Coop put a hand to the guy’s chest. The goon didn’t like that. His arm shot back, ready to throw a punch. She hurled herself forward and caught his arm before it could land. Shifting her weight, she thrust an elbow to his solar plexus and dropped him to the floor.

The dancers skittered back. Reeking of booze, the goon croaked for air and tried to get up. The side seam on her new mulberry dress ripped as she straddled him. She caught a momentary glimpse of Coop’s incredulous face before Jonah and Ernie appeared, blocking her view. They looked down at her, as if she were the one at fault.

“Get him out of here,” she ordered. Jonah’s expression was murderous, but he and Ernie led the guy away.

One of the female servers rushed over to her. “Are you okay?”

“Of course she’s okay,” the aggravated voice of her employer retorted. “She’s the Man of Steel. Just ask her.”

So much for gratitude.

PhairoZ did a quick switch to acid techno. A firm hand hooked her arm and drew her none too gently off the dance floor. As Coop maneuvered her through the crowd, she realized the skirt of her damaged dress had ripped at the side, revealing an unimaginative pair of white hip huggers.

He directed her through the kitchen and out the door that led into the back hallway. Only then did he drop her arm. She knew him well enough to know what was coming, and she wasn’t having it, so she got in his face before he could get in hers. “Unlike your bouncers, I won’t stand by and watch my employer being assaulted.”

His face reddened with massacred ego. “I wasn’t being assaulted, and don’t you ever try to protect me again.”

“Somebody has to do it.” She was the professional here, and she struggled for calm. “Your bouncers need to stay closer to you. That drunk was getting ready to throw a punch.”

“Which he’d never have landed.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“I hired you to watch the staff, not me.”

They were so close she could smell the laundry detergent from his sweater. “You do understand this is a conversation we wouldn’t be having if I was one of the men on your staff.”

“You’re not. And don’t you try to pull the sexist card on me!”

“When the card fits, play it.” The way he was looming over her made it nearly impossible to hold her temper. “If one of your bouncers had pulled the guy off you—highly unlikely, since they’re way too busy trying to hook up with the female guests—you wouldn’t have thought twice about it.”