“Us, huh?” Mark’s gaze shifted to Cade and darkened. “Who the hell is this, anyway?” His voice sounded hard and his eyes looked cold as they raked over Cade from head to foot, disdain curling his lips.
Cade widened his stance, preparing for violence.
“You trying to move in on my territory, boy?” A threat clearly rang in Mark’s tone.
Cade shook his head. “The lady asked you to leave.”
Mark chuckled. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, kid.”
Cade bristled inside, but kept his face blank, though the tone of his voice could have cut granite. “Leave. Now.”
Addie’s small hand curled around his forearm, surprising him and warming him, too. “Don’t let him bait you, Cade,” she said, loud enough for only him to hear. “Please.”
He glanced at her and saw a warning in her eyes. Curious, but knowing this wasn’t the time to ask, Cade turned back to Mark.
Addie’s hand tightened on his arm and he reached over to give her fingers a reassuring squeeze, keeping his attention on the intruder.
Mark smiled, though not in a friendly way. “I sssee,” he slurred, staring at their joined hands.
“Just go, Mark,” Addie pleaded. “You don’t want to do this. Go home and sleep it off.”
Mark’s eyes lifted to Addie and he seemed to slump a bit and swayed. He blinked slowly and then refocused on Addie’s hand gripping Cade’s arm. When his gaze lifted to Cade’s, he sneered, “This ain’t over, kid.”
Prickles of warning shot up Cade’s spine as hate and a dark promise shot from Mark’s gray eyes.
“Please, Mark,” Addie said, and his drooping gaze shifted to her face as she peeked around Cade’s shoulder. “Please, just go.”
“We’ll talk about thisss laaa-ter, Ad-dieee,” Mark said, his slur growing more pronounced.
“No,” Cade said softly, “you won’t.” He felt Addie’s sharp glance but kept his attention on the other man, determined to let him know she wasn’t unprotected.
“Go home, Mark,” Addie said gently as if speaking to a sleepy, cranky child.
A crooked grin split the man’s face. “Have it your way, but you’ll be missing me later.” Mark swayed as he turned for the door. Stepping outside without a backward glance, he stumbled toward his truck.
“He shouldn’t be driving,” Cade said, his hard eyes glaring out the empty doorway.
“No, he shouldn’t.” Addie stepped forward, but he caught her arm.
“What’re you doing?”
“Stopping him.”
“After what he tried to do, you want to get in the cab with him?”
Her expression turned uncertain. “No, not really, but I don’t want him hurting anyone else, either.”
“Just report him.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?” Irritation stiffened his back and sharpened his tone. “You do understand what that drunken bastard would’ve done if I hadn’t been here, right?”
She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes.
“Glaring at me won’t change those facts, Addie. Stop being so tenderhearted and turn the guy in.”
“It’s not being tenderhearted,” she replied, her defensive stance drooping. “It just won’t do any good.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?” he asked and when she stared up at him, tight-lipped and glaring, he got it. “This isn’t the first time, is it?”
“No.”
Heat surged through his veins and he growled low in his throat. “All the more reason to call the cops.”
“It won’t do any good.”
“Why not?”
“Because he is the cops!”
Chapter 9
Addie took a deep breath, trying to still the runaway thudding of her heart. Anxiety riddled, her stomach hurt, but the rest of her body felt numb and cold as she watched understanding bloom on Cade’s face.
“That jackass is a cop?” he asked incredulously, pointing toward the open front door.
“Deputy sheriff,” Addie said with a nod, dropping her eyes. She appreciated Cade’s help and that he was concerned about her, but she wasn’t interested in going another ten rounds with the sheriff. The last time Mark had gotten drunk and pressed her too hard, she’d barely been able to fight him off on her own. Afterward, she’d gone straight to the sheriff’s station and reported it. The long line of inquiry and suspicion directed at her had been grueling and she didn’t want to go through that again. Besides, Mark had only gotten a verbal warning—a slap on the wrist—and was told to keep his distance. She still had to see him around town. Still had to put up with his longing looks and flirting smiles. He hadn’t approached her since the last incident, but she’d always been careful to avoid him as much as possible.
“That’s even more of a reason to report him,” Cade said, interrupting her thoughts. “At least, tell them it happened.”
“They won’t believe me,” she said, frustration tightening her fists. “They didn’t last time and it was…awful. They said because we were alone it was my word against his, but none of them believed me.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw before he answered, “Not this time. I saw what he tried to do. I’ll stand with you. They’ll have to listen.”
She sighed and smiled tiredly. The anger and righteousness she read in his eyes over the unfairness of the situation warmed her heart. The fact that he cared and wanted to see to her safety warmed the rest of her, too. She tilted her head and her grin widened. “So protective.”
He shifted his feet and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. That’s when Addie finally noticed his state of dress or lack thereof. He’d charged to her rescue with bare feet and a bare chest. The sight of all that warm masculine skin—all those ridges and valleys of muscle—made her mouth water. How could a guy like him think so little of himself?
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he mumbled.
Without thinking, she reached up and cupped his cheek. Awareness zapped down her arm, but the tickle of his stubble against her palm acted like its own kind of magnet. When he met her eyes, all those tingles in her hand swept through her whole body.
“I appreciate that, Cade, and everything else you’ve done for me,” she
