Walter frowned but said nothing. Instead, he glanced in Charlee’s direction before taking a sip of the purple drink he was having. Hector had seen it earlier when the waitress brought it to him with a kiwi slice wedged on the rim and an umbrella. Even Walter’s fruity looking drink was annoying him now. “What is that?”

Walter looked down at his drink and lifted it. “It’s called a Fruit Tingle. You wanna try it? It’s good.”

“No, I don’t wanna try it.” Hector didn’t even try to hide the disgust. “You couldn’t just order a beer?”

“I don’t like beer,” Walter said, looking down at his drink again. “What’s wrong with this?”

Hector lowered his voice, but even then couldn’t hide the annoyance in his words. “Because you’re here to try and impress her, not stand there hiding behind your girlie drink while someone else dances with her.” Hector shook his head. “Fruit Tingle? Seriously? You hold your pinky out when you drink that too?”

Walter started whispering something back, but Hector didn’t hear any of it. He was too busy trying catch what Horny Toad was saying to Charlee. With the music so damn loud, it was hard to catch every word. The good thing was she held her drink in front of her strategically so the guy couldn’t lean in as close as he had on the dance floor, giving him no choice but to speak loudly.

“It’s really cool. I have a sound system in my front room, and since we don’t use the dining room, we have a pool table in there instead. My roommate’s gone tonight. We’d have the place to ourselves. I can show you how to play pool.”

Charlee smiled but shook her head. She was further away and spoke softer than the guy, so Hector couldn’t hear what she said, but based on what he was saying now, she’d obviously turned him down.

“That’s too bad,” the guy said. “Well, you at least have to dance a few more with me.”

Charlee shook her head again, saying something that was inaudible to Hector, but she looked uncomfortable. “Go ask her to dance,” Hector whispered at Walter, reaching for his drink.

“What? No!” Walter pulled back his drink before Hector could take it. “She’s with that guy.”

“Trust me.” Hector whispered a little more urgently. “That guy’s annoying as shit. She’ll thank you.” Walter shook his head again defiantly, the panic already all over his face as if Hector were going to force him.

“C’mon just one more dance,” the guy said, reaching for Charlee, who seemed almost as alarmed as Walter.

No shit she looked alarmed. The guy was a pushy ass. Hector was glad she didn’t seem willing at all to get back on the dance floor and have him pushing himself on her again. To make things worse, the song playing now was a slow one.

“Damn it, Walter,” Hector whispered through his teeth. “If you don’t ask her, I will.”

Just looking at Walter’s annoyingly terrified face, Hector knew Walter wasn’t going to. Glancing back in Charlee’s direction, he saw the guy had repositioned himself on the other side of her so he could now lean in again close to her ear. There was no way Hector could hear what he was saying now, but one thing was clear from the way she kept pulling back away from the guy’s face, Charlee was as uncomfortable as she had been on the dance floor.

“Here,” He handed his beer bottle to Walter roughly. “You’re seriously gonna have to man up. You should be doing this.”

Who was Hector kidding? There was no way Walter would do what he was about to. He took the few steps to reach Charlee and smiled at her, ignoring the guy. “Dance with me?” Without waiting for an answer, he took her drink and handed it to the ass**le. “Hold this.”

They both seemed stunned, but neither said a word, and to Hector’s relief, she didn’t say no or protest his taking her hand in his as he walked her onto the dance floor.

Chapter 10

Before Charlee could wrap her head around what just happened, she was on the dance floor, pressed up against Hector’s hard body, taking in the glorious scent of his cologne. His big arms wrapped around her waist felt nothing like when Roger had held her earlier. Just as she’d imagined, her body trembled in reaction to him inhaling deeply against her ear.

“I didn’t mean to startle you or disrespect your friend,” he whispered against the side of her face. “But you looked uncomfortable. I didn’t like seeing you like that.”

Like magic, his words warmed her insides instantly. He’d been watching her with Roger, and he hadn’t liked it. Drew had been right. It was practically an admission of interest. Why else would he be watching her? Why else would he have whisked her away the way he had.

“Thank you. He did make me a little uncomfortable,” she admitted. “I didn’t realize it was so obvious.”

Hector pulled back to look her in the eyes. His brows pulled together with that same hardened expression he wore when he’d taken her hand and shoved her drink at Roger. “He was the obvious one,” he said, sounding a little more than annoyed. “Your reaction to him was to be expected. You just met him, right?”

Charlee nodded, swallowing hard and trying to stay poised. Standing this close to him was a reminder of yesterday, and just like yesterday, she was suddenly at a loss for words. What he did to her was unreal. It rattled her yesterday, but it really scared her tonight, because after being held by another guy so recently, she knew now nothing compared to this. Just feeling Hector’s warm hard body against hers did things to her she couldn’t even begin to understand—explain. It felt as nerve-racking as it did amazing. Even though she could barely comprehend it, the feeling was everything she imagined it would be. Taking a deep breath, she hoped he didn’t notice the trembling manner in which she slowly let it out. Her entire body felt as if it could go into spasms at any moment.