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I watch as he pulls her a little closer, their dark heads tilting toward one another, and she slides her arm around his waist.
My blood pressure spikes and my vision turns a little fuzzy.
I don’t know who this chump is, but if he thinks he’s going to sidle up on my woman and kid, he’s going to be a dead man.
I spin back toward Chastity, who also looks ready to commit murder, only her animosity is all aimed at me.
Good.It’ll make this next part all the easier.
“I’ve got something I need to take care of,” I bark, leaving her no room to argue. “You should head to Walter’s and secure our reservation. I’ll meet you and Mama there when I’m done.”
Her eyes narrow at me, but she doesn’t say a word. She simply keeps on walking right past me, with her nose in the air and unmovable blonde bob shining in the sunlight.
I watch her walk into Walter’s North Bistro—my heart banging like a jackhammer—before stalking across the street toward Lacy and the asshole who’s still got his arm wrapped around her.
It doesn’t take much for my long, heavy stride to eat up the sidewalk between us. It helps that they’re only sauntering along. But seeing them relaxed—even thinking they might be happy together—pushes my anger up another notch. Especially when I realize where they’re coming from.
Doc Anderson’s office.
My stomach sinks, and a sick feeling joins my boiling rage, creating a cacophony of mixed sensations. I’m still sweating under the heat of the sun, but my skin prickles, and cold dread creeps up my spine.
Breathing feels like torture with the weight of anxiety crushing my lungs. “Lacy.” Yet, I’m somehow still able to shout her name.
They both freeze, and then slowly—ever so fucking slowly—turn to me in tandem.
“What is going on here?” The words squeeze past my grinding teeth. “You’re seeing the doctor with this guy? If it’s for the baby, I should be with you. Me. Not this fool.”
The look on her face is unreadable. Shock, maybe a hint of fear or perhaps simple embarrassment. Whatever that look is, she seems suddenly deflated, her casual happiness seeping out of her like air let out of a tractor tire.
With my focus zeroed in on her, I’m unprepared when the guy shoves forward, getting up in my face. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
Wrong move, buddy.
My hands are already clenched to tight fists, and before I’m even conscious of it, my right hook is plowing into his face.
He staggers backward, caught off guard by the move, but has enough sense to raise his fists as blood trickles from the corner of his busted lip.
“What the hell, Ridge?” Lacy cries, scrambling to get between us.
She’s gorgeous with her dark eyes wide, wild hair flying, and delicate cheeks flushed. I want to grab her, pull her to me, crush my mouth to hers, and claim her as mine.
Where the fuck these caveman urges have sprouted from is beyond me. I’ve got no right to her, no goddamn claim to make. And even though it’s not my first tussle this summer—my brother Brooks and I traded blows just a few blocks from here—I’ve sure as hell got no business attacking someone on a public street.
If Mama saw any of it, there’ll be hell to pay.
Still, I can’t calm the wave of emotion crashing inside me. “Who the fuck is this guy?”
The jackass wipes at his bleeding mouth and fakes a lunge for me. But Lacy’s arm shoots out in front of him, as though it were a barricade that could hold him back.
“Don’t you dare,” she hisses.
I’m not a fool, and this guy’s no slouch. He may be shorter than I am but he’s also stockier, and I’ve no doubt if he wanted to make me hurt, there’s not much Lacy could physically do to stop him.
Yet, she has.
He’s still visibly agitated, but with her simple gesture and low-level threat, he backs off completely.
“I need a minute with him,” she says.
