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“What kind of deal?” she asked, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.
“You manage to keep me from picking you up and hauling you over my shoulder again and I’ll acknowledge your superior self-defense skills. Any tactic’s fair game.”
Summer tilted her head and blew away the hair that tumbled over her eyes. “Any tactic?” She narrowed her gaze below his waist. “Even low blows?”
He only smirked at her. Clearly, he didn’t consider her any kind of threat. “Anything.”
“What do I get if I win, besides your praise?”
“I’ll back off on demanding you get private security, at least as long as you’re appearing in clubs like this. You want to go to some little honky-tonk up north, be my guest. In the city? I want you protected.” He scowled. “Even if I have to risk my baby to do it.”
Her stomach clenched. “You have a baby?”
“My truck.”
She nearly smiled before a wave of shivers rolled over her already frosty skin. This time they burrowed beneath, right to her bones. “And if I can’t take you down?”
“Who said anything about taking me down? You only need to keep your own feet on the ground. Simple enough.” He flicked her frozen nose like she was a cute twelve-year-old and made her growl. “If you can’t, then you’ve bought yourself a bodyguard at your shows.”
“Bought?” Summer’s voice wobbled. “I don’t have a budget for that.”
All right, so that was a lie, but she wasn’t about to have some big, hulking guy preventing her from getting close to her fans. Most of them were normal, even nice. In the business she was in, she needed to be able to make connections. Having a wall of muscle between her and the people who were buying her tickets was not a recipe for success.
“We’ll negotiate the fee later.” He made a come-and-get-me gesture. “Now get ready. I’m going to try to pick you up, and you’re going to stop me, by any means possible. Got it?”
As a devious plan formed in her mind, she grinned. “Sure. Say when.”
Chase lunged, causing her to squeal as his powerful hands locked around her ribcage. She beat on his shoulders, losing precious moments, then remembered her plan. She wriggled in his hold, bearing down as she felt her feet leave the ground, pushing with all her weight while she grabbed a hank of his hair with one hand and ripped down her top with the other.
Like a stone sinking to the bottom of the river, he dropped her heavily back onto her feet. He stared for a long moment, and she belatedly realized she hadn’t only shown him her lacy demi-cup bra, but had also torn her favorite peasant blouse in two.
“You flashed me?” His voice was low, gritty. “You fucking flashed me?”
She fought to hold her blouse together, squealing again when he wrapped a hand around her waist and hauled her right out of her shoes. At that moment, the door burst open to the sounds of male shouts, and they both glanced toward the source of the commotion.
A cop yelled for Chase to let her go. Chase started to explain the situation while Summer gaped, wide-eyed, then gasped as the cop’s laser gaze landed on her shredded top.
“This isn’t what it looks like—” she began.
She was too late, obviously, since the cop had already strode forward and snapped cuffs on Chase’s wrists. Oh God, this wasn’t good.
“Oh really?” The sandy-haired cop nodded at the shirt she gripped in both hands. “I heard an argument, then a woman’s scream, and came out here to find you being manhandled by this thug. And your blouse is ripped. Care to explain that?”
“Yes, do explain that, Summer,” Chase rasped.
It had seemed like such a smart move at the time. She’d even seen a version of it on that old sitcom Friends. Phoebe flashed the guys during a football game and the girls won. Cue laugh track.
No cops, no cuffs, no glowering ball players. Why couldn’t she ever get anything right?
When she hesitated a second too long, the officer shook his head and jerked his chin in the direction of the club. “We’ll discuss it down at the station. Go on.”
“Oh no, honestly, he wasn’t hurting me. He’s one of my oldest friends. He actually saved me in there, from that witch who grabbed my hair.” Summer knew she was babbling and couldn’t seem to stop. “We were only playing around, I swear.”
“I’ve already heard about ten variations of this story from other patrons. Seems like the whole bunch of you are wired tonight.” The officer nodded at the club again. “It’ll all be sorted out at the station. Now let’s go.”
“But I’m the talent. I already ran off stage. If I just leave I won’t get another gig here, ever.”
“You’re worried about your ‘gig’ when I’m cuffed?” Chase questioned, clenching his jaw. “I’m probably fucking going to jail for assault and you’re worried you won’t get to warble for peanuts?”
