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Layne’s hand nearly knocked over her pint glass in an effort to brace herself as he seemed ready to just whip himself out right then and there. Quickly, she stabilized the drink and moved it off to the side to prevent any other potential spills.
Before she could come back with a snarky comment, her cell phone in her pocket began going off. Taking it out of her pocket she looked at the caller's name and cursed underneath her breath. She placed the phone up to her ear as she answered in the sweetest voice she could muster. “Hey.”
But before she could get another word out, the caller on the other end immediately began to go off on her, leaving it difficult to get a word in edgewise. “No, I—Yes, but—If you’d let me—” She pressed her lips together in a hard line, attempting to restrain herself from lashing back verbally.
Finally, after a few more minutes that dragged on she was able to speak up. “I understand. I will take care of it. Bye, Liam.” Layne hung up and returned the phone to where it came from.
“Ouch, somebody out past curfew?” This guy just thought he was so funny, didn’t he?
“Haven’t you heard of staying in your lane?” She retorted. There was no time wasted in finishing off the last of her pint. Pulling out a twenty-dollar bill, she left it next to the now barren glass. Meanwhile, she could feel Joey’s eyes still locked on her.She was already agitated from that unpleasant phone call and not so politely reacted to his stares. “What are you looking at?”
He casually shrugged and shook his head. “Nothing. Just observing.”
“Well, don’t. There’s nothing to observe.” She took off towards the exit, but before she reached the door a set of strong hands wrapped around her waist and spun her around taking her by surprise.Layne found herself staring up into Joey’s eyes as he towered over her figure by over a foot.
There was a burning heat in the way he looked at her that caused an ache that she didn’t expect between her legs. It was unclear how long it was that both of them stood there looking at one another, saying nothing at all. Finally, she broke the silence, and her words managed to only sound slightly breathless. “I have to go.”
It wasn’t her most profound statement of the night, but it was the truth.
“Before you run outta here, how about you at least give me the chance to buy your next round another night?”
She stared up at that incredibly handsome face, searching for a reason not to take him up on his offer. “Leave your number with Sean, and I will call you the next time I’m looking for a guy to make bad decisions with.”
Amusement in his grin, his face lowered down closer to her, prompting Layne to squirm out of his grasp at the very last second before he had the opportunity to make any big mistakes.
Without looking back, she hurriedly left the pub, mentally reassuring herself that it was the best course of action. Guys like Joey may have been good for a one-time romp but they often came with a shit ton of baggage. Layne had enough of her own baggage to carry around, she didn’t need complications from someone else’s.
Once the cool night air hit her face, Layne focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Why was she so stirred up? It was one guy. One stupid, annoying guy. She shook her head, mentally scolding herself for being so caught up in this.
Despite the temptation, Joey didn’t follow after her and instead hung back at McGregor’s to order another round of firewater after Sean returned from fixing the equipment. He wrote his number down as instructed, pushing the slip of paper over towards the bartender.
Any other night he would have shot his chance and followed after Layne, but he had other obligations on his agenda for the evening. He had only come in here to piss away some time because it had been conveniently located on the way to his next appointment. That appointment was a particularly important job he had to get to in an hour’s time, and he didn’t want to be late. He really hated being late.
CHAPTER FOUR
Layne arrived at the parking garage one block down from the pub and pulled out her keys from her jacket pocket to her vehicle which was parked there on the ground floor. It didn’t take long to realize that her steps weren’t the only ones tapping against the concrete. There was a light shuffle following behind her.
Giving a huff and a sigh she stopped in her tracks. “Look, I don’t have time for this.”
She turned around ready to give Joey a piece of her mind. That’s when she felt the heavy palms slam into the front of her chest in a violent shove causing her to stumble backward. Instead of falling straight onto her ass, a set of bulging arms locked around her pinning her arms down to her sides.
Instantly her body triggered its fight or flight mode, and she was sure as hell ready to get into a fight. The edgy feeling was very familiar to her.Adrenaline caused her heartbeat to pound like a war drum inside of her ears while her thoughts raced frantically to assess the threat.
“Get the fuck off of me!” Her foot stomped down onto the stranger’s foot followed by an elbow thrusted back into his squishy stomach. Layne found temporary freedom from Squishy Guts, only to have the first attacker grab her by the throat and toss her down onto the ground.
Her body fell onto the unforgiving surface with enough momentum that she rolled once over. As she was rolling onto her back, she was able to free her 9mm Shield from the inside of her jacket holster. These days, she didn’t leave home without it.
Before she could steady the aim of the pistol it was kicked right out of her grasp. It skittered across the concrete underneath a nearby Corolla parked several yards away. Now she found herself lying there on the ground, weaponless, staring at two very pissed-off men. They both had guns drawn, pointed directly at her.
Layne kept her hands out in front of her and didn’t make any sudden movements. Who knew how itchy their trigger fingers were? She sure as hell didn’t want to find out.
“What the hell do you want?”
Ignoring her question, the averagely-built bald one barked at her while keeping his weapon’s sight locked on her. “Get up, bitch.”
When she didn’t move right away, his partner who looked like he had eaten one too many creme puffs leaned down, and with his free hand, snatched her arm with a painful squeeze before jerking her up onto her feet.
What happened after that she didn’t know, but she felt the impact on the back of her head right before everything went dark.
