Well Built
Page 34

Catching Nolan’s attention, Kyle made an I’m going upstairs gesture with the hitch of his thumb, and his friend nodded. Up above, they found a vacant table at the far end of the balcony that was next to the railing, and claimed it for themselves. As soon as they were seated, a cocktail waitress took their orders for two beers on tap, then went to retrieve their drinks.
Kyle didn’t waste time before combing through the crowd below, and Nolan did the same. It took him a few minutes, but he finally found Ella and Claire tucked away in their own corner downstairs, diagonally to where he and Nolan were positioned. He nudged his friend and pointed out the girls’ location, and now that they had them in view, they both sat back in their chairs and relaxed. Their beer arrived, which Kyle paid for while also giving the server a generous tip.
They were good to go, their surveillance underway, and the girls none the wiser.
It was too loud for a normal conversation with Nolan, so for the next forty minutes, the two of them drank their beer and kept their attention on Claire and Ella. For the most part, the women kept to themselves, and no one bothered them, either. They leaned in close as they chatted and leisurely sipped what looked like one of those frilly, fruity martini-type cocktails.
After a while, when they both stood up, Kyle tracked their progress to the crowded dance floor and exhaled a relieved breath when they started to dance . . . with each other. There were other girls doing the same, and he found himself smiling as he watched Ella from afar, seemingly happy and carefree for the moment as she and Claire shimmied against each other, laughing and enjoying their evening.
Half a dozen songs later, they made their way through the growing throng of people filling the dance floor. Ella said something to Claire, who nodded and went in the direction of the table they’d been sitting at, while Ella went up to the bar and ordered a drink from the bartender. He set a bottle of water on the counter, and she twisted the cap off and took a long, thirsty drink just as a guy came up beside her.
Kyle stiffened in his seat when Ella’s face lit up and she gave the other man a warm, too-intimate hug. He narrowed his gaze as they broke apart, allowing him the chance to take a closer look at the guy’s features . . . and to realize it was her ex-fiancé, Tucker Barnes. She might have ended her engagement to him, but there didn’t appear to be any animosity between them. In fact, Kyle didn’t care for the way she was smiling at the other man or the easy, familiar way Tucker touched her bare arm.
Kyle stood so abruptly that his chair scraped back on the wooden floor, his entire body so tense he felt his shirt tighten against his chest and arms. Nolan immediately jumped up beside him and pressed his fingers against Kyle’s chest to hold him back.
“Whoa! Jesus, you look like the fucking Hulk, and you need to calm down,” Nolan said, clearly trying to be the voice of reason. “Don’t go charging down there like a bull in a china shop.”
Kyle raised an irritable brow at his friend. “Tell me you wouldn’t feel the same way if it was Claire greeting an ex so enthusiastically.”
“Okay, point taken,” Nolan said, backing off slightly. “Tucker isn’t a bad guy, so don’t do something stupid you’ll regret later, like planting your fist against his jaw.”
Kyle wasn’t going to hurt the guy, but he was going to stake a goddamn claim on what was his and make sure that Tucker knew it. “You go and take care of Claire while I go and . . . diffuse the situation with Tucker. Swear to God, I won’t touch him.”
“Fine,” Nolan said, and they both headed toward the stairs.
When they reached the first floor, Nolan veered to the right, where Claire had gone, and Kyle strode directly to the far end of the bar, where Tucker and Ella were talking. Tucker was smiling at her in a way that made Kyle’s blood run hot in his veins and told him that the other man might not be over the woman he’d been engaged to marry. From what he recalled, Ella had been the one to end things, not Tucker.
As he’d promised Nolan, Kyle cooled his jets as he came up beside Ella, surprising the two of them with his sudden appearance, which he took full advantage of. Ella was staring at him with big, where-the-hell-did-you-come-from eyes, but before she could say anything, Kyle stuck his hand out for the other man to shake.
See, he could totally be courteous and amicable. “Hey, Tucker,” Kyle said in an easygoing voice that belied the instinct to beat on his chest like a caveman before flipping Ella over his shoulder and whisking her away. “Good to see you.”
“Uhh, you, too, Kyle.” Tucker winced slightly at the crushing strength of Kyle’s fingers wrapped around his hand and visibly relaxed when they finally let go. “It’s been a long time. I heard you bought the old Piedmont building.”
“Sure did.” The last thing Kyle wanted to do was make small talk with the other man, even if they had grown up together and attended the same high school. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to steal Ella away for a dance.”
Ella sputtered a reply—or a protest, it was difficult to tell which—and even when Kyle grasped her elbow to lead her into the fray, he could feel her resistance. There were so many people dancing that they were pushed close together, and he took advantage of the situation to secure an arm around her waist and align their bodies from stomach to thighs.
Ella’s eyes flashed with indignation, and fuck if her red-hot attitude didn’t make him hard. Her face was flushed, a light sheen of perspiration dotted her skin, and her gorgeous breasts heaved above the low-cut, formfitting top she was wearing that showed off way too much cleavage to the male population.
“What the hell was that?” Ella shouted to be heard while pushing against his shoulders with the flat of her hand to separate them, to no avail. “And what are you doing here?”
Because of the loud music, he dipped his head close to her ear as he slid his free hand into the thick, silky hair she’d left unbound for the night, wrapping it around his fist just because he could. “Apparently, I’m saving you from your ex.”
She jerked her head back, but not very far considering his fingers had a firm grip on her hair. But enough that she could look up at him and he could see the fire in her gaze. “Don’t be a dick,” she said, taunting him with the insult that Wes had used to call him out on his behavior toward her today. “Regardless of what happened between Tucker and me, he’s still a friend. Not that it’s any of your business!”