I looked around. I didn't see our waitress. In fact, I didn't see any waitresses. No surprise, given how crowded the place had become. "Nah, that's alright," I told him.
"You think so, huh?" He stood and reached for my drink. "Wait here. I'll be back in five minutes."
I watched his back disappear into the crowd, thinking of how nice it was to have a guy who'd go to this much trouble without my even asking. A glance at our neighboring tables told me I wasn't the only one. Girls, guys – it didn't seem to matter. Something about him commanded their attention.
Did they recognize him? Or was it merely his appearance that made people sit up and notice? I tried to think of him as a stranger might. I recalled that first day, near the Parkers', when I'd walked past him, standing there wearing no shirt.
Back then, he was sex and danger. Now he was that, and so much more.
That day, I hadn't even recognized him. But something inside me had definitely responded. Lawton was just that way. People loved to look at him. I felt myself smile. Of course, they could look all they wanted, but I knew who would be touching him tonight, and it wasn't any of these people.
Still smiling, I stood to go to the ladies room, hoping to make the most of the time he was gone. I glanced at the beefy guy near the dance floor. He had barely moved since Lawton had first pointed him out to me. The way it looked, he took his table-watching seriously.
When he saw me looking, he gave me a quick nod, and glanced toward the table as if to assure me that everything would still be there when I returned.
I started weaving my way through the crowd. When I glanced at our table the next time, the guy had his back to me, watching over the table like he feared it might escape if he took his eye off it for one second.
The whole thing was oddly surreal. I wasn't used to people doing things for me, even something so small as this. It felt weird and wonderful all at the same time.
Unfortunately, the next person I ran into wasn't quite so accommodating.
Chapter 40
I was still looking back at the table when I bumped into someone. Hard. I looked up. It was a massive guy, at least seven feet tall, with a gold earring and a thick, tattooed neck.
"Sorry," I said, shifting to move around him.
But when I moved, he moved in exactly the same direction, blocking my path with a low chuckle. Something about it sent an odd shiver down my spine.
I glanced around. There were too many bodies and no easy path to get around him, so I put my hands on my hips and glared up at him. "What's your problem?" I said.
He looked down on me and smiled, revealing gold grillwork over his front teeth. "Soyou'rethe new one?" he said.
"The new what?"
"The new chick." He said "chick" like it was a social disease. "Lawton's squeeze."
"Hey!" I said, "I'm no one's squeeze."
Slowly, his gaze traveled down the length of me, stopping way too long in certain places. "No? You can bemysqueeze, once he's done with you." With a deranged smile, he sidled forward. "Or maybe you don’t wanna wait."
Without thinking, I took a step backward, bumping someone behind me. I spun around and jostled a tall girl with big hair and too much lipstick. She was holding two drinks. One of them hit the floor. The glass shattered against the hard surface. "Hey!" she hollered. "Look what you did!"
"Yeah," said the big guy. "Look what you did."
Ignoring the girl, I whipped back around to face him. I craned my neck upward, trying to decide of I should back up slowly, or run like hell.
But suddenly, a wall appeared in front of my face. I recognized that wall.
It was Lawton's back.
I'd never been so glad to see anything in all my life. The lean, corded muscles in his neck and arms were a stark contrast to the hulking guy in front of him. Still, I felt myself swallow. The guy in front of Lawton was so much bigger. Scary bigger. I didn't know what to do. Find a bouncer? Call for help?
Frantically, I looked around.
"Baby," Lawton said over his shoulder. "Go back to the table. I'll meet you there in a minute."
And leave him alone? No way. I mean, I knew I was no use in a fight, but no way I'd just run away like I didn't give a crap what happened to him.
