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“Steve. It’s not worth it, man,” his friend said, catching him by the shoulder and holding him back.
“Steve!” I cried out, snapping my fingers in his direction.“Steve, like Captain America.” Everyone but Steve turned to me.
June just shook her head.“Sweet lord,get me out of here.”
Steve, perhaps finally noting the height difference between him and the fuming Scot, gave me a final longing look and groaned. Digging into his pocket, he drew out a square card and laid it flat on the table. I didn’t know people still carried business cards.“I’m here another week. Call me.”
He had balls, I had to admit it, because Mal glared down at that business card like Steve had whipped his dick out. With one final scowl at Mal, the two men stalked out of sight.
“Finally.” June scrambled from the booth, pushing Mal aside.“Out of my way, I’m about to piss myself. I’ll meet you outside.” The crowd parted easily for her because every head was already turned in our direction. I barely noticed them, too busy staring up at the scowling giant. He planted his fist on the table, sweeping the business card to the floor. When he crowded me like this, I felt breathless, the furthest thing from claustrophobic. I was still mad at him, but I couldn’t quite reach that feeling now.
“Home time, princess,” he whispered. His voice swept over me like a warm blanket as he held out a hand. Later, I would blame the alcohol, because I didn’t hesitate to take it.
19
MAL
Love Song – Lana Del Rey
June appeared the moment I propped April against the door to her Mini Cooper. Just in time too, because I was beginning to feel like a creep, ushering a drunk woman out into the night while she belted out a Whitney Houston tune she didn’t have the lung capacity to carry.
Even as I held the majority of her weight, her head began to loll against my palm. She was absolutely plastered. How had this happened?
“I don’t know what happened.” June answered my silent question, eyes bright from alcohol but alert.“She seemed fine when we got here—quiet, but fine. Then she read something on her phone and suddenly she was on a mission to make every wrong choice.”
All of thosewrong choicesraked through me, firing up the urge to hunt down Steve and plant my fist in his face. My entire body still shook from the encounter.
The prick had known exactly what he was doing.
“June!” April cried, stumbling toward her friend and squishing her cheeks together.“You are so beautiful. I wish I looked like you.” Her legs lasted all of two seconds. My arms snapped around her waist before she could stumble, settling her weight back against my chest to keep her steady.
June laughed, the sound not entirely amused.“At least she’s a happy drunk.”
“Aye, there is that,” I agreed, tipping my head to the small bag slung across April’s body.“I’ll drive, you grab her keys out.” Going into a woman’s bag definitely felt like one of thosedo-not-crosslines. Juniper fished them out and had the passenger-side door open in seconds, helping me wrestle a wiggling April into the front seat.“Do you think she’s going to vomit?” I worried aloud, retreating to let June buckle her in.
She drew back, shrugging her slim shoulders.“At least it’s her car.”
Not exactly my concern, but I chuckled because it felt like the correct response. As I slid behind the steering wheel, my knees immediately compressing against the dashboard, I realised this was probably the first time I’d ever said more than two words to Juniper Ross. Weird when you considered she’d been engaged to my brother. Weirder still when I was able to navigate my way to her small family inn without any direction. Village living, I supposed.
It wasn’t until she started unbuckling her seat belt in the back that I considered she might have wanted to go home with April. I halted her exit, clearing my throat.“I can… I can take you back to the manor if you’d feel more comfortable.” One eyebrow, dark as a crow’s wing, flicked up.Shit.“What I meant to say was… she’s… safe with me, June. I would never—”
Her hand grasped my arm and squeezed. I’d always found Juniper intimidating. She could be sharp in a way a lot of women didn’t allow themselves to be. She didn’t pretend to be someone she wasn’t to make herself more palatable. I admired her while simultaneously having zero idea how to act around her. I knew she wasn’t a fan of my family, leading to Callum snidely nicknaming her the harpya few years back. She didn’t seem so bad and obviously cared about April and Heather.“I know she is. Any other man, and I wouldn’t even contemplate it. You’re the good Macabe brother, Mal.” Tipping forward, she planted a smacking kiss onto a sleeping April’s cheek.“Take care of our girl.” I idled until the hall light to the B&B flicked on and then turned down the lane.
Our girl.Was I that obvious?Yes.I’d practically claimed her tonight. Nearly punched a guy in front of the entire village. I would have done it too. I wanted to do it. Wanted to prove my devotion with bloody knuckles. I wasn’t sure what that made me. For the first time, I didn’t really care to analyse it. As I turned left onto Castle Street, I let my gaze wander over her soft features flashing beneath the intermittent street lights.
“Why are you staring at me?” I startled at her voice. Her eyes were still closed.
“I’m not,” I lied. I felt like I’d spent half my life trying not to look at her, and since that kiss, I couldn’t stop. A single moment of weakness and I was ensnared. She was the opposite of Medusa, instead of turning me to stone, looking at her woke me up, made me feel unsettled and so fucking settled at the same time.
“Why were you at the pub?”
“I... uh... well, you see…” I decided it was better not to lie.“I wanted to make sure you were all right. I didn’t plan on interfering until—well, you heard what he said.”
“You mean the part where he said he wanted to fuck my mouth?”Jesus.My hands gripped the steering wheel as I sputtered.“Did it ever occur to you that I might enjoy him saying those things to me?”
“No,” I barked, something viscous seeping into my veins.“It didn’t.”
“Were you jealous?” She didn’t leave me time to answer.“You have no right to be jealous.” Her voice still held the slightest slur. A part of me hoped she wouldn’t remember a moment of this in the morning because I couldn’t hold back what came next.
