Page 84 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

“Excuse me, ma’am, are you okay?” I recognized Dante’s voice and closed my eyes the second I heard Avery’s sharp intake of breath.

“Are you one of the monsters holding my best friend hostage?” Avery snapped and belatedly I remembered the metal bat I’d seen in her hand.

“Ma’am, maybe you should put that down.”

“One more step and you’re going to resemble a Klingon, mister,” she warned.

But of course, the big Grizzly didn’t back down. I winced when I heard the bat connect with his very hard head.

“She hit him?” Max asked, his voice a shocked whisper.

“Oh yeah. Panties? Thanks,” I murmured as he tossed me a clean pair.

“Right,” I murmured, tying the robe and going back to the window. “Hang on Av, I am coming downstairs. And please stop hitting Dante. No one is holding me hostage. He just works here!”

“Well, how was I supposed to know when my best friend disappears off the face of the earth?” Avery was still shouting as I ran downstairs.

“Well, you’re alive,” she said, swinging the bat.

“Careful, lady,” Dante growled from his position, sitting on the floor, holding his noggin.

“Avery! Oh my God, Dante, why don’t you get some ice?”

“Mama, can I go with the big man?” Rosalie said, and she was already approaching Dante with her hand extended.

“Uh,” Dante sat stone still, eyes wide.

“Is it safe?” Avery asked, and I bit my lip.

“Dante is the best,” I replied, ignoring my mate’s growling response.

“Um, okay, kid?—”

“Her name is Rosalie and if you so much as look at her without smiling I will break both your kneecaps,” Avery threatened, which honestly looked a little silly since she only came up to Dante’s nipples.

“I’ll never hurt her,” he said, and oh shit, his eyes glowed for one brief moment.

“Come on,” Rosalie said, skipping alongside Dante.

“Avery, look, I am okay,” I began, but she spun on her heel, and it was all I could do not to get hit with that dang bat.

“Oh, you’re okay. Well, isn’t that grand? Thanks for the phone call. The return texts. Wait, you didn’t do either of those,” she said with an angry tremble in her voice.

Shit. That wasn’t good. Avery wasn’t an emotional crier. She was a pissed off crier.

But me? Well, I was emotional, and I ugly cried in response to anyone’s tears. If she started, we were both going down in a mess of snot-filled sobs.

Not attractive.

“I’m sorry. I just lost track of time?—”

“That’s what people say when they’re ten minutes late to something. You were gone for a whole week, Penny. I was scared! I felt responsible. What if something happened to you? I mean, I was the one who set you guys up!” Avery yelled, and shit, she was right.

I felt about two inches tall. Max had explained about the rules, how the human and supernatural worlds needed to remain separate for both their goods, and how there were things I just couldn’t tell anyone.

Not Avery. Not anyone.

Like about my Devil, and how I needed the time to get her under control.

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