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Boone
I’d done my best to remain calm, not wanting to further upset or scare the woman, but now that I was facing away from her, I didn’t bother to push down my fury. Seeing the nasty bruise over her cheek had brought back memories I tried my best to always keep locked away. This woman had been lucky. She’d been sober, and able to fight back against her attackers. Then we’d come in to help before it was too late.
Fourteen years ago, my sister, Summer, hadn’t been so fortunate. Barely eighteen, she’d snuck into a New Year’s Eve party with a few friends. Normally the quiet, good girl, Summer had been enjoying her little visit to the dark side—until she found herself separated from her friends and surrounded by a group of men who didn’t care about the word “no”.
I shook my head to empty those dark thoughts from my mind. I couldn’t go back in time to fix things, but I could help this woman now. The cops would be here any moment, and she needed to get ice on her face. If I didn’t get it to her before they pulled her aside to take her statement, she probably wouldn’t bother icing it at all.
I pushed through to the bar and flagged down Jason.
“Everything okay back there?” he asked.
“Thanks to you, we got to her in time to prevent something more serious happening. She did take a hit to her face, though. Do you think you can put some ice in a towel for me?”
He gave me a nod and grinned. “I’ll do you one better than that.”
He vanished into the kitchen that was behind the bar and returned a few moments later with a commercial ice pack. He wrapped a couple of paper towels around it before he handed it over.
“There you go. Bring her up to the bar once she’s done with the cops and we’ll get her fed and a few drinks in her to make her feel better.”
“Thanks, man.”
I knew Jack wouldn’t have an issue with Jason offering her whatever she wanted, on the house. They were both good men who’d never hesitate to take care of anyone, especially an innocent woman who’d been injured.
As I reached the head of the hallway, Jack was there with the woman beside him and a deputy following close behind.
“Thanks, Boone. Gonna let the deputy use my office to take her statement.”
I handed her the ice pack. “Here you go, ma’am.”
“Thank you.”
She spoke softly but she had her chin held high. I was glad to see she wasn’t going to let those bastards pull her down. I stalled out, getting lost looking at her. She really was beautiful, with that long, silver hair of hers and her big, brown eyes. She licked her lower lip and the sight of her tongue ring had me grinning. I’d thought I’d caught sight of a flash of metal in her mouth earlier but hadn’t been sure. Made me wonder what else she was hiding under all her sweet cowgirl clothes. Although, considering the way she’d broken that fucker, Bob’s, nose, it really shouldn’t surprise me that she was more than she seemed on the surface. Clearly, the woman had a tough edge to her sweetness, which was basically my kryptonite. Nothing got to me more than a sweet woman who had no issue with getting her hands a little dirty when needed. I could easily see her out on my ranch.
“My office is this way.”
Jack’s words shook me free from my trance, and I stepped out of the way.
Liam stayed back with me as the others moved away. “C’mon, let’s go grab a beer.”
I trailed after Liam, keeping an eye on the trio as they headed into Jack’s office until the door closing blocked my view. Thankfully, Liam picked a spot close by and as I slipped onto a stool beside him, Jason was quick to set a fresh beer in front of both of us.
“There you go, boys.”
I gave him a nod. “Thanks.”
The first mouthful was ice cold and did wonders for making me feel better as it went down.
“She’s an interesting lady, that’s for sure.”
I stiffened at Liam’s words. Was he interested in her too? I didn’t want to compete with him for her attention. I didn’t hit on women my friends were interested in. It wasn’t who I was, but dammit, I wanted at least a chance with this one.
“Calm down, Boone. I ain’t sniffing at her skirts. Anyone with half a brain can see you fancy her. I just figured you’d appreciate a heads up on what came out while you were fetching that ice pack.”
Setting the bottle on the bar, I turned to face him. “I was gone for less than ten minutes. What the hell could have happened that quickly?”
“Oh, buddy. So much.” He smirked at me and took a drink from his beer while I contemplated knocking him off his stool.
“Liam, quit teasing the man before he hits you.” Jack came and stood between us, signaling Jason for his own drink. With every passing second, my curiosity was heading toward pissed off.
