That was it! No more! Even she had a snapping point. All her life she’d tried to follow the rules, to do the right thing. She never jay walked. She opened doors for people. She used her manners. She tried to spread a bit of kindness around. But this was too much. A red haze actually filled her vision.
“You sexist pig!” she shot out at him. “I ought to report you for sexual harassment!”
Ronny narrowed his eyes, his cheeks growing red. “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never sexually harassed you.”
“You kissed me the other night in the bar.”
He snorted. “As if I’d kiss you. Be like trying to kiss my great-aunt. No way I’d touch you with a barge pole. You try to tell anyone I did and I’ll sue you for slander; we clear? My word against yours and ain’t no one going to believe you, bitch.”
He took a step towards her and her bravado faded. He was right. It would be a he-said, she-said situation. Unfortunately, she thought most people would believe him.
“All they’ll see is some dried-up, plain woman trying to latch onto her boss because her homelife is sad and lonely. Now get out of my office and don’t ever come back.”
She turned around, knowing she’d lost. Now she just wanted out of here. She felt dirty. Ill.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t let him see he’s hurt you.
She managed to hold it together enough to get out to her car. But it took her two tries to get it started. It wasn’t until she turned into her driveway that she realized she was home and she had no memory of getting there.
Fuck. That wasn’t good.
Panic had her gasping for breath. She parked in front of her garage. She didn’t have the energy to get out and open the door. Greg had promised her a remote-controlled door opener. But as usual, he’d never come through.
And now she couldn’t afford it.
She really, really couldn’t afford it.
Ronny had sacked her. She had no job. No references. And around five hundred dollars in her savings account.
Fudge. Son-of-a-peach.
You’re so pathetic, Sunny! You can’t even swear properly.
If ever there was a time to swear it was now. What was she going to do? She couldn’t lose the house. If she lost the house, she’d have to move in with her parents. She didn’t even know where they were. Not to mention they lived in a tiny RV, travelling around, smoking pot and worshipping the moon.
She wasn’t even joking.
She leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. She knew she should get out of the car. Without the air on, the car was becoming a heat-box. She’d worked a full day in the sun with no breaks. She was exhausted. She was dirty.
But she couldn’t move.
Worry kept her paralyzed. Tears dripped down her heated cheeks. What to do? What to do? She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, crying, but when a knock sounded on the car window, startling her out of her panic, it was dark and she desperately had to pee. She gasped for air, staring out the window in fear at the big figure looming next to her car. The doors were still locked.
She screeched as he knocked again. A headache thumped in the back of her skull and fear had her heart beating too fast.
Then a light went on and she found herself staring up into the frowning face of her next-door neighbor.
Awesome. Just what she needed. Another run-in with him.
Tears dripped down her face faster as she just sat there, exhausted, staring up at him.
* * *
What was he doing? Duke shook his head at himself as he gave in to the urge that had been tugging at him for the last hour.
He’d noticed her car pull up as he’d come in from his run. Half an hour later, as he’d left the shower and headed to the kitchen, he’d noticed her car still sat in the driveway. Which was unusual but she could have been heading back out.
He’d grabbed a steak to grill. But he’d found himself unable to eat in peace until he made sure that everything was all right.