Aidan (Blue Halo Book 5)

“What a night,” Logan said quietly, leaning back in his seat, his arm around Grace.

Tyler smiled, lifting his beer to his mouth. The entire team, men and women, were sitting around the table now. The danger surrounding Cassie was gone. Aidan had proposed to the woman. Life was good.

His beer had just hit the table when he felt it. The woman’s gaze on him. Again. Not just him, though. The other men at the table as well. She’d been looking over at them the entire evening.

He turned toward her. Immediately, her eyes widened and she looked down. Unlike her, Tyler didn’t look away.

Beautiful. The woman was beautiful. The black top, although showing little skin, pulled tightly across an ample chest. The red highlights in her hair were bright under the dim lighting of the bar, and the thick waves fell over her shoulders and down her back.

But what really had him captivated was the light amber of her eyes. When their gazes clashed, those eyes hit him right in his chest, almost stealing his breath.

Fucking radiant.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Blake asked, his voice booming over the table.

Tyler dragged his attention back to his team.

Cassie laughed. “Give us a month or two to be engaged.”

Aidan pressed a kiss to her head. “I’d marry you tomorrow.”

Courtney shook her head. “No. Nope. No. You need time to be engaged. To choose the venue. The food and wine. The dress. And we need time to plan the bachelorette party.”

The women started talking excitedly about the party while the men chuckled and rolled their eyes.

From his peripheral vision, Tyler noticed a younger guy sidle up to the woman at the bar. His muscles tensed, though he had no idea why, and he looked directly at them. He watched her closely as she gave the guy a polite smile. Definitely no affection there.

When the guy leaned closer, her smile dropped. Tyler was a second away from crossing the room when the woman pressed a hand to the man’s chest and pushed.

A smile played at his lips at the way the guy blew out a breath and walked away.

Good. The only thing he hated more than an asshole, was an asshole who harassed women and couldn’t understand the word no.

Her gaze skittered over to him from beneath her lashes. One side of his mouth lifted. She bit her bottom lip and looked back to the bar.

Yeah, honey, I see you looking. He just wanted to know why.

An arm swung around his shoulders. Liam grinned at him. “She’s pretty.”

He glanced at his friend. “She is. Not why I’m looking at her, though.” Well, not the entire reason. “Just wondering why she keeps looking over here.”

Liam lifted his brows. “Maybe someone caught her eye.”

It was more than that. Her glances were too frequent, and each time they locked eyes, she looked away too quickly. “It’s something else. And it’s not just me she’s looking at—it’s all of us.”

Callum lifted his shoulders from the other side of the table. “Everyone in the country knows our faces after we were in the media.”

Liam nudged his shoulder. “Yeah, maybe she just wants an autograph.”

Tyler shook his head.

“You should go talk to her,” Carina said from beside him.

He was considering it. She looked maybe a couple of years older than him. At twenty-six, he was the youngest on the team, but age differences never bothered him.

He was just pushing his chair back to head toward the bar when she lifted a phone to her ear. Right away, he knew something was wrong. A frustrated, almost angry look came over her face. Her knuckles went white as she clenched her phone. She covered her other ear with her free hand, stood, and started moving through the crowd toward the exit. Even her movements were beautiful. Could movement be beautiful? Graceful, maybe. Yes. She was graceful. And the sway of her hips… Damn, that was sexy.

Tyler would have left it at that—but he wasn’t the only person watching her leave. A man began walking through the crowd, eyes focused on the woman. The guy who’d approached her at the bar.

His gut clenched. What the hell was he doing? She’d already told him she wasn’t interested.

When the man stepped outside after her, Tyler rose from his seat. His friends threw questioning glances his way, but he ignored them. He moved out of the bar and spotted her immediately. She stood a little way down the sidewalk, in the shadows, and the guy was approaching behind her.

When he slid an arm around her waist, she spun around, startled, and shoved his chest. Only this time, he didn’t move.

Tyler saw red. He was behind the asshole in a second, shoving him away.

The guy spun around, planting a belligerent, drunken glare on him. “Hey!”

“Her shove wasn’t clear enough?” Tyler growled.

The guy frowned. “Mind your own fucking business.”

Tyler stepped closer, and his voice lowered. “When I see drunk assholes harassing women, I make it my business. Leave.”

“Or what?”

Was this guy always an idiot or did the alcohol do that for him? “You really want to know the answer to that?”

There was a moment of silence. Then the guy’s jaw clicked. “Whatever.”

He’d just brushed past him when Tyler grabbed his arm, his words so low, he knew only the guy would hear. “Come near her again, and I’ll hit you so fucking hard you won’t talk for a week. Got it?”

The guy’s eyes widened a fraction, fear transforming his expression. It wasn’t until he nodded that Tyler finally released him.

He turned to look at the woman. She didn’t seem scared. More shocked, really.

He stepped closer. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Um, thank you.”

Her voice was soft. It strummed through his veins, heating his blood.

“Miss Charles?”

At the murmur of another voice, he frowned, gaze shooting down to the phone in her hand. “Someone’s still on the phone.”

For a moment, she didn’t drag her eyes away from him. A full beat passed before she seemed to hear what he’d said, then she jolted and lifted the phone back to her ear. “Sorry, there was… Sorry.”

“The situation hasn’t changed, Miss Charles,” the guy on the line said. “You’re still going to have to pay the fee.”

Lines of irritation formed beside her eyes. “Fine. Email me the invoice. I have to go.”

She hung up and gave him a tight smile. He didn’t want a tight smile. He wanted to know what this woman looked like with a full, unhesitant grin stretching her lips. “Everything okay?”

She swallowed. “Yes. Just life.”

She wet her lips, and his gaze shot down. Man, they were some lips. Red and plump. What he wouldn’t give to be able to—

Shit. What the hell are you doing, Ty? You’ve just met the woman.

He shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from touching her. “I’m Tyler, by the way.”

“Emerson.”

Emerson. He liked that name. It suited her. He nodded toward the bar. “I noticed you watching our table.”

She looked toward the bar, then back to him. Her mouth opened and closed.

What’s going on, amber eyes?

Finally, she said, “Yeah, I, uh…recognized you as the Blue Halo guys.”

Why the hell did he feel disappointed at that? Because he wanted her to be looking at him for another reason? For the same reason he was looking at her?

She cleared her throat. “I actually have an appointment there tomorrow morning.”

Her words had him pausing. “Everything okay?”

His question seemed to have her looking uncertain. She quickly covered it with another tight smile. “Of course. I’ll discuss everything tomorrow.” She took a wide step around him. Was she being careful not to touch him? “Thank you again, and I guess I might see you tomorrow.”

She disappeared into the parking lot.

Oh, the woman would definitely see him tomorrow. Because he was going to make certain that meeting was with him. Why? He wasn’t sure.

It wasn’t because her amber eyes had him transfixed, or because he couldn’t take his eyes off her hips. And it certainly wasn’t because her sweet, melodic voice had him damn well captivated.