“I didn’t want you to worry.”
Hunter turned to her. Oh, fuck. Lacey held up her hands, palms towards the ceiling. “I didn’t know. I swear. This is the first I’ve heard of her vomiting.”
He studied her. “But you think she could be pregnant.”
“I-I don’t know. But vomiting on and off for a week without any other symptoms doesn’t sound like any virus I’ve heard of before.”
Hunter stepped forward and scooped Cady up into his arms. “You’re going home. We’ll stop at a drug store along the way and get a test.”
“But what about Lacey? This is her first night. We promised to look after her.”
Actually, Cady had promised. Hunter had just glowered at her when they’d picked her up. Then on the way over here, he’d barked through a list of rules for her to follow while she was at the club.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll catch a taxi home.”
Hunter turned to her. “No, you won’t.”
“It’s really no bother,” she told him. “You have more important things to worry about.”
“I do.”
Okay, so that was blunt.
“Hunter,” Cady growled. “You’re being rude. And put me down. You’re not carrying me out of here and sending the gossip mill into overdrive.”
“No, and stay still,” he warned as she started to squirm. “You’ve already got a punishment coming your way for keeping this from me, you don’t want to add to it.”
Punishment? That should horrify her, shouldn’t it? So why did it send a shiver of longing and desire down her spine? Why did it make her yearn for a man to take such an interest in her well-being?
Cady stopped squirming, and he turned back to Lacey. “You’re my responsibility tonight, and I can’t concentrate on Cady until I hand over your care to someone else.”
“Um, first, I’m no one’s responsibility and second, I can take care of myself. I’ve decided this was a bad idea and I’m just going to call a cab and . . . hey, where are you going?”
Hunter, who’d been completely ignoring her, turned away and walked out the door, leaving her with little choice but to follow him. She’d just walk on out of there and call a taxi . . . except, shoot, her stuff was in a locker in the bathroom. She turned around.
“Javier!”
She turned as she heard Hunter call out. He still held Cady in his arms. A scowling Cady. A tall, suave-looking man with dark-mocha skin turned. His eyebrows shot up as he saw Cady in Hunter’s arms.
“Everything okay?” There was a soft drawl to his voice. Definitely from the south.
“Need a favor,” Hunter told him. “I’ve got to take Cady home, and we brought someone with us tonight.” He turned to reveal Lacey, who hadn’t been hiding behind him. Really, she hadn’t.
“She’s a complete newbie. Doesn’t know anything.”
Wow. Way to pump up her ego. Oh, Jesus, he wasn’t asking this stranger to show her around, was he? No way.
Javier ran his gaze up and down her body. A small burst of temper filled her. She wasn’t a piece of meat for God’s sake. Starting at his feet, she gave him the same once-over. By the time she reached his face, his eyes were dancing with amusement, and his lips were turned up at the edges.
“I like her.”
“You don’t know me,” she countered, placing her hands on her hips as she glared up at the arrogant ass.
“She’s going to get into trouble on her own,” he told Hunter, his gaze shifting back to the other man and completely ignoring her. His face softened as he looked down at Cady. “You okay, sweetheart? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” Cady said quickly. “Just a little tired.”
“You want me to look after her?” He nodded at Lacey.