I smiled back. “Well, I assume that most people you meet on the job aren’t having their best day.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes not. I like being able to try to help make people’s days, or nights, better. Need a ride?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but the screech of tires distracted me. Both Oscar and I turned our heads to the pickup truck arriving at the scene, then the large man who darted out the door.
Beau’s eyes zeroed in on me before he jogged toward me.
I stood statue still as he barged forward, almost shoulder-checking Oscar—a police officer—to delicately grasp on to my jaw, tilting my head upward to the streetlight.
His stormy eyes centered on my head for five seconds—I counted—then he scanned the rest of my body, as if I mighthave a bone sticking out of me somewhere and had neglected to notice.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
I nodded, though my chin smarted underneath his fingertips. “I’m fine.”
He searched my face again, not saying anything for a handful of seconds. “You need to go to the hospital, get that looked at?” He tipped his chin to my head.
“It’s a scratch, maybe a mild concussion,” I told him, my breath thin, my heart pounding in my ears.
“You’re bleeding and mildly concussed, that’s not fucking fine,” he disagreed in a clipped tone.
I swallowed at his anger, which was maybe his way of expressing concern. “If you’ll remember, I have medical knowledge to know how to treat a mild concussion. I can be treated at home with some over-the-counter pain relief and maybe a bath.”
I figured I’d wake up with sore muscles tomorrow. Even a mild car accident could cause muscles to tense and adrenaline to course through your body.
Beau was silent again for another few beats, as if he were deciding whether he was going to argue with me. It occurred to me then that he was still cupping my cheek.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Let’s get you home.”
Beau turned to Oscar, who was still standing in front of me. “Can we help you?” he asked, voice tight.
My breath hitched at the use of the royal we. As if we were awe.
The officer gulped audibly. “I was offering Hannah a ride home, but it looks like she’s taken care of.”
“She’s taken care of.” Beau glared daggers. Then, without another word, he slipped his hand from my cheek to mylower back, guiding me away before I could process what was happening.
I looked over my shoulder. “It was nice to meet you, Oscar!”
Oscar waved hesitantly, as if he were trying to understand what had just happened.
That made the both of us.
There was a pause, a stutter in Beau’s step as he caught sight of something else.
The driver of the other car, speaking to another officer. I found it interesting that two cruisers were present for a minor accident. Then again, this was Jupiter; not much happened here.
“Wait here,” Beau commanded.
He didn’t wait for me to say anything, charging across the street right toward the man.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I certainly didn’t expect him to take the man by the scruff of the neck and slam him against his ruined vehicle. In front of cops, no less.
I rushed forward, my head throbbing, my feet not entirely steady since I was wearing impractical shoes. But I managed to cross the distance without falling on my face.
“You’re lucky,” Beau hissed, right in his face. “This was any worse, you wouldn’t be walking away.”
My eyes widened at the wrath leeching from his tone, his violence toward this man.
