“Nobody talks to me like that.”
She yanked her arm free and shoved him. He only stepped back a foot or so, anger storming his blond brow.
“Keep your hands off me!” she shouted, turning for her car again.
“Who do you think you are?” He yanked her around as before, scowling like a whining six-year-old who wasn’t getting his way. “You pretend to like me and now you’re turning on me?”
Lucy tried to wrench her arm free. His grip was painful. “I never pretended to like you. I don’t even know you. The only thing I know is that I never want to see you or hear from you ever again!” If she had a shred of doubt before, she had none now.
“You are interested.” He looked down at his hand on her arm as though only then realizing he held it and then let go. “We just talked about some things that should have waited. You’re interested.”
No didn’t mean no to this man. “If I ever see you outside this hospital again—or anywhere near me—I’m calling the cops!” She turned to her Subaru once more.
“Don’t you turn your back on me,” he growled, pure evil spitting from him.
She began to get scared. This situation was beginning to feel as if it was headed toward becoming a crime. She prepared herself for a fight, ready for him to grab her again, vowing to slap or punch him, only he didn’t get the chance. She heard him grunt. Looking back, she saw Thad pushing him against his car, slamming his back over the rim of the back window.
“I’m only going to say this once. If you don’t leave now and stay away from her, I’ll have you arrested.” Thad’s tone was calm but ferocious as he leaned over Cam, a good three inches taller than him.
“Who the hell are you?” Cam grabbed ahold of Thad’s wrist that clamped over his throat.
“Someone you don’t want to mess with,” he answered.
“He’s a cop,” Lucy said, happy to provide that piece of information.
That got Cam’s attention. He stopped struggling to be free and stared at him. Thad let him go, and Cam smoothed his suit jacket.
Then he looked at Lucy. “If we could just talk sometime...”
He kept saying that. And tonight he’d attacked her. “What makes you think I’d ever want to talk to you again?”
“You know. We really do have something special. I don’t understand why you’re fighting it. We just have a misunderstanding. We can get past this. I promise. You won’t regret it.” His sick, pleading face unnerved her.
“You’re the one with the misunderstanding.” Thad reached out and shoved Cam, jabbing his fingers on the man’s chest. “She doesn’t want to see you anymore. Didn’t you hear her? She should only have to say it once. How many times has she told you now?”
“This is none of your business.” Cam’s lightning temper flared again. It didn’t take much.
“It is now.” Thad moved closer, intimidating and fearless.
“I don’t have to take this from you.” Cam took a swing at him.
Thad easily deflected that and slammed his fist to Cam’s jaw. Then another punch drove into his sternum.
Cam gasped for air as he went down onto his knees.
“That’s it. You’re under arrest for assaulting an officer of the law.”
Lucy put her hand on his shoulder. “No, Thad. Let him go.” This was bad enough. Arresting him would only escalate things and prolong her dealings with Cam.
Leaning down, Thad pushed Cam’s head back, forcing him to look up at him. “Leave her alone or I’ll make you.”
Cam met Thad’s fierce eyes and didn’t say anything—for once. Finally, he was forced to accept that he could not control this situation, that he could not control Lucy, a woman he’d imagined in his crazed mind belonged with him.
Giving Cam’s head a harder shove that sent it banging back against the Honda, Thad rose and stepped back.
Cam glared at Thad as he stumbled to his feet. Thad had given him one more chance than he deserved.
Standing up, Cam walked around the front of the black car. Over the hood of the Honda, he looked at Lucy with such resentment that it gave her a shiver.
When Cam drove away, Thad went to Lucy. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She was now, thanks to him.
He touched her arm where Cam had grabbed her. She might be bruised. She’d never had anyone defend her the way he had tonight, never had a reason to need that from anyone. But tonight she had, and Thad had been there for her. Appreciation mushroomed into more, warmth that her undeniable attraction fueled.
“Maybe you should stick to the traditional method of meeting someone,” he said.
His logical solution to her scary encounter chased the rest of her tension away. She stepped closer to him. “Okay, Officer. Traditional it is.” She played with the collar of his shirt. He wasn’t wearing a badge. She never saw him actually wear it. “Does this qualify as traditional?”
“We’re in a parking lot, and I almost arrested someone.”
Hardly traditional. Just then she realized he must have waited for her in the parking lot. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I’m a cop.” Giving her a grin, he stepped back and then headed toward his blue Charger.
That was the reason he gave her, but Lucy was certain there was another reason he’d waited. He’d been concerned. And more than the cop in him had compelled him to stay and keep an eye on her. He liked her, and he’d protected her. And, strangely, she loved that he had. Not only because he’d saved her from whatever Cam would have done. If anything, he’d cared enough to ensure she made it home safely.
“Hey,” she called.
Thad stopped at his fast car.
She was going to take a plunge headfirst. “I have to volunteer for a literacy program tomorrow night. Would you mind going with me?” She had two motives for this. One, she was afraid of what Cam would do, and two, she wanted to torture Thad with children. What better way to see just how interested he was?
There went that grin again. He had a really nice grin. “Not at all,” he said. “What time?”
“I have to be there at six.”
“I’ll pick you up.”
“But you don’t know my address.”
“I have your address.”
Cop. He was starting to sound like Cam, except there was no comparison. Thad’s reasons for hanging around and looking up her address were completely different from Cam’s. They were two completely different men. Still, she couldn’t let Thad’s boldness go without at least a little teasing...
“You’re not a stalker, are you?” she asked. “Should I be worried?”
He took her seriously. His grin went flat. “No, not you. But Cam should be real worried, because if he ever comes within ten feet of you again, he’ll have to answer to me.”
Sexy, handsome, protective cop...
The way her heart thumped gave her second thoughts about inviting him to one of her most cherished pastimes.
Chapter 4
Darcy wiped the coffee that had dribbled onto his lavender dress shirt with a damp napkin. “He’s got a rap sheet.”
Thad leaned against Darcy’s desk, looking at the mug shot of Cameo