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“Fine,” she says at last and then passes me her empty plate. “Let’s go do this then, you big bully.”
I laugh as she storms away.
God, she’s something.* * *We’ve had a slow evening at the pub, which is pretty standard for a Thursday night when it’s not tourist season.
Keegan had to take a call, so I’m manning the bar while Lexi’s in the kitchen. I’m swiftly starting to think of it as her kitchen, as much as she bosses me around.
I don’t mind in the least. She seems to be in her element back there.
I’ve just finished building a Guinness when I hear Maggie yelling at someone across the room. I look up in time to see a man rear his fist back and punch my sister, right in the fucking face.
Cameron, who’s been sitting at the bar, jumps into action, as do I, but before we reach Maggie, she hits the asshole in the nose with the heel of her hand, sending him backwards with blood spattering everywhere.
“You bitch!” he screeches. “You broke my fucking nose.”
“And I’ll take off your wee pecker while I’m at it,” Maggie bites back as Cameron slips his arm around her shoulders. “Slimy ball bag thinks he can put his hands on me.”
“I’m calling the cops,” I say as I pull my phone out of my pocket. Keegan appears and presses a white towel full of ice to Maggie’s eye.
I glance around and see Lexi standing just outside of the kitchen door, her blue eyes big as she takes in the scene.
Are you okay? I mouth to her.
She nods and stays where she is as we wait for the cops and the paramedics to arrive.
Keegan hauled the jerk who dared to put his hands on Maggie outside.
“Are you okay, baby?” Cameron asks my sister. I raise a brow at him, but he’s not paying attention to me.
He only has eyes for Mary Margaret.
What the hell is going on here?
“I’ll be fine,” Maggie insists but sits patiently as Cameron presses the ice to her cheek. “I told him several times that I wasn’t interested. I told him I wasn’t going to serve him alcohol anymore either, because he already had too much. He wouldn’t stop asking me to go back to his vacation rental. Finally, I told him to get out and to never come back. That’s when he hauled off and decked me.”
“Charming,” I mutter. I want to beat the fuck out of the idiot. Based on the way Cameron’s jaw is clenched, I’d say he feels the same way.
“Police are outside arresting him,” Keegan says as he walks inside. “They’d like to ask you a few questions, Maggie.”
“Arresting him?” Maggie asks, surprised.
“For assault. He hit you first. We all saw it. Turns out he has a bit of a rap sheet, so he’ll spend the night in jail, and then he’ll probably be out on bail. But I won’t stand for my employees or my family being assaulted on the job. We serve drinks and food, and that’s it. He doesn’t have the right to touch you.”
“Hell no, he doesn’t,” I add. “If that happens again, we kick them out the first time they proposition you and get pissy after being turned down.”
“I thought I could handle him,” she admits.
“And you fucking did,” Cameron says. “That was a nice shot, by the way.”
“Thanks. I took a self-defense class when Joey was away on his business trips. He never got physical with me, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to know how to protect myself, just in case.”
“I still hate that guy,” I mutter. Maggie’s late husband was a piece of shit. We knew that before he died. And then we learned about a whole bunch of things he’d done that made us hate him even more.
“We’re going to shut down early tonight,” Keegan announces. “Sorry, everyone, we’re closing.”
It doesn’t take us long to settle any outstanding tabs and get the few remaining customers on their way before locking the door.
“I’m taking her home,” Cameron announces as he helps Maggie into her jacket.
“You don’t have to do that,” she insists. “I can get myself home, for God’s sake. It’s just a headache and a swollen eye.”
“I’m taking her home,” Cameron repeats, and Maggie just blows out a gusty breath and mutters something about stubborn men. “I’ll see you later.”
We wave them off. Lexi walks out of the kitchen, already out of her apron.
“I cleaned up back there,” she announces. “Is Maggie okay?”
“She’ll be fine,” I assure her. “Are you okay?”
She frowns. “Of course, I am. I’m not the one who took a punch to the face, thank God.”
Just the thought of a man putting his hands on any woman, especially Lexi, sets my blood to boiling. Maggie didn’t deserve to be hit any more than a dog barking at an intruder.
