Page 37 of Striking Heat

“What are you going to do about it, tell on me?” His eyes follow mine and then return to Mac. “Wanna hang?” He places his free hand on her other hip so that he’s holding her in place.

“No,” she stammers. “Please take your hands off me.” But he doesn’t listen. Instead, he’s pulling her closer to him as she struggles to get out of his grasp. She may be strong, but it’s looking like he’s stronger than she is.

I shake my head. I hate how afraid she looks right now and that he won’t stop. He seems to be enjoying her fear; his smile has widened, and it looks like his grip might have tightened.

“I didn’t want to have to do this,” I tell him before grabbing his hand and pinning it behind his back. He screams in pain as Mac steps out of his hands. “She asked you more than once to leave her alone, and I think that’s more times than she should have had to.”

He screams louder in pain. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Phil coming over.

“She said no, fucker,” I tell him, then hand him over to Phil when he gets there.

“You okay, Mac?” Phil asks her.

She’s shaking. Her wild blue eyes are flashing from the man to me and Phil. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

“Good. Go on back behind the bar. I’ll take care of this.” Phil turns to me. “Thanks for looking out for her. Next time, though, call me. You shouldn’t be putting your hands on the customers.”

I nod. Before I can say another word, Mac places her hand on my arm.

“Thank you for helping me.” Her voice sounds so small and timid. I hate that he did that to her.

“You’re welcome. Are you okay?” I pull her into a side hug and place a kiss on the top of her head.

“I’ll be fine,” she tells me, hurrying back behind the bar where it’s safe.

Phil leads him out, telling him that he can’t come back to The Backwoods. She only has a few more hours of doing this, and I’m going to be right here when it’s time for Mac to leave. And when she does leave, she heads out all by herself.

Chapter Sixteen

~MAC~

“Need a ride home?” Danny rises from the booth he’s been occupying for the last few hours. After we had our verbal little sparring, he retreated to the back of the bar. And thankfully he did, because I’m not sure Phil would have noticed I was being harassed if Danny hadn’t been there to strong-arm the guy. And he’s remained in the back of the bar all night long. Amelia and Cassie headed out a little bit ago. I took longer getting my portion of the side work done and told them to go.

After grabbing my stuff, I start to head out.

“Mac?” Danny calls after me. “Can I give you a ride home?”

I turn and wait for him to catch up to me. “It’s just a quick walk.”

“Well, can I walk you home, then? It’s, uh, late and all. I thought you might enjoy some company?”

I like how he’s fumbling for his words. It’s a complete contradiction from the way he usually speaks. It makes me wonder if this is the real Danny. The Danny who is less guarded and whose tongue isn’t quite as sharp.

“I thought you just asked me if I needed a ride,” I tease him. “Now you plan on walking me. How will you get back to the bar to retrieve your car?”

“Since it looks like you’re refusing to let me drive you, I thought we could walk together. It’s a nice night, after all.”

“Then you’ve gotta walk back all alone,” I say, grinning at him.

“Why are you so focused on that?” he asks, shaking his head as he holds the door open for me.

He’s right, though; it is a nice night. Not too warm yet here in Tampa. At least, not at one in the morning. I’m told the humidity of a Tampa summer will carry into the evening hours. It looks like we’re not there yet.

“I don’t know. Just trying to point out the hypocrisy of you walking me home. It’s late. That man you strong-armed may be waiting somewhere to kick your ass, and he may be less than pleased with you.”

We stop and face each other on the sidewalk outside the bar. He shakes his head and looks around like he’s not really sure what to say next.

“I just want to make sure you’re safe,” he finally says.