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Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. His expression hardened and he grabbed my arm again. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, are you actually going to arrest me? It was just a little bar fight. I didn’t even knock him out.”
He hauled me toward his car. “I probably should arrest you. You’re lucky I was there, otherwise you’d be spending the night in a cell. I’m taking you home.”
For some reason, I got in his car without protesting. Maybe punching Cory had taken the fight out of me. For now. And if I argued, Garrett might change his mind and haul me in.
Wouldn’t have been the first time.
We pulled out of the parking lot and I flexed my hand. My knuckles were starting to hurt and I still tasted blood in my mouth.
I was glad of one thing, though. I hadn’t seen the look on Marigold’s face when Garrett hauled me out of the bar.
CHAPTER 2
Marigold
The door shut behind Zachary and Garrett, but the tense energy in the bar remained. I glanced around, wondering what had just happened. It looked like Zachary Haven had punched Cory Wilcox out of nowhere.
Why would he do that?
Then again, it was Zachary. He didn’t need an excuse to start trouble.
He was trouble.
Rocco helped Cory get to his feet while his latest girlfriend, Katrina, pawed at him, sobbing. Kade, one of the off-duty deputies who’d been sitting with Garrett, went over to talk to them.
“Oh, Z.” Annika shook her head. “What are we going to do with you, big brother?”
“I wonder what happened,” Audrey said.
“Who knows,” Annika said. “Cory probably said something stupid and Zachary has no impulse control.”
That seemed likely. Cory Wilcox was a jerk. I didn’t know Katrina, but I wanted to pull her aside, give her a big hug, and gently suggest she consider breaking up with him. Then make her an appointment to fix her roots.
Leave it to me, the salon owner, to notice someone’s dye job in the aftermath of a bar fight.
But honestly, those roots. She deserved better.
She deserved better than Cory Wilcox, too.
I was a little surprised Annika hadn’t followed her brothers outside. When we were younger, she’d been the family peacemaker and often stepped in to keep her brothers out of trouble. Maybe becoming a wife and mother had changed things. She had her own kids to worry about now. Her brothers needed to take care of themselves.
The mood in the bar shifted and the hum of conversation resumed as people went back to their drinks. The Timberbeast was no stranger to the occasional bar fight. I figured it was a small-town thing. Sometimes the guys around here insisted on settling things with fists.
So unrefined.
No wonder I was still single.
“Well, that was fun,” Isabelle said. “Nothing like a Saturday night out on the town.”
Audrey sat up straighter, trying to see. “Do you think he’s okay?”
I glanced at Cory. He looked more mad than hurt. “He seems fine.”
“Probably hurt his pride more than his face,” Isabelle said.
I took a sip of my wine and my gaze flicked to the door. Was he gone? He wouldn’t come back after that, would he? Not tonight, at least. Garrett would take him home.
