He reached up to scratch his head under his hat. “I don’t think so.”
“Well...did the man seem friendly to you?”
“Friendly enough to buy me this beer,” he said with another laugh.
She got the impression he was slightly drunk and felt a twinge of irritation. This was serious. But only for her. He was just out having a good time and trying to be accommodating.
Emery hitched her purse higher on her shoulder and checked her phone as she tried to decide what to do. She couldn’t leave the safety of the crowd to meet some stranger who could be dangerous out behind the building. Anything could happen back there. People had been mugged, kidnapped—or worse—in parking lots that were far better lit than this one.
“Well, thanks for passing the word along,” she said. “But I won’t go out there alone.”
He finished his beer and put the bottle on the closest table. “I’ll walk out with you, if you want.”
She hadn’t been hinting, but after what she’d said she could see why he might offer. “No, that’s okay. I don’t want to put you to the trouble.”
“It’s no trouble.”
She was so curious about who’d sent that photo and whether she’d be able to tie it to Ethan that she was tempted. But she’d never met this cowboy before. “Really, I’m fine.”
“Okay. Well, if the guy who wanted to meet you is out of luck, maybe you’ll dance with me,” he said and held out his hand. “I’m Terrell, by the way.”
She just wanted to go home. But if there was someone waiting for her out back, who might be dangerous, she decided now probably wouldn’t be the best time to leave.
With a smile she hoped did not appear as reluctant as she felt, she gave him her name and agreed to dance, and they danced several more times over the next hour. Terrell seemed a little immature, but being with someone was better than hanging out at the bar alone, waiting until she felt it would be safe to leave.
Just after one, she finally told him she had to go home.
“Can I get your number?” he asked.
There was an awkward moment during which she felt as though she had to give it to him, that maybe she’d misled him by allowing the friendship. But she knew she’d never be willing to go out with him, so she decided to be honest. “I’m sorry. It’s been fun getting to know you, but I’m not open to a relationship right now. My life is...crazy. I need to figure out a few things first. Besides, I’m too old for you,” she joked.
“Age doesn’t matter,” he argued.
She smiled and touched his arm to soften her words. “It matters to me.”
He scowled and pressed a hand to his chest as though she’d just wounded him but seemed to take it good-naturedly. “Fine. At least let me walk you out to your car, make sure you get there safely. You seemed pretty leery of the dude who sent me over to talk to you. It might be smart to have someone with you when you go outside.”
What he said made sense. And since he was willing, why not? “You’re sure it won’t be an imposition?”
“Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, I’ve going to take off now, too.”
She peered closer at his face. “Are you sober enough to drive?”
“I think so, but I’m going to call an Uber, just in case.”
He focused on his phone for a few seconds before shoving it back in his pocket. Then he jerked his head toward the door. “You ready?”
Grateful for his company, she left some extra money on the table for the waitress and walked out with him.
“I’m going to see if that guy who approached me is still waiting,” he said as soon as they were outside and started toward the back.
She didn’t think whoever it was would stand an hour in the cold and dark. More likely, if he knew what she drove, he’d be lurking around her car. So she followed Terrell.
It was dark in back. Only one dim light bulb hung over the back door so that employees could see well enough to haul the trash to the receptacle. Emery could see nothing else—just a fence and, behind that, raw land.
“There’s no one here,” she said peering toward that door from the corner of the building. She wasn’t about to walk down there even with Terrell. The email invite had to be some sort of game, she decided—but the next thing she knew, Terrell grabbed her arm and jerked her out of sight so quickly she didn’t even have the chance to scream.
As soon as she realized that he’d tricked her, that the entire past hour had been a setup, she opened her mouth to cry out. But it was too late. By then he had his hands round her neck and was squeezing so tightly she couldn’t breathe.
“Leave Ethan Grimes alone. Do you hear?” he gritted through a clenched jaw, his eyes glittering in the darkness like the stars she could see over his shoulder. “Drop the suit and do nothing to threaten him or his job—or this won’t be the last you see of me.”
His hands still around her neck, he pulled her away from the building only to shove her into it again, this time lifting her a few inches off the ground as he did so and banging her head into the rough brick.
After the big Christmas party at school, Dallas had gone to the airport to pick up his three brothers, who’d flown into Burbank. They’d hurried back to Silver Springs to do a quick rehearsal for the wedding, after which they’d all had pulled pork, potato salad and barbecue beans at Cal’s ranch. It had been a loud, boisterous night with the nieces and nephews running around, trying to take the ornaments off the tree they’d decorated not only for Christmas but for the wedding.
Dallas had
