Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Of course I wouldn’t. But I also don’t need you to escalate the situation. That was a full-on bar brawl. The two Docs had to get out of bed to come and patch people up. Do you know how fucking mad Curt is that I got Jenna up at one in the morning?”
“Is Lilac okay?” Worry filled him. He’d been so angry seeing that asshole touch her that he hadn’t seen anything but him.
“She got checked over and went home.”
Relief flooded him. Thank fuck.
“My brothers?” he asked.
“They’re waiting for you. Listen, I’m not charging you since that guy grabbed Lilac and you defended her. But you need to get yourself under control. Throwing punches and getting mad isn’t always the best way to deal with things.”
He wanted to tell Jake where to stick his advice. What did he know about shit? But the truth was, he kind of had a point. Tanner had spent most of his life doing whatever he wanted. Shoot out the tires of a car on his property, sure. Get banned from most of the bars in the county, yep.
But this time, he actually wondered if he’d made the right choice in his actions because . . . what if something had happened to her while he was busy fighting?
Thank fuck she was all right.
Walking into the main area, he saw Raid and Beau waiting on him.
Beau grinned when he saw him. “Aww, I told Jake he should just lock you up and throw away the key. But then he threatened to lock me up if I didn’t shut up. Not that I wouldn’t do well in jail. Everyone would love me.”
Tanner just scowled at him as they walked out. “Love you? Do you want criminals to love you?”
“Why not? Criminals are people too, Tanner.”
“Come on, I need to get home. You staying with us tonight?” Raid asked them both.
“I better go home before Scarlett hears about tonight. Is your girl okay?” Beau asked.
“My girl?”
“Don’t play coy with me. The girl you just defended in there? She was about to get trampled on when I got to her.”
“What?” Tanner felt ill. “Jake said she got checked over and went home.”
“Must be all right, then. She looked a bit pale and frightened when I picked her up and carried her away. She seemed like she’d hurt her side.”
“Fuck!” She had? “I need to go make sure she’s all right.” He’d go there right now. Maybe he should take her home with him. Make sure she was properly looked after.
Yep. That was the best idea.
But as he stormed off, Raid wrapped an arm around him.
“Let me go.”
“You need to stop,” Raid warned.
“Let. Me. Go.”
Beau moved in front of him. “You can’t go to her now, Tanner.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Because she’s likely asleep, asshole. You want to go terrifying her?” Raid snarled.
No. Of course he didn’t. “But I need to know that she’s all right. She could be alone and hurting.”
“Hannah saw her with a woman the other day,” Raid told him.
She had? Who was she?
“She seemed fine, just a bit shaken,” Beau told him. “She’ll still be there in the morning. But you go there now, and you’ll scare her.”
Fuck. They were right.
But in the morning, he was going to check on her.
“What do you mean, she’s not here?” Tanner’s heart skipped a beat. Had she left? Where had she gone?
How was he going to find her?
“I mean, she’s not here.” The woman in front of him had her hair teased up so much it almost stood on end. She was in a pair of silky pajamas that clung to her generous curves. Was she a friend of Lilac’s? “She’s at the diner.”
Lilac must have gone to get breakfast. He heard a baby cry in the background and the woman at the door turned away. “I’ve got to go.”
The door slammed shut in his face before he could ask any more questions.
Frustration filled him, but he knew he had to talk to Lilac.
Turning away, he stormed down the path to head around the main house. Linc had a large house with a wraparound porch. He didn’t know how the deputy could afford a place like this on his salary, but it wasn’t his business.
Except for the fact that he was helping Lilac. Why? Linc was a nice guy, but to put up two strange women and a baby in his guesthouse? That seemed . . . odd.
“Tanner.” Linc walked out of his house onto the back porch. “Didn’t expect you here this morning. You here about last night?”
“Sort of. Did you really have to cuff me?”
“Just doing my job. Why’re you here then?” Linc asked.
“Really? That’s all you’ve got for me? No, sorry for being a dick and arresting you?”
Linc sighed. “You didn’t get processed. From what Jake said, some asshole grabbed Lilac and you waded in to help her.”