Page 18 of Love Me
“The spice aisle is next. You head there and I’ll go get the cheese and meet you at the checkout counters,” he suggested and left me with the cart.
I frowned at his back until he turned out of the aisle.I should have asked him what was wrong.
In the middle of the next aisle, I stood before a wall of spices, scanning it for cinnamon. I spotted a small glass jar of it toward the top. Pushing up onto my tiptoes, I reached. Before I was able to grab it, a presence came up behind me and grabbed the jar of spice before I could. Flattening my feet, I turned. I noticed the person’s brown hair first before my eyes dropped to their bruised face. I jerked back quickly. My back slammed into the wall of spices, knocking a handful of containers and jars to the floor.
A dimple appeared to the left of his mouth. A result of the menacing smile that slowly spread across Jacob’s face. It had only been two days since he’d attacked me at the gym and his nose was still slightly swollen. Knox had clearly broken it. By the amount of bruising under his eyes, along his jaw and cheekbones, I’d say Knox had tried to break his whole face.
The fear surging through my veins made me itch to run. I ignored it, choosing to stay calm instead.
“Hello, Shiloh.” He reached for me.
I leapt to the left and away from him. My arm banged into the grocery cart in the process. The pain that zinged up my arm was a good reminder that it was there. Without taking my eyes off Jacob, who was unmoving and watching me, I rolled the cart between us.
He held up the jar of spice. “Didn’t you want this?”
“What do you want?” I forced out.
His hand, still holding the jar of spice, dropped to his side. His eyes began to roam over me, his smile never dropping. I held my breath as they lingered on my breasts, and as they wandered to other areas, I swore I could feel it. It was like dirty and cracked fingernails gliding along my skin.
“Did I mention at our last encounter how much I love your red hair?” he asked.
The flare of anger that hit me was somewhat startling. Not enough for it to show. Just enough to make me aware that it had overshadowed my fear. “And I love what you’ve done to your face.” As if my anger had conjured her, it had been Shayla’s voice that had come out of my mouth.Her strength. Her attitude.
His smile withered and his hand shot out, grabbing the other end of my cart.
As he yanked on it, I blurted, “Why?”
He ignored my question and scowled at me while trying to pull on the cart.
“Why me?” I pushed, doing my best to hold the cart in place. “What the hell did I do to make you so obsessed with me?”
He gave me a pitying look. “Obsessed?” He looked up and down the aisle, seeing that we were alone. “Do you know how many girls I’ve fucked from that gym?” He chuckled arrogantly. “Some of my conquests have been willing. Some weren’t. Like you. It’s because you bitches think you’re too good for me, but you all sound the same when I’m inside you.”
“Disoriented?” I quipped. “Is that how you’ve gotten away with it all this time? The women you’ve raped have been too drugged to remember what you did to them?”
His hand holding the cart squeezed until his knuckles turned white. “I thought you wanted to know why I picked you?” he snarled. My silence was his cue to continue. “The day we met, I noticed the guy next to me stop in the middle of a rep to watch you. You were stretching, oblivious to the many eyes admiring you, including the owner of the gym, Knox Stone.”
I did my best not to react.
“The longer I watched you, the more I knew you’d be easy pickings. You had these sad eyes, begging anyone to come and save you. And when I spoke to you…” He closed his eyes, humming as if he tasted something delicious. “It was obvious you were innocent.” He opened his eyes and his menacing smile returned. “Untouched pussy ripe for the taking.”
I took a step back, unable to hide my disgust. He liked that. I could tell by the way his eyes lit up.
“Mmm,” he hummed, his gaze aimed toward the ceiling. “I’ve fantasized about your blood on my dick so many times.”
Not wanting to hear any more and taking advantage of him not looking, I backed away. Because Logan had taught me not to, I refused to give him my back. I only made it a handful of steps before I collided with a wall of muscle. From behind me, a giant hand wrapped around my middle and flattened on my stomach. I couldn’t bring myself to look away from Jacob to see who it was. Not that I needed to. I knew it was Knox.
When Jacob looked down from the ceiling and noticed Knox behind me, his expression hardened. He opened his mouth, but closed it as an elderly lady, pushing a cart, walked by. She eyed the three of us, reading the obvious tension, and began taking quicker steps. Seeing the woman, Jacob’s hardened features changed to what seemed like haughty arrogance.
Knox noticed the change in Jacob as well. “Being in public won’t protect you.” His tone was calm, yet there was a threatening undertone that made my skin break out in goosebumps.
“I’m guessing your girl didn’t tell you about my new friend the sheriff,” Jacob said, his eyes dropping to me. “Or is she your brother’s girl? I really can’t tell which of the two of you she’s spreading her legs for.”
I assumed he meant Colt. One of the times Jacob had tried to come on to me, Colt had showed up and I had kissed him, hoping Jacob would get the hint that I wasn’t interested.
Knox pushed me behind him and stalked toward Jacob. Jacob’scan’t touch mearrogance quickly dimmed. Knox tossed the block of cheese he’d left to go get into the cart before yanking it from Jacob’s grip easily and sending it rolling down the aisle behind us. “I don’t care whose cock you had to suck to get out of jail. They’re not here to stop me from breaking every fucking bone in your body.”
Jacob stumbled backward, refusing to let the space between them shrink.
