Page 12 of Beautiful Harmony

“Leave,” she said. “I won’t ask again.”

He grinned, revealing missing teeth and rotting breath when he said, “Even someone as ugly as you likes to play hard to get, huh? Fucking women, you’re all the same. You think you’re God’s gift to -”

“Everything okay, Emma?”

Lucas’s voice sent relief rushing through her. Without looking at him, Brendan said, “Everything’s fine, pretty boy. Mind your fucking business and go back up front to that hot little snatch giving you fuck me eyes.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, you piece of shit junkie.”

The venom in Lucas’s usually affable voice sent a wave of surprise over Emma, stiffening her limbs and dropping open her mouth.

Brendan whirled around. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

“Emma, come to me right now.” Lucas held out his hand.

Any snarky retort she would have usually made about not being a damn dog died on her lips when Lucas turned his gaze toward her. She’d never considered Lucas any sort of alpha male, not with his easygoing nature. It was partly why they were such good friends. Alpha males annoyed the fuck out of her with their ‘you’re my woman’ attitude.

But the look in Lucas’s eyes, and his absolute ‘do not fuck with me’ vibe, had her brushing past Brendan to take Lucas’s hand in about three point two seconds flat, feminism be damned.

“You think I’m scared of you, pretty boy?” Brendan said in a low voice.

“I think you have five seconds to get the fuck out of this store before I send you crying to your fucking grandma,” Lucas said. His voice was soft, pleasant almost, but that ‘don’t fuck with me’ attitude was still firmly in place.

Lucas pulled Emma against him, slipping an arm around her waist as Brendan sneered at them. “I was just fucking leaving.”

He swept past them, and Lucas said in that same dangerously soft voice. “Go anywhere near Emma again, and I’ll fuck you up so bad, you’ll wish you were back in your cozy prison cell.”

“Whatever,” Brendan muttered. “Like I’d touch that fat ugly cow anyway.”

A sound escaped Lucas’s lips, making all the hairs on Emma’s arms stand straight up. He started toward Brendan, and Emma grabbed his hand and dug her heels in.

Lucas tried to shake free of her grip, and she took his arm with her other hand as he dragged them both forward a couple of steps.

“Lucas, stop.”

“Let me go,” he said.

“No.” She squeezed his arm. “Lucas, don’t -”

The breath escaped her lungs in a quiet rush when Lucas turned his gaze toward her. The anger had turned his hazel eyes into green fire and tightened every muscle in his body. “Emma, let go.”

A weird and almost forgotten sensation coated her body - Jesus, she was not getting turned on by angry Lucas - and she gripped his arm harder and used her weight to pull him toward the back room. “Come with me.”

He resisted, and she made another fierce tug that got his feet moving in the direction she wanted. She led him into the employee only area past the swinging door. “Hey, you okay?”

He stared at her, his body nearly vibrating with rage. “That fucking asshole needs his face punched in.”

“Sure, but his grandmother is also one of my best customers, so -”

“I don’t fucking care!” Lucas snapped before reaching to push open the door.

“Whoa.” She jammed herself between Lucas and the door.

“Emma, move,” Lucas said.

“No,” she said. “What’s going on with you?”

“Some guy talked fucking shit about you and threatened you,” he snapped. “You think I should let that go?”

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