Page 3 of Claim

“Yeah, it is, because you’re being an ass. Go.”

Mr. Persistent turned to face the older man, then he froze.

I hid a smile.Yes, that’s right, you aren’t the biggest guy in the room.

“Now,” the tattooed giant growled.

The pest clearly weighed his options, then sniffed. “She’s not worth it anyway.” He sauntered back to his friends.

I kept staring at the stranger. I couldn’t look away.

His head turned back to me, and storm-gray eyes met mine.

2

BEAU

The young woman looked up at me with the biggest blue eyes I’d ever seen.

“Thanks,” she said.

She had a surprisingly smoky voice.

“I hate assholes like that,” I told her.

She nodded. She had dyed, mousey-brown hair that was pulled back in a braid. I could tell the color wasn’t natural, because it was all one color, with no variation. She had a cute face with a button nose.

“Can I buy you a coffee, as a thank you?” she asked hesitantly. She waved at the seat across from her.

“Thought you didn’t want any company?”

“Nothiscompany.” She shook her head. “Sorry, you probably just want to finish your dinner alone. Thanks, again.”

I eyed her. There was something so alone about her. I’d seen the look plenty of times before, when I’d been growing up as a kid in foster care, and now with the foster kids I trained at my gym.

“Let me get my stuff.”

I’d finished my burger, so I grabbed my newspaper and coffee mug. I waved to the waitress and slipped into the seat across from the waif.

I’d clocked her when she’d first entered the diner, and initially, I’d thought she was a teenager. But now, up close, I guessed she was probably in her early twenties. Young, but she had a gritty look in her eyes.

She was no delicate flower.

My boxing career had taught me to gauge a person’s grit and determination quickly. It was why I’d been so good at fighting.

My instincts told me that this woman had plenty of resilience, and she didn’t give up easily.

“I’m Beau.”

She hesitated. “Bell.”

It probably wasn’t her real name. She was clearly in trouble, or trying to outrun trouble.

“Where you headed, Bell?”

“Florida.”

I nodded. “I’m on my way home to New Orleans. Had a business trip in Houston.”

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