Mike opened his mouth, closed it. “What the hell? You got no right to interrupt our date and talk to me like that, you fucking asshole.” Mike looked at her. “Do you know this fucking dickhead?”
She shook her head. Then a hand landed on her shoulder. Its heat seeped through her clothing as though it wasn’t even there, searing the skin beneath. Branding it.
Okay, now you’re just getting fanciful. He’s just touching you.
“Daisy’s leaving with me now,” the stranger who somehow knew her name said. “She won’t be going on any more dates with you. Do not contact her.”
“Now see here,” Mike started to say, standing. “You cannot just steal my date!”
“I can when she was mine first.”
Fuck. Fuckity fuck.
She turned to look up at Jed. Big mist
ake. His jaw was tight with tension. He didn’t shift his gaze away from Mike, but she could tell his glare was intense. Fury rolled off him in frightening waves.
Shit. Why hadn’t Ellie called?
“What’s he talking about?” Mike asked. “You fucking seeing him too? Well, this is my turn with her tonight, buddy, so wait for yours.”
“You are not having a turn with her. She’s not some toy. Come, Daisy. Now.”
All right, that was not a voice you disobeyed and she found herself rising. She tried to find some anger for his high-handedness. But truth was, she was grateful for anything that meant she didn’t have to listen to Mike moan for another hour. She reached for her bag to grab out her wallet.
“I’m sorry about this,” she said to Mike. “Let me get some cash to cover my dinner.”
“Why? Seems he ate it all,” Jed bit off.
She fumbled with her wallet then watched in amazement as Jed dropped a fifty-dollar bill on the table. “That should cover it.”
She’d say. The steak only cost $12.95, which she was betting was the real reason Moany Mike had brought her here. Best steak in the state her ass.
Jed wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her with him.
She tried to turn back to say good night, but he tightened his grip around her waist. “Do not even think about it.”
“You’re being super rude.” She glared up at him.
“No, being rude would have been just picking you up and carrying you out of here over my shoulder. That’s still an option if you don’t behave yourself.”
“Behave myself?” she gasped. “I’m not a child.”
Jed snorted. “Sure act like one at times.”
“I do not.” She was highly insulted by that. She’d raised both of her siblings. She’d always been the adult. She had never had a chance to be a child.
“You’re impulsive, you do things without thinking them through like going on dates with strangers.”
“I used an online dating app; people use them all the time!”
By this time, they were in the small foyer of the restaurant. He grabbed her jacket off the rack then he held it out for her to slip her arms in. That was surprisingly gentlemanly.
“What?” he asked, staring down at her with one eyebrow raised. “You didn’t think I’d have manners?”
“No, it’s not that.” Of course, he would. He’d always opened doors for her, always walked on the outside of the footpath, said his grandfather taught him how to treat a lady. “People change.”
He nodded. “They do. Just what did you think you were doing going on a blind date? Why would you meet someone here? This place is dodgy as hell, did you do no research first?”