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She held on to his hand, tugging him down so she could be heard over the heavyfroet whisked away again"

He nodded and plowed a path through the crowd, towing her along behind hio of her hand It was for the best, but for the first ti air

"What would you like?"

Larem had leaned down close to her ear to ask She turned toward hiain For a second she thought he’d read her thoughts because he swayed toward her a fraction of an inch before abruptly standing back

She blinked, wondering if she’d only iined that small connection, but then she sensed another presence They weren’t alone Lonzo was standing right behind the the top on a beer She realized she’d never answered Larem, but accepted the pop he held out to her

"Thank you"

She hoped he realized she meant for more than just the drink It was hard not to be disappointed by the missed opportunity, but it was definitely for the best She didn’t knohat to do about the attraction she felt for Larem Rather than stand there next to te for DJ

Chapter 12

Lonzo nudged Lare at her like that She’s cute and all, but Sasha’s the boss, not to ent"

Larem was tempted to tell his rooht Lareetting burned if her father found out a Kalith warrior was itching to get naked with his daughter

"There’s nothing going on"

"Yeah, right" Lonzo nodded toward the dance floor where Sasha was dancing with DJ "I doubt anyone but me and Hunter know for sure that you’re seriously interested in her, but you need to be careful"

"I had one dance with her, and so did you" He glared in DJ’s direction "Go talk to him He’s on his second"

Lonzo snorted "Yeah, he is, but she isn’t cuddling with hiot to tell you, bro, those were some serious moves you put on her out there"

"So I was lucky enough to get a song with a slow beat instead of whatever you want to call that racket" His words carowl than intended

Lonzo understood hirew thicker, his te That didn’tto piss you off, man, but you need to tread carefully You already made waves when you went all heroic and saved her life, not to ot all territorial when you faced down those two punks earlier Toss in holding her close like that on the dance floor, and youher as yours"

Anger slid through Lare"

"No, you were both too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else But I wasn’t the only one watching, and there was definitely so on Maybe you could deflect soo dance with someone else Better yet, a couple of so Lareht "Fine, I’ll go dance, but the first person who laughs gets his ass kicked, especially if it’s you"

Lonzo grinned "Fair enough Meanwhile, I’ to steal Sasha before solared at hi out for your interests, roomie"

"Sure you are"

"I sure as hell am" Lonzo turned serious "I don’t poach"

The party sloound down With everyone pitching in, the final cleanup didn’t take long One by one, the cars and trucks disappeared fro a lift to the apartment he shared with Lonzo, but he wanted to make sure Sasha had a way back to her hotel Yeah, she was a big girl and could find her own ride, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself

Lonzo, always the mind reader, leaned close and murmured, "Want me to ask her if she needs a ride?"

Lareave in to the teo ahead"

He watched as his roo an indirect route to where Sasha stood chatting with Lacey S That would lessen the likelihood that anyone would think anything of his casual offer to give Sasha a ride

To reinforce the idea that Lonzo was operating on his own, Larem left the house to stand outside by the truck Either Sasha would be with Lonzo or she wouldn’t; all he could do ait to see

A ain Lareainst the fender of the truck but ihtened up as soon as Sasha stepped out into the night air He ignored the surge of excite toward hiht vision, so he carefully schooled his features to express only mild interest in her approach