I pulled back slightly and raised a brow. “Look who’s talking.”
“Hey, at least I respect women afterward.”
“Oh, really?” I rolled my eyes as he led me around the dance floor. “If you had any amount of respect for them, you wouldn’t sleep with them to begin with. At least not so soon. Maybe try spending a little time getting to know something about the woman, other than what kind of underwear she wears…or doesn’t wear.”
His firm hand tightened on my waist, and I could feel the aggravation in his fingertips. “Oh, that’s rich coming from a woman who was letting Bubba Ray feel her up two minutes ago.”
My feet stopped moving. “Excuse me?”
“I saw him touching you. You shy away from me every chance you get, but you’ll let that fucking idiot put his hands all over you?”
“Put his…?” I shook my head, not believing what he was accusing me of, then the anger took over. “He touched my arm, you jerk!”
Irritation tightened his jaw. “Yeah, and it wouldn’t be long before he was playing grab-ass with you and rolling you into his bed for a slumber party.”
I dropped my hand from his as other patrons danced past us. “Bubba Ray’s been nothing but a perfect gentleman with me, which is more than I can say for you. If you think there was anything going on between him and me back there, then you’re more delusional than I gave you credit for.”
“Yeah right,” he scoffed. “That’s why tonight you dressed up and put on all that heavy makeup—because there’s nothing going on?” His eyes filled with hostility, and his lip curled with revulsion. “You know, maybe you’re more of a liar than I gave you credit for.”
Outraged, I barely had time to register what I was doing when my hand smacked across his face. I blinked, shocked by my own reaction. Actually, I wasn’t sure who was more surprised—him or me. No matter. I refused to apologize for my behavior after the way he spoke to me. I turned and walked quickly away. He didn’t even try to stop me.
I squeezed through the crowd, fighting back tears of frustration, when I bumped a man’s arm and spilled his beer on both of us. “Oh, I’m sorr—”
“You!” Joe Barlow stood there, looking none too happy and wiping his beer-soaked hand on his pants. “What the hell are you doing here? Now you’re following us?”
“Of course not.”
Clay peered around his brother. “Then what’s a stuffy girl like you doing in a place like this? I’ve never seen you in here before.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m here with my friends.” I motioned to where Emily and Jake stood talking to Bobbie Jo across the room, though none of them looked in my direction.
“You’re with that FBI guy?” Joe looked at Clay, then back to me. His jaw clenched as he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him, whispering into my face with his beer breath. “You better keep your damn mouth shut, if you know what’s good for ya. If I find out you’re talking to him about us, then you’re going to see firsthand just how mean I can get.”
I glanced down at his fingers clutching my skin, then made the mistake of trailing my gaze upward to the tattoo on his arm. A large red fire-breathing dragon covered the bulk of his bicep with its red tail wrapping the length of Joe’s forearm and ending at his wrist. Bright orange flames shot from its mouth.
It only reminded me of their earlier intimidation tactics and made me wonder if I was the only neighbor the Barlow boys had threatened to burn out of her home. That’s when I remembered something. Cowboy had mentioned the Barlows getting into an argument with the chief the day of his death. Also, the fire chief and his wife had lived only half a mile up the road from my home next to the Barlows’ residence.
Was it possible they were involved in the deaths of the chief and his wife? The thought terrified me, but I couldn’t verbalize my fear. The brothers would just feed on it.
Not wanting to show how scared of him I truly was, I met Joe’s gaze directly and narrowed my eyes. “Let go of my arm.”
He chuckled, not the least bit intimidated. “Who’s going to make me?”
A rich male voice rang out from behind me. “Me, that’s who.”
I didn’t recognize the voice.
Flustered, my head jerked in his general direction, wanting to get a look at the bystander who was brave enough to step in and stand in my defense. With just three little words, he’d drawn the defining line between the Barlow brothers and me.
The dark-haired man’s chiseled jaw was held tight and his arms were crossed, as if he were waiting for the idiot body builder to release me on command. Something I didn’t see happening anytime soon.
“Why don’t you mind your own business, dickhead?” Joe told the man, waving him off with his free hand.
The unknown man smirked at that. “I’m making this my business. Let go of her. Now.”
“And if I don’t?”
The man took a step forward just as Mandy Barlow walked over. “Hey, guys. What’s going on over here?” She took notice of Joe’s fingers wrapped around my arm. “Joe, you stop it right now, ya hear? If you don’t let her go this instant, I’m gonna call Momma and tell on you.” She glared at her other brother standing on the sidelines. “On both of you.”
“Aw, Mandy, we’re just playing around,” Clay said. “We weren’t really gonna do nothing to her. Were we, Joe?”
Joe smiled at me, but released my arm. “Of course not. Just talking to her, that’s all.”
Mandy looked at me and smiled warmly. “Anna, right? You’re Cowboy’s friend?”
I nodded silently, though I was pretty sure Cowboy and I weren’t friends after I’d slapped him in the middle of the dance floor.
“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure these two don’t bother you anymore.” Mandy gestured to her brothers who were still in a stare-down with the stranger who had stepped in to rescue me. “Come on, fellas. Let’s leave Anna and her…uh, friend alone now. You two have caused enough trouble for one night. It’s time to go.”
Clay grumbled under his breath as he followed Mandy toward the door. She stopped a few feet away, apparently realizing Joe hadn’t moved from his position. “Joe! I said it’s time to leave. Come on, or you’ll be walking home.”
Joe slowly backed away from the dark-headed man, though they were both still eyeing each other. I breathed a sigh of relief as the Barlow clan disappeared out the front doors, then turned to the man standing beside me. “Thank you for stepping in. That was very sweet of you.”
“No problem, ma’am.” He winked at me and offered his arm. “You seem a bit shaken up. How about I buy you a drink and show you the proper way a man should treat a lady?”
I considered his offer carefully. He seemed like an okay guy, but the last thing I wanted to do was lead him to believe that a drink would turn into anything more. I wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship—casual or otherwise—and was happy to go home alone.
Okay, so maybe that was a lie. No one wanted to be alone. Not really. I’d spent a lot of time alone after my mother died and wouldn’t wish that kind of isolation on anyone. But the thought of taking off my clothes and bearing my soul to a complete stranger wasn’t very appealing, either.
So maybe I did want some companionship, after all. Just not with him. Unfortunately, he was the only one offering me anything at the moment. I couldn’t very well say no without coming off rude, could I?
Things had worked out in his favor with the brothers, but they easily could’ve taken a nasty turn if Mandy hadn’t stepped in when she did. The Barlow boys didn’t come off as deep thinkers so I doubted they’d have outsmarted this guy, but they definitely would’ve outnumbered him. The least I could do was have a drink with my rescuer.
“Okay, sure. Let’s go get that drink.” I smiled and laced my arm through his, allowing him to lead me away.
He ushered me to an isolated corner table at the back of the bar. I slid into a chair against the wall, expecting him to sit in the one across from me. Instead, he pulled it around and sat beside me, so close that his blue-jeaned leg rubbed against mine.