Page 7 of Never Fear (Whiskey Ridge)
This time, her eyes widened. “Youwatchedme?”
I shrugged, though the movement was stiff. “Stalking you isn’t so hard when you don’t watch your fucking back.”
Fury lit her gaze. “Is that what this is? Some attempt tomakeme be careful?” She bent to grab her purse off the ground where it’d fallen when I grabbed her. “If it is, you’re doing a great fucking job. Slamming me into a car and choking me.” She forced a smile as she opened her purse with shaky hands. She pulled something out, and I quickly realized it was a pack of gum.
After popping a piece into her mouth, she shoved the pack back in her purse and fished her keys out. While she was busy, I grabbed her phone from where it had fallen to the ground.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she shrieked as soon as she saw what I was holding. She reached for it, but I was faster.
I held it out of reach as I unlocked it and pulled up her contacts. “You should really have a passcode on your phone.”
“Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do,” she snapped, continuing to try to take the device from me. It was futile, but I was growing easily distracted with the way her tits bounced with each little jump she did.
I added my number to her contacts, sent myself a quicktext so I had hers, then locked the phone and slowly lowered it within her reach. Instantly, she snatched it.
“You’ll need that when your life is on the line,” I said.
McKenna shoved her phone back into her purse. “Ifmy life is on the line. Notwhen. The note wasn’t that serious.”
My nostrils flared as I held back the urge to fling her over my shoulder, bring her back to my truck, and lock her away in my room until whoever threatened her was caught. Brynne was important to me, and by association, her best friend was too. Not to mention the weeks of flirting before shit went to hell between us. But the way she couldn’t stop being so damn stubborn for one fucking minute pissed me the hell off.
“It’s not a matter ofifit’s going to happen, McKenna. It’swhen, because that’s what happens when someone threatens your fucking life. They make good on their promises. So get in your car, drive home, and know that I’ll be the one watching your back because you won’t.”
“I don’tneedyou to!” she hissed, inching forward.
“What? Are you too headstrong for that, too?”
“The only headstrong one here is you, Austin. Let. It. Go.” She emphasized each word before she whirled around and pressed a button on the fob to unlock her SUV.
“Is that why you told Brynne about it, then? So we could all just let it go? Or are you avoiding the fact that you’re scared and you don’t know how to ask for help?”
She hesitated with her hand on the handle, her back going stiff.
The act told me all I needed to know.
I didn’t give her a chance to respond as I turned and headed back the way I came.
Stubborn as she was, I’d fight for her.
She’d hate every second of it, but I would.
Because like it or not, McKenna was afraid of that note, and although she hid her emotions behind a heavily fortified wall, I’d make it my damn mission to make her feel safe again.
And I’d have damn fun doing it.
Chapter 3
McKenna
“You really think he’s standing out there watching?” Brynne asked, glancing for the tenth time out the diner’s foggy window—barely an hour after I told her about the night with Austin. She wouldn’t find him, though. I hadn’t been able to, either. He nearly blended into the shadows, but I felt him out there. Eyes on me like a hawk to a mouse.
I grabbed dirty plates from the now-empty table, the two men having left minutes ago. “Guarantee it.”
The diner was nearly empty tonight due to the frigid temperatures that had rolled in, keeping everyone home to stoke their fires and prep more firewood for the long winter ahead. There’d be no more going outside without a jacket until spring.
“I’d even bet Booker’s right there with him, watching you,” I added over my shoulder before heading into the kitchen. Moments later, Brynne joined me.
“And you said Austin tried to scare you,” Brynne said, repeating what I’d told her earlier.
