Page 66 of Protect Me
The door to the Frolicking Moose opened, bells jostling as it swung wide into the room. With a start, I hurried back to the counter, relieved to see Dahlia and Bastian trail inside. Dahlia beamed, her fingers tangled in Bastian’s.
“Good morning!”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to cover for you?” I asked as I gratefully separated from the window. “I’m happy to work this afternoon.”
She waved a hand. “Bash has emails to catch up on and he secretly wants to have a reason to stare at me all day.”
A stormy, hot look from Bastian affirmed it. She winked at him as she tied an apron around her waist. I tugged at the string on the back of my apron, reluctant to leave. Would Bastian walk me to my car? Probably. I could stay here with them until Timothy left. The last thing I wanted was to be alone right now, and Vik was at work.
Then again, I might swing by The Outfitters and—
The door clanged open again, admitting Timothy’s dark figure.
He strolled up to the counter before I could summon a breath. The next second, he registered me standing there. His brow dropped into a heavy frown. Upper lip curled back, over his teeth.
Dahlia put a hand on my arm, holding me tight above the elbow. The thought that she must recognize him from the grocery store flittered through my mind, then back out. Staring at Timothy’s back and comprehending all the havoc he’d wreaked on my life was one thing.
His glittering gaze, five steps away, was another.
The hidden malice from the other day lay abundantly clear now, though sprinkled with surprise. Given a guess, I’d say that he didn’t expect to see me either. Small consolation.
If I’d just stepped around the counter, I could have acted like a customer and not an employee. Now he’d know that I worked here, and that was entirely too much for him to know.
I swallowed.
Timothy stopped at the counter, attention riveted on me. My stomach balled, filled with a leaden weight. I pulled my shoulders back and tried to slow my breaths. He’d already taken enough.
He wouldnottake this moment.
But my voice wouldn’t work. I opened my mouth to speak and could only stare. Thunder clapped in my mind. Rain pattered the ground. Gravel grated into my back, painfully sharp and—
“Kate,” Timothy murmured. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
His carefully neutral tone—not quite a greeting, not quite a question—sent a hum of fright through me. That voice. The edginess, filled with ridges and violence. The last time I’d heard it had been the trial, when he’d attempted to convince the judge that he was innocent.
What did he want?
Why stand here?
The sound of a moving chair scraping across the ground clued me into the world around us. I shook my head, yanked from the tunnel as Bastian strode over. His large body edged Timothy back from the counter and stood between the two of us. With Timothy’s unreadable stare off of me, I shrank back.
“Time to go,” Bastian said.
His tight shoulders and the coiled promise in his voice left no questions. Dahlia tugged me closer to her.
“C’mere,” she murmured.
Timothy sidestepped when Bastian crowded him. “This doesn’t involve you,” Timothy sneered. His attention lingered on me for a moment longer before Bastian’s towering body forced Timothy to step out of sight.
“It does now.”
Bastian extended his arms, hands open in a silent, beckoning invitation. Timothy scuttled back like a scowling crab. His eyes flashed to mine once before he shoved back outside, muttering swear words under his breath. The door slammed behind him.
Dahlia put a firm arm around my waist.
“We’ve got you.”
My heart slammed in my chest as I held onto her wrist with silent gratitude, squeezing. Timothy turned onto the sidewalk and disappeared down the road. I let out my first long, slow breath when I couldn’t see him. My head whirled.
