Page 2 of Tell Me No Lies

It still pisses me off.

"You don't get to look at her." He’s far enough away now I'm not worried I won't have time to prepare for a hit if he tries to swing at me, so this time I do point at the door, still keeping my other hand on the fuming woman at my back. "Go."

He almost acts like he's going to say something else, but ultimately figures out I'm not fucking around, and storms out onto the sidewalk, stalking to the truck my staff just finished servicing. I can hear how hard he slams the door from where I stand, along with the rev of his perfectly running engine as he peels out of the lot.

Once he's gone, I turn to Nancy, motioning at the line of customers waiting to be helped. "Can you handle this for a minute?"

Nancy ran the front of my business on her own for years, but as the shop got busier and busier, the task became overwhelming. With Piper here, Nancy’s job is mostly scheduling and ordering parts, and I can tell she’s been a hell of a lot less stressed out. But I need her to go back to juggling everything for a few minutes because Piper and I need to have another talk about customer service tactics.

I barely register Nancy’s agreement as I drag Piper behind me, careful not to walk too fast as I lead her into my office. Slamming the door behind us, I force in a breath. I'm still worked up over what happened—over what could have happened if I wasn't close enough to hear. I need her to understand how little it takes for shit to go sideways. Even in a place like this.

I turn to face her, ready to lay into the woman who has been a thorn in my side from day one, but I don't get a single word out before she comes at me.

"I had that under control." Both arms are crossed over her chest as she steps closer, gait uneven thanks to the walking cast she’s sporting on her left foot. "You should have let me handle it. Then he’d keep bringing his money here and wouldn't be telling everybody he knows what an asshole the owner of this place is."

"He can say whatever he wants about me. I don’t give a shit, and I sure as hell don't want his fucking money.” I step closer to where she stands, anger, aggravation, and frustration bubbling under my skin. Unfortunately, they’re competing with another emotion. The one that was the real driving force behind what just happened.

Fear.

"I know you think you can handle men like that, Piper, but you don't understand what some of them are capable of." I do. I've seen it with my own eyes. I know what can happen when a man is determined to put a woman in her place.

Especially a woman like Piper.

"Don’t I?” Piper shoves a pointing finger at her casted ankle. “Because I’m pretty sure I had a front row seat to what some men are capable of and have the scars to prove it.”

I don’t like being reminded of what happened the day Lydia’s father and brother kidnapped her, her sister, and Piper from the sidewalk in front of my house. Don’t like thinking about how much worse things could have been if Christian and I hadn’t been able to get to them the second the SUV rolled down an embankment.

“But you just had to come out and give that dude a concussion in front of five hundred customers." Her eyes narrow, glare intensifying. "Customers who now think I can’t handle myself since you acted like I'm some sort of fucking damsel in distress."

If I wasn't so pissed I’d laugh, because no one would ever mistake Piper for a damsel in distress. Even sporting a hot pink cast on her still-healing leg, she's formidable. Her tongue is sharp as a razor and, while she might be small, the woman is wickedly quick and of the opinion anything can be used as a weapon.

I thought taking away her stun gun would make her less dangerous, but I think it might've only made things worse. I've seen her inspecting any number of the tools around the shop with interest on more than one occasion, and I'm pretty sure the hammer from the toolbox in my office is missing. I hope to God she doesn't have it on her now. Otherwise, there's a good chance I'm gonna meet the business end of it.

And for some reason that makes my dick hard, which only pisses me off more.

"What they think is that I make sure my employees have a safe environment to work in, and now they know not to fuck with you." My brain stumbles a little over my wording, and I'm forced to amend the statement. "Or anyone else who works here."

Piper rolls her eyes, scoffing. "Such a fucking man thing to say." Her face scrunches up as she lowers her voice, mocking my words. "No one fucks with anything that's mine because I’m a freaking Neanderthal."

I know she's trying to goad me, and it's working, but not in the way she thinks. My attention zeroes in on one specific word that came through her perfect lips and latches onto it.

Mine.

I lean down, lining my eyes with hers as I snatch up the wrist he held. "He shouldn't have fucking put his hands on you." Turning my attention to the section of soft skin reddened by his grip, I gently slide my thumb over the inside of her wrist, jaw clenching as the urge to hunt him down and punish him for what he did grows.

It's something I've done before. Many times. I swore it would never happen again, but I need to hit something. I need a release or I’m going to lose it.

And no one deserves to feel my wrath more than him.

Piper yanks her hand out of my grip. "I'm fine. That was nothing compared to the shit that happened to me when I worked at The Cellar, so you can just calm the fuck down."

All my pent-up aggression narrows as I lift my eyes to hers. "Who fucking touched you when you worked at The Cellar?"

I'm not stupid. I know what it's like for bartenders. I know what they have to deal with. I've seen it more than a few times while performing with Simon and Christian across Memphis with our band, Sinners and Saints.

But I really don't fucking like the thought of it happening to Piper.

She continues staring me down, chin lifting in a show of defiance that heats my already boiling blood. "It doesn't matter because I can take care of myself." Leaning in, she brings us almost nose to nose. "I'm a big girl. I don't need you, or anyone else, jumping in to save me. I could have handled it."

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