“You know what?” Hannah yelled, catching the other guy’s attention. “Nothing you said is useful, so how about I giveyousome useful advice.”
Levi moved quickly, pulling Hannah back and going for the door. He felt his heart spike, and he could see everyone moving and talking at once. The music seemed to stall, and everyone was looking at them. They weren’t ever going to be allowed in here again.
They got to the doors when two security guards started walking toward them. Hannah was still yelling, and Levi tried to calm the waters.
“We are leaving,” he said, pulling some cash out from his wallet and throwing it on the floor. “Here is some money for the guy. It will be more than enough for what he needs.”
He pushed the door open, pulling Hannah through it. The doors swung shut behind them. He kept pulling her until they got to the car.
Hannah broke away and turned to him, angry. “Why did you do that? I had the situation completely under control, and you just ruined it!”
“Because,” he said, “you were drawing a lot of attention to us. You think that you punching someone is going to help keep me protected when they were just some drunk guys?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll just wait then, teach them a lesson out here. More space.” He watched her look around. Her jaw was still tense and her hands in tight fists.
Levi looked at her like she was nuts. “Why? What the fuck is the point? It’s really not that important. Let’s move on. Let’s head home and get some sleep. We can sleep this off.”
“No!” she screamed. “Those assholes ruined our perfectly great night. They came in and fucking tore it apart. I swear to God, I will make them pay for this. I’ll make their future kids feel it.”
Levi blinked, realizing she agreed that tonight was fun. She had a fun time. She had enjoyed herself enough to where it could be ruined.
“It wasn’t ruined,” he said. “We still had a fun time. It’s just a part of having fun sometimes. Someone has to damper it. We can still go do something else, and we can forget all about this.”
“You don’t get it,” she grumbled, running her hands through her hair. “We were having a fun time. God, I was so close.”
“I know,” he said, nodding. He was stunned at how much she was saying she was having fun. It was refreshing.
“We were having a good time, and it gave me a perfect chance to find the people targeting you. And now I don’t have that chance because they ruined it. They ruined it, Levi. I won’t get another opportunity like I did just then.”
Levi froze, watching her pace. What did she just say? Did she just say ... what he thought he heard?
“Wait … what?”
She was waiting for a chance to get the captors. She wasn’t enjoying herself. She wasn’t honestly having fun. Everything she had done tonight was calculated and organized.
That fact hurt more than anything, and Levi’s shoulders dropped. He looked away, taking a steady breath in. Hannah hadn’t had fun.
“Hey,” Hannah spoke up, but the damage was done.
9
LEVI
She could see the look of disappointment written all over his face. The truth was, Hannah had enjoyed herself, but she couldn’t tell him that. Her job was to protect him, not loosen up and start liking him. So, she did the only thing she could think of. She lied.
“We were having a good time, and it gave me a perfect chance to find the people targeting you. And now I don’t have that chance because they ruined it. They ruined it, Levi. I won’t get another opportunity like I did just then.”
She couldn’t tell him she was more pissed that they had hit on her and ruined their date. Well, she would think this was a date. It had all the signs of one, besides the hurt expression that was still on Levi’s face.
She knew she shouldn’t think about that, but her mind wandered to it. She hadn’t had that much fun in a long time, and certainly not with someone she was attracted to. She couldn’t say it wasn’t a date.
“Wait … what?” he asked, looking at her with a broken heart. His eyes darted away, trying to hold it in, but she had hurt him.
“Hey,” she tried.
Anger bit into his gaze. “So, this was all about work then?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It wasn’t. It was ...” She couldn’t saydate, but it was at the tip of her tongue.