Chapter Ten
Joe’s Shack was a local place the hybrids didn’t really go to much. It was a little outside of town and had always seemed a bit closed off, like some sort of private country club that just happened to serve beer and play loud country music. It wasn’t really the place Joran would have expected Nicole to pick, but he was just glad she was willing to meet him at all.
A date could lead to something more, and at the minimum, it was a chance to interact with her in a non-official setting. No arrests and no worries about rogue deputies.
Several of the men at the bar eyed him. He doubted they would do anything, but it was always a risk being the outsider. Still, the hybrids had managed to establish themselves well enough there. Spending more than a little money seemed to help.
Joran’s gaze shot over to the front door as it opened. The scent of lavender was already filling the air around him before she’d even stepped inside. But when his gaze landed on her, Joran nearly shot out of his seat, his eyes widening.
Nicole’s long blonde hair hung in waves over her bare shoulders, cascading down over the black strapless dress that hugged her curves in ways that made the lower half of his body swell with a need he hadn’t expected. His pants felt too confining.
His mouth went dry, and his palms started to sweat as she stepped over to his table. He’d wanted a date, but he hadn’t expected anything like this.
Joran took several deep breaths. Even if every part of him weren’t already drawn to her as his Vestal, he’d have a hard time looking away.
“Hope you weren’t waiting long,” Nicole said softly, and took a seat next to him.
For the first time, Joran had trouble even thinking of what to say back. His gaze roved over her barely clad body. Several men who had been eyeing him at the bar now had their eyes focused on a very different person.
Jealousy sparked inside of him, and the hybrid took a deep breath to stop from growling.
“I got a couple beers.” He fumbled as he pushed her beer over. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Nicole reached down and picked up her beer from the table. She pressed the bottle to her lips and swallowed several times before setting it down. Even a simple act like that was just as erotic as watching her walk into the room.
Damn it. Joran groaned inwardly. This was bad. He was too wrapped up in her and couldn’t even get his head straight. Nicole wasn’t the sort of woman he could just hope she wouldn’t notice. She would, and he knew this all too well.
A smart woman like her would use that against him. Her gaze landed on his, and he could see the wheels spinning there.
“So…” Nicole smiled at him. Her red lips screamed to be pressed against his own. “I don’t really know much about you. Where do you come from?”
Joran tore his eyes from her mouth and concentrated on his beer. He needed to keep control. “A bit of all over,” he said. “My friends and I served together, so to speak.”
She quirked a brow, and he knew she wanted to know more. He took a drink quickly.
“So you all just decided to build houses together? You must be close.”
Joran set down his beer and stared straight at her. “We all went through some tough stuff together so our bond is about as close as you get.” He shrugged.
The smile fell from her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean—”
Joran shook his head and held up a hand. “It’s fine. I get that it might seem a bit strange. We all just wanted a fresh start. Life hasn’t always been the easiest for us, and so we figured the best thing was to go somewhere rural and reconnect with the land together.”
He was skirting the line. Joran wanted to tell her all about their past and the Horatius Group. Just who the hybrids were. But this wasn’t the time. Not at some hole-in-the-wall bar with a bunch of people watching them.
“I get it,” Nicole all but whispered. “I guess it’s just easy to think of you all as whatever we want seeing as you aren’t from here. We forget that you have an actual past.”
Joran glanced around the bar. He could see the men were watching them once again, their gazes darting between the two of them, the looks just as unpleasant as before. Maybe that xenophobia was what was motivating Ted as well.
“Maybe we should go,” Joran said quietly.
Nicole glanced to where he had looked. She narrowed her eyes, and the men turned away.
“You have just as much a right to be here as they do.”
Joran opened his mouth to say something but stopped when a large man walked over to their table.
“Well, look what we have here.” The man sneered.
The hybrid gave him a cool look. He didn’t want trouble.
Nicole frowned at the man. “I’m on a date, Ted.”
Joran’s face twitched. He’d not expected to run into the infamous Ted so soon.
The man glared down at Nicole. “No wonder you didn’t want me to say something. You’ve gone soft. Knew Frank shouldn’t have let a woman on the force. You’ll just drag us all down.”
Joran took a deep breath, anger coursing through him. He needed to be careful. He wasn’t wearing his contacts, and if they figured out what he really was, there was no telling what the townspeople might try.
“Walk it off, Ted,” Nicole ground out.
Ted leaned in closer to her. His looming stance fueled every protective instinct in Joran. How dare the bastard get near his Vestal. Joran gripped the table so hard that he thought it might crack under the pressure.
“Why don’t you shut your slut whore fucking mouth?” Ted said with a sneer.
That was it. Joran was going to flip the asshole upside down and punt him through a window. No one talked to his woman like that. He let out a low growl.
But it was Nicole who was the one to move first. Her fist moved so quickly, Joran nearly missed it. The blow landed hard against Ted’s face. The large man reeled back and sprawled on the ground.
Nicole stood and towered over the very surprised man. “Listen here, you piece of shit. You even think of coming at me again or anyone else for that matter, I’m going to put my foot so far up your ass, you’ll be coughing out my heel for weeks to come.”
The men who had once been sitting at the bar giving Joran the stink eye turned back to their beers as if nothing had just happened. Maybe they didn’t want anything to do with two cops fighting.
“You’ll regret this you, bitch,” Ted said as he struggled to stand his drunk ass back up.
Nicole leaned back down. “I don’t think so, sweet cheeks. You say anything else, and my next stop is going to be your wife so we can have a little conversation about infidelity.”
Ted moved forward. Joran stepped between them and glared at the other man almost daring him to take a punch. Self-defense was a valid excuse. A few seconds passed before the drunk jackass huffed loudly and stomped away.
“Let’s go,” Joran said, sliding his hand under Nicole’s elbow and ushering her out the door.