The girl behind the counter rang me up and in a loud, perky voice told me to have a nice day. Not likely. Stepping outside, my hand lifted to block the sun; the pounding in my head increased, but the hot caffeine was nice.
“Morning.”
I knew that voice. Looking up, Killian was so tall he was blocking the sun. “Hey.”
“You look like shit.”
“Kind of you to notice.”
He pushed his hands into his pockets, like he was there for the long a haul. Like I was a zoo animal and he was visiting. “You need something?” I asked.
“No.”
I’d narrow my eyes at him but that would only cause me more pain.
Without a word, he grabbed my hand and started dragging me down the street to the tavern. I didn’t have the energy to ask what he was doing. The door opened, Liam shouted, “Hey, it’s Celine Dion.”
“Why are you shouting?”
“Not shouting, Babe.”
“Sit,” Killian ordered.
I did because I was going to anyway.
He walked behind the bar and started making a drink. “I think I’ve used up my monthly allotment of alcohol.”
“Drink it. It’ll make you feel better.”
Looking at the pee yellow liquid, bile rushed up my throat. “I don’t think so.”
Killian dropped his hands on the bar and leaned into me. “Drink.”
“Bossy,” I said, but lifted the glass, took a whiff and almost lost it.
Hard eyes stared at me. I drank it, forced it down, then almost jumped from the stool when I felt it coming back up, but I got it under control.
“She needs some eggs and bacon,” Killian said softly.
“Already on it,” Liam shouted back.
I winced.
He dropped my key on the bar then walked away. Disappearing into the back. Abrupt, almost rude, but I couldn’t stop the grin because I was growing on him.
Two days after our debut, Natalie and I were having lunch at one of the outdoor cafes.
“He brought me home. He even tucked me in,” she said, dropping her chin in her hand and sighing.
Killian hadn’t been that gentle, but I kind of liked his style. No nonsense. Thinking about him applying the same style in bed made me chuckle.
Natalie’s eyes turned to me. I didn’t share but asked, “Have you talked to him?”
She looked crestfallen. “No.”
I didn’t offer advice because the men for me lately were just about sex. Those butterflies she was feeling, the uncertainty, the interest…I’d had that once but only once.
Her attention shifted to behind me, anger moved across her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked but looked and answered my own question. The man was big and muscled, the dog was too thin, his head down in submission, and his legs shook in fear. Every move the man made, the dog flinched. There were a few triggers that brought an irrational anger in me, and a bully was one of them because they reminded me of Brock, what he endured and how it fucked up his life.
I sat and watched the terrified dog, who didn’t run off, because the monster was his master, and the man who was getting off on the power. I didn’t think of the consequences, acted purely on rage, when I jumped from my chair and walked toward them. “Hey,” I shouted.
He glanced over. Cruelty just poured off him.
“Leave him alone.”
As if to prove his power, he ordered the dog to sit in a voice that had him peeing himself.
“You feel manly breaking his spirit,” I taunted. “Makes you a big man, does it?”
“Shut your fucking mouth.”
“You gonna hit me?”
He curled his fist.
“Better me than him. Do it.”
“You bitch.”
“You’re beating on a broken dog, but I’m the bitch.”
“You won’t shut your mouth, I’ll shut it for you.”
He raised his hand, but I didn’t move. I was riding completely on rage, all that I’d buried deep burst out. I was being irrational and reckless, but I didn’t give a fuck. There was a part of me that acknowledged I was taunting him because I felt something, a blinding rage, but it was a feeling as opposed to the numbness I’d been in for far too long.
His fist never connected because he was yanked back so hard that he dropped to his knees. Killian stood over him. For someone who didn’t show emotion, he was fucking pissed.
Someone else appeared, a kid in a uniform, cuffs in his hands.
“You got nothing to hold me on. I didn’t touch that cunt.”
Slowly, as the rage subsided, I came to appreciate the situation. His soulless eyes glaring at me caused a chill.
“Animal endangerment and abuse to start,” Killian said.
That had my eyes flying to Killian where I saw the silver star pinned to his shirt. He was the sheriff? Natalie forgot to mention that. Explained why he brought me home the other night.
“Lock him up, Johnny.”
“You got it, Boss.”
Those angry eyes turned on me. “You, with me.”
I glanced behind me to see if there was someone else that was directed at, but no, he was talking to me.
Natalie was at my side, offering support. Killian’s hard eyes turned to her. “Get him to the vet.”
She glanced at me. I nodded, before she hurried to the dog. One of the bystanders helped her.
Killian waited for me to take the two steps to join him, and when I did, he led me to the station, to the back. The door slammed shut, but he didn’t turn to me immediately. Every muscle in his body was tense. I braced because a storm was coming.
When he finally turned around, that emotionless mask was back in place. “That was the fucking stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.”
That was fair, still I’d have stepped in again.
“You got a death wish?”
I did once.
His expression shifted, like I’d said that out loud. His mouth opened then closed. “I’ll watch him. You watch your back.”
That registered. The man seemed the type to hold a grudge. Probably wise to add an alarm system. “Graham and his crew will be at my place for the foreseeable future, but I’ll watch my back.”
He nodded.
He stepped from the door, held it open. I just reached it when he asked, “You ever talk about it?”