Protecting Honor

by Dena Christy

  When he’d come home from work he’d expected her to be there, but his house had been empty when he’d walked in the door. It was like it had been before she’d come into his life and he couldn’t say that he liked it much. His mouth gave a sour twist. He liked his space, he’d just gotten used to having her around, that’s all. It certainly wasn’t because the house felt incredibly empty without her there.

  After he’d showered and paced around the house, he’d decided to come to the bar. He was here to congratulate her on getting the job. He’d have a beer and head home.

  The place was packed but he managed to find a table near the back, close to the backroom that held the pool table and the pinball machine. He slung his leather jacket over the back of his chair, sat down and he scanned the bar, searching for her. It felt like a punch in the gut when his eyes zeroed in on her. She was busy taking an order, and when she turned around and saw him a smile bloomed across her face. He didn’t smile back.

  She went over behind the bar and clipped her order to the pass through that led to the kitchen. Alex leaned over to say something to her as he flicked her on the leg with the towel he held in his hand, and Rafe’s hand curled in a fist on the top of the table when she laughed at whatever he’d said.

  His eyes tracked her movements as she came out from behind the bar and headed over to him. He wasn’t the only one who was watching her, and who could blame the other wolves in the room for looking at her. She wore the red Sawyer’s Place t-shirt, and it looked a hell of a lot better on her than it did on Alex. She’d knotted it at her waist and it emphasized her full breasts and tiny waist and that look was accentuated by the small black apron tied around her middle. The black jeans she wore hugged her hips and he was sure by the looks she was getting when she walked by that they made her ass look spectacular. Her deep red hair was pulled into a high pony tail and he tried to tell himself that was what was drawing so many eyes. Unfortunately he was pretty sure it was her ass that the single males in the room were looking at.

  He swallowed down the urge to grab her and hustle her out of the bar. With a conscious effort he uncurled his fist and did his best to erase the scowl that was on his face. As long as all the wolves in the room did was look, there wasn’t much he could do about it. He might not like it, but he couldn’t very well make a scene. Logan would hand his ass to him if he caused trouble in the bar.

  “Hey you.” She came to stand beside him at the table, and for the first time since she’d come running to him after her brother’s death, the worry was gone from her face. She looked relaxed and happy and he felt like an ass for not wanting her to be here. If being here helped her forget all the shit that had gone on in her life recently, then he would just have to suck it up and get used to it.

  “So how long after you asked did Logan give you the job?”

  She looked around for a second and sat down in the chair next to him. “Something like two seconds. I don’t know how Alex has been able to cope if this is what it’s like every night.”

  “Not all nights are like this.” And Rafe had a feeling that the woman sitting beside him was the reason the place was jumping. “Are you going to be here until closing?”

  “I think so. That won’t be a problem, will it? I’ll try to be quiet when I get home in case you’re sleeping.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” He doubted he would be able to sleep a wink until she was safely locked in the house. “I’ll probably still be up. I’m glad you got the job.”

  “Really?” She looked at him and seemed so pleased that he couldn’t dampen her mood with the thoughts churning in his head. The last thing he wanted was for her to spend her nights here, but he couldn’t expect her to sit in his house twiddling her thumbs waiting for him to come home from work everyday.

  “Yes, really. It looks like you’re fitting in here, and you certainly class the place up better than Alex does.”

  A blush colored her cheeks and she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. He froze for a second, since this was the first time she’d voluntarily shown him any affection. All the touches that had passed between them before now had been ones of comfort, and he’d usually instigated them.

  She pulled back and her eyes darted down to his mouth for a second. Was she thinking about kissing him on the mouth? All of a sudden that was all he could think about. A funny smile crossed her face and she seemed to recover herself. She stood up and pulled her order pad out of her pocket.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “Just a beer.”

  She nodded and turned away. His eyes darted down to her behind, and as he suspected it looked great in the tight black denim. Damn his mate was hot.

  A wave of cold passed over him when the thought entered his head. She was not his mate. Maybe everyone in the room thought she belonged to him, but both he and Honor knew that was a sham. He couldn’t start thinking that what was between them was real.

  He tore his eyes away from the sway of her hips as she walked toward the bar. His gaze went to the door and he saw Mason come in with his arm around his mate Grace’s shoulder. On the other side of the room, Faith raised her hand to them where she sat with Logan and their son, Connor. Mason leaned in to whisper something in Grace’s ear before he let her go. She walked in the direction of Faith and Logan’s table, but Mason didn’t join her. He made a beeline for Rafe’s table, a grin spreading across his face.

  “So where is she?”

  Mason threw himself down in the seat beside him and Rafe resisted the urge to tell him to go away.

  “Where’s who?” He was sure he knew who Mason was talking about, but he wasn’t in the mood to talk about Honor.

  “The female who managed to wrangle the Cold Bay Casanova. It’s all over town what happened last night. Wish I’d been here to see it.” Mason’s eyes scanned the room and Rafe knew the moment that he spotted Honor. He gave a low whistle, and Rafe bristled for a second. “No wonder the place is hopping tonight.”

