Page 2 of Country Mist

Tyson caught sight of the two men from the restroom and narrowed his gaze. They were crowding a cute blonde in a little black dress near one of the high-tops, but she didn’t seem bothered and was smiling.

He gritted his teeth. The woman looked familiar—it was Haylee McLeod.

Tyson stood abruptly and pushed back his chair. “Pardon me a moment, Henry. I’ll be right back.”

His attention was laser-focused as he pushed his way through the crowd. He set his jaw and had to fight to keep from clenching his hands into fists when he stopped beside the trio.

The redhead caught sight of Tyson glowering at them. “What do you want?”

Tyson kept his tone low and controlled. “I want you and your friend to leave the lady alone.”

Haylee’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening.

“Beat it.” The redhead waved him away. “We were here first.”

At that, Haylee’s gaze shot to the redhead.

Tyson did ball his hands into fists, then. “Let’s take this outside right now.”

“You can’t take us both on,” the second man said.

Tyson gave him a cold smile. “Try me.”

“Stop it right this minute.” Haylee put her hands on her hips and glared from Tyson to each of the other two men. “All of you get lost. I don’t want anything to do with any of you.”

The redhead and his friend scowled at Tyson before disappearing into the crowd.

Tyson didn’t move, and Haylee whirled on him, her brown eyes sparking fire.

“Who do you think you are?” She removed a hand from her hip and put her finger in his face. “What right do you have butting into my business?”

He remained grim. “Those men had none too good intentions.”

Color rose to her face. “I have five older brothers, Tyson Donovan, and I don’t need another. I can take care of myself.”

She spun away from him and marched toward the bar. He watched her as she joined a brunette and kept her back to him. He could practically see the smoke curling from her ears.

Damn, she was beautiful. He’d never noticed just how gorgeous until this very moment.

“What’s going on, son?” Henry’s firm voice came from behind him, and Tyson turned to face him. “What’s got Haylee so upset?”

Tyson blew out his breath and explained what he’d overheard. “When I saw them with Haylee, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.”

Henry slapped him on the shoulder. “You did the right thing, young man. One day, she’ll see that.”

Tyson looked in the direction where Haylee had last been, but she was gone now. He looked back at Henry. “Maybe.”

“Lord knows you never can tell with women.” The old man smiled. “Come on, now. I’ll introduce you to my nephew.”

* * *

Haylee was so ticked at Tyson that her ears still burned. Who did he think he was? As if she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself.

“You’ll love him.” Jen chattered as they walked through the casino’s upper-tier bar, and Haylee shot her friend a look, thinking she meant Tyson.

Oh, she meant Kade Fields. Haylee hitched up the evening bag strap of gold links on her shoulder, then pushed open the glass doors leading out to the elevator’s bank. “I’ve heard he’s a nice guy.”

Jen’s brown waves bounced as she nodded while they walked to the elevator to the penthouse and other upper-floor suites. “Down-to-earth country boy.”

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