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I push our daughter onto her lap. “Take her and wait here.”
“Dane, stop.”
“Nobody treats the mother of my child that way.” I move into her space, forcing her back into her seat. Our rising chests nearly brush. “Wait. Here.” I hold her stare to convey the rest of what I can’t say with little ears around.
She lets me close them inside with a gentle slam as I back away.
The dude-bro exits the convenience store carrying a lofty arrogance. His steps falter when noticing his new predicament. With a puff of his chest, he resumes a measured pace straight into my path. Before he can slip his shades back on, I notice the tension around his eyes.
“You mind moving outta my way?” The air of indifference surrounds him almost as strongly as the scent of stale cigarettes.
“Not until you apologize.”
His chin retreats into his neck. “Dude, I don’t even know you.”
I jerk my head to the girls in the neighboring spot. “To them.”
“What the fuck for?”
There’s no way he doesn’t recognize her car from not even five minutes ago. I step into his space and pull my shades from my eyes so he can see how serious I am when I say, deadly calm, “You nearly caused an accident with my woman.”
He raises his palms. “I was in control.”
“Now, you already said you don’t know me. So you don’t get that I don’t take kindly to any man threatening any woman in any way, but most especially when that woman belongs to me.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean any harm.”
“She didn’t know that, as she’s driving down the highway at high speeds and trying to take the turn lane to pull off when some jackass drives around her on the shoulder instead of waiting ten fucking seconds for his turn.” Composed fury blankets my tone. “So you can tuck your tail between those scrawny little legs and apologize like a man with a little bit of integrity, or we can sit here all damn day.”
“Fuck dude, you’re crazy.” His tone vibrates with nerves.
“Not yet, but I can be.” I move a threatening step into his space.
“Fuck! All right.” He whirls his hands between us. The attempt to stop me is laughable. I could snap him like a twig.
“Make it pretty,” I taunt. Not about to let him within a foot of her without my protection, I lead him to her window. With two knuckles, I rap on the glass. “Open up, Mama.”
The whirr of the motor withdraws the pane separating us. I level the scrawny kid with a disapproving look and jerk my head at Caiti in a motion that says get on with it.
He has the decency to remove his sunglasses. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”
“For?” I prompt.
“F-For scaring you back on the road there,” he stutters.
I roll my neck with an audible pop. “And for my shitty driving.”
His glare attempts to incinerate me on the spot. “And for my…my driving.”
“Oh, um…thank you.” Caiti turns her confused eyes to me, her gaze warming my skin.
“Wasn’t hard, now was it?” I straighten to my full height when he looks like he wants to smart off again. “Maybe next time you’ll remember to give other people an ounce of respect before you really do cause a crash.”
Swearing under his breath, the guy sulks away.
I take my time climbing into my truck and reversing out of his path into the now open space on the other side of Caiti’s car. This time when I hop out, I swing open her passenger’s side door. Ophelia wiggles on the seat, reaching for every button and knob in sight. I scoop her into my arms.
“Still wanting to go to the bridge?” The tension leaks from my body with every second that passes. A calmness infiltrates the spaces left behind.
“Definitely. But first I have to ask, why did you do that? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what just happened, but we could have gone on our way.”
Still holding Ophelia, I crouch outside the open door, bringing myself to eye level with Caiti. The last thing I want to do is tower over her while I explain. “I find you to be a very capable woman, despite your own insecurities at the moment. Regardless of that fact, the number one thing women need protection from in this world is other men, and I will never allow a man to disrespect a woman in my presence without letting them know they crossed a line.”
She bites her lip. “That’s a little messed up, but I sort of love it.”
“Good, because it’s not something I plan to stop. For you or Ophelia.”
“You’re a good guy, Dane.”
“You say that like you’re just figuring it out now.”
She subtly shakes her head. “No. But I’m just now allowing myself to express it.”
There are other things I wish she’d find a way to express. “I’m just me. What you see is exactly what you get.” And I hope like fuck she likes what she sees because I’m not sure how I’ll move on if she decides this isn’t what she wants.
