“How so?” Bones asked with a raised eyebrow.
A giggle slipped out of my mouth, and I realized I had crossed the line from tipsy to drunk. This hadn’t been my plan for the evening at all, and I tried to care about that, because a small part of me knew I’d probably regret it in the morning, but it was hard to be concerned about anything right now. “I don’t know, the way you act is so different than your look suggests. You have this almost dangerous appearance. It’s your black leather and big muscles.” I bit my lip as my eyes ran over said muscles. The thin fabric of his Black Sabbath t-shirt stretched over his thick arms, and I found I wanted to touch him, to trace the lines of ink on his right arm. The full sleeve tattoo contained skulls, motorcycles, roses, and fire all combined in a collage that was captivating to look at. I felt like I could stare at it all day and not get bored.
“You ever hear that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover?” Bones was looking at me like I was as interesting as I found him to be.
Which surprised me to no end. I’d been sure he had been around far more worldly and exotic women in his life. “Good point,” I admitted.
Music started playing from a jukebox I hadn’t noticed before against the wall by a row of dartboards. I hopped off of my stool and headed that way, planning to feed some money into the machine and select a few songs. The bar had gotten much fuller in the last half-hour, despite it being a weeknight. There were a surprising amount of women, most of them dressed in way more revealing clothing than I, with exposed midriffs, plunging necklines, and short skirts. I was no prude, but some of these women left little to the imagination.
“They’re here because they like bikers,” Bones said from beside me.
His voice made me jump. I hadn’t realized he’d followed me across the bar.
“Is that a polite way of saying they come to this bar to sleep with you guys?” I asked, and the strangest feeling of jealousy bloomed inside of me at the thought of Bones with any of these women. I knew I had no right to feel that way, I’d already decided he wasn’t my type, so I suppressed the reaction as well as I could. But a small, impossible-to-ignore voice in the back of my mind suggested I should forget the internal protesting about whether or not he was my type. The fact was that I wanted him. I couldn’t keep lying to myself about it.
“Some of the guys,” he admitted. “That perceived danger you mentioned earlier? Some women like it.”
I seemed to be one of them, against my better judgment. “Why are you following me, anyway?” I asked, suddenly realizing it was weird. My brain wasn’t working as fast as usual.
In lieu of answering, Bones put his hands on my waist and directed me to walk further to the right.
“What the—”
“That’s why I followed you,” he said. “I thought you might be heading to the jukebox and I didn’t want you to walk in front of the guys playing darts.”
Glancing back, I saw he was right. I had been about to stride right into the path of four men who were throwing sharp darts at the targets. I grimaced at my own actions. Even despite the fog of alcohol’s effects, I now remembered why I rarely drank. “Oops,” I said lightly.
Bones didn’t smile in response. “You’ve got to be more careful.” He almost sounded mad.
I frowned at him. “Hey, lighten up. I’m just a little drunk.”
“I can tell. You’re slurring your words.”
My cheeks felt warm as I blushed. I hadn’t realized I’d been slurring. He must have thought I was a silly lightweight.
We were standing in front of the jukebox now, but I no longer wanted to choose music to listen to. I felt like I’d been making a fool of myself, having Bones follow me around to make sure I didn’t get hurt because I couldn’t handle my alcohol. Like I was a little kid or something. “I think I’m going to go home,” I said, turning away from him.
Bones reached out and caught hold of my arm, gently turning me back around to face him. “Hey, don’t be upset. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
A warm feeling developed in the pit of my stomach and spread as I looked into his eyes. I didn’t know if it was fueled by the alcohol or his protective nature, but either way, I felt a spark between us that had me thinking things I really shouldn’t. Like how much I’d like to see if any other part of him was tattooed.
I must have been quiet for too long as I ogled him because Bones gave my arm a slight pull and nodded his head toward the door. “Come on, I’ll take you home. I’ve only had one beer tonight.”
I hadn’t even thought about how I would get home, considering my condition, so his offer was a lifesaver. “Thanks,” I smiled, handing over my car keys. I rattled off the address for him to put into his GPS on his phone as we walked across the parking lot.
It was amusing to see Bones cram himself into my little Nissan, adjusting the seat as far back as it would go, but once I was seated beside him, he felt too close. His scent filled the space, a combination of beer and some kind of cologne or aftershave with a spicy quality…masculine and intoxicating. Between his scent and the body heat radiating off of him, I felt like he surrounded me even though we weren’t touching.
But I wanted to touch him, so much so that I started to reach my hand out to place on his thigh, but I stopped myself before making contact, aware that acting on such an impulse would be reckless.
God, I need to watch how much I drink around this man in the future.
Not that I planned to spend any significant time with him. This sobering thought had me turning to look out the window at the passing scenery as we drove from the outskirts of town, where Wheelz was located, to my apartment in the middle of Holbeck. I would have preferred to be closer to the beach, but even the smallest apartments were way out of my preferred price range if they had a view of the ocean. Right now, I was more concerned about having money than living right on the beach.
When we reached my place, Bones got out of the car with my keys in hand.
I felt surprised that he was going to show me to the door, but it was appreciated a moment later when I stepped out of the car. Stumbling over the curb, I gasped loudly as I pitched forward, my hands out to break my fall. But a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a hard body.
I looked up to see Bones staring down at me with concern in his eyes.