Page 19 of The Red-Hot Stakes

His heartfelt tone took the wind right out of my sails. “Fine, be ready to go in ten minutes.”

The crease in his forehead eased and his shoulders sagged. “Deal.”

Ten minutes later, we were the last ones there and I locked up, going out the back way. Unfortunately, Liam had parked closer to the front, so we had to walk along the dimly lit parking lot to get to his car. Three guys jumped out as we neared the corner of the building.

“Shit,” Liam muttered, stepping in front of me.

I stayed near his back as the three of them closed in. A hand clapped over my mouth from behind, muffling my yell.

“We meet again,” the sleaze from earlier said in my ear, dragging me away from the fight.

Liam was holding his own, but certainly had no way of helping me. It was up to me. I tried to fight back, but this guy had nearly six inches on me, and a lot more muscle. There was no way I could take him. The insidious numbness crept over me again.

Why even bother fighting when I can’t win?

Liam knocked out one of the guys, glancing over his shoulder to check on me. Anger sharpened his features as his gaze locked on mine. “Since when are you okay being the damsel in distress?” He snorted. “Maybe you need a tiara to go with that princess attitude.” Then he turned back to his own fight.

My jaw would have dropped if the nasty guy hadn’t been smothering it. Hurt stabbed my gut, followed by a flood of rage. How dare he! That arrogant bastard. I was going to kill him, if those guys didn’t get to it first.

Moves from my self-defense class came rushing back to me, and I went rigid. I stomped on the instep of the guy’s foot as hard as I could, then slammed my head back into his nose. The second his grip loosened, I whirled out of it, kicking him between the legs with all my might. His hands went to the tender spot, his mouth forming an O as he dropped to the pavement, blood gushing from his definitely broken nose.

Liam rushed over, none of the others left standing. “Nicely done.”

Still furious, I took a swing at him, but he dodged. He caught my second punch, using my motion to spin me around and pin me against him. My chest heaved with anger at being caged, and I squirmed in his hold.

“All right, Red. Time to turn that temper back off, and calm down. Deep breaths.” He sucked in slow, exaggerated breaths, and his chest pressed against my back, forcing me to feel his rhythm.

I breathed him in, mimicking him unconsciously as that delicious cedar and pine scent wrapped around me.

He whispered in my ear, “I didn’t mean what I said, but it was all I could think of at the time. I needed you to fight. I’m sorry.”

My anger ebbed, deflating me as I sagged against him. “Asshole,” I muttered. Awareness crept over me, his burly arms holding me tightly to him. I shifted against his firm torso, needing to swallow at the sudden dryness in my mouth.

He chuckled, low, deep and rumbly. “If you’re done hitting on me, I’ll go call the police.”

I nodded before I realized what I’d confirmed. His smug expression taunted me as he stepped away, pulling out his phone to report the assault. Annoyance flashed through me at his teasing but it was quickly doused with relief at being out of his arms.

Although my back felt colder than before.

It was a good hour before everything wrapped up, between statements and getting checked out by EMTs. Luckily, The High Five had video surveillance, so we were able to confirm our story with the footage.

Liam got a kick out of watching me take down the guy at least a head taller than me. “Watch,” he told the officer going over the feed with us. “Right here’s where I piss her off. Check this out.”

The officer whistled at the rage on my face. “What did you say to her?”

I crossed my arms and glared at Liam.

“What I needed to do so she could save herself.” He smirked back at me, adding, “Right, Red?”

It was the second time he’d called me that, and I frowned, tiredness washing over me. I needed my bed.

“Look at her go,” the officer exclaimed. “She’s a little pistol!”

Liam smirked. “Yep, red-hot temper on that one.”

Pieces clicked together—Red Hots were my favorite candy, I chewed Big Red gum, I had a red-hot temper. Groaning, I hid my face in my hands.

“Something wrong over there, Red?”

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