Tara realizes she’s acting like a lunatic and smooths down her shoulder-length auburn hair, pulls her shoulders back, and heaves in a breath. “I just want to talk to him.” She points her finger my way. “And ask him to his face why he’s cheating on me.”
I feel Annie trembling behind me, and if I wasn’t already fuming, the reminder that I had her quivering in my arms a minute ago for averydifferent reason did the trick.
“Tara, enough.” I’m exhausted from trying to reason with someone I can’t even call an ex, but who somehow has delusions that she can control me.
Tara tries to come at me again, but in the process, she rams her head into Parker’s jaw. He readjusts his grip on her and clenches his teeth. “Chill out, Tara. Fuck.”
“I just want to talk to him.” She points at me. “You said we could sit down and talk.”
“No, what I said, as I’ve said a hundred times before, was if you could ever be rational, I’d hear you out one more time.”
“Fine. I’ll calm down. Please, Ben. I just want to talk to you,” she begs.
A few people are gathered at the mouth of the hallway by the bar, watching the chaos unfold, while several mingle in the alley to watch the drama. I need to get Annie out of here and put an end to this shit once and for all. “Take Tara to the office, then grab Annie’s purse for me.”
He ushers her away, and I turn to Annie to explain, to reassure her that Tara means nothing to me. She looks shocked,confused, and a little scared. I cup her face and lower my head toward hers. “It was a long time ago, and she has difficulty accepting that I don’t want more.”
“I’m sorry. That has to be really…irksome for you.”
I can’t believe it, but I smile. “It is very irksome.”
She squeezes my forearm, leans in, and asks quietly, “Are you okay?”
Why does that mean so much? People ask me that question all the damn time, and it never sounds like it does coming from her. Like if I say no, she won’t be all right either.
“You’re here, so yeah. I’m good. Granted, I’m not happy at all that kiss ended like it did.”
She raises an eyebrow. “How did you want it to end?”
Voices are filtering through the alley, but all I can hear is the smile in hers. I inch closer, slide my lips across her cheek, then speak as if I’m telling her a secret. “You’ll find out later.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” she whispers.
And in front of the audience that’s gathered, I kiss Annie again, hard and quick, but with tongue, because I want there to be no question about who she is to me.
A throat clears, and I look over Annie’s shoulder to see Kit grinning at me with Annie’s purse in her hand.
“Ugh.” I pull away. “I’ve gotta deal with this, but Kit’s gonna walk you home, and we’ll talk soon, okay?”
“She doesn’t have to do that. I’ll be fine.”
“Kit’s taking you home,” I insist.
“But then she has to walk back alone.”
I forget Annie doesn’t know everyone yet. And that’s my fault, too. By wanting to give her space, I haven’t given her the opportunity to get to know the new life I forced her into. “Her dad was an MMA fighter, she trained with him, she teaches self-defense classes, and honestly? The woman can probably take down 90 percent of the male population.”
“Oh. Well, okay then. If you think she needs to.” She rubs her arms, and I realize there’s more to her apprehension.
“It’s not that I don’t think it’s safe here, but I won’t take any chances with you.”
“You’re not my bodyguard anymore, Benny.”
I narrow my eyes. “Doesn’t matter, Blue. I’ll always protect you like I am.”
CanItellyouasecret?
Annie