  Before Rafe could say anything, Honor came toward them with several drinks on her tray. She put down a coaster and the beer bottle in front of Rafe. She smiled at Mason. “Can I get you something?”

  “I’m going to be joining Logan at his table in a minute. I just wanted to talk to Rafe for a minute. I’m Mason.” He stuck out his hand and Honor shifted her tray so she could take his hand.

  “I’m Honor.” She shook his hand and looked at Rafe for a second. She seemed to want to say something. “Have a good night if I don’t get to see you before you leave. I’ll see you at home.”

  “Oh, I’ll probably stick around until you’re done.” It would be torture to sit here and watch all those eyes on her but there was no way he could sit quietly at home. He needed to keep an eye on her and make sure no one stepped over the line.

  “Okay. It was nice meeting you, Mason.” And with that she turned away to deliver the rest of her drinks, her pony tail swinging behind her.

  “Logan will kick your ass if you cause trouble.” Mason spoke quietly beside him while Rafe took a sip of his beer.

  “I have no intention of causing trouble.” And he wouldn’t. As long as all the wolves here behaved themselves, so would he.

  “That’s not what the look on your face says every time you catch someone looking at her ass.”

  Rafe set his beer on top of the table with a thunk. “Are you trying to tell me that it wouldn’t bother you if a bunch of wolves were staring at Grace’s ass?”

  Mason threw his head back and laugh. “I seem to recall that I picked a fight with you for just talking to her, so you know the answer to that. But there’s a difference. Grace is my mate in every sense of the word. Are you trying to say that there is more to your mating with Honor than just keeping her out of Eden Creek?”

  “Logan told you about that?”

  “He filled me in earlier when I found out that you announced that she was your mate. So what happened?”

  Rafe took another sip of his beer. He didn’t w
ant to have this discussion. “I saw Barrett with his hands on her and I snapped. I said the only thing I could to keep her here.”

  “Your sure that’s all it was? She’s beautiful, and from what Logan says, she’s a good woman. You could do a lot worse than settling down with a woman like her.”

  Rafe didn’t bother to answer, and his beer was half way to his lips when he saw an inebriated young wolf, Austin Wright, reach out and slap Honor across the ass. A growl rumbled in his chest as he shot to his feet and his chair hit the floor. He was halfway around the table when Mason grabbed a hold of him.

  “Dial it down, man.”

  “Fuck that. You saw what he did.”

  “I did, and so did Logan.” Mason inclined his head to where Logan was making his way over to where Honor and the young wolf stood.

  “Out.” His alpha’s voice rang out over the din, and everyone fell silent so that the only thing that could be heard was the background music. “First you apologize to her and then you get out of my bar.”

  Austin looked down at the floor and said something. Honor nodded and went back to the bar with her empty tray. Logan took the wolf by the arm and led him to the door.

  “Don’t come back until you learn some manners. You be respectful while you are here, and this is your only warning. If you come in here and pull a stunt like that again, I’ll let her mate deal with you.” Logan pointed to Rafe and the blood drained from Austin’s face as he looked at him. The young wolf hurried out the door, and Mason let go of Rafe.

  Rafe carefully set his beer bottle on the top of the table, went over to his overturned chair and righted it. He slowly picked his jacket up off the floor and shrugged it on. Logan turned from the door and came over to join him and Mason.

  “You ready to get something to eat?” Logan’s eyes swept over Rafe. “You’ll join us too.”

  “I don’t want to intrude. I’m just going to head home.” After he took care of Austin. The little bastard wouldn’t be able to lay a hand on anyone by the time he was finished.

  “Do you think I’m stupid? I can tell by the look in your eyes that you have no intention of heading straight home.”

  “I’m not going to let that little punk get away with what he did.”

  Logan rolled his eyes. “Did you not see me handle it? He’s apologized and he’s gone. Does she seem bothered by it?”

  Rafe looked over at where Honor was picking up a food order from the pass through and she was wearing the smile she’d had on her face since he’d walked in the bar.

  “He touched her.” His voice was a low rumble, and in his head he knew that Logan had already dealt with Austin, but it wasn’t enough.

  “And you can bet your ass that he is not going to do it again. Neither will anyone else in this room for that matter. Do you see how happy she is? Do you really want to spoil that by beating the shit out of a kid who had too much to drink and did something stupid?” Logan didn’t wait for him to answer as he turned his glare on him and lowered his voice. “What you are going to do is come over to my table, have dinner with us and you’re going to wipe the scowl off your face.”

  Logan walked back to his table and sat down. Rafe wanted to walk out the door right now, no matter what his alpha said.

  “You know that was an order, right?”

  “I know.” And an order from his alpha was not to be disobeyed. “Looks like I’ll be joining you for dinner.”

  “And maybe you should think about why you’re so hot and bothered. I’ve seen other men flirt with women you’ve dated, while you were dating them and you never batted an eye. Something to think about.”

  Mason walked away from him and Rafe sighed. He didn’t want to think about the green eyed monster that seemed to be intent on taking over whenever he saw another wolf in Honor’s vicinity. He tried to tell himself it was because he was doing what Quinn would have done, but the feelings inside him when he looked at her were far from brotherly.

