Page 16 of Tied to You

Dean mimics my face. He just got back, but even he must understand how ridiculous me being here is. “And what’s the deal with you and Travis?”

My eyes bunch together in the middle as he takes a sip of his pint.

“Come on, don’t kid yourself,” he says, noticing my expression.

I shake my head side to side. “What?”

Dean quickly lifts his shoulders before they drop again.

“No, you come on, what do you mean by that?” I turn my body towards him, my back straightening.

I watch his eyes slightly widen at my apparent squaring up to him. “You don’t scare easily, do you?”

“I don’t see anything in here worth being scared of,” I reply sharply.

He scoffs into his pint, wiping his lip as he places the glass on the table, amused.

“Maybe you haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Meaning?”

Dean looks at me, and I see a line pull across his forehead. Reaching into the inner pocket of the leather he’s wearing; he pulls out a knife from a leather strap. Placing it on the table slowly, my eyes wander to his.

My brain ticks over. Perhaps I should be scared. Perhaps I should shut my mouth and just get back to the farm. The only person I know, I barely know at all, and he ditched me because I embarrassed him. Icouldbe in danger here, given the state of most of the men here and their social status.

Still, all things considered, my shoulders pull back and my eyes train resolutely on his. “All I see is possession of a knife in a public place.”

His eyebrows lift.

“Tell me, would four years in prison be worth it? All so you couldscarea few people.”

His silence is comical. So big and tough yet stunned by my tone.

I stand grabbing my bag, deciding that I want to leave. Whether I want to or not, I’ll need to find Travis first and let him know.

“You’re a lawyer, aren’t you?”

My eyes dart to Dean’s. “No.” Not an actively working one, anyway, I think to myself.

“That what you want to be?”

No. But it’s all I know.“What’s it to you?”

Dean smiles at me, and I give him a confused look. “Means nothing to me. But you’d be handy to keep around. Plenty of bad guys that we need toscareoff.”

I scoff on a laugh. “I do what I want. I’m not here to please anyone.”

With a mild shake of his head, Dean picks up his pint.

Another man walks over to us and takes a seat beside Dean, effectively ending our conversation.

No bother. I’m leaving. “Where can I find Travis?”

The man next to Dean smirks. “Follow the screams.”

The pair exchange a weird look, and I eye roll them both, turning to walk away.

“I wouldn’t interrupt him if I were you, sweetheart,” the man shouts over the drum of the music.