“Now who the hell is that dandy?” Wraith wondered out loud.
“Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no,” I whispered.
Warner Dennison the Third was scanning the bar, an expression of derision on his handsome face.
I thought about turning around and hightailing it for the kitchen. But it was too late. He locked eyes with me, not bothering to hide his surprise.
“Naomi,” he called just as the band cut off their song.
Heads turned to look at me and then back at Warner.
I stayed rooted to the spot, but he was on the move, weaving his way through tables to get to me.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
“Me? What the hell are you doing in a place like this? And what are you wearing?” he said, reaching for me. His hands gripped my biceps like he was going to pull me in for an embrace, but I resisted.
“I work here,” I said, planting a hand firmly on his chest.
A motorcycle revved its engine outside, and he flinched. “Not anymore,” Warner said. “This is ridiculous. You made your point. You’re coming home.”
“Home?” I managed a dry laugh. “Warner, I sold my house. I live here now.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “You’re coming home with me.”
Not wanting to cause a scene, I gave up trying to extricate myself from his grasp. “What are you talking about? We’re not together anymore.”
“You ran out on our wedding then ignored my calls and emails for weeks. You wanted to make a point and you made it.”
“What point exactly do you think I was making?”
His nostrils flared, and I noticed the clench of his jaw. He was getting upset, and it turned my stomach.
“You wanted me to see what life would be like without you. I get it.”
We had the rapt attention of the bar. “Warner, let’s talk somewhere else,” I suggested. I pulled him past the bar and into the hallway by the restrooms.
“I miss you, Naomi. I miss our dinners together. I miss coming home and finding out you did all my laundry for me. I miss taking you out and showing you off.”
I shook my head, hoping to rattle some sense into my brain. I couldn’t believe he was here.
“Look,” he said, “I apologize for what happened. I was stressed. I had too much to drink. It won’t happen again.”
“How did you find me?” I asked, finally extricating myself from his grasp.
“My mom is Facebook friends with yours. She saw some of the pictures your mom has been posting.”
For once I regretted not telling my mom exactly why I’d run out on my wedding. If she’d known why I left Warner, she sure as hell wouldn’t have pointed the way here.
Warner took my wrists in his hands.
“Everything all right here,” Max asked, appearing at the mouth of the hall.
“Everything’s fine,” I lied.
“Mind your own damn business,” Warner muttered without taking his eyes off me.
“Warner!” I remembered all the little insults he’d say under his breath directed at me and countless others.
“Let’s go somewhere where we can talk,” he said, squeezing my wrists tighter.
“No. You need to listen to me. I’m not going anywhere with you and I’m certainly not getting back together with you. It’s over. We’re over. There’s nothing more to talk about. Now go home, Warner.”
He stepped forward into my space. “I’m not going anywhere unless you’re with me,” he insisted.
I could smell alcohol on his breath and winced. “How much have you had to drink?”
“For fuck’s sake, Naomi. Stop trying to blame everything on a drink or two. Now, I let you have your space and look what you did with it.” He swept an arm out. “This isn’t you. You don’t belong in a place like this with people like them.”
“Let go of me, Warner,” I said calmly.
Instead of letting me go, he pushed me back against the wall and held me there by my biceps.
I didn’t like it. It wasn’t like when Knox boxed me in and my senses were full of him, when I wanted to do anything to be closer to him. This was different.
“You need to go, Warner,” I said.
“You want me to go, you’re going with me.”
I shook my head. “I can’t leave. I’m working.”
“Fuck this place, Naomi. Fuck your little temper tantrum. I’m willing to forgive you.”
“Take your fucking hands off her. Now.”
My knees went weak at Knox’s voice.
“Move along, asshole. This is between me and my fiancée,” Warner said.
“Not the brightest answer,” Lucian said mildly.
Knox and Lucian were standing at the mouth of the hallway. Lucian had his hand on Knox’s shoulder. I couldn’t tell if he was restraining him or telling him he had his back.
Then suddenly Knox wasn’t standing at the mouth of the hall, and Warner didn’t have his hands on me anymore.
“Give him the first shot,” Lucian called.
