I need to go back. Is my phone back there, with him, or did I drop it?
“I’m not being rude,” the man grunts. “I’m just sick and tired of people thinking they can do any damn thing they like, can go any damn place they like. We need this clear for fire reasons. I think I already said that, didn’t I? Maybe you’re deaf as well as stupid.”
My mouth falls open at the sudden, unwarranted rudeness.
He stares at me unapologetically, even nodding down the other end of the alleyway, gesturing for me to leave.
“Well?” he snaps. “What are you still doing here?”
A thousand thoughts come to me, none of them nice.
The man grins like a lunatic. I can tell he knows what he’s doing, what effect he’s having on me.
You’re having a bad day, I imagine saying. And you’re taking it out on me like the sad, lonely loser you are.
But the words die before they can reach my lips. With a heavy breath, I turn and begin to walk back the way I came.
Preston stands at the end of the alleyway, my handbag looking tiny in his giant hands. His chest heaves and his intense eyes flit from me to the man.
Without a word, he stalks toward us. He looks like he’s about to run straight at the man, but he stops a few feet short. The man gazes up at my six-and-a-half-foot tall giant, his lower jaw dropping, so comic-book-like I almost laugh.
“What the fuck were you saying to her?” Preston growls.
“I…” The man shifts from foot to foot. “It’s nothing.”
Preston turns to me. I expect him to look like he wants to rip into me for deserting him in the restaurant, but the only emotion I can read in his tight features is anger toward anybody who would make me feel small, worthless like I deserve to be walked over.
“I thought I lost my phone,” I mutter. “I was looking for it. He said I couldn’t loiter here.”
“Hmm.” Preston turns back to the man, eyes narrowed. “And how did he ask?
Nicely?”
I swallow. Part of me wants to lie on the man’s behalf. Preston looks ready to go full beast mode, launching himself at him and tearing his head clean off.
“Not really,” I say. “He was rude. But it doesn’t matter. It’s not a big deal.”
Preston takes a step forward, talking to me but never taking his eyes off the man. The chef’s face has gone as pale as his uniform. When he swallows, his Adam’s apple shifts dramatically.
“You don’t speak to her with anything other than respect. Am I clear?”
The man nods vigorously. “Yes, yes, definitely.”
“Takes a small motherfucker to bully a woman he doesn’t know when she’s got no backup. A real small bastard.”
The man takes a shaky step back. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing to me?” Preston snaps.
The man looks at me, pleading with his eyes. He’s nothing like the big tough guy he was pretending to be a few moments ago. He looks pathetic. Like he’s on the verge of bursting into tears. Absurd guilt rises in me, as though it’s my fault he decided to target me.
“I’m sorry Miss,” he says. “Please. Don’t hurt me.”
“Get out of here.” Preston takes another step forward. “Before I change my goddamn mind.”
The man turns and runs back into the building, slamming the door behind him.
When Preston turns, his expression is unreadable. “I’ve got your phone. It was in your bag.”
“Oh,” I mumble. “I thought I might have taken it.”
Everything we’ve done – all we discussed – hangs between us. I shift awkwardly under the pressure of his gaze.
“Why did you run, Penny?” he finally asks.
That’s the one question I can’t answer.
Not honestly.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Preston
She stares at me, her hands clasped over her middle, as though protecting herself. I’m still full of fire and rage when I think about what I saw when I came looking for her.
Walking out of the restaurant, I checked the surrounding area and then happened to stop at the end of the alleyway. I saw the man say something, his face a mask of condescension, clearly enjoying the fact that Penny couldn’t do anything in response. And then I saw my woman turn, defeated, pain marking her every feature, her every movement.
It took everything I have not to smash him against the wall, to really make him pay. But this is real life, not the football field. I won’t be able to claim my woman in prison.
I was relieved when he apologized. For him.
“I panicked,” she says softly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. But it was all happening so fast and… And I’m sorry, Preston, really. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine,” I say because I don’t know what else to say. “Maybe I should give you a ride home.”
I knew it. The warning sirens were there, telling me to slow down before I ruined what we were building. She expected a first date, a fun time, but I couldn’t stop myself from tearing the chains loose and letting out my inner demon.