Deep (Stage Dive, #4)(21)

“Ah, no. I’m actually not. Now see, this is where we have a problem.” I folded my arms. Then unfolded them because like f*ck I’d look defensive. He was the one in the wrong, not me. “You’re not prepared to take me, or my feelings, seriously. What you want is to hide away in Mr. Too Cool for Commitment land and just play with my affections when it suits you. Okay, I’ve accepted that. But none of that means it’s okay for you to come in here and act like you’re the boss of me. None of it.”

“That so?” he asked, leaning down so that we were almost nose to nose.

“That’s so, baby.” I play-punched him in the shoulder, which it should be noted, I barely came up to. Okay, so maybe the alcohol on a mostly empty stomach had made me slightly/lots braver/sillier. “So why don’t you take your little caveman jealous tantrum bullshit somewhere else. See, I do this funny thing I like to refer to as whatever the f*ck I want. Understand?”

He just stared.

“And as pretty as you are with your beard and your muscles, you are too damn tricky and … complicated and shit for me.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you are. Are you finally seeing my point here?”

“You bet.”

“Excellent. So take your hotness elsewhere, kind sir. I want no part of it!” Huh. I had so told him. Drunken bravado was the best.

He nodded once, not so much at my words but as if he’d decided something. It didn’t take me long to find out what. The man grabbed my hips tight and bent, setting his shoulder to my middle.

“Don’t—”

And up I went. Then down went the front half of me. Down, over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

“Ben, put me down.”

His arm went around my knees, a hand holding onto the back of one thigh. Almost at a not cool height. Though not a single little damn thing about this actually was cool. Then the ground started moving beneath us.

“Ben!”

He didn’t even slow down.

“I take it you’re finished for the night, Miss Rollins,” asked Sam.

“Make him put me down,” I screeched.

“I’m afraid I can’t interfere. You see, Mr. Nicholson also contributes to my wages.”

“You have to be kidding me.”

“Puts me in kind of a difficult situation. You understand.”

I had nothing.

“To be fair, he texted me asking where you were, hours ago,” said Sam. “I didn’t tell him.”

“Oh yeah, you’re a peach.”

Sam grinned. The jerk.

“I’ve got this,” grumbled the prehistoric * carrying me.

“Right,” said the incredibly useless security man. “Might go lose some money on a card game, then. Night-night.”

Ben just grunted.

So I smacked him on the ass. “You’re being absolutely ridiculous. Put me down.”

“Nope.”

“Do you have any idea how insane this must look?”

“Don’t care.”

“I do. God, Ben. You drive me nuts.”

Another grunt. How original.

My laughter came out slightly too high-pitched, too crazy. What a night.

So tempting to lose my shit, but no. Conflict resolution. I was a professional to the last. “Ben, why don’t you put me down and we can talk about whatever you want over a drink. You’ve obviously got my attention now.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t take your request to talk seriously before. Let me make it up to you.”

He ignored me.

Pity those around us didn’t. They giggled and pointed and carried on like we were a damn comedy act. But did anyone think to try and help me? No.

People.

“I’m trying to be reasonable here!”

“I know.”

“Which is pretty f*cking mature of me, given I’m upside down talking to your ass, Ben!” I growled in frustration, slapping at his rear one more time just for fun. Had ever a man been born so bone of head and firm of butt? I think not.

“Keep that up, I’m going to start giving it back to you,” he warned. “And my hands are a hell of a lot bigger than yours, Liz.”

“You are such an *.”

“You know, you act all cute, but you’ve got a mouth on you when you get riled up.”

“Bite me.”

“It’s late, Lizzy. Time for bad girls to go to bed,” he said.

“Aw, Ben. If you were having trouble scoring, you should have just said so. We could have worked something out.”

His laughter was low-down and dirty. “That’s real accommodating of you, sweetheart.”

“No worries. I think it’s a damn shame a big strong hairy rock star such as yourself has to take to kidnapping women out of bars to get any.”

Cool air hit the back of my thighs as the skirt of my dress was raised. Teeth grazed over my soft skin in warning, his breath coming dangerously close to warming pertinent areas. Or maybe that was just my imagination. Either way, time to freak right out.

“Don’t you f*cking dare,” I screeched, wriggling around.

Arms tightened around me and the sharp teeth were replaced with his lips. “Stop squirming.”