Warner swung, and I watched in horror as he landed a punch that snapped Knox’s head back.
“Good enough,” Lucian said, his hands in the pockets of his slacks, the picture of relaxation.
Knox let his fists do the talking. The first punch connected with Warner’s nose, and I heard the crunch. Blindly, Warner struck out. The blow glanced off Knox’s shoulder. As blood poured from Warner’s nose, Knox threw another punch and then another before Warner crumpled to the floor. Before Knox could follow him down, Lucian was pulling him back.
“Enough,” he said calmly as Knox fought to free himself. “Take care of Naomi.”
When Lucian said my name, Knox’s gaze abandoned my bloodied ex-fiancé and found me.
“What the fuck?” Warner snarled as Lucian hauled him to his feet. “I’m calling my lawyer! Your ass will be in jail by morning!”
“Good luck with that. His brother’s the chief of police, and my lawyer is ten times more expensive than yours. Watch the door,” Lucian warned. And then he used Warner’s face to open the kitchen door. A cheer went up in the bar as the two men disappeared.
And then I wasn’t thinking about who was going to clean up the bloody smear on the glass because Knox was in front of me, looking a thousand shades of pissed off.
THE WHOLE STORY AND A HAPPY ENDING
Knox
“Ihave to go to the restroom,” Naomi announced and bolted into the ladies’ room.
“Goddammit,” I muttered, clenching my hands into fists. Adrenaline and rage raced through my veins, heating my blood to boiling.
I debated going into the No Man’s Land after her, but Max, Silver, and Fi beat me to it.
“You can’t all leave the floor at the same fucking time,” I called through the door.
“Fuck off, Knoxy. We got this,” Fi yelled back.
“And we got this, Knox,” Wraith said, throwing a bar towel over his shoulder and stepping behind the bar. “You’re all gettin’ beers or shots cause I don’t know how the fuck to pour anything else.”
A raucous cheer rose up from the customers.
The kitchen door swung open, and Milford the cook walked out with two baskets of brisket nachos in one hand and an ice pack wrapped in a towel in the other. He tossed me the ice, then let out an ear-splitting whistle.
Sloane jumped up and grabbed the baskets. “Yo! Who got the brisket nachos?”
Hands went up all over the bar.
“If I find out any of you are lying, I’ll personally ruin your life for an entire year.”
Sloane was no mild-mannered librarian. She had a legendary temper that, when roused, was a Category Five Shitstorm.
All but two hands wisely went down.
“That’s better,” she said.
“We got this, boss. See to your lady,” Milford insisted.
“Did Lucian—”
“Mr. Rollins is taking out the trash,” he said with a grin before ducking back into the kitchen.
I wanted to, but I was afraid her posse wouldn’t let me near her. I could punch an asshole out without a second thought, but I was smart enough to be a little terrified of the Honky Tonk women.
“Naomi,” I said, pounding a fist on the bathroom door. “If you don’t get your ass out here, I’m either comin’ in there or I’m gonna go knock more sense into that son of a bitch.”
The door opened, and Naomi, with smudged eye makeup, glared at me. “You will do no such thing.”
Relief coursed through me, and I leaned into her.
“I’m gonna touch you now because I need to. And I’m warning you in advance, because if I touch you and you flinch, I’m gonna go out in the parking lot and start kicking ass until he’s too broken to ever touch another woman again.”
Her eyes widened, but she nodded.
I tried to be gentle as I took her by the hand.
“We good?” I asked.
She nodded again.
It was good enough for me. I pulled her past the restrooms and Fi’s office into the next hallway that led to my office.
“I can’t believe this happened,” she groaned. “I’m so embarrassed.”
She hadn’t been embarrassed. She’d been fucking terrified. The look in her eyes when I stepped into the hall was one I’d never forget as long as I lived.
“The nerve of him showing up here, saying he wants me back because he misses how I cleaned up after him.”
I squeezed her hand. “Pay attention, Daisy.”
“To what? The way you turned his face into ground beef? Do you think you broke his nose?”
I knew I had. That was the point.
“Pay attention to this,” I said, pointing at the keypad next to the door. “0522.”