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“You might be in shock. I’ll call the police.” He lets go of my hand, but keeps his other hand on my hip as he pulls out his phone. He gives the dispatcher a concise explanation of what happened and our location, then hangs up.
“They’re on the way.”
I don’t respond. I just keep looking at him. What is wrong with me?Stop staring at him!
He unlocks the screen on his phone and hands it to me. “Is there anyone you want to call?”
I hesitate, then suck in a deep breath as I take the phone. This is going to suck. I dial my brother.
“Sutton,” he answers.
“John, it’s me.”
“What’s wrong?” His tone turns hard.
“I’m ok. But I was just mugged. We already called 911.” I try to stay calm, but I can’t hide the tremble in my voice. The handsome stranger moves his hand from my hip to rub my good arm. There’s only sympathy in his gaze.
“Where are you?” A car door opens in the background.
I tell him the location and hear the siren on his cruiser wail to life. “On my way.” He hangs up and I hand my rescuer his phone back. I’m acutely aware that he’s no longer touching me. Sirens blare in the distance.
“Thank you.”
He smiles as he pockets his phone, and it’s hard to breathe for a second. Jesus, I need to get a grip.
The events of the last few minutes register in my brain all at once. The memory of the gun in my face flashes like a photograph, and I hug myself.
He squeezes my shoulder and I relax. I have no idea why I find comfort from a stranger, but it’s so powerful I can feel my heart rate slowing down. “You’re safe now. That’s what’s important.” His smile is encouraging, and I think of my dad.
Oh God,the most attractive man on the planet is treating me like a child. It doesn’t help that I had a mini tantrum over my spilled fro-yo.
“I’ll stick around until your boyfriend gets here, if that’s alright? Make sure you’re ok?”
I snap away from my distracted thoughts of biting his plump bottom lip. What did he say? Oh, right…
“John is my brother. He’s a police sergeant. He’ll be here any minute, so please don’t feel obligated to stick around. I’m sure you have important things to be doing.”
He smiles again, and heat fills my cheeks. There’s no hiding it either. It’s the curse of being a fair skinned redhead. We can’t hide embarrassment to save our lives.
“This seems pretty important. I don’t mind. Besides, you shouldn’t be alone right now.”
Not only is he insanely attractive, but he’s also a decent human being. Some people have all the luck.
I inspect the kind stranger as the sirens get closer. He’s about six feet tall if I had to guess, but he towers over my five and a half feet. Did I mention he’s handsome? But there’s something else about him I can’t quite put my finger on. He radiates calm and control. He puts me at ease while making butterflies flap around in my stomach. Or it could be the adrenaline sputtering out. Hard telling.
Two cop cars come to a screeching halt at the mouth of the alley. The sirens cut out, but the lights illuminate the walls in red and blue flashes.
My massive six and a half feet tall brother climbs out of his SUV and sprints over to me, his officers following from the other car. He takes in my rescuer and every single nook and cranny of the alleyway before he gets to me and wraps me up in a hug. “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine.” I mumble into his chest, since he’s pressing my face into it. He steps back and curses when he sees my bruised arm. He takes it as gently as my rescuer did and assesses it, moving it around. It reminds me of when we were little and I’d get hurt at the playground while he wasn’t paying attention because he was too busy goofing off with his friends. The wrinkles by his eyes are prominent as he scrunches his forehead. I detect a hint of guilt in his pained expression. He believes it’s his job to take care of me. I stopped trying to convince him otherwise a long time ago. It’s pointless.
“I’m fine, John. I promise. It’s just a bruise.”
He sighs and releases my arm. “Tell me what happened.”
I regale him with my most recent fuck up as one officer brings out a notepad and starts writing. I leave out the part about almost sacrificing myself for a frozen treat. That wouldn’t go over well. John tenses when I tell him about the gun. When I finish, he regards me for a moment. He sighs and turns to my rescuer. “Thanks for coming to her aid. I owe you big.” They shake hands.
“Not a problem, Sergeant.” My rescuer is polite too.
