“I like it out here,” Emily breathed, tilting her head and inhaling the salt air. “Don’t you, Mia?”
Mia shifted in her seat. “Yes.” The breeze wafted around them in the darkness, lending a sense of security to the deck.
“What’s going on with you and Seth?” Emily asked.
“Nothing.” No matter how good she’d felt in his arms.
Emily’s lip quirked. “You don’t really believe that, do you? I saw you two on the dance floor. Talk about combustible.”
Whatever had happened on the dance floor was over now. Mia hid a yawn behind her hand. The hour had to be almost midnight. Maybe she should find the sheriff and head on home.
Raised voices at the end of the deck caught her attention. Two figures stood next to a staircase leading down to the beach.
“You’re being a bitch,” slurred a large man in a white tuxedo.
“Screw you.” A woman in four-inch heels shoved the guy.
The guy instantly grabbed her by the neck, pushing her against the building.
Mia was out of her chair and between them within seconds. Her heels tottered against the uneven deck. “Knock it off.”
“Get the fuck out of my way.” The guy pushed her to the side.
Irritation flashing through her, she hooked the guy’s knee, twisted, and sent him down. A yank of his arm behind his back had him huffing in pain as she leaned over his shoulder. “Now that just wasn’t nice, was it?”
Out of nowhere, a fist connected with her jaw.
Stars exploded behind her eyes, but she kept her hold on the guy.
She turned in time to see Emily grab the guy’s date and put her in a headlock.
“Sorry. She moved fast,” Emily muttered. Holding the struggling woman, Emily looked like an avenging angel in her gold sequined dress.
The captured woman stuttered, her eyes watering. “Leave us alone,” she slurred.
“Maybe it’s a game these drunk assholes play,” Emily said. She shook the woman. “You just assaulted a cop, dumbass.”
Mia breathed out. She was a cop out of her jurisdiction, and she may have just interrupted a silly couple’s spat. Releasing the guy, she hauled him up and shoved him toward the stairs. “You go that way.”
Nodding at Emily to release the woman, Mia said, “You go through the ballroom. If you idiots meet up on the other side, I don’t want to hear about it.”
The guy muttered expletives as he stomped down the stairs and into the darkness, while his date huffed in irritation and whirled back to the ballroom, her pink high heels scraping on the deck.
Mia stretched her neck, gaze on Emily. Now that was interesting. “Thanks for the assist.”
“No problem.” Emily dusted off her hands. “You had the tougher takedown.”
“I doubt most authors know how to put a drunk in a headlock.” Who was this woman?
Emily snorted, pivoting to glide back to their table. “I doubt most authors had a bodyguard growing up who liked to teach various martial arts moves for fun.”
What kind of a world had Mia just entered? “Bodyguard?” She retook her seat.
“Yep. Mining can be a dangerous business.”
A rustle sounded by the door, and the sheriff hustled onto the deck. “We need to go,” he said.
Adrenaline ripped through Mia’s veins, and she stood. “Why?”
