He glanced at the door the wolves had disappeared through. “But—”
She put up a hand impatiently. “I’ve taken care of myself this long. I think I can manage a little longer.”
“I just wanted to—”
“No,” she said, her cheeks flushing with anger now, making him miss the way they’d flushed with lust. “This isn’t up for debate. You aren’t my boyfriend. You aren’t even my friend. Not really.”
“I want to be,” he said.
She sighed. “Really? What we just did on the dance floor was because you want to be friends?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “If nothing else, I want to be friends.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” she said. “We’re attracted. That’s it. We have nothing in common. I’m a tall nerd that doesn’t need you. And you’re a gorgeous player who needs women to swoon over you.”
“I don’t need women to… Did you say I’m gorgeous?”
She quickly looked away. “No. Maybe. Anyway, I need to get back to my friends now. They’re probably missing me.” She looked over at a group of women, some of whom seemed to be pointing to Xander and making dirty gestures.
He fought back a grin as he turned back to meet Janet’s gaze. “Janet, I…”
She took a deep breath. “Xander. I’m saying this one more time, and I mean it. This isn’t going to work between us.”
Xander had to fight hard not to read her thoughts, something he could do easily as a dragon. He wanted to know why she was fighting him so hard when he hadn’t done anything wrong that he could think of. “But—”
“No buts,” she said, walking past him with her hand up, preventing any future comments. As she looked back to him, her green eyes gleamed. “You are gorgeous, Xander. Now put it to good use with someone who is looking for what you want to give.”
Then she was off, headed back to her group of friends who accepted her with drunken smiles.
Xander shoved his hands in his pockets as he leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and trying to remind himself he had to be patient.
He’d waited a hundred years. He could wait a little longer.
Chapter 3
A blast of cool air washed over Janet as she walked out the back door of the club into the rear parking lot. Her friends and co-workers followed in a drunk, giggling group behind her.
It was the expected result whenever Janet offered to be the designated driver, which was often.
A few dim lights hovered over the parking lot, and dozens of haphazardly parked cars created a makeshift maze as they headed toward the back.
Janet was laughing at one of her friend’s comments about her latest crush when she suddenly became aware of voices nearby.
To Janet’s right, three men were grouped by a black truck, talking drunkenly.
Her spine went straight as she tried to hurry her group forward, hoping the men wouldn’t look their way.
Unfortunately, Layla bumped into a car at that moment, uttering a drunken laugh that set Janet’s nerves on edge.
Dammit, Layla.
Immediately, all three men looked in their direction at once, their intense gazes pinned on Janet’s little group.
Two other women were helping Layla find her footing again, but it was too late.
The men were already headed toward them in a tight formation, almost like a small pack.
Janet’s stomach tightened as she recognized the man from before. The one she’d kicked in the crotch.
When he hadn’t dared to come back in the club, she figured he’d learned his lesson.
Apparently not.
But it was one thing to face off with a guy in a public environment and another to get caught alone with multiple guys in a dark parking lot with only drunk girls to back her up.
The black-haired, pasty-skinned man she’d kicked let out a loud wolf whistle as they drew closer, pulling the girls’ attention.
“Hey, ladies, how are we this fine evening?” A shorter man with a shaved head stepped out from behind the leader.
Ignoring them, Janet pressed forward, pulling her keys out of her pocket and unlocking her car up ahead. It beeped twice, and her thumb caressed the panic button in case she needed to make some noise.
“Hey, where are you going so fast? The night’s just starting,” the third one jovially exclaimed, pulling at his brown bomber jacket and wearing a shit-eating grin that was presumably supposed to be charming.
They were moving in closer, only a handful of yards away now.
Janet kept her gaze forward, ignoring them and hoping—somewhat against hope—that they’d take a hint for once in their lives.
They didn’t.
“Just let us buy you a few drin—Oh… you’re the tall chick from earlier,” sweaty face said, narrowing his eyes on her.
The recognition in his voice made Janet’s skin crawl, and for a moment, she considered turning her little drunk wagon train around and heading back to the club until these guys cleared out.
But with how drunk some of her friends were and the distance they’d so far covered, Janet wasn’t sure they’d even make it halfway.
“Yeah, I think that’s her,” shorn head said.
The men slowed as they came up alongside like pirates hoping to board a limping galleon.
Janet clenched her teeth, considering her options. She could run, but her friends would be vulnerable.
Still, she couldn’t take on all three.
“Hey, no hard feelings by the way,” the leader said, though the hard look in his eyes said otherwise. “I mean, my balls still hurt like shit, but I’m willing to let you make it up to me.”
Finally losing it, Janet whirled on the three of them, hands in tight fists at her sides.
“Just leave us alone. Go slumming somewhere else for people desperate enough to want you.”
Her words had no effect on the men, who were moving ahead, corralling Janet and her co-workers in a loose semicircle, blocking them from their car now.
The guy who deserved a second kick to the groin put his hands up in mock placation. “Hey, we’re all just friends here. No reason we all can’t get along and have a good night.”
