Free Save Me by Laura L. Cline Page A

finished fight.
    “ Jack!” I call.
    “ Come on,” he growls, grabbing my hand. He leads me out as the bouncers go over to Nick and start to help him to his feet.
    “ Your coat!” I call out to Jack.
    “ Fuck it,” Jack says, meandering between the forming crowd as people try to find out who got their ass kicked.
    "I'll get it!" Allie shouts. She glances at Nick and then watches as we walk toward the door.
    I walk fast in the wake of him, his smell clear over even the strongest liquor odor of the club. Adrenaline courses through my veins, heightening everything around me.
    “ I have to go back in and get Allie.”
    “ We can't go back in,” Jack says, his dark eyes are serious again, the playful light I’d brought to them inside is now gone. “Because of your boyfriend.”
    “ Because you had to get in a fight,” I counter.
    “ Over you!” Jack almost bellows. He turns to face me, the frustration flushing his face and he tenses his jaw at me.
    He closes the gap he’d put between us. "I did it for you."
    “ Well, I would never ask you to do that for me,” I say.
    “ You did when you let me hold you.” The words come out in a hushed whisper. A blush is rising in his cheeks as we stand in the cold having this insane argument. Jack defended my honor and knocked Nick’s ass out in the process. I should be flattered, but instead, I’m confused. Why would he fight for me? He barely knows me.
    He opens the passenger door and I stare at it. “Are you going to get in or not?” he asks, his tone is controlled as he stares at me.
    I look at him, at this impulsive man who would defend me when he doesn't even really know me. Finally, the cold temperature takes his side and forces me to get in. Fighting off a body shiver, I walk to the Escalade and grab the bar to hoist myself up and inside.
    Heat pours out of the vents, chasing the cold out of the cab. Jack climbs inside and slams his door. He reaches across me and presses a button on the side of my seat.
    “ The seat’s heated,” he explains. A warm sensation blossoms underneath my ass. I can smell his hair again; a sweet, clean scent as he leans back to his side of the vehicle.
    He exhales heavily and then rubs his face. "I'm sorry," Jack says, keeping his eyes focused on the distant parking lot. The hand that's not on the steering wheel rests on his lap.
    "You don't have to apologize, Jack. I'm just trying to get my head together after that."
    “ Was he your boyfriend?” Jack asks.
    “ Not exactly,” I say. I don’t really want to explain what Nick was to me. I keep waiting for Allie to come out the door, but she doesn't.
    “ You danced with him last weekend.”
    I look across the vehicle at him. “You were watching me?”
    “ Every man in there was watching you, Carly,” Jack says. His eyes are so dark in the dimly lit vehicle, like black holes that I know I could completely disappear in.
    “ Because I was dressed like a whore,” I say, looking out the window.
    “ No, because you were and are stunning,” Jack answers. He stares at me with longing. The liquid heat inside me starts to simmer. “And watch it. The last guy who called you that ended up on the end of my fist.” A smile breaks his face a little, softening it. He opens and closes his hand, flexing his fingers.
    “ Let me see,” I say, reaching for his hand. The knuckles are red and the middle one is a little puffy. I massage the back of his hand and his open palm. Deep lines crisscross his palm and his calloused fingers.
    "Why are you how you are?” he asks so quietly I have to strain to hear him.
    I don't wait for him to elaborate; I know what he means. "I'm the way I am for a lot of reasons, Jack. Just like everybody else."
    "You're nothing like anybody else," he says, turning those new moon eyes on me.
    I pull his fingers to my hand, each swollen knuckle brushes my lips and I kiss them. Jack looks at me, the heat emanating from his eyes and his body radiates across the space