“Ed!” someone called out from the bar, breaking the spell.
She nearly groaned. If she could have eviscerated the deputy coming towards them with her gaze, she would have. His insides would be a bloody trail behind him. Couldn’t he see that he was ruining a moment?
“A moment?” Ed muttered, looking almost amused.
“I didn’t say that out loud.” There was no way. She never blurted out her thoughts. Her mother would be horrified.
“Really? Because it sure sounded like your voice.”
“This must be a side-effect of the alcohol.”
“Side-effect?” He raised an eyebrow. “Something tells me that you’re not used to drinking.”
“What? What makes you think that? I’ll have you know I love drinking. I do it all the time.”
“Good to know. How much have you had to drink?”
“That is none of your business, sheriff. Now, are you going to do your job and arrest . . .” she glanced around. “Hey! You let him get away.”
“It’s all right. I know where he lives.”
“He could leave town.”
Ed shook his head. “He won’t. I’ll track him down and arrest him.”
Well, shoot. Now that fear was no longer holding her prisoner and she could think clearly, she realized the other man hadn’t hurt her. And if he had PTSD and a problem with being locked up . . .
“No, that’s okay. Maybe a warning, though. He can’t go around just snatching people. Someone else might have been really scared.”
Ed gave her a look but didn’t point out how frightened she’d been.
The deputy caught up to them, he was staring down at her strangely. What was his problem?
“You’re blurting out your thoughts again,” Ed told her.
Damn it. She’d cover her mouth with her hand but she figured that would look unprofessional.
He kept his gaze on her. “You okay, Georgina?”
“Of course I am.”
Nope. She really, really wasn’t.
Ed’s face filled with concern.
Fudge, had she said that out loud?
“Jimmy? Everything settled down?” Ed asked.
“Yeah, we’ve pinpointed who started the brawl.”
“Probably that Loki guy. No wait, it was Grubby Gary,” she said.
“Grubby Gary?” the deputy asked, looking confused. “But he wasn’t even there. Oh, wait, you mean Grabby Gary. See, he’s called that because—”
“Deputy,” Ed interrupted. “You got an update for me? How did this start?”
“Umm, well, see, that’s what I came to tell you. We discovered who started everything.”