Janet guessed her version of a good night was very different.
For a moment, just a fleeting moment she wasn’t proud of, she thought of Xander.
She should have taken him up on his offer to walk them out.
On her sides and behind her, Janet’s little wagon train crawled to a halt, her smaller co-workers dwarfed by the noticeably taller guys.
“You need to get out of our way. Now.” Janet’s voice was firmer this time.
“What’s going on?” Layla mumbled from behind, unaware of the situation.
“I like the blond one here. Would love to take that for a spin,” the jacketed one said with a slimy grin.
To Janet’s shock, he reached forward and grasped Layla’s wrist, pulling her forward like a lion trying to single out a wounded gazelle from its herd.
“You take your hands off her,” Janet said fiercely, grabbing Layla’s other hand to pull her back.
Thankfully, the guy let go. But the thinly veiled anger in his gaze didn’t bode well for them. “I was just being playful. You don’t have to be such a bitch.”
Ah, bitch. The instant fallback whenever Janet insisted on having boundaries.
The men were standing slightly closer now, like tall walls closing in all around them.
“How ‘bout we all hop into my truck?” the leader asked. “We could see the sights, show you a side of the city you ladies will never forget.”
Her hand was in her pocket now, reaching for her phone, though she had no idea who she should call.
Dammit, this was just supposed to be a harmless night of fun.
A drip of sweat trailed down the leader’s temple, and Janet didn’t like what she saw in his dull, angry gray eyes.
Suddenly, another sound interrupted the stillness of the parking lot, and Janet glance
d toward the thudding sound of what she could only guess were unnecessarily heavy boots making contact with asphalt nearby.
It was a man striding around from the front of the building, head tilted downward toward the subtle glare of his phone in his hand, texting furiously.
He wore a thick leather jacket, and as one of the dim lights of the parking lot illuminated him slightly, she recognized Xander.
She didn’t know whether to feel relief or irritation that he was the one to stumble upon them.
Maybe both.
As she was summoning her courage to call out for him, when she’d never asked a man for help before, he suddenly looked her way.
His vivid blue eyes narrowed as he appraised the situation, then locked his gaze with hers.
“Hey!” He waved a hand, pocketing his phone. His height was obvious as he jogged toward them, booted feet pounding heavily on the pavement. As he got closer, he gave them a glowing grin, shoving his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels. “Couldn’t let my favorite ladies leave without saying good-bye, now could I?”
All eyes, including the men’s, were on Xander as he cleared the distance between them in a matter of seconds.
Janet tried hard to ignore her co-workers excited waves and goofy, turned-on grins. As Xander passed her group to put himself between them and the three vultures, Janet had no idea what to say.
“So, guys, what can I do for you tonight?” Xander sounded as chill as the autumn air, but there was a coldness in his vivid blue eyes as he stared down the other men.
By now, the three men were a mix of annoyed and uncertain as they appraised the much taller, ridiculously built male specimen standing before them.
“Are you… with all of them?” short hair asked, pointing from Xander to Janet and then back.
“Yeah,” Xander said. “Isn’t that right, ladies?” He looked over his shoulder at her semi-discombobulated band, and Janet watched irritably as her co-workers eagerly nodded, each ready to swoon at his feet.
She sort of understood the feeling.
“You’re shitting us, dude. Just buzz off,” the one with the bomber jacket said.
Xander turned back to face the three men, who, despite their numbers, actually looked like the ones outnumbered. “No can do. Chivalry is not dead, and these ladies just want to get home safe. So if you’ll excuse us…”
Xander waved nonchalantly, as if the guys in his way were mere flies. And for a moment, they backed off, swinging like a door to make space.
Realizing there was an opening, Janet’s friends started to move past her and Xander, making their way toward their car at the back.
The men frowned with angry impotence, but none moved a muscle, like dogs forced to sit against their will.
Xander just smiled at them smugly.
When all of her friends were safe, Janet turned to go as well. But as she did, the leader stabbed a finger in her direction.
His voice was a threatening growl. “I won’t forget what you did. Watch your back, bi—”
Before Janet could blink, Xander was in the greaseball’s face. In the same moment, he grabbed the thug’s finger, wrenching down and to the side in an eerily swift motion, and Janet heard a cracking sound that was as organic as it was spine tingling.
It was the sound of tendon and maybe even bone being pulled far past its normal range of motion.
Xander leaned forward, and the man cringed beneath his intimidating height. “I wouldn’t fucking do that if I were you. Point this finger one more time or make one more fucking peep—just one single word out of your mouth— and I’ll be taking this home with me.”
Xander’s voice was so quiet Janet was certain only she and the other guys could hear it. But his tone was dark, different, commanding, making gooseflesh stand up on her arms. It was a Xander she’d never heard before.
Xander’s frown deepened as he glared at the man beneath him. “Just do it. I dare you.”
The black-haired man’s eyes were bulging so wide Janet could see the red veins at the corners as he just shook his head feebly.
Ahead of them, her group was turning to look at her, curious why she was lagging behind but otherwise completely unaware of the situation.
