Page 9 of Protecting Andie

Pain slid up her fingers as her fingernails broke off. He’d pulled her about six feet away from her car. He was going to get her into his vehicle, and then she would never get free. He was obsessed.

Another shriek spilled from her, and he punched her. She sagged, her knees hitting the deck.

“Bitch, get up.”

If she did what he asked, he would still hurt her. She’d already learned that lesson. He’d done it before and would do it again. Why this week? Maybe because he knew where she would be. They should have moved the wedding location like Emily had suggested, but she’d not wanted to ruin Emily’s perfect week. She’d been in love with this place since she’d first seen it.

Rider spied the woman on the ground, trying to fight off the guy above her. The jerk punched her, and that freaking pissed him off. He didn’t have time to stop and call the police, but he figured he could take the guy.

He was about twenty feet away when he realized the woman on the ground was Andie. That made his blood boil.

Rider picked up speed and hit the bastard attacking Andie with force. The oof sound he got from the attacker warmed his icy heart. He wouldn’t kill the guy, but he sure as fuck wasn’t going to let him touch Andie again.

The man moved to stand, but Rider didn’t like that at all. “Stay down!” His voice echoed off the hotel, and he saw the man flinch. But the jerk didn’t stay down. Rider was preparing to knock the man on his ass when he heard sirens and saw lights flashing. The cops were there.

A panicked look crossed the jerk’s face before he turned to take off. But Rider must have hit him harder than he’d thought because the guy went down on both knees as soon as he tried to move.

Rider heard Andie moving behind him. He wanted to tell her to stay back behind him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her attacker. The man was dangerous.

“Rider, are you okay?” Andie asked.

“I’m okay. What about you?”

“I’m fine.”

She didn’t sound fine. She sounded lost. This was the second time he’d found someone attacking her. He needed to find out more about this guy and shut him down.

It took a few minutes for the police to sort things out. Two ambulances were called, though Andie insisted she was okay. Rider didn’t like the way the lump on her head looked.

“You should see someone,” Rider said as he sat next to her on the curb.

She shook her head but stopped moving and moaned. “I’m fine.”

“I can drive you there. You don’t have to ride in the ambulance. Maybe a scan to check out that bump on your head.”

Andie didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t keep the tears at bay. This was the last thing she needed the week of Emily’s wedding. Thankfully, Rider had saved her again, but he was seeing her at her worst. What a terrible impression she was making.

All the hurt and anger turned inward. “I don’t deserve saving.”

He moved so he was kneeling in front of her. “I don’t ever want to hear you talking that way again. You do deserve saving.”

She stared into his eyes, wondering if he really thought that. Emily and her therapist had helped her so much, but with Tony coming around, abusing her again, it seemed like she was slipping away. Maybe she deserved a guy like Tony. She wasn’t cute and didn’t have a great job. She was just average at best. Someone like Tony might be the best she could hope for.

“Hey, Andie, you do deserve to be saved. What that jerk is doing is wrong.”

She couldn’t keep looking into his eyes because his caring about her was too much. If she had someone in her life like Rider, maybe she could really get over everything Tony had done to her.

He cupped her face gently, smoothing his thumb over her cheek. “You do deserve to be saved.”

For a half second, he thought she was going to kiss him. But the officer stepped over, interrupting the moment. “Excuse me, ma’am. He is saying you forced yourself on him.”

Rider didn’t give her a chance to answer. “Get the video from the hotel. It will tell the truth.”

The officer nodded. “We have someone on that. Just trying to get a statement.”

She shook her head. “He’s an ex. He attacked me earlier.”

Rider met the officer’s gaze. “I warned him off. I thought he would stay away.”

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