He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Get on the bike, Beth.”
“Saint.” Frowning, she increased the pressure on his stomach. “Saint.”
Finally, he sighed. “I can’t right now, Beth. Please… get on the bike.”
As much as it sounded like a frustrated dismissal, it didn’t feel that way. It felt deeper, like he was struggling with something he couldn’t voice. Like he really needed her to get on the motorcycle. So instead of pushing back as her instincts told her to, she nodded.
And she climbed on the bike.
CHAPTER NINE
HE WANTED TO crawl out of his skin.
Actually, he wanted to go hunting through town until he found the fuckhead who threatened Beth and make sure he spent the very short rest of his life in excruciating pain.
“Are you pissed at me?” she asked after sitting that pert ass on his motorcycle. The one he’d spent the last few days trying not to think about.
He breathed, rolling his shoulders back.Was he pissed?Fuck yes. At her? A little.
“No.”
Beth grunted in the same way Copper did when in disbelief. “You’re acting like you’re pissed at me.”
“Beth.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What is your problem?” She huffed and threw her hands in the air. His eyes immediately went to the strip of stomach showing as her tight tank top shifted with the movement. “I’m sorry that you got stuck babysitting me this afternoon. I certainly didn’t ask for this. You’re more than welcome to drop me off at home and go do whatever the hell you have to do.”
Fire shot from her eyes. Part of him felt a surge of pride. Just last week, she’d been injured and threatened by a man, and instead of cowering, she’d stood up to a damn outlaw today. The other part of him wanted to throttle her for her carelessness and stupidity.
He leaned down until their noses nearly brushed.
Beth sucked in a breath and stopped hollering.
“You told a wannabe gangster to fuck off. So, yeah, I’m fucking pissed. Today could have ended very differently for you. We could be scraping you off the side of the goddamn highway, or your fucking family could be searching for you while some psycho holds you in his basement.”
Christ, his heart was racing as horrifying images ran through his mind.
“So what the hell should I have done, huh? Cowered and let him see how terrified I was? Fuck no,” she spat out with a harsh swipe of her arm. “I lived that for too long. Never again. I refuse to cower to any man.”
She proved her point, yelling at him in front of the clubhouse without apprehension. Him, a man who could snap her in half with ease. Equal parts brave and stupid.
But still, her courage and conviction took the wind out of his sails. He exhaled a long pent-up breath as he nodded. “Okay.”
Frowning, she blinked. “Okay?”
“Yes.” It would take a few minutes for his rage to cool to a simmer, but the ride to Beth’s house should help. “I get it. I respect it.” She had no idea how much. “Sometimes, I get a little… intense about the safety of people I ca… know.”
She huffed a breath. “Ya think?”
He responded with a smirk.
After a hefty inhale, Beth sighed. “I get it. I didn’t know anything about him, his intentions, or how dangerous he was. Antagonizing him might have been… less than smart.”
Saint grunted. That was one way of putting it.
“It’s just… after what happened with Jason and the way I did nothing for so long, another man using his size and strength to overpower me made me so angry. All I could think about was how I refused to let it happen again.”
Before his brain clocked his intentions, he lifted his hand to cup her cheek. No woman deserved to be intimidated by a man,and he couldn’t fault her for fighting back the best way she knew how. Thankfully, before he crossed the line and touched her, his good sense kicked back online, and he reached for his spare helmet instead. “Let’s get you home, killer.”