Janet couldn’t do anything but watch, frozen in momentary awe.
Xander pulled the finger down a little farther, and the crunch sound got a little louder before he finally let go. The man gasped, then shut his mouth immediately, staring up at Xander in terrified obeisance.
“Ha-ha, fun times,” Xander said, wiping his hands but watching as the three of them pushed each other as they tried to scrabble away. “Now get out of here. And don’t try this shit again, or you’ll be coming back to my place where I’ll throw you a party you’ll never forget.”
As they left, Xander playfully kicked the one with the bomber jacket in the ass with his heavy boot. The fact that he almost fell onto his face on the asphalt gave Janet the impression that it hadn’t actually been that playful.
As the men disappeared, Jan turned back to see her co-workers waiting for her by the car, giggling.
“We can wait,” one of them yelled to her. “You thank that hottie!”
Janet let out a groan, robbed of any excuse not to face Xander. She turned to him awkwardly, averting her eyes to the pavement. “Thank you. You were a big help.”
She watched his boots take a step forward.
“I saved the damsel,” his deep voice teased. “I think the protocol is a kiss.”
She swallowed nervously. Her heart was still pounding from the danger they’d been in a moment before. She was still processing the fact that she was safe now.
And that she’d had to rely on someone else.
“Hey, wait,” he said gently, seeming to sense her distress. “I was just joking. Jan, I don’t—”
Her hands tightened until her nails bit into her palms painfully. “You think this is a joke?” She glared up at him. “You know what could have just happened? How it feels to—”
He stepped forward, putting his hands on her shoulders, and for some reason, she didn’t push him away.
It felt good. Safe. What she needed at the moment, even if she was ashamed of it.
“Hey,” he said softly, brushing her hair back. “I don’t think it’s a joke. I wouldn’t have broken that asshole’s hand if I was joking. But yeah, I don’t know how it feels to be… uh… I’m not sure how to put it without offending you.”
“Physically weaker,” Janet said miserably.
Xander released one of her shoulders to rub the back of his neck. “Yeah. That.”
Janet stepped back out of his reach, and everything grew that much more awkward.
“Look, Jan, there’s nothing wrong with needing help,” Xander said. “You still kick ass, and I was happy to do it. In fact, if you want help getting home, I can—”
She put up a hand, feeling the night wind catch and lift a stray curl across her cheek. “That’s not—Thank you, Xander. I really do appreciate what you did. But I can take it from here.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets as she spun away from him, headed back to her car. “What do you have to lose by just giving me a chance, Janet?”
She looked back at him hesitantly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
He was too tall. Too strong. Too gorgeous. The type that would tear a woman apart when he left to take on the next conquest, never even knowing someone had been hurt.
“Everything,” she said, shaking her head warily. She met his disappointed gaze. “But after this, maybe we can be friends.”
He stared at her, then slowly nodded, and she turned to leave, wanting the night to just be over.
She could feel him watching her as she walked back to the car to meet her friends.
Guilt over how she’d treated him washed over her, distracting her enough that she didn’t notice a pothole right by the driver’s side door.
Her ankle twisted painfully, and she let out a yelp.<
br />
“You okay?” Xander called out. “That sounded bad.”
“I’m fine,” she yelled, perhaps a little too sharply. “Totally fine.”
She knew she was leaving things awkward between them, but she decided she would have to make it up to him some other way.
She limped into the car, and as she pulled away, she gave Xander a wave. He waved back, silhouetted by moonlight.
A part of her ached to go back to him.
The rest of her drove away down the road.
Chapter 4
Despite feeling satisfaction at saving his mate, Xander was restless as he lay on the couch in his apartment, watching a movie while his twin brother and his mate snuggled on the other couch.
“Your ex-roommate is a tough nut to crack,” he muttered warily.
Kelsie looked his way, her arms still around Tristan’s neck. “Why do you say that?”
Xander was getting a little tired of all the PDA, but mostly because it reminded him of what he didn’t have with Janet.
“I’m not getting anywhere with her,” he said. “She’s attracted to me, but—”
“She’s really independent,” Kelsie said. “She always has been. I’ve tried to talk to her about it. She’s friends with lots of people, but she doesn’t date much. She always says she doesn’t need a man around, screwing things up.”
Xander frowned at that, folding his arms over his chest stubbornly. He didn’t think he’d been screwing things up when he showed up to save her and her friends.
Or when he held her on the dance floor, making her think things he hoped she’d never thought about anyone else.
He unfolded his arms so he could crack his knuckles angrily at the thought of her with another male.
“Earth to Xander?” Tristan interjected. “Look, it’s not like you to just give up. Why don’t you go talk to her?”
“At her place?” Xander sat up slightly. “How would I do that?”
“I could give you the address,” Kelsie said. She moved out of Tristan’s lap to go over to her purse and pull out her phone. Kelsie had medium-dark skin and curly brown hair. She was short and curvy and looked nothing like Janet.
Dragon Meets Girl: Forgotten Dragons Book 2 Page 2
