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I head in her direction as quickly and quietly as I can with the tittering redhead trying to ask me what I need as she follows me. Des has her back to me, and I’m gonna use that to my advantage before she sees me in one of the many mirrors that hang along the walls.
I manage to make it to her position without her seeing me, and the Latin woman’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline in surprise from my sudden appearance.
Not wasting a second, I grab Des by the arm and swing her around to face me. Her face is a mask of shock until she realizes it’s me, and then her confusion only seems to grow.
“What the hell, Hammer?”
“We need to talk.” I start dragging her behind me, but she drags her feet, resisting me.
“Unless you’ve come to tell me I’m in some sort of trouble again, we have nothing to talk about. Stop dragging me!” she hisses.
Tired of trying to drag her and not wanting to hurt her arm, I turn back to her and sweep her legs out from under her so I’m cradling her in my arms. She gives a small screech of rage, and I can’t help smiling at her feistiness. God, I missed it.
“Calm down, Drill Sergeant. We’re gonna talk, and it’ll be all right.”
I have just made it to the front counter when a guy twice my size and probably on steroids steps in my path, stopping me from getting to the door.
Des goes still in my arms, almost as if she’s an animal that senses danger is near. I’m pretty sure she knows I’m not the one who is in danger, though.
“Move,” I order the meathead.
“I think you should put the lady down and get the fuck out of here, man.” His face and body are positioned in a threatening pose, but his voice sounds like he hasn’t hit puberty yet. This jackass is totally doing the roids.
“How about you move out of my way Pee-wee, and let me take my lady outside for a talk? That way, you don’t get hurt.”
Meathead puffs up his chest and steps closer. “Put. The. Lady. Down.”
Gripping Des more securely to me, I snarl back, “Move it, asshole!”
The man takes another step toward us, and now he is within touching distance of me and my woman. I don’t want her to accidentally get hurt if numb-nuts takes a swing at me or tries to grab her, so I put Des on her feet and shove her behind my back. Much to my surprise, she doesn’t take off running to get away from me. Instead, she grabs the back of my cut and yanks.
“Have you lost your mind, Ethan? Why are you doing this?”
Turning my head to look her square in the eye, I give her the God’s honest truth. “Because I love you, Desirae. I didn’t fight for you when it mattered, so now I have to show you I’ll fight every motherfucker in this place if I have to in order to prove I’m not walking away from you again.”
Her jaw drops in surprise … and then a Mack truck hits me on my temple.
Okay, so it wasn’t a Mack truck—it was a fist and a sucker punch—but for a second, it sort of felt like I was hit by a truck.
I shake my head, trying to clear the stars from my eyes. Jesus, that guy has iron fists. After taking a hit to the temple like that, it’s amazing I’m still standing on my own fucking feet.
I can hear my woman screaming at the asshole who hit me. “Don’t you hit him again, Scotty, or I’m gonna kick your ass out of here so fast your head will spin!”
“But, Desi—”
“Nope. Just no! Get your ass out of here before I take one of those barbells and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
The world stops spinning just in time for me to see the meathead walking out the door. I try to go after him for his cheap shot, but Des jumps in my way.
“Say it again,” she demands.
For a minute, I’m confused. What does she want me to repeat? What I said to the gym jockey? My head is still a little fuzzy, and one of my ears is even ringing.
“Move it, asshole?” I ask, befuddled.
Her brows snap down into a frown, and she slaps her hands against my chest. “That’s not what I wanted repeated, you moron.”
Someone behind us starts to giggle. Then clarity hits me.
“I love you?”
Desirae shakes her head then looks at the ground.
I tilt my face down to see that her frown is gone, and one side of her mouth is tilted up in a reluctant half-smile. Not wanting to lose the chance this might be for me, I step into her and pull her face back up by her chin.
