Page 31 of Bewitched By the Mountain Man
“This never should have happened,” Roddy says.
“I agree.”
He closes out of the screen and storms past me, yanking the door open.
I follow him out, and Tessa looks up the second she sees me.
“What did he say?” she asks.
I nod over to the bar where Vanessa is standing. She turns just in time to see Roddy bearing down on her. Vanessa’s smile falters. Her face drains of color.
He lifts a hand and gestures sharply to one of the bouncers.
The man moves fast. Within seconds, he’s at Vanessa’s side, gripping her arm. She jerks back, but he leans in, whispers something.
She pales further, eyes darting frantically around the room. People are watching now.
Tessa presses in close beside me. “That’s it, then? Was it her? It’s taken care of?”
I nod. “A guy like Roddy doesn’t like being blindsided. She’s not going to try anything else.”
Tessa swallows, but her relief is short-lived. “What about Derek? He still has the video.”
“He hasn’t done anything with it,” I cut in. “It’s been weeks.”
“That doesn’t mean he won’t,” she says.
I rest a hand on her lower back. “We’ll deal with him if we need to, but for now, let’s get the hell out of here.”
She hesitates, glancing back toward the bar where Vanessa is being quietly escorted through the side exit.
9
TESSA
Ican’t shake the knot in my stomach, the gnawing fear that Derek’s not done with us. Vanessa might’ve been scared off, but Derek’s got that damning footage still in his hands.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Lachlan’s eyes flick from the road to me.
I stare at my hands twisting in my lap. “I just have a bad feeling about Derek.”
“What do you want me to do? Go to his place? Beat the shit out of him?”
“No,” I say quickly. “That’ll only make it worse. I’m just worried he’s going to find out who you are. A professor. And expose you.”
“So youdowant me to threaten him?”
“No, Lachlan.” I sigh, frustration bubbling up. “I don’t want anything to happen to your career because of me. We’ve been reckless,soreckless. I mean, we had sex on campus, multiple times.”
His lips twitch, a ghost of a smirk breaking through the tension. “But we’re more careful now.”
“I know,” I say, but the fear lingers.
“Tessa, please don’t worry about me.”
His hand finds my knee.