  7

  Honor gave a happy sigh as she untied her apron from around her waist and hung it on the peg behind the bar. The kitchen had closed hours ago, and she and Alex had just finished putting the bar back to rights after their busy night.

  “Is there anything else I need to do?”

  “Nope, we’re all done. What a night.” Alex blew out a sigh and smiled over at her. “We make a good team.”

  “We sure do.” Honor raised her fist and he gave her a fist bump in return. “I’ll be glad to get home and get off my feet.”

  Although she was wearing sensible black running shoes, her feet ached and she was tired from all the running she’d done that night.

  “And you need to go put that wolf out of his misery. I can handle locking up.” Alex inclined his head to where Rafe sat waiting for her.

  There was no one else in the bar except the three of them. Logan had left with his family shortly after they’d finished eating. She’d gone back to Rafe periodically to see if he needed anything, but he’d stopped drinking after one beer and had nursed the same glass of cola. She was sure he had to be tired since he’d put in a full days work doing physical labor before he’d come here.

  “Night, Alex.” Honor grabbed her jacket and purse from behind the bar and made her way over to Rafe. He looked up at her and gave her a tired smile.

  “Ready to go?” He stood up and stretched. His muscles flexed under his tight navy t-shirt and her stomach gave a funny flip. “So how was your first night?”

  “Good. But I’m ready to go home.”

  He shrugged on his black leather jacket and walked toward the door ahead of her. She couldn’t believe it for a second that she was actually going home with this man. He looked like a badass in the leather jacket and faded jeans and she wondered what he would do if she gave in to the impulse to kiss him.

  Probably push her away.

  She hitched her purse up over her shoulder. He’d been very clear that this mating between them wasn’t real and that he would let her go once it was over. Kissing him or anything else would be a mistake. Still, it would be nice to feel his lips on hers again.

  He stopped once they got out of the bar and turned to look at her. “Why don’t you ride home with me in the truck tonight? I’ll drop you off to get your car in the morning on my way to work.”

  Honor shrugged her shoulders and followed him to the truck. She didn’t know why he didn’t want her following him in her car, but she wasn’t about to argue. She was getting tired now and the last thing she wanted to do was pay attention to the drive home.

  He opened the passenger side door for her and she climbed into the cab of his truck. She put on her seat belt and waited for him to get in on the other side. He got in, put on his seatbelt and started the truck.

  Honor sighed and relaxed back in the seat. Now that she’d stopped running, she didn’t want to move and was glad that he’d suggested that she leave her car at Sawyer’s Place.

  “Tired?” His voice was low and soft, and she glanced over at him. He took his eyes from the road for a second and she smiled at him. The corners of his mouth pulled up as he turned his head to face forward again.

  “I am, but it’s a good tired.” She settled back in her seat and closed her eyes. The warmth of the truck and the music on the radio soothed her.

  “Honor, it’s time to get out of the truck.”

  Honor opened her eyes with a start and was surprised to see that they were sitting in front of Rafe’s house and he was gently shaking her awake. She must have been a lot more tired than she thought she’d been. Good thing he drove home if she was tired enough to fall asleep in the truck.

  “I’m awake.” She fumbled with her seatbelt, grabbed her purse and pulled the handle on the door. She got out of the truck and groaned.

  Rafe came around the truck. “What’s wrong?”

  “My feet hurt. I’ll be okay in a second.” Pain went through her feet when she took her first tentative steps toward the door, and she groaned again. She took anothe
r slow step forward.

  “At this rate, we’ll get to the house tomorrow.”

  Honor gave a startled gasp as Rafe scooped her up in his arms and strode with her to the house. She wasn’t about to protest since he was right. It would have taken her forever to get to the house.

  She put an arm around his neck, and his scent filled her nostrils. God, he smelled so good. The mix of his soap, aftershave and something that was uniquely him made her want to nuzzle her face in close to his neck. Why couldn’t this be a real mating?

  She put the thought out of her head when he set her on her feet by the front door and unlocked it. He put his arm around her and she leaned against him when they walked in. She took off her coat and hung it on the hook by the door, took off her shoes and hobbled over to the couch.

  She gave a sigh of relief as she sank down on the sofa and wiggled her toes. “God it feels good to get those shoes off.”

  He hung up his coat, took off his boots and locked the front door. He came over to the couch and sat down beside her.

  “Are you sure you want to keep doing this?”

  She looked over at him, and the scowl he’d worn for most of the night was back. It was evident that he wasn’t happy with her working at Sawyer’s Place, despite his telling her earlier that he was glad she’d gotten the job. She searched her mind for a way to explain to him why this was important.

  “I had fun tonight.”

  An incredulous look crossed his face. “You had fun getting ogled by drunks and slapped on the ass?”

  Well, that explained the scowl, because while the looks she’d been getting all night hadn’t bothered her, it had certainly bothered Rafe. And after Logan had dealt with the wolf who’d slapped her butt, she’d put it from her mind. It made her think of what Logan had told her this morning about why Rafe had been resistant to her working at the bar.