be staring.”
“As if,” Joy said. But she looked happy at his comment.
The trouble was, he meant it. Now that he’d singled out two men who had been looking at Joy, Johan could see dozens more, and he started to get even more protective.
At one point he walked over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder because a good half-dozen guys in a group stared at her. She looked at him, instantly worried. “What’s the matter?”
He nudged his head to the side, and she saw the group of guys there. She smiled; they all smiled back. “They were just being friendly.”
“Maybe,” he said brusquely, “but I don’t like it.”
At that, Kai laughed and laughed. “Too funny,” she said. “You’re trying to protect her, but the rest of the world is liking what they see.”
He growled at her. “They can like it as long as it’s from a distance. I don’t want anybody getting too close.”
“Like you’re too close?” Joy challenged him.
He glanced down at her and said, “Do you want me to leave? Do you want me to join Tyson and Galen?”
If there was a hard note in his tone, she ignored it. She reached up, patted his cheek gently. “It’s really very sweet of you.”
He wanted to growl again. “It’s not sweet,” he muttered.
“You’re jealous,” she said, “and I find that very interesting. But I kind of like it. As long as it doesn’t get out of hand.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not jealous.”
“Of course not,” she said, but she shot him a knowing look. Then she reached out and kissed him very gently on the corner of his mouth. “There. That should tell them all that I’m with you,” she said.
He hated it, but he did feel better. He sighed and looped his arm with hers. “It’s a very unusual feeling.”
“I hear you,” she said. “I can’t say I’ve felt it very much myself.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt it before,” he grumbled. “And I don’t like it.”
“Well, you’re only jealous,” Kai said, “because you’re insecure about the relationship.” And, with that, she headed off after a beautiful dress in a window.
He stopped in the middle of the mall and tugged Joy into his arms. “You know what? She’s right. I wouldn’t be feeling this way if I thought you were happy to be with me.”
She raised an eyebrow, her lips kicking up in the corners. “I thought we covered this ground.”
“Apparently not well enough,” he announced.
She kissed him gently and then kissed him again. “I’m happy to be with you,” she said. “I haven’t a clue what we’ve got going on here, but I’m happy to see where it goes.”
And, with that, he had to be satisfied, but not until he got one more thing. He tugged her into his arms, so that she was locked against him, and lowered his head, kissing her thoroughly. When he finally raised his head and stared down at her completely soft and unfocused gaze, he smiled and whispered, “Now I’m happy. But satisfied? Never. Not until I have you in bed all to myself, and we can tear at the sheets like we want to.”
She took a long shuddering breath, still in his arms. She seemed to get a hold of herself, stepped back, and whispered, “That time will come. But it isn’t right now and certainly never in public.” And, with that, she turned on her heels and headed to Kai, who stared at the two of them with a big smile on her face.
He grinned at Kai and shrugged. “Hey, I gotta lay a claim before all the other men in this place do.”
“Smart of you,” Kai said with a nod. “She’s a sweetheart, and there have always been guys around her. But listen to me, Johan. If you ever do anything to hurt her, you will not walk away from it easily.”
He just raised an eyebrow at that.
She walked up, poked him in the chest, and said, “Because I will want to know the reason why. And, if it isn’t a damn good one, it’s me who you’ll have to deal with. God help you then.”
Chapter 15
Joy laughed out loud at the look on Johan’s face after Kai had warned him. She had been such a good friend for a long time and had seen Joy through a multitude of relationships and had always been protective. As Johan and Kai walked back toward Joy, she put a smile on her face and looked from one to