“Pervert!”
Pippa heard a thump and her heart rocketed into her throat. Then she heard Ross drawl, “Ma’am.”
Pippa could just see him thumbing the brim of his hat and offering his dimpled Wynton charm to the poor woman as she washed her hands and scurried out.
Pippa hovered over the seat.
Long seconds passed.
“Ross.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t…go…with you standing there listening.”
“Well, I’m not leaving. How ’bout this?” A hand dryer roared to life. Then another and another.
Seconds later, she emerged from the stall, and she ducked her head to hide the heat in her face. He watched her as she washed her hands and waited while she dried them.
So much for changing her clothes. Or brushing her teeth. She’d have to do that in the parking lot with a bottle of water.
She slanted a look at him. “That was uncomfortable.”
“But you’re safe.”
She couldn’t argue with that fact.
“What did that lady hit you with?”
“Her purse.” Amusement teased his lips.
She bit back a smile as they left the restroom with him acting like a wolf guarding his dinner from the rest of the pack as they approached the food counter.
She hated that she’d lost her purse. She’d never gotten around to setting up an electronic wallet to pay on her cell phone, and now she regretted it because the menu boasted a big, juicy burger that her mouth watered for.
Peeing with Ross within earshot was embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as having no money and wanting a burger.
He took her arm in a protective hold and led her to the clerk. “Two o’ those loaded burgers.”
Pippa blinked. How did he know she was craving that burger?
“Everything on them?” the kid at the register asked.
“Yup. Fries too. And two o’ those apple pies.”
Her stomach burned with hunger that even an entire box of blueberry bars couldn’t touch.
“To go,” Ross added and paid with cash.
She noted how he kept tabs on every person surrounding them. Also, how he angled his body in a certain fashion…like he was prepared to take a bullet for her.
She stared at his handsome profile, focused on his hard lips and remembering the feel of them on hers.
When they had the food bag in hand and started across the parking lot, Ross tossed several looks behind him.
“You’re making me edgy. Why are you looking around like that?”
“Just have a feeling is all.”
“A feeling?” Her boot slipped on some ice and she almost face-planted, but he caught her and pulled her into his side.
Something bit her leg. Or stung it.
She screamed in surprise even as her mind landed on the fact it was winter and all the bees were hibernating. In the parking lot, other people screamed. She heard an engine rev as though gearing up to escape.
Next thing she knew, she was in Ross’s arms. His boots thudded on the icy pavement and he shoved her between two vehicles.
“What the—” she started to say and then saw his reason for spiriting her away.
Two tall men in black wearing black ski masks to conceal their identity came at them, one with a weapon raised.
The pain in her calf—that sting—had come from a bullet.
She’d been shot.
She couldn’t glance away from Ross to check the sticky blood she felt on her leg. One man ran forward, and the other fired on them.
A shriek bottled in her throat. Her head spun with terror that froze her in place as if a winter king had prodded her with his fingertip and stopped her in her tracks.
She couldn’t let Ross handle two men at once.
With a war cry, she threw herself forward. But her injured leg couldn’t launch her into the jumping strike she intended to snap her attacker’s neck.
She crumpled to the ground, barely catching herself before her cheek hit the ice. Ross shoved her behind him as he tore his weapon from the waist of his jeans. His shot rang out.
A thump sounded, and a man fell feet from her. Blood bloomed on the ice, but his staring eyes told her all she needed to know.
Ross struck the second attacker with a swing of his fist. When he slammed into the frozen pavement, she checked her scream of horror. More thudding noises landed in her ears as Ross pummeled the man on the ground next to her.
She clawed her way to a sitting position. Breathing hard and fast, she used the SUV beside her to pull herself up. A haze of shock froze her in place, the only things registering were Ross’s grunts and the thump of his fists against flesh. She stared at Ross’s back as he delivered blow after blow to the man on the ground.
“Ross!” She stumbled forward. “Stop!”
His ski mask had peeled back to reveal most of his slack face.
“He’s unconscious!”
Ross grunted and then kicked him one more time with enough strength to ensure the man urinated blood for a month. Then panting, fists curled, he turned to look at her.
She balanced on her good leg, chest heaving.
Ross’s eyes still blazed with fury, and in that strangely still second, with snowflakes swirling around them, she saw everything the man was capable of.
Chapter Six
Rule number one: Always have an escape plan.
Don’t engage in a shootout and leave your ward unguarded was a close second.
He’d broken both rules.
And worse, he’d kissed her. He might as well turn the company over to Boone to run and Ross could return to something he was actually good at—ranching.
“What do we do?” Pippa’s hot whisper reverberated with terror.
“I’ve got plastic in the back of the truck.”
Her eyes flared wide. “You can’t be serious! We can’t take them with us! You have to call the police!”
He knew she was right. But he was still staring through a red haze that marred the snowy white world with his rage. His pulse hammered with it. His stomach clenched with it. He would kill every single man who came after Pippa, and he’d fight dirty.
“Ross!” She stumbled toward him, and he dropped his gaze to her calf. Blood soaked her jeans in a dark stain.
His fury retreated enough for his training to kick in again. Leaving the bodies for travelers to come across wasn’t ideal, but getting Pippa safe came first.
He lifted her and ran to the truck, swinging his head right and left and tossing glances over each shoulder. He got her into the truck and met her gaze.
“I’m going to cut open the hole in your jeans and look at your wound.”
She bit down on her lip but nodded.
After pulling out his pocketknife, he sliced the denim. His balls shriveled at the sight of the deep gouge in her leg—then relief flooded in that the bullet only nicked her.
“The bullet just grazed you. You’re bleeding a lot, but it’s starting to clot already. Are you okay for the moment?”
She slumped in the seat, head in her hands. “Yes.”
Jumping behind the wheel, he tossed her his phone and told her his passcode. “Call Josiah and tell him what happened. Tell him to get the state police here immediately and inform him we’re getting back on the highway.”