Page 9

He stood perfectly still, his chest barely rising, like he was holding his breath. His expression had gone blank, but there was something almost too controlled about it, as if every muscle in his body was locked in place to keep him from reacting.

Instantly, my red-flag radar went off.

There was no way I knew what this man was thinking—hell, I didn’t even know his name—but somehow, deep in my gut, I knew he wished the polished concrete beneath his boots would crack open and swallow him whole.

Or her. Though honestly, maybe that was just me.

“And you wore that hat?” She sneered, ignoring how uncomfortable she was making him. His body language was practically screaming for her to leave him alone.

He hadn’t said a word.

My eyes bounced between the stunning woman who grew uglier by the minute and the equally stunning, silent mountain of a man beside me. The glint in her eyes was icy—malicious—and made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

But what got under my skin most wasn’t her words. It was how he seemed to fold in on himself with every insult like he wasn’t shocked at how she spoke to him. Like she’d done this before.

Rage simmered below the surface of my skin, threatening to erupt. I curled my fingers into fists, nails digging into my palms until little crescent moons marked my skin. I didn’t need to know a person’s name to want to stand up for them.

She liked this. I could see it in the way she stood—head high, shoulders back—landing verbal blows, knowing full well he wouldn’t throw any back.

The guy lucked out, picking me for this little charade. Because two things were true about me, every single time:

One, I was ordering the iced coffee regardless of the weather.

And two, I loved to throw back.

Plus, it pissed me off that she hadn’t even bothered to acknowledge my presence. All I’d gotten was a quick, dismissive glance. The kind people give when they think you’re too irrelevant to register, like I was the dirt beneath her outrageously expensive heels.

“Sorry, did you lose a contact?” I asked, layering on the condescension tone thick enough to cut with a knife. As I spoke, I deliberately shifted my body into her line of sight, making it impossible for her to pretend I didn’t exist.

For a second, surprise flickered across her face. She blinked, working to process what I’d said. But then the confusion twisted into a sneer. Or maybe that was just her resting face. Hard to tell if the look of superiority was a permanent feature or reserved for people she thought were beneath her.

“Excuse me?” she snapped.

“Emma, back off,” the once-silent cowboy said. The emotionless face from a moment ago was gone, replaced by something close to protectiveness.

Emma. Great. Another name I can’t use for my future children.

Not that I was planning on kids anytime soon, but with the rate things were going, I was running out of options. I should’ve probably been concerned about how long my list was, but instead I was too busy enjoying how color crawled up her neck. Her perfectly-powdered skin was breaking out in angry red splotches.

“Ugh, don’t be so sensitive,” she said, waving a dismissive hand like I wasn’t worth the effort.

“Don’t be so rude,” he shot back, his voice sharper this time.

Warmth spread through my chest. It was cute that he wanted to defend me. But he didn’t know me well enough to realize I didn’t need protecting.

You didn’t grow up in a family as big as mine and not know how to hold your own. No one could come for your throat quite like familia.

The difference was, they were lovable assholes. This woman was just an ass.

Emma was about to be sorely disappointed if she thought she could rattle me with a few cheap jabs.

“I asked if you lost a contact.” I motioned to her eyes. “Like, do you have bad eyesight and didn’t see me sitting here talking with him? Or are you just naturally that much of a bitch, and barge into conversations without acknowledging the person you interrupted?” I asked, finishing it off with the sweetest smile I could muster.

He choked on a laugh, trying—and failing—to hide it with a cough. I could feel the amusement radiating off him, but I kept my eyes locked on Emma, unwilling to break the stare-off. Her mouth opened and closed several times like a gaping fish.

Speechless.

People like her never knew how to handle someone who didn’t shrink under their glares, bad attitudes, and cutting words. I was a good judge of character, and something told me he wasn’t the shitty one in their relationship.