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“It’s fine,” I broke in with the mafia princess tone I only brought out for special occasions. “We were messing around on the sofa, and we slipped off by accident. I’m totally okay. Itoldyou I was having Jasper come over.”
The furor in Rafael’s dark eyes simmered down. He looked from me to Jasper, who was standing there tensed like he wasn’t sure if he should be running for his life, and back again.
“I didn’t know I’d find him tackling you to the floor,” he growled.
I set my hands on my hips. “It. Was. An. Accident.” One we could have recovered from to go on to much more fun if Mr. Overprotective here hadn’t stormed into the room like a maniac. “And it was at least as much my fault as Jasper’s. So calm the fuck down and go back to whatever you were doing before you started your volcano impression.”
Rafael took a step to the side, not exactly retreating. His eyes narrowed as he studied Jasper, and the bulging muscles along his shoulders flexed with subtle menace.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
I spun toward Jasper, groping for a way to salvage this mess. “I’m sorry. Just a misunderstanding. Rafael’s a friend of the family—he came along to watch out for me—he’s just doing itvery badlyat the moment.”
Rafael let out a grunt just shy of a growl.
Jasper’s stance went even more rigid. He was nearly as tall as the other man, and brawny enough to have made me drool on more than one occasion I’d never admit to, but even to him, Rafael’s massive frame and obvious hostility would have been intimidating. It wasn’t as if the figure skater would ever have found himself in a gang brawl.
I turned back to my bodyguard. “Would you go back downstairs? We’re both okay, and we were kind of in the middle of something.”
I made those words as pointed as I could, and Rafael finally eased backward. But it was too little, too late.
Jasper was backing up too, edging toward the door. His wary gaze darted between me and Rafael. “Obviously you have a lot going on. I’d better head home. Gotta rest up before practice and all.”
I wasn’t going to argue with him to stay. Things had gotten way too awkward already.
“I’m really sorry,” I said. “Stupid sofa.”
I gave it a playful kick for good measure, trying to lighten the moment, but it didn’t work. Maybe because Rafael hadn’t quite reined in his glower.
Jasper rubbed his neck like he often seemed to do when he was uneasy and bobbed his head in acknowledgment. “No big deal. I’ll see you at the arena tomorrow.”
Then he was ducking out the doorway like he couldn’t get to his car fast enough.
The door thudded shut in his wake. Rafael paused by the top of the basement stairs like he was waiting to make sure the guy wasn’t going to sneak back in the second he lowered his guard.
Like there was any chance of Jasperwantingto return after the scare he’d just had.
Ugh. Was there any chance he’d forget all this in a day or two, and we could pick up where we’d left off without it being an issue?
Somehow I found that hard to believe.
The car’s engine rumbled and faded as Jasper drove away. Rafael’s shoulders came the rest of the way down, and he moved to head back downstairs like he hadn’t just completely ruined my night.
A fresh wave of frustration crackled through me. “Where do you think you’re going?”
He glanced back at me without a trace of remorse in his expression. His tone was back to its usual even deadpan.
“You told me to go downstairs. Just following orders.”
Oh, he was going to play it that way, was he? I marched a couple of steps closer, glaring at him.
“I asked you to get goingbeforethe guy I was hoping to hook up with took off. You terrorized him. What the hell were you thinking?”
Rafael’s mouth tightened into a frown. “I was thinking that I heard a bang and rushed upstairs to find you pinned to the floor under some guy twice your size who I’d never seen before. How could I have known he wasn’t attacking you?”
I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’tpinned, and you could have waited two seconds to see if I was actually in any danger. I have a mouth—I’d have yelled for help if I needed it. Hell, I’d have been kneeing him in the balls if I’d objected to what was going on.”
“Two seconds could make the difference between life and death. That’s not a chance I’m willing to take.”
