“You look a little lost, sugar. Need help finding something? Or maybe just some directions back to my place?”
I froze. My blood went from lukewarm to boiling in half a second.
I turned the corner of the aisle and saw him. Tyler Vance. A local contractor with a reputation for thinking every woman in a twenty-mile radius was his personal property. He was leaning over Maddie, his arm braced on the shelf behind her, effectively trapping her. He was looking at her—at my wife—with a look that made me want to rip his throat out.
Maddie didn’t look scared. She looked annoyed. “I’m perfectly capable of finding a toilet plunger on my own. Even though you probably have firsthand knowledge on crap, don’t you?
“A girl like you shouldn’t be wandering around this dusty town without someone to look after her,” he continued, his eyes dropping to the curve of her chest. He was either too dumb or too egotistical to realize what Maddie had implied.
That he was a piece of shit.
I didn’t think. I just moved.
I was across the store in four strides. I didn’t tap him on the shoulder. I stepped between them, my shoulder slamming into Tyler’s chest with enough force to send him stumbling back into a display of rakes.
“She has someone looking after her.” My voice was low, vibrating with a primal threat that even he could read.
Tyler’s face flushed. “Whoa, Underwood. Relax. We were just talking.”
“And now you’re done.” I stepped into his space, looming over him. I was bigger, broader, and currently possessed by a rage I hadn’t ever felt before. This was abouther. “You don’t lookat her. You don’t speak to her. You don’t even breathe the same air as her. Do you understand me?”
“Thorne,” Maddie whispered, her hand touching my arm, her eyes were wide in her face. I took a deep breath. Showing my temper wasn’t the answer.
Tyler looked at my face, saw the absolute lack of mercy there, and backed off. “Fine, man. Whatever. She’s just a girl.”
“She’s my wife,” I snapped. “Get out.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. He scrambled out the door, the bell clanging violently behind him.
I stood there, my chest heaving, my fists still clenched so tight the knuckles were white. I could feel the heat radiating off me, the broody mountain man persona having fully evolved into territorial alpha.
“Hal’s going to put that on our tab, you know.” Maddie surveyed the scattered rake display. She was watching me with an expression that wasn’t fear—it was fascination. Her eyes were dark, her lips parted slightly. “That was... intense.”
“He was touching you,” I rasped.
“He was talking to me. But I liked the part where you almost took his head off.” She smiled—a wickedly knowing smile. “Are you jealous?”
Well shit.
“I’m not jealous,” I snapped, grabbing the items I’d put down before storming over to rescue her. I paid Hal, ignoring his wide-eyed but knowing stare, and marched Maddie out to the truck.
We skipped the visit to Kate. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t sit in front of my sister and pretend I wasn’t currently vibratory with the urge to throw my Maddie over my shoulder and take her back to the mountain where no one else could lay eyes on her.
And then take her. Show her she belonged to me.
Which was a crazy thought.
In name only, I reminded myself. Not mine to want and certainly not mine to take.
I slammed the truck into gear and tore out of town.
The silence between us was gone, replaced by the heavy, thrumming weight of what had just happened. Maddie was leaning against the door, watching me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“So, can I expect more of that behavior?” she teased, her voice a low, playful hum. “You were like a big, grumpy grizzly protecting his honey pot. It was kind of hot, actually.”
“It wasn’t hot.” My grip tightened on the steering wheel. “The guy’s a creep. Ask Kate.”
“He most definitely is. But you didn’t just tell him to leave. You looked like you wanted to eat him for breakfast. Admit it, Thorne. You hated him looking at me.”
