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“The answer’s still no.” I angled myself to move past him.
He stepped forward, crowding me so my back hit the wall again. “I can change your mind.”
Anger started to push away the emotional fatigue. Apparently, even when I didn’t choose the bad decision, it chose me. I could have told him my boyfriend was waiting for me, but fuck that. “Listen, dickwad—"
I didn’t get any farther before his hand snapped out to wrap around my wrist. He yanked me forward off balance, and I yelped as I fell against him.
For a split second, his free hand landed on my lower thigh just below where my dress ended, then he was roughly hauled away from me by a scowling football player twice his size gripping his lapels. The jackass let go of my wrist to try to free himself, and I quickly moved out of his reach.
The animal bench nearly took me out in my hurry. “Noah…”
I wasn’t sure what to say because I didn’t particularly want him to let the guy go, but I also didn’t want him to get in trouble for murdering an entitled asshole.
Noah’s green eyes took in my disheveled state with a dangerous glint. “Are you okay, Chloe?”
The asshole glanced over his shoulder at me, then glared up at Noah… and chose death. “She’s not worth it,” he sneered.
In one large step, Noah slammed the guy into the wall, with his toes dangling a good two inches off the floor.
“She’s worth two of you, now apologize.” Noah’s quiet order belied the fury in his eyes. He held the guy there, in complete control, and a flicker of unease cracked the mask of false bravado on the asshole’s face.
“Whatever you say, man.” He turned his head to meet my gaze. “Sorry. I must have misunderstood.”
Misunderstood, my ass. He’d seen me standing alone and assumed I must be in want of a good dicking. I raised my chin and would have seriously considered kicking him if Noah’s body hadn’t blocked my shot.
“Next time listen when a girl says no.”
A growl rumbled from Noah, and the guy blanched. “Yeah, I get it.”
Noah gave him a little shake before lowering him to the ground, but he didn’t release his hold immediately. “Chloe, do you want to press charges?”
I hadn’t even considered getting the police involved. Guys like him were everywhere. Once upon a time, old me might have even taken him up on the offer. He’d chosen the wrong night to approach me, but hadn’t I just been telling Eva I preferred these guys because I knew exactly what they wanted?
Fuck, I didn’t want to deal with this tonight.
“No, I think he learned his lesson. Let him go.”
Noah nodded and released the asshole, stepping back while simultaneously putting himself between us. By some miracle—probably Noah’s calm delivery and the large grassy decorations next to us—we hadn’t drawn much attention from the people mingling outside the ballroom. I wanted to keep it that way.
The guy smoothed his suit and walked away without a backward glance. I highly doubted he’d learned anything. I watched to make sure he actually got into an elevator—alone—before relaxing.
When I turned to face Noah, he was staring at me with his arms crossed. I opened my mouth to thank him for his good timing, but he gave his head a sharp shake.
“Outside. Now.”
13
Iraised my brows at Noah’s brusque order, but I moved toward the double doors at the end of the hallway. He followed close behind until we reached the relative solitude outside the hotel. Bright lights lit the side entrance, but Noah moved us around the building until no one could see us through the glass doors.
His jaw ticked as he stared down at me. “What happened?”
Shock had me taking a step back. Was he blaming me? I hadn’t expected Noah to jump to that conclusion, especially after his words to the asshole inside.
“That mess wasnotmy fault.” Frustration made my words sharper than I meant.
Noah cursed quietly, walking to the edge of the sidewalk and back. “I know, Chloe. I wanted to know what he did to you. Are you hurt?”
I flexed my hand without consciously meaning to, and Noah’s gaze dropped to my wrist, circled by angry red marks in the distinctive shape of fingers. With the adrenaline fading, I noticed a dull ache radiating up my arm, but I wasn’t about to say anything to Noah.
