Page 63 of Keeping a Warrior

Oh, no.

The man at the door was Shane, all right, wearing a silky black T-shirt and a pair of dark jeans, but the dude he had his arm around definitely was not Matt. He was tall, about Shane’s height, his platinum-blond hair appearing almost purple under the bar’s colored lights.

“Oh, my God,” Devon breathed. She searched desperately about for Matt, spying him just in time as he started to charge through the crowd toward Shane.

Shoving her chair back, she hurried to intercept him. “Stop. You do not want to do this.”

“Get the hell out of my way, Lowe,” Matt snarled, and Devon put both hands on his chest and planted her feet.

“No. I won’t let you do this. Not here.”

Devon could only imagine how much damage he’d do to himself, flying into a jealous rage in front of an entire team bar filled with SEALs, both active and retired. His own teammates supported him, but there were a lot of crusty, old-school guys around, and Devon didn’t think a scene like that would end well for any of them.

In fact, she could already hear some muttering from a row of older men at the bar as they caught sight of Shane’s flamboyant date.

“He’s doing this to get a reaction from you,” Devon said desperately. “He wants you to start some shit, make a fool of yourself, and then it’ll be easy for him to dump you for good.” Her hands gentled on his chest. “Don’t make it that easy for him, Matt. Don’t give him the out he’s looking for.”

Matt’s face was red, his eyes glittering with hurt and rage. He blinked, then spun around. “You’re right. Goddammit.”

Relief making Devon’s knees weak, she grabbed his arm and hustled him outside to the large courtyard, where the smell of cigars hung pungently in the cool night air.

Matt braced his hands on the wall of the building, head hanging. “I can’t take this. I want to kill that guy he’s with. Jesus Christ.”

“That’s what Shane is counting on,” she said quietly. “He needs for you to be the bad guy here, Matt, so he can walk away with a totally clear conscience.”

Matt straightened, his jaw clenching. “So what do I do now? Leave?”

Just then some music started playing in the bar, along with what sounded like drunk voices singing.

“No, don’t leave.” Devon grabbed Matt’s hand and squeezed. “You know what the best revenge is in a case like this? Having fun anyway.” She gave him a giant tug toward the bar. “Let’s go do karaoke.”

Chapter Twelve

“You’re crazy,” Matt muttered as Devon towed him toward the karaoke stage. “I’m not doing this.”

“Yes, you are. The best way to take the wind out of Shane’s sails is to have fun and pretend like you don’t care.”

Matt was stiff as a board next to her, and not far away, Shane was introducing his date to some of their teammates. He kept stealing glances over at Matt, even though Matt kept his back resolutely turned.

“Relax, dude,” she said, jostling Matt’s arm. “I’ll sing with you. Do you like country?”

Devon picked a song at random from the Zac Brown Band, one of her favorite groups. Matt perked up a little when she pointed to it. “‘Toes’? I like that one.”

“Good. Let’s do it.”

During the opening guitar intro, Matt clutched the microphone so tightly his knuckles turned white. Devon was no singer, but Matt looked scared to death, so when the opening lyrics started, she wasn’t expecting much.

What actually came out of his mouth was so deep, so rich, so beautiful, that she stopped short and stared. Matt’s voice was low and husky, and he sang the song in perfect tune, almost as if Zac Brown were here himself.

Shane broke off midsentence to turn and gape.

The song was a popular one, so before long the tiny stage was surrounded by folks singing along. Little by little Matt gained confidence until he was really belting it out, the crowd cheering when he even performed the little trill at the end.

The bar rocked with wild applause, so without being asked the DJ queued up another song, this time a Zac Brown duet with Jimmy Buffett. Devon knew this one well, so despite her flat, rather tinny voice, she gamely joined in to hoots from her new woman friends and an admiring look from Rhys.

Shane leaned against the bar, nursing a drink, his date standing close to him. Matt slung his arm over Devon’s shoulders, and she wrapped hers around his waist so they could sway along to the music. When it was over, they squeezed each other tightly.

“Keep having fun,” she murmured to him. “Just keep having fun.”