“I followed her from the shop, yes! But only because I need to talk to her and she’s refusing to see me.”
Sadie gasped. “That was you? What the hell, Scott! You could have just spoken to me at the bakery.”
When Scott was silent, Eastern shook his head. “No. Because he wanted to know where you lived. But he almost lost you, so when you pulled over, he couldn’t wait any longer.”
Another trickle of quiet passed before Sadie finally asked, “Is that true?”
The silence from Scott told them it was.
“You want to file a report for harassment?” Eastern asked, hoping like hell she said yes.
When Sadie didn’t answer, the guy cocked his head to look at her, shock on his face. “Sadie!”
“No.” She sighed. “Let him go.”
That was the last thing Eastern wanted to do. But if she didn’t want to report him, he had no other choice, dammit.
He released the asshole but didn’t move, effectively blocking him from Sadie. “Go home.”
Scott’s brown eyes darkened as he straightened to his full height. He was tall at about six feet, but he couldn’t compete with Eastern’s six-three and sheer muscle mass. “I’d like to talk to Sadie.Alone.”
Like hell that was happening. He opened his mouth to tell the guy exactly that, but Sadie spoke first.
“We’re done, Scott. Go back to Atlanta. Stop calling and texting. It’s over.”
“You can’t just—”
“She can,” Eastern cut him off. “Go.”
Red bloomed across his cheekbones before he turned and stormed toward the driver’s side of his car.
Eastern waited for him to get in and drive away before turning to Sadie. “You okay?”
She rubbed a hand over her temple, looking more tired now than anything else. “I almost married that jerk.”
Every muscle in Eastern’s body locked. That asshole didn’t deserve her. Five minutes in his company and Eastern knew that. “But you didn’t.”
Her hand dropped, and she looked up at him. “There has to be something wrong with me, right?”
“With my shitty dating track record, I’m probably not the right person to ask.”
The corners of her mouth lifted. Only slightly, but it was enough.
He inched closer and lifted her arm, swiping his thumb over the spot the guy had touched. “Did he hurt you?” Because if he had, Eastern wasn’t opposed to going after the fucker and teaching him a goddamn lesson.
She shook her head, and when the silence between them stretched and thickened, feeling far too intimate, he released her wrist and stepped back. “I’ll change your tire and follow you home.”
She frowned. “I don’t need you to do either of those things.”
Ignoring her, he reached into her trunk, lifted the base and pulled out the spare tire.
“Eastern, did you hear me?”
“Heard you, but it wasn’t the answer I wanted.” Once the tire was beside the flat, he went back for the tools before squatting beside the car.
Sadie huffed. “I told you, I can change it.”
“Ah, but you see, my parents raised me to be a gentleman, and a gentleman would never let a woman change a tire if shedoesn’t have to.” He placed the jack under the car and got to work.
