“I know you’re tangled up in something with the mayor and I will stop you. Mark my words.” Amelia’s jaw clenched tight and for a quick second I almost felt sorry for Daire. He didn’t seem to understand riling up Amelia was a very bad idea. If he wanted to keep his life and limbs, he shouldn’t poke the bear.
Daire smirked and reached toward Amelia. Everything went in slow motion from then on. I saw his meaty hand reaching for my woman and I couldn’t let that happen. I knocked his hand away and he turned to me with his black eyes raging. I saw his arm cock back and knew to duck, but then Amelia pushed her way into the mix, not realizing what was happening. Lukas made a desperate grab to pull her back, but he was no match for a pissed-off Amelia. I had to get her out of the way of Daire’s flying arm. There was no way I’d let that asshole hurt her again. Not on my watch. Which meant there wasn’t time for me to duck after pulling Amelia behind me. His fist hit me square in the jaw.
The sound of bone crunching bone brought everything back to real time.
Lukas put a steadying hand on my back so I didn’t go down from the punch. Yedda screamed and Amelia gasped. The room went fuzzy, but I chose the middle of the three Daires in my vision and got right up in his face.
“You ever touch Amelia again or put one single frown on her face, I’ll make you wish you never stepped foot in Hell. Am I clear?”
Daire didn’t look as scared from my warning as I wished, but he did back up and edge toward the door. Poppy sprang into action, whacking Daire repeatedly with her loaded mail bag while Yedda yelled about calling the cops and pressing charges. He had to back out of the shop entirely, his hands up in self-defense. Amelia started barking orders at the townsfolk standing by. Someone came from behind the counter with a bag of ice and held it out to me.
Pain laced up the side of my face, barely registering with the rage I felt toward the guy I’d mistakenly befriended over a year ago. I deserved to feel this pain. I was the one who’d introduced Daire to Amelia and then brought him into this town.
Once everyone had calmed down, the shop went back to making coffee and serving pastries, though I felt their gazes still flickering over to us between whispered gossip. Amelia finally calmed down enough to just stare at me. Her expression was unreadable, which bothered me more than the ache in my jaw. I knew all her expressions and yet this one was new. Contemplative maybe?
“Are you okay?” I asked gently. Seeing her ex must have been a shock.
She blinked and I realized she didn’t look too concerned about my face. Well, now my feelings were bruised right along with my jaw. Wasn’t the first time I’d taken a punch and probably wouldn’t be the last, but as my girlfriend, she could at least express the slightest bit of concern for my well-being.
“I’m not sure,” she answered after a long pause. “Can I speak to you back at the hotel? In private?”
“Ah, fuck,” I muttered.
I’d taken a punch to the face to keep her safe and somehow I felt like I was headed to the principal’s office.
Before I could reply, Chief Waldo came into the shop and caused everyone to stop talking again. He made a beeline for me, his bushy eyebrows drawn together. Great. I’d caused a commotion and now even Mr. Waldo probably thought the Jackson boys were all the same.
“Heard you had some trouble,” he said without preamble.
“Good morning, Dad. Lovely to see you too,” Amelia said dryly.
He turned his gaze to her, sweeping her from head to toe, probably checking for injuries. “A man gets punched before coffee on a Saturday morning, I figure we can skip the pleasantries.”
“I’m fine, Mr. Waldo. Just asked Daire to leave and he didn’t like that so much.”
“Call me Jim, son.” He took a quick glance at his watch. “Glad to hear you’re okay. If you want to press charges, come by the station.”
“I don’t know. I mean, Poppy did more damage swinging her mail bag around.” I shrugged good-naturedly.
The chief harrumphed. “Be that as it may, I’ve got my eye on him.”
“Thank you, Dad.” Amelia leaned over to kiss his cheek.
He patted her back and headed out.
Amelia stood there staring at me and then tilted her head to the door. Oh yeah, guess we were going to talk in private. This morning just kept getting better and better.
Lukas interrupted my death march behind Amelia’s ramrod-straight back.
“Here. Thought you could use the usual.” Lukas slapped me on the shoulder and went back behind the counter, leaving me with a box of donuts and a coffee to go.
Man, I loved that guy.
The hotel was close enough to walk, which we did in silence. I was too busy getting caffeine and sugar in my veins from the gift from Lukas, and Amelia was too busy stewing in her own head. Maybe drawing her out slowly with questions and concern for her emotional well-being would have been the best course of action, but I needed my brain firing on all cylinders before I could deal with a mad Amelia. To be fair, I did offer the box of donuts to her, but she shook her head and clenched her jaw even harder.
She didn’t stop when we got to the hotel, just marched right up the stairs to her room, not saying a word until the door closed behind me. I dropped the box of donuts on the little table by her recliner and braced myself for the storm.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” I asked
