Page 7 of Wild Hope
Arlo grins. “We’ve got a guy who comes up from Wild. He’s not a registered taxi. Just uses his car occasionally to collect drunks like these.”
I feel a tingle down my spine and look up to find Travis watching me. He’s perched on a stool at the end of the bar with his laptop in front of him. There’s a scowl on his face and Arlo must see it, because he pushes off the bar and away from me.
“Better get back to work,” he mumbles.
Travis has been here all night, helping when needed but mostly tapping away on his keyboard while nursing a beer.
I’ve felt his eyes on me throughout the night, and every time I look up, I’ve caught him looking at me. He doesn’t even bother to look away. He just keeps those intense eyes on me, his gaze following me around the room, making my blood heat and my core ache with longing.
There’s no denying this attraction between us. No one looks at someone like that if they’re not interested.
Every time I feel his eyes on me, my panties dampen and butterflies flutter behind my ribcage. Travis has had this butterfly effect on me ever since I was eighteen years old.
To think that he might like me back has my heart singing in all sorts of ways.
A cheer goes up from the corner where the drunk men are. One of them has spilled his beer on the table, and it drips onto the floor.
With a sigh, I grab a cloth and head over to the table.
“Sorrrry.”
The man has red eyes and he’s slurring. He lurches toward me as I approach the table, and his hand rests on my shoulder.
“What’s your name?”
His breath stinks of beer and I dart forward, trying to get out of his grasp. But I’m not quick enough. His hand slides down my back, and his hand cups my backside.
I freeze at the contact. It’s supposed to be a part of the job, being occasionally groped by drunk men, but I’ve never been able to get used to it.
The sound of a bar stool scrapes behind me, and a moment later Travis is grabbing the guy by the shoulder. The drunk man stumbles sideways, the grin slipping off his face.
“Don’t fucking touch her.”
There’s a hard edge to Travis’s voice that I’ve never heard before. He doesn’t give the man time to apologize before he swings his fist. It connects with the drunk’s nose, and blood spurts everywhere.
“What the fuck, man?” The man clutches his nose as blood drips into his hipster beard.
“Get the fuck out of my bar and don’t come back.”
Travis’s face is red, a vein throbs in his neck, and his eyes glow dangerously. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s wild in this moment, my protector, and God help me, my panties dampen at the sight of him.
I get out of the way of the men, sure there’s about to be a brawl and powerless to stop the male energy that’s flying around the room.
Arlo comes out from behind the bar and Kobe joins him, standing behind Travis. They’re a formidable sight. Three big, burly ex-military mountain men and two of them wearing bikers’ patches.
The two groups of men face each other, sizing each other up.
I glance at Hailey and she’s standing anxiously at the side of the bar, her hand on her pregnant belly. I go to her and take her hand, ready to flee through the back door if things get heated.
Luckily, there’s one in the group of drunks who’s sober enough to see sense.
“Come on.”
He herds his friends to the door, and as soon as they’re out of the restaurant the tension drops from the room.
“Are you okay?” Travis strides to where I’m standing with Hailey, the fire in his eyes still burning and making my knees weak.
I nod. “It was just a butt squeeze.” I try to make light of it, but my words make Travis growl with anger.
