Page 10 of Cold Snap
“Sit there and be quiet until I come back! I’m going to take care of the aftermath of your little brawl, and then me and you are going to talk.”
“Oh really? I don’t believe I have anything to say to you.”
“That’s funny,” I bend down so our faces are so close they almost touch, “because I have a whole fuck ton of shit to say to you.” Like to remind her to keep her ass away from Aarons if she doesn’t want me killing him!
I straighten and look down at the pissed off little thing.
“Stay.”
I look back one more time once I’m at the door and see her narrow her eyes at me. We’re going to have a talk about how that dress fits, too, and whatever the hell that chain thing is she is wearing under it that draws every damned man’s eye right to the swell of her breasts. Yeah, she’s going to take that damned thing off, damn it!
It takes me longer to straighten everything -and everyone- out once I go back out. I have one part of my mind on the problem at hand and the other on the woman waiting for me back in my office. About ten minutes after I left her, I open the door and find… an empty chair, handcuffs still dangling from the arm of the chair.
God damn it!
She must have gotten free and slipped out while I was wading through morons and banning Tommy for life. My temper, so seldom touched, is burning like a fucking funeral pyre.
She ran from me!
Chapter Eight
Teresa
Thank God I keep a handcuff key on me. Who knows what I would have had to endure if I didn’t? Maybe him telling me I’m banned from the bar, or worse. He might have started telling me about his little blonde honey, which would have broken my heart.
So, why am I standing outside this stupid bar again? Why am I coming back to the one man who could absolutely destroy me? I like the pain.
I yank the door open just enough for me to slide inside the darkened room. I wasn’t sure the door would even be unlocked since the bar is supposed to be closed today. Unlike last night, everything is neat and tidy, ready for another night and more people. Once my eyes adjust, I spot him sitting at the bar with the bottle of whiskey. I feel his eyes travel down my body more than see it.
“You’re back.”
“I am. I shouldn’t have…”
“Ran away? Caused a bar fight? Left?”
“You said that one already.” I take the glass from him and take a cautious sip.
“That one is the one that irks me the most.”
Why would that irk him? Because he didn’t get to tell me what he thought of me acting like an ass? Did he spend the night with the blonde? God, I pray she’s not still here, maybe hanging around his apartment recuperating while he waits down here for her to leave.
“Is that why you're drinking whiskey and sitting in a dark room?”
He gives me a look that I can’t pin down.
“Today was bad.”
“Oh, no.” I immediately lose my standoffishness. I don’t say anything. He’ll tell me if he wants to, but I do step closer to him and lay my hand on his shoulder. I want him to understand I am here to listen if he needs to talk.
“You should check on Waylon when you can.”
“He was there.”
“Yep.”
I stand between his legs and place my hands on his shoulders before I start rubbing them for him.
“I’m sorry.”
