would finish his beer and end the evening before he did something stupid.
He needed to call one of his brothers. Driving home was out of the question.
He slapped the pirate hat back on and started walking along the edge of the dance floor, holding tight to the costume’s overcoat. There was no way he’d let anything happen to it, considering this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill rental getup.
“There you are, lover!”
Luscious curves, warm and radiating a sexy scent of spicy vanilla and lime, slammed into his chest. Nolan instinctively wrapped his free arm around the woman’s svelte waistline, mostly to keep the both of them from toppling to the ground.
His first thought was that she must have mistaken him for someone else, but then her lips brushed at his ear. “Play along, please.”
Her whispered words, a fiery blast on his skin, surprised him. Her voice almost sounded familiar. “Hey, do I know—”
“But no booze. Whaz up with that?” The blonde switched to a nasally accent, her voice loud again as she gave him a quick squeeze and whirled back around, grabbing at his waist as she stumbled. “Ya see? Not for nuttin’, but I told yuz I had a fellow here. Now, amscray.”
Nolan had no idea what was going on.
The costumed guy standing in front of him resembled a deranged clown with his red hair and yellow jumpsuit. He was eyeing the beauty hanging on to Nolan with a nasty glare.
He pulled her closer and looked down, surprised to find he was holding the lady he’d caught checking him out earlier. A sexy Harley Quinn, right down to the character’s Brooklyn accent and attitude.
An attitude with a hint of fear.
“Me and my captain’s gotz plans. So yuz can move on,” she slurred, waving an empty glass jar in the air. “No interest here.”
“You were interested a few minutes ago,” the clown said.
“N-not really.” She dismissed him as she handed off the jar to a waitress. “Jusz passing time.”
“Just a tease,” the guy growled and took a step forward. “Typical of a drunken girl on the prowl—”
“That’s enough, matey.” Nolan slipped back into full pirate mode with the fake British tenor, his voice low as he angled himself between the clown and the lady. “The lass is taken. So you take a walk.”
“Or what? You’ll challenge me to a duel, Captain Kangaroo?”
The sword hanging from Nolan’s waist was a prop, but it’d do some damage. Still, he didn’t plan to be goaded into a fight.
He had no idea who this guy was, but he figured the jerk wasn’t a local. Hell, she probably wasn’t, either, but she obviously didn’t want anything to do with this clown.
“Oh, get lost.” Miss Quinn grabbed at Nolan’s vest, pressing those curves against him once more. “Come on, Cap’n Jack. Let’z dance.”
Dancing was the last thing Nolan wanted to do. Okay, last after fighting.
He was too old, too tired to deal with either tonight.
Yet he shuffled backward, watching the pissed-off clown stomping off into the crowd. Nolan could’ve escaped then from the slightly tipsy and very sexy bad girl in his arms and been on his way, too.
Instead he tossed common sense to the wind, cursed the booze floating in his veins and pulled her in close.
“It’z not Sinatra, but it’z slow.” Katie enjoyed the solid feel of the sexy pirate. She hoped she still sounded like the Brooklyn villainess she was pretending to be. This guy was as much of a stranger to her as that jerk from a moment ago. Her instincts told her she could trust him, but still... “Hang on, sailor. Thingz might get bumpy.”
“Don’t you think—”
Lost in the warmth of his embrace as a slow country song played, she reached up and found his mouth with her fingertips on the first try. Light pressure cut him off. “Naw, no thinking. No talking, no names. Jusz dancing.”
He went still for a moment, but then his lips creased into a smile and his arms tightened around her. Happy with his submission, she withdrew her hand, moving it downward over the softness of his goatee, the beads woven into his whiskers tapping against her fingers.
Slowly, she traced over his Adam’s apple, past his collarbone until her palm rested on his chest. His heart pounded fast beneath her touch in a cadence that matched hers.
Flying into a strange man’s arms probably wasn’t the best idea, but that clown-costumed jerk wouldn’t take no for an answer. And she hadn’t been flirting. With Peggy gone for the last hour thanks to her ex bailing on their sick son, Katie had partied on with more margaritas. She’d been heading for the exit when that joker got in her way and wouldn’t leave her alone.
Who knew the one guy who’d caught her eye tonight would show up right when she needed him?
Boy, he was tall. Even in her heels, she only came up to his shoulder. She pressed her cheek to the leathery softness of his vest and held tight to a muscular bicep beneath the long strands of a pretty impressive dreadlock wig. A deep inhale brought in a fresh, clean, outdoorsy aroma with a hint of pine from his aftershave.
Hmm, she would’ve guessed his scent would be more like the ocean.
This fragrance was almost...familiar? No, that couldn’t be right.
Then he shifted his hands against her lower back, pulling her even closer, and all rational thought fled. Her skin got all tingly when he laid a hand flat on her tulle skirt just above her backside, causing his costumed jacket to brush against her legs.
They moved in a slow circle, the couples surrounding them doing the same. She was already a bit dizzy and tired, so it was easy to let her eyelids drift closed and get lost in the moment.
Lost in the strength of a pirate’s embrace.
The song ended too soon, but the band started another. Her pirate didn’t make any move to break his hold. Staying right there was fine with her. More songs came and went; she didn’t bother to count how many.
Dreamland was only inches away when another couple bumped into them. She held on as her feet tangled with the pirate’s. They stumbled but remained upright. Before she could come up with something witty, she caught sight of that clown loser again on the edge of the dance floor, peering into the crowd.
And he wasn’t alone.
The last thing she wanted was to cause another scene or, worse, an all-out brawl that would bring the cops. A given, considering the bar’s owner was married to the town sheriff.
She pushed against the wide chest of her pirate. He released her. A gentleman’s move she could appreciate, but she missed his strength as he stepped back.
“Oh, bugger, the clown’s returned.” She jerked her head in the guy’s direction, the bangs of her blond wig falling over her eyes. She shoved the fake hair back into place and grabbed her pirate’s hand. “With hiz rat pack in tow. Come on, let’z blow this pop stand.”
She headed for the other side of the dance floor, glad her new friend followed without hesitation. Weaving through the crowd, she peeked back past the other couples and caught the moment they’d been spotted.
Oh, this wasn’t good.
She glanced over her shoulder at her rescuer. “Lose the hat, Captain. It sticks out like a sore thumb.”
He grinned, as if he was enjoying this little adventure. “Why are we running, lass?”
“I don’t want blood on my outfit.” Returning his smile was easy. “Especially yours. Fight