AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jaine waited until the medics were gone, then peeled the huge wad of gauze and tape off her knee. Now that the excitement was over, she was exhausted; all she wanted was a hot shower, a chocolate chip cookie, and bed. She yawned as she began trudging down the street to her house.
Sam the jerk fell into step beside her. She glanced up at him, then focused straight ahead. She didn’t like the look on his face or the way he loomed over her like a dark cloud. Damn, the man was big, a couple of inches, maybe three, over six feet, and with shoulders that looked a yard wide.
“Do you always jump feetfirst into dangerous situations?” he asked in a conversational tone.
She thought about it. “Yeah,” she finally said.
“Figures.”
She stopped in the middle of the street and turned to face him, her hands planted on her hips. “Look, what was I supposed to do, just stand there while he beat her to a pulp?”
“You might have let a couple of the men grab him.”
“Yeah, well, no one was grabbing him, so I didn’t wait around.”
A car turned the corner, coming toward them. He took her arm and moved her out of the street. “You’re, what, five-three?” he asked, assessing her.
She scowled at him. “Five-five.”
He rolled his eyes, and his expression said, Yeah, right. She ground her teeth. She was five-five—almost. What did a tiny fraction of an inch matter?
“Amy the woman he hurt, is a good three inches taller than you and probably outweighs you by almost thirty pounds. What made you think you could handle him?”
“I didn’t,” she admitted.
“Didn’t what? Think? That was obvious.”
I can’t slug a cop, she thought. I can’t slug a cop. She repeated that to herself several times. Finally she managed to say, in an admirably even tone, “I didn’t think I could handle him.”
“But you jumped him anyway.”
She shrugged. “It was a moment of insanity.”
“No argument there.”
That did it. She stopped again. “Look, I’ve had it with your snide remarks. I stopped him from beating that woman to a pulp in front of her kids. Jumping him like that wasn’t a smart thing to do, and I fully realize I could have been hurt. I’d do it again. Now carry your ass on down the street, because I don’t want to walk with you.”
“Tough,” he said, and latched on to her arm again.
She had to walk, or be dragged. Since he wouldn’t let her walk home by herself, she picked up her pace. The sooner they parted company, the better.
“You in a hurry?” he asked, his grip on her arm reeling her back in and forcing her to match his more leisurely stride.
“Yeah. I’m missing—” She tried to think what was on television, but drew a blank. “BooBoo’s due to cough up a hair ball, and I want to be there.”
“You like hair balls, huh?”
“They’re more interesting than my present company,” she said sweetly.
He grimaced. “Ouch.”
They drew even with her house, and he had to release her. “Put ice on the knee so it won’t bruise,” he said.
She nodded, took a few steps, then turned back to find him still standing at the end of her walk, watching her. “Thanks for getting a new muffler.”
He started to say something sarcastic, she could see it in his expression, but then he shrugged and merely said, “You’re welcome.” He paused. “Thank you for my new trash can.”
“You’re welcome.” They stared at each other for a moment longer, as if waiting to see which one would start the battle anew, but Jaine put an end to the standoff by turning around and going inside. She locked the door behind her and stood for a moment, looking at the cozy, already-familiar, feels-like-home living room. BooBoo had been at the cushion again; more stuffing was strewn on the carpet.
