Page 12 of Filthy, Dirty, Cowboy

She laughs. “I’m sorry? You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“You’re not making very sound decisions for yourself. This guy hurt you, honey. Now, he’s manipulating you. You can’t give in to him. It’s only going to make things worse.”

Waylon steps in, his brows narrowed. “What do you mean hehurther?”

Portia draws in a deep breath and stares toward me with heated daggers that say everything she can’t. I’ve overstepped. She told me something personal, and though it wasn’t my intention, I’ve shared it with the group. She lets out the breath she’s holding and turns toward Waylon. “I’m so sorry this is happening. I’m going to talk to him. I—”

“Wait.” Waylon steps in front of her. “I don’t mean to pry, but is it true? What did he do to you?”

She glances toward me again, tears shuffling onto her cheek.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This is the feelings shit I’m not good at.

“Look.” I try and hold her against me, but she flinches away and turns toward Waylon.

“It’s nothing, really, and this exchange is entirely unprofessional. I hope you’ll accept my apology.”

Waylon scratches his head and glances at me before looking back toward Portia again. “No apology needed. But if you’re uncomfortable going to talk to John alone, we’re here to help. That’s all Hawk is trying to say.”

She blows out a heavy breath. “No. I’m fine. It must be a pretty big emergency for him to show up like this. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Waylon nods as she walks away. I know I should too, but I’m lost in how to try and fix the situation.

When she reaches her boss, she’s only fifty yards away and I doubt this asshole would have the balls to touch her in front of two grown men. Little does he know, I already have all I need to stop his miserable life.

I start to follow after her, but Waylon holds me back. “She’ll be okay, brother. We’re right here.” I pace back and forth, fists clenched, jaw tight like a caged animal about to attack.

“What the hell is going on up here?” Waylon sounds confused. “I didn’t realize you two even knew each other.”

“She’s fucking perfect.”

He laughs. “Perfect? You don’t know her.”

I realize I sound like a crazy man and the pacing doesn’t help. “You know how it is. Things were like this for you and Penelope to start too, right? You don’t think it’s gonna work out, and everything in the world is against you. But for some reason, that only makes you want it more, and now she’s the only thing you’re thinking about.”

“You got all this from one night?”

“How long does it take to know you’d hurt someone for laying a fucking finger on someone you care about?”

He nods and crosses his arms in front of his chest as he stares down the hill toward the truck. “I get it. This guy is weird. I wouldn’t do a deal with him for all the money in the world.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. That’s great for Rugged Mountain, but I know Portia is going to be broken up. She needed this deal to improve her resume and leave this fucker behind.

But if the deal is off, then what fucking difference does it make?

I make my way down the hill and toward the truck, ignoring Waylon’s suggestion to wait. Eventually, I hear him jogging down behind me.

Portia glances up toward me in the dark night. Her gaze is shadowed and angry, a complete one-eighty from what it had been twenty minutes ago. Back then, I thought we had everything figured out. I thought maybe we were meant to be.

I nod toward John who hasn’t bothered to step from the truck. It’s a bullshit move on my part, as I plan to beat the shit out of him the second he grows a pair and climbs out.

He responds with, “And you are?”

I don’t answer. I stand with my jaw locked and my fists clenched. I’m unable to speak. All I want to do is pound this man into the ground for touching Portia. I want him to pay for making her feel bad.

Portia opens the driver’s side door and slides into the truck. “I’m going to ride with Waylon back into town, if that’s okay.” She glances toward Waylon who nods in agreement before looking toward me.

“Yeah, that’s good.” Waylon’s shoulders are tight like he doesn’t know what to do.

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