He humiliated me, abused me, and I don’t want him anywhere near me ever again.
I bury my head in my menu, not bothering to commit the rest of his appearance to memory.
“Katelyn?” Luke says.
I say nothing.
I can’t talk. Can’t look. Can’t do anything to alert Ice Man that I’m here.
He walks closer, walks by our table.
I allow myself to breathe out slightly in relief—
“Have we met?”
I go numb. That’s why he’s Ice Man. Not just because he freezes his urine, but because he turns me to ice.
It’s his voice. His eyes. His very essence.
I say nothing.
“Have we met?” he says again.
“Can I help you?” Luke looks up and meets Iceman’s gaze.
“I was speaking to the lady.”
“Katelyn?” Luke says.
“Katelyn. Is that your name now?”
“Now?” Luke asks.
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else,” I say, still hiding behind the menu.
“Excuse me,” Luke says, “but we’re trying to have dinner here.”
“I mean no disrespect,” Ice Man says.
Yeah. Right.
“I’m sure we’ve met,” he continues. “Maybe on…vacation? In the tropics?”
The tropics. The island. He has to mention it. Sickness wells in me, but I gulp it down. “I don’t think so.”
“I’m sure we have.”
“The lady says you’re mistaken,” Luke says.
“The lady is the one who’s mistaken.”
Luke stands then. He’s taller than Ice Man but with a slightly leaner build. “Take a hint. She’s with me.”
“For now.” Ice Man saunters away, as cool and confident as ever.
I assume he takes a seat at another table. I don’t know. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, and I don’t dare turn around.
“Katelyn,” Luke says as he takes his seat across from me.
“I don’t know him.”
“I believe you.” Though his words lack truth. I can tell by his tone. He doesn’t sound harsh or anything. But still I know.
He doesn’t believe me.
Why should he? I’m lying.
“Hey.” He gently removes my menu from my hands. “It’s okay.”
It’s not okay. How can it be okay? My past is coming back to haunt me. My past that I thought I was finally free of.
Ice Man can’t hurt me. He wouldn’t dare. Would he?
Maybe he’s changed.
No, he hasn’t. Once a sicko always a sicko.
“Can we go?” I ask Luke.
“Uh…yeah. Sure. Let me pay for the drinks and—”
“Okay. I’ll wait for you outside. I need to… I need to…” I rise.
Can’t breathe. Can’t even see.
Where’s the exit? Where’s the…
Images blur around me. I clutch the edge of the table to keep from losing my footing.
Luke stands abruptly and grips my shoulders. “Katelyn. Baby. Talk to me.”
“I need to get out of here. Please.”
He stares at me. Gazes into my eyes. I don’t know what he sees, but whatever it is, it spurs him into action. He places his arm around my waist and guides me toward the front of the restaurant.
He stops for a second to tell the maître d’ that he’ll be back in to take care of the drink bill, and then he directs me out the door and onto the sidewalk.
I melt into his arms.
If not for his solid form, I’d be crumpled on the hard sidewalk.
“Baby, baby,” he murmurs into my hair. “What is it? Who is that?”
“No one,” I lie. “I don’t know him.”
“He seems to know you.” He grips my shoulders once more and moves me backward just enough so that our eyes meet. “What did that man do to you?”
What a loaded question.
And it’s one I can’t answer.
Not now.
Not ever.
16
Luke
She’s shivering. It’s not a cold night, but Katelyn shivers against me. I rub her back, trying to ease her chill.
The bill. I have to go back in and take care of the drink bill.
“Hey,” I say against her ear. “Will you be okay? I just have to close out our bill.”
“No. Don’t leave me.”
“I’ll be right back. They’re going to come after me if I don’t.”
She pulls back. “Okay. Okay,” she chokes out. “Just hurry. Please.”
“I will.” I kiss the top of her head. “Stay right here. Don’t move.”
She nods as I head back into the restaurant.
And who do I run right into?
The jerk who’s bothering her. Man, this guy has yellow eyes. Who the hell has eyes that color?
“Where do you think you’re going?” I demand.
“To get some air.”
“No.” I stand in front of him.
“You can move,” he says, “or I can move you.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Yeah. It’s all coming back to me. My life on the streets. The way to get someone to back down isn’t to be tougher. It’s to act tougher.
I can do both. This guy’s got ten years on me. I can take him.
Fuck. I don’t want to go back to who I was, but Katelyn… This man bothers Katelyn.
He raises a hand. I block him.
“What the hell’s going on there?” From the maître d’.
I quickly pull out a twenty and throw it toward him. It flutters to the floor. “For my drinks.” Then I grab the asshole and push him out the door.