Page 36 of The Runaway Bride of Blitzen Bay (Blitzen Bay)

“Actually, I’m pretty good at it myself.” Her eyes twinkle at me from underneath her impossibly long eyelashes.

“Not as good as you think,” I say, pointing at her. “Tell me about you. Did you graduate from college? What’d you major in?”

“I just graduated from UCLA. I majored in international studies and I’m headed to law school in January. At least, I’m supposed to be.”

“What does that mean?”

“This whole wedding thing,” she says. “I’m supposed to start at Pepperdine, but Steve wants to move back to Dallas. It got all screwy.”

She stops and puts her face in her hands.

“You don’t have to tell me,” I say, putting my hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry for prying,”

From the corner of my eye, I see a man rush through the door. Without even looking over, I know it’s Stevie. His eyes dart around the room until they finally focus on me. He keeps it under control until he sees Elle sitting across from me with my hand on her shoulder. He charges toward me as I stand up.

“What the hell, Young?” He lunges for me, but I sidestep it easily.

“Settle down, Stevie.” I catch him by the arm to prevent him from crashing into the table. As I steady him, he whips his other arm around and tries to land a punch. I block it and pin him against the wall as gently as I can.

“Nash!” Elle jumps out of her chair and runs over to us.

“I’m not going to hurt him,” I say without looking back at her. “Don’t try it again, Stevie.”

He spins around as I release him. His eyes go from me to Elle.

“Are you okay?” He bumps me as he walks past and grabs her by both shoulders. “Babe, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, of course not.” She looks over his shoulder at me. I try to soften my eyes by smiling at her.

“Did he force you to go with him?” Steve turns around and looks at me as he pushes Elle protectively behind him. I want to rip her away from him.

“No, Steve. No,” she says, walking between us. She puts her hands on his chest and tries to push him back a bit. “I asked him for a ride. He was doing me a favor. I had to get out of there. He has nothing to do with this. Really. Let’s sit down and talk.”

She pulls him by the hand toward the table. He follows her—walking backward—not taking his eyes off me.

“Stay away from her, Young. I’m not going to tell you again.” He lowers his voice a few octaves to try to save face.

As I grab my beer off the table and head over to the bar, I look at Elle one more time to see if she needs my help. She smiles up at me, but all the sparkle has left her eyes. I want to hug her so badly. I feel way too protective of her already.

“I guess he does hate you as much as you said,” Gabi says as I sit down at the bar.

“He’s an asshole. I can’t imagine what she sees in him unless it’s his family’s money.”

“I don’t get that vibe from her at all. Maybe he’s changed or she thought he’d changed and figured out he hadn’t at the last minute.”

“I don’t know why I care anyway. I just met her.”

She pats my arm as Izzy joins us. “He doesn’t have the right aura for her at all if that helps, Nash. She was right to run away from him.”

“Why would that help me? She can do what she wants.” My voice is edgy. I try to calm it down a bit. “I mean, she seems nice. I hope she finds what makes her happy.”

Izzy leans over the bar, kisses my cheek, and whispers, “I think she has, babe, although I don’t think she realizes it yet, but I can tell you’ve already figured it out.”

My eyes pop open as I look up at her. She smiles knowingly as she walks away. It seems Izzy is a mind reader.

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