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It wasn’t like he’d missed the way she’d jumped a mile as soon as he’d touched her.
“Nothing? Stop fucking lying to me. It’s very obvious that something has happened. Was it that guy you were dating? Did he do something to you?”
Shit. Fuck.
Calm. It’s only natural he’d think that, but he doesn’t know anything. You’re safe.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business. Good evening.”
This time, he didn’t try to grab her.
And she told herself it was a good thing, even as her heart ached.
Why couldn’t he have wanted her?
But that wasn’t fair. This wasn’t Raid’s fault. This was all on her.
When Hannah got back to the table, she realized that Mel, Carlie, and Josie were gearing up for round two of ‘interrogate Hannah’. But she just couldn’t do it. She was feeling too raw. Too vulnerable.
She had to shore up her defenses again.
“I’m sorry, I have to go,” she said.
“You can’t go,” Melody said, standing up. “We still need to talk to you.”
She shook her head and winced. “I know you’ll think I’m lying, but I really do have a headache.”
And this time, it wasn’t a lie. Her head was thumping, her stomach churning.
“I have to go.” She’d only drunk water, so she didn’t have a tab to pay.
That was the only thing she could afford to drink. Making rent and buying food were priority number one. And she needed some more clothes and shoes. She’d donated most of her old clothes.
Swallowing heavily, she headed outside into the dark and started walking back toward her apartment, which wasn’t too far from Dirty Delights.
She wouldn’t have dreamed of walking home in the dark two months ago. She wasn’t any fonder of the dark now. But she didn’t have money for a taxi.
While on her way, a vehicle drove up beside her, and she stiffened.
It’s not him. It’s not him.
She forced herself to turn to look, relief filling her as she saw it was a deputy sheriff’s vehicle. The truck came to a stop and Duncan Jones climbed out. Duncan was a good man she’d known for years. He was now married to Laken, and they were expecting their first child.
“Duncan, hi,” she called out.
“Hey, Hannah. How you doing?”
“Good.”
“Yeah? What are you doing walking around in the dark, sweetheart?” he asked in a concerned voice.
This was something she’d missed about living in Haven . . . and which also now worked against her.
She’d always appreciated how the men who lived here watched out for all the women. She’d never minded having rules to follow. Those rules had kept her safe. Every woman was supposed to have a guardian who watched out for her. Whether that be her husband, boyfriend, dad, or brother. Or Jake, the sheriff, who looked after all the women who didn’t have an official guardian.
To some people, it would seem sexist. She knew that most people who didn’t live here often didn’t understand.
But she’d liked it. All she’d ever felt was safe. And sure, if you broke the rules, then there were consequences. For a lot of women, those consequences could be a trip over their man’s knee, getting their butt reddened.
That hadn’t worried her either.
And not because Jake would spank her, that wasn’t the way he took care of them. But because she’d understood it. Break the rules, get punished.
Hannah had never been a rule-breaker. She was a good girl. The only spankings she’d ever gotten were reward spankings that were quickly followed by orgasms. And those had always taken place at Saxon’s, the local BDSM club.
But, right then she was breaking the rules. The women of Haven weren’t supposed to walk around in the dark on their own.
So . . . did that make her a bad girl?
Oh God. She was about to be sick. But she had to pull it together. So she threw her shoulders back.
“I’m walking home.”
“Walking home?” he repeated, as though it was a foreign concept.
“Yes. I’ve just been at Dirty Delights with Mel, Josie, and Carlie.”
Duncan frowned, seeming even more upset. “And they just let you walk home on your own?”
Hmm. What to tell him? She didn’t want to get her friends in trouble. Better that she was than them.
“They didn’t know I was walking home,” she confessed.
Duncan made a thoughtful noise. “Did they check?”
Well, fuck.
“The reason they didn’t walk her home is because they knew I was following her,” a voice said from the shadows.
She cried out, turning to see Raid step out of the darkness.
What. The. Heck.
She put her hand to her chest. “Are you trying to give me a freaking heart attack?”
The light from Duncan’s cruiser meant she could see Raid’s eyebrows rise and the stern look on his face.
Uh-oh.
“You’re just lucky I wasn’t someone bent on doing something worse than giving you a small fright,” he growled. “I’ve been following you all the way from the bar and you didn’t even know I was behind you. What were you thinking, Hannah? Anything could have happened to you! You have no business walking around on your own at night.”
