“You’ve had fucking time. Now. Get. Inside.”
“Ow, Mike. Stop it. You’re hurting me!”
Jared had heard enough. It was time for Mike to take back off. No one else hurt Sophie…
“Perhaps you didn’t hear the lady.” Jared stepped out from behind the brickwork to find Mike practically pinning her against the half-open door. Fury pinballed through Jared’s brain at the sight. “She said she wanted to go home.”
Mike spun on his heel, releasing his grasp on Sophie as she locked eyes with Jared, and at that moment, it was difficult to say which of the two looked more shocked to see him. Sophie’s gaze was wide as she took in the look of him, while right on cue, Mike’s narrowed.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Jared took a step toward him as he tucked his car keys into his pocket. He was at least four inches taller than Mike, and his years of martial arts ensured his confident approach.
“It doesn’t matter who I am.” He spat the words at the shorter man. “If the lady wants to leave, let her go.”
“Back off, mate.” Mike’s words were a growl. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“Think again.” Jared threw him a wry smile. This was finally starting to get interesting. “I’m not going anywhere until the lady is safe.”
“Fucking idiot.” Mike lunged at him, throwing a barrage of punches. “When will clowns like you learn to stay the hell out of other people’s business?”
Jared dodged the first punch, blocking the others as his years of training and competing came back to him. It was a reflex, successfully impeding Mike’s blows until the opportunity to retaliate presented itself, and when it did, he punched the guy so hard, Mike staggered back toward the stunned Sophie.
“Oh, God!” She almost dropped her purse as both hands rose to cover her open mouth. “Oh, God. This can’t be happening.”
“Leave, Sophie.” Jared gave the instruction without even meeting her gaze. “Get out of here.”
Sophie skipped left as Jared kicked Mike in the direction of his own front door. She yelped, leaping away toward Jared.
“What are you doing here?”
Her voice trembled as she asked, and for all the world, Jared wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, but there was no time for that. Not until he’d dealt with Mike.
“Did you hear what I said?” Jared’s gaze flitted briefly toward Sophie before he advanced on the other guy. Mike had landed on his backside in the doorway and was just getting back to his feet. “Get out of here.”
She gulped at his reply but nodded as she paced away. Rolling up his sleeves, Jared turned his attention back to Mike. His face was cut open from the couple of times Jared’s fist had collided with it, but there was still outrage in his eyes. Moving forward, his fist swung out at Jared, but he ducked the offensive and threw a punch of his own in return.
Mike grimaced at the impact.
“How dare you!” He hissed the words at Jared. “How dare you come here and attack me. I’ll call the police.”
“Good,” Jared smirked at him. “I’m sure Sophie would love to talk to them about your behavior this evening.”
Mike’s expression shifted, his brow furrowing as the blood poured from his nose. “Is she your girlfriend or something?”
So, the moron was finally getting the idea, was he?
“Or something,” Jared confirmed as he took a step toward Mike. “So, are we done here, or do I need to teach you some more manners?”
Mike reached out a bloodied palm toward the wall. “Fuck it,” he muttered. “No whore is worth all this shit. You can fucking have her, mate.”
Jared’s jaw tightened as he approached. “Two things.” His voice was low. “But they’re important. First, the lady whose company you had the pleasure of enjoying tonight is not a whore.”
Jared was in control, and if he didn’t know better, he’d have said he was actually enjoying himself.
Mike tipped his head back and snorted. “I guess you’re right,” he replied sarcastically. “Apparently, she’s not the sort to put out after all.”
Jared inhaled at the way the idiot spoke about his little girl. He was less than a foot from Mike now.
“I guess you’re just not her type.”
Mike blinked in his direction. “And you are, I suppose?”
Jared smiled. “Yes, I am. Oh, and the final thing.” He lunged forward, grabbing the back of Mike’s head and smashing it into the entrance of the property. His face connected with the wall with a dull, sickening thud.
He watched as Mike slid to the ground again, his knees folding beneath him as though they were made of paper. Only when Mike was completely incapacitated on the doorstep did Jared finish his sentence.
“I am not your fucking mate.”
Chapter Two
Sophie
Sophie stumbled down the path, her heart racing so fast, she thought she might pass out.
What had just happened? One moment she had been on yet another mediocre date with another uninspiring man, and the next, she’d been pinned against his doorway when she’d refused to go inside.
I should never have gone home with him.
She pulled in a shaky breath at the realization.
I should never have even said yes to the date, and yet…
Sophie blinked away the tears which threatened at that thought. She already knew the conclusion. She’d thought it enough times in the past to know how that sentence ended.
And yet, she was lonely.
For all the happiness and joy her children, Billy and Lucy, brought her, and however much she enjoyed her job, those things didn’t fill the void, the vacuum which had opened up after Jared.
Jared.
Sophie glanced back as though she couldn’t quite believe it was him. Jared, the man who had taken her from her home and demanded she call him Daddy. The man who had compelled she live out their every salacious fantasy as his little girl. She caught her breath as the enormity of those memories crashed down on her, her gaze lingering while he landed another punch at Mike. She turned back quickly, rushing past a parked car in the direction of the main road. She wasn’t exactly sure which part of town this was, but perhaps she could flag down another cab from the main road.
Perhaps she could get home and collect her thoughts.
Perhaps she could get over Jared.
Even as that notion echoed around her head, it was futile. There was no getting over Jared. God knows she had tried. Months of counseling, completing her divorce, and years of building her self-esteem had all helped, but in the end, there was no dodging the inevitable. Jared was always there, lurking in the dark corners of her mind. The man haunted her. His was the last face she saw in her mind’s eye before she fell asleep. His was the name she murmured when she masturbated. It was always Jared.
How the hell was he here? How had he saved her from Mike’s unwanted advances?
She was nearly at the main road when she heard his voice, just one word commanding her feet to halt.
“Sophie.”
She gulped at the way he made it sound. No one had ever morphed her name into something so hot and desirable as Jared. Slowly, she spun around to find him racing down the path, only wearing trousers and a shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms. She inhaled at the sight of him. Jared was just as she recalled him—her every worst nightmare and hottest fantasy all rolled into one fine package.