Page 10 of Love Me Brazen
I flutter my fingers. Hot pain tightens across my bones.
“Hurts, yeah?” he says with a grimace. “Ice will help.”
I risk another glance, but his concern is genuine. My brain short-circuits because Linden is a jackass. We hate each other. Why is he being kind to me?
I sneak a glance around Linden. Two men with their backs to me are talking to Russel and Eric, who are both gesticulating and shooting angry glares our way. Russel’s covering his right eye with his hand. Shit, did I actually hurt him? The Tahoe is long gone. So are the two women.
“Are those guys with you?” I ask Linden.
“Yeah. My brothers. Everett’s a cop.”
In the back of my scrambled thoughts, this registers. Everett must be the brother in uniform I’ve seen at Linden’s place. Theone with the teenaged son. He glances from his conversation and gives me a one-finger “wait a minute”.
And here I was thinking Quinn and I could slink away.
Quinn breaks from the group and rushes over, her eyes lit with a fiery gleam. When she sees my hand in Linden’s, she blanches. “Oh Meg, ouch.”
“I can take you two home,” Linden says.
Quinn holds my gaze, waiting for my permission. I should resist. Haven’t I been humiliated enough tonight? But my hand hurts and the promise of a quick ride home is too tempting.
Chapter Four
The two guysarguing with Everett and Sepp take off. I cut eyes at the one who grabbed Meg, but he’s too busy sneering at some distant point ahead to give me any special attention. Good. One move from him and he’d be eating the fucking sidewalk.
That alone should scare me because I don’t fight anymore.
Everett walks over, his face tense. “You okay?” he asks Meg.
“Yeah.”
Ev glances at Quinn, who crosses her arms, like she’s offended. Though at the two jerks, or at us for rescuing her and Meg? Either way, I kind of admire her spirit, though this is not the time to share.
“Fine,” Quinn says in a huff.
While Everett takes down their information, I release a shaky breath at the starry sky. Talk about a cluster of an evening. It was hard enough being inside a crowded bar tonight. I volunteered when Everett said Vivian’s sister needed help, but I’d been twitchy from the minute I stepped inside. Then I see some jerk in cowboy boots that have never seen a barn forcing himself on Meg.
Everett slips his phone back into his pocket, then shoots me a questioning glance, but I don’t feel like talking.
I turn to the girls and nod toward the back of The Limelight. “I parked in the bank’s lot.”
The three of us start walking.
Quinn slides her arm across Meg’s shoulders. She’s tall and reedy, with straight dark hair. Meg’s more of a short stack, with knockout curves. The kind begging to be worshipped. She also has long, wavy blonde hair. Perfect for sinking my fingers into. Gathering in my fist.
I run a hand along the back of my neck and purge the memory of holding Meg against me while she caught her breath. It’s been a long time since I’ve had my arms around a woman. I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but right now, I feel like a snail without a shell.
“Fucking asshole,” Quinn mutters, giving the two guys now across the street another scathing glance.
“Someone you know?” I ask.
Quinn locks eyes with Meg for a moment before she says, “We work with him.”
“He’s my ex,” Meg adds with a sigh.
Shit. “Flight attendants?” I ask as we cross the street.
“Pilots.”
