Page 3 of Out of the Dark

Normally, I’m one to mind my own business and not interfere with strangers’ lives, but every instinct in my body is screaming at me that something is wrong here.

It takes a couple of minutes for the girl to come back out, and as soon as she steps through the doors, the man’s mouth moves with words I can’t hear and her head jerks up in surprise. I watch as she shakes her head and cautiously steps away, but he doesn’t give up. For every step she takes backward, he closes the space between them.

I can’t hear what they’re saying, but when his hand closesaround her arm, his grip tight enough to indent the puffy coat she’s shrouded in, I refuse to stand by any longer. I jump out of my car, and both of their gazes snap to me as the sound of my car door slamming cuts through the night air.

"Is there a problem here?" I ask, putting on a menacing expression as I stare the man down.

He lets go of her arm but doesn’t back off, even though there’s hesitation in his eyes. "Who are you?"

"Does it matter?" I cross my arms over my chest, keeping my back straight and my expression cold. I can already see his resolve breaking. I’m not normally a violent guy, but I sure as hell give off the vibe of someone not to fuck with.

The man mutters something under his breath before storming off in the direction he came.

As soon as I’m sure he’s not going to pull a gun on me or otherwise cause more trouble, I look down at the woman.

"Are you okay?"

Her eyes are wide with fear as she simply nods.

"Are you sure? I’m not going to hurt you," I promise her, knowing how intimidating I seem to strangers. My massive stature automatically makes me seem like a threat, so pairing that with my general rough-around-the-edges look, most people tend to keep their distance.

I soften my expression as much as I can, leaving a significant amount of space between us. "I saw him following you before you went into the building there. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t… well, you know."

"Thank you," she says in a soft voice. She still doesn’t quite make eye contact.

"I’m parked right behind you, so I’ll walk you back to your car if that’s okay."

She nods and walks that way without another word,wrapping her arms around her midsection as if to shield herself from the cold.

"Thank you again," she says as she opens her door.

"No problem." I’m about to get back into my own car and consider my good deed done for the night when I notice the items covering her back seats. "Wait," I blurt.

Damn it, Mark, what are you doing? Just get in the car and leave the poor girl alone.

She pauses and furrows her brow at me. Her massive coat covers her neck and chin, and her hat is pulled down over her forehead, but even though I’m unable to see half of her face, I can tell she’s beautiful. And young. Much too young for me—not that I was looking to pick up a woman by saving her from a predatory asshole anyway.

"I don’t mean to pry, but are you living out of your van?"

Her gaze drops to the ground. "Yes. I’m just trying to save up enough for a place right now. No big deal."

"Are you from around here?" I ask. The out-of-state license plate answers my question before she confirms the answer.

"No."

I don’t know why I think about it or why I even care, but I say, "Well, I’m not sure if you know this, but there’s a massive snowstorm coming tomorrow. It’s probably not safe for you to be staying in your car."

For the first time tonight, she looks directly at me. "I don’t have anywhere else to go."

Her admission alongside the lost but determined look in her eyes shoots straight through my heart. I don’t know why I feel this sudden urge to help her, to take care of her. She’s a random woman without a home, which isn’t exactly a rarity in a big city like this. But something tells me that this isn’tsomething she’s used to, and she probably needs all the help she can get right now. I could be entirely wrong, but she just seems so… lost.

"You could stay with me." The words are out of my mouth before I even realize what I’m saying.Seriously, what the fuck am I doing?

"Oh, um, that’s alright. Thank you, though," she says politely. I can’t blame her for not wanting to stay with a random man, let alone one who’s the size of an average NFL player and has the default expression of "don’t fuck with me." Shane’s fiancée Dani calls it my "resting bitch face."

"I understand why you wouldn’t want to accept my offer, but just in case—" I pull a pen from my coat pocket along with a receipt I forgot to throw away from the grocery store yesterday and scribble down my phone number and address. "—here’s my number and address. I have a spare bedroom that I don’t use. If you change your mind, let me know."

I hold the receipt out to her and she plucks it from my fingers.

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