Page 10 of The Bachelor

She yelled, “Hey!” and reared back. “Let me go.”

That was all Shane needed. When a man touched a woman against her will, he saw red. He remembered with vivid clarity the way his father had used his mother as his personal stress reliever, his fist meeting her face when the urge overtook him. He remembered that helpless feeling of knowing when the storm in his father was brewing, seeing the warning signs, while watching his mother try to placate Billy Hart, talk him down. That they had all walked on eggshells, never knowing what would set him off, still left a sour taste in Shane’s mouth. He had never been able to protect his mother, not truly. Even when he had gotten older and stronger and had tried to intervene, only to get the fists turned on him. But every bruise he had received instead of her had been worth it. And since they’d left Kentucky, he had vowed never to mind his own business when it came to a man getting rough with a woman.

He stepped in front of Avery and put his hand on Ben’s chest. He had a good eight inches on the guy. “Let go of her right now,” he said, his voice steely, his intention clear. “Or I will fuck up your shit with zero hesitation.”

Ben dropped Avery’s arm and took a quick step back. “This is ridiculous,” he sputtered. “This whole situation is ridiculous.”

“Well, I can’t disagree with that,” Avery said dryly. “Just go, Ben. I’ll text you about picking up my stuff. Beyond that, I never want to see you again.”

Ben’s gaze moved to her. “What is your mother going to think about this? She thinks you’re here with me.”

“My mama is going to think I’m better off without a man who has lied and been unfaithful to me.” With that, she held her head high and strode on past him back to their table. She pulled out her chair with more force than was necessary but she looked dignified, done.

Shane admired her tremendously for the way she was handling Ben. She wasn’t screaming or crying or causing a scene, nor was she willing to stand there and take his belittling. She didn’t look young anymore, but like the woman that she was. Which made him even more intrigued by her.

He gave Ben a scathing look of dismissal and started to follow after her.

Ben startled him by stepping in front of him. The guy had balls, Shane would give him that.

“Don’t think you can take advantage of Avery because she’s a country girl,” Ben told him. “She knows what she wants and it isn’t a hanger-on like you.”

Shane raised his eyebrows. That was a description he hadn’t ever heard applied to him. Not in the last decade anyway. “Just go home, man.” He didn’t feel the need to say anything further. He was going to dismiss the guy exactly as Avery had. He moved around him and over to the table. His waffle had been set at his place and he felt his stomach growl.

He sat down and smiled at her. “Yum. Do you want the first bite?”

Her cheeks were pink and her mismatched eyes were dark with anger at her ex, but she gave him a smile back. “I’d love the first bite. It looks delicious.”

Ben stormed past them and slapped open the door to the diner. Shane poured on some syrup, cut a piece and held it out to Avery. He expected her to take the fork from him but she didn’t. She just opened her delicate mouth wide and let him feed her. It was unexpectedly sensual, intimate, and her eyes softened. His gut clenched. She chewed, sighed, closed her eyes.

“That’s so good.”

Yeah, it was. A good view. A good night. An unexpected encounter with a good woman. Damn, he was so caught off guard. The urge to kiss her returned, stronger than before, and he berated himself mentally. The last thing she needed was a guy like him taking advantage of her vulnerability. She was heartbroken and he needed to remember that.

“So tell me how a nice girl like you ends up with an asshole like him.” He pulled his fork back, and took a bite for himself. The waffle was sweet and fluffy.

“By being a nice girl. And maybe I’m tired of being a nice girl,” she said.

Shane paused in taking a second bite. He hadn’t been expecting that. It was intriguing and sexy as hell. He shouldn’t probe deeper into what that meant, but he did. “Oh, really? How so?”

“Really.” Her eyes met and held his in defiance. “And I think you know exactly what I mean.”

Damn. He did. Not only did he know what she meant, he could visualize it. Avery, naked. Him, over her. Her, being naughty and nice all at the same time. Shane cleared his throat and tried not to get hard. He failed miserably.

But he looked down at the waffle. He wasn’t going to pick up what she was putting down. He just wasn’t. “I realize you were swimming in a small pond back home, but there had to be better fish than him.” He tore open a sugar packet and poured it on his finger then stuck it in his mouth to suck the sweetness off.

“Do you always pour sugar on your finger?” she asked. “It’s kind of an odd habit.”

He did do that. It was something he had picked up from his mother. He and Jolene both did, though their younger sister, Elle, had shaken the habit. It was just a way his mother had used to reassure them everything was okay after a big fight with their father. She’d pull out the sugar bowl and sprinkle crystals on their fingers and urge them to close their eyes while they ate it. Now he just craved the sweetness. “Are you making fun of me?” he teased. “Because I’m kind of sensitive.”

She flushed. “I don’t believe that for one second, but no, I wasn’t making fun of you. I think it’s cute.”

Cute wasn’t a word normally used to describe him either. “Puppies are cute. I’m devastatingly handsome.” He gave her a smile to let her know he was still teasing.

Avery just eyed him and said, “I don’t find it particularly devastating but the Lord wasn’t laughing when he made you, that is true.”

Her answer was honest and somehow that was actually embarrassing to him. He wasn’t used to women who didn’t flirt back or give him a hard time. Avery’s forthrightness knocked him a little off-balance. But that didn’t stop him from saying, “It wasn’t the only gift I was endowed with.”

“Are you flirting with me, Shane?” she asked. “I’m asking, because I’m honestly not sure. I don’t get flirted with very often.”

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