Brandt didn’t let go of her. He stood eight inches taller than her and worked hard around his daddy’s company and farm, which meant he had more muscles in his arm than Elaine had in her whole body. He marched her right out of the brewery and into the twilight.
“Let me go,” she said again, and this time she managed to pull away enough to make him stumble.
She broke into a run, though her red ballet flats weren’t really made for that, hoping she could get to the safety of her car before he gained his equilibrium and figured out where she’d gone.
“That’s not happening,” Brandt said from behind her.
Elaine’s pulse rebounded through her whole body when she heard footsteps behind her. White noise filled her ears, a gift from God that she didn’t have to hear Brandt gaining on her. She reached out her key fob, frantically pressing any button she could, because perhaps the alarm would go off, and that would draw attention to them.
Her car honked once, the way it did when she locked it, and then Brandt knocked the keys out of her hands and kicked them up onto the grass along the curb where she’d parked. With a growl, he grabbed her wrist, spun her around, and pressed her against the passenger door of her car.
“Stop it,” Elaine said, though tears sprang to her eyes.
“You don’t need those keys,” Brandt said. “You’re coming home with me.”
“No, I’m not,” Elaine said. Her free hand flapped and fought to get him away. He leaned his hips into her body, and she couldn’t move from the waist down. “No, Brandt,” she told him. “Let me go. Stop it.”
She prayed with everything she had that someone would hear her, see her, but it felt like the dinner crowd had arrived in the last hour, and no one had come early enough to be done yet.
He leaned in, the stench of beer on his breath as he said, “You’re mine, Elaine, and I’m not giving you up so easy.”
“I donotbelong to you,” she said, and she slapped him across the face. That only angered him more, and he grabbed that wrist and pinned it up by her head. Then he pressed his mouth to hers, and fear overcame Elaine, infiltrating every cell in her body and making her go limp.
Maybe then he’ll stop,she thought.
Then something Austin had told her flowed through her mind:They don’t stop, Elaine. If something bad ever happens, you fight and fight and fight.
She screamed and wrestled her shoulders away, hitting him with her bag. He grabbed it and threw it in the same direction he’d tossed her keys.
Though her chest ached for breath, she managed to say, “Brandt, stop it! No!” Panic poured through Elaine, and while she’d never considered herself a small woman, she was no match for Brandt’s height, weight, and size. Her mind spun, because she’d never found herself in this situation before, and she had no idea how to get out of it.
“Brandt, stop,” she said again, her voice pitching up and increasing in volume. She pushed his hand away from her hip yet again, but he seemed to have more than two of them.
He pressed her against the side of her car and growled, “You’re going home with me.”
Tears streamed down her face. “No,” she said again, but her voice sounded weak and pathetic, even to her own ears. She managed to get both hands between her body and his, and she pushed as hard as she could against his chest. He didn’t go anywhere. His mouth landed on hers again, hot and demanding and so unwanted.
Not knowing what to do and acting out of pure instinct, instead of going limp and hoping he’d stop when he realized shewasn’t responding, she bit down hard. Pain exploded through her mouth as she’d bit her own lip along with his. But even as the metallic tang of blood touched her lips, Brandt stopped kissing her. He leaned up, and their eyes met. “You’re going to regret?—”
“Stop,” Elaine said, and in the next moment, Brandt got pulled away from her by some supernatural force.
“The lady saidstop,” a man said.
Elaine knew this voice, but in her heightened emotional state, it took her a moment to recognize Colt Franklin’s face and the familiar cream-colored cowboy hat he wore.
“This ain’t none of your business,” Brandt said.
“You’re wrong about that,” Colt said. He held Brandt with both hands, one on his upper arm and one on the lapels of his jacket, pressing the fabric up around his neck. Colt shoved him away from him, then quickly took two steps to put the full height of his body between her and him.
“I heard her say ‘no’ more than once, so you best be going before I call the cops.”
Brandt reached up slowly with one hand and wiped his mouth. He looked at it and seemed surprised. “You made me bleed.”
Elaine wanted to say a whole bunch of things, but her stomach recoiled. She still had the taste of blood in her mouth, and she wasn’t sure if it was his or hers. She felt dirty from head to toe, and her whole body started to shake.
Colt seemed to know it, and he curled one arm behind him and around her, pulling her close against his back. “Just hold onto me, honey,” he said, his voice low and meant only for her ears.
Elaine didn’t normally shy away from confrontation, but she couldn’t fully process everything that had just happened. Her head swam, and bright white lights popped in her vision, making the darkening parking lot feel like the Fourth of July.
