you’re safe.”
She took a deep breath and buried her face in his chest for a second, then looked up at him, her face full of regret. “You were right, I had no idea who I was messing with. I just got so angry and hated feeling so helpless,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I can’t hide in the bar forever.”
“You won’t have to,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and hitting speed dial. “Hey Walker, I need you to pick us up. Come around to the back entrance this time, though. We’ve got some company out front.”
He put the phone back in his pocket and smiled at her. “See, problem solved,” he said, then led her over to the security guard sitting by the front door. “I want you to stay here, I’m going to do a little investigating, see if I can flush one of them out.”
Abby grabbed his arm. “Jackson, you can’t go out there.That’s a stupid idea,” she said. “You said yourself that you couldn’t fight them all.”
