24. McKenna
McKenna
“ T hat man keeps staring at you,” Monica, my over-observant official new boss, said as she sidled up next to me behind the bar.
I continued my circular motions with the damp cloth, cleaning up the sticky mess a spilled soda had left behind on the bar. It was the perfect “welcome back to work” chore after my week off. “I know.”
She leaned an elbow on the wet counter, and I scowled at it. “So you know him then.”
“I do.” Couldn’t people just be outright with what they wanted to know, rather than subtly pushing for more information?
Aside from that, I was tired of talking to her.
For the duration of my shift, she’d come up to me and Brynne no fewer than ten times to ask how we were doing.
I much preferred the disconnected approach Marv had. Well, aside from the perv part.
“Is he your boyfriend?” she pressed, chin resting on her palm.
I stopped my wiping, slowly turning to face her. “Yes. ”
We hadn’t established titles since we discussed the whole love thing this week, but the way she kept stealing glances at him pissed me off. Austin was hot, but he was also mine . She could fuck off.
“He seems very protective.”
My eyes nearly rolled to the back of my head, which earned me an arched brow from Austin. Yes, he’d been staring at me all day. And finally, I didn’t mind it.
“Yep.” I sprayed the counter with disinfectant once more before going in with a new towel from the rack below the bar. Once it was clean—which was very soon due to my avoidance of Monica—I disappeared into the kitchen to toss the rags in the laundry bin.
Brynne appeared from the door to the alley, coming back from her break.
“Good lunch?” I asked, leaning a hip against the counter. Any excuse to extend my time away from our boss was a good one.
“Eh. Leftovers are never anything special.” She tossed her used fork in the sink, running her hands under the water before drying them.
“Especially from days ago.” My nose scrunched. “You’re probably going to get food poisoning from that.”
She waved me off, shooting me a frown. “You’re just scared of leftovers in general.”
“Reheated food is gross.” Which Austin had quickly come to learn, so he made me homemade meals. Daily.
Ugh .
Keeping up my efforts of being annoyed by him was getting harder and harder, despite our confessions. But I had to keep some sort of rift going between us—I was afraid of who I’d turn into if I stopped. Plus, he’d said he liked my attitude anyway.
“Monica hitting on Austin is gross,” I added, plastering a disgusted look on my face.
Brynne walked closer, leaning against the table across from me so we could quiet our voices a bit. “I noticed she kept looking over at him, but I assumed she was more scared of him than attracted.”
“Scared?” I snorted.
Brynne pressed her lips together to hide a smile. “He watches your every move, McKenna. He looks about ready to chop off the heads of every person in this joint just so he can put his hands on you.” She leaned forward to emphasize what she said next. “Including me.”
“Please. Austin would never hurt you. And besides, he could touch me whenever he wanted. He just knows I’ll chop his fingers off if he distracts me at work.” That was our agreement. Stay out of my way, and he could sit in the booth.
Clearly he was doing a poor job of following my rules.
I hooked a thumb toward the door. “I’m gonna go tell him to leave.”
Brynne winced so subtly I barely noticed it, but she quickly masked it. “Is that such a good idea?”
I was already heading for the door as I said, “Doesn’t matter. He has no choice but to listen to me.” Otherwise, I’d make him pay.
I beelined for the booth he sat in, forcing myself not to trip over my sneakers with the sight of his veins bulging in his arms where he had them crossed. His piercing gaze was focused solely on me, but I knew he was simultaneously watching the entire diner for any sign of a threat.
“You need to either order something, or leave.” So maybe my demand was a little less forceful than I’d originally planned. Seeing him sitting here looking like that was helping the time pass faster. Yeah, that was my excuse.
He tilted his chin back, smirking. “What would you suggest?”
I propped a hand on my hip. “Food. Or a drink. I don’t care. But people are getting freaked with you sitting here all day.”
His head cocked to the side, an innocent, hungry look on his face. “Why would I order any of that when I can get it all from you?”
A frown tugged at the corners of my mouth while my thighs pressed together. His mouth parted as I leaned closer and lowered my voice. “If you keep it up, I’m not going to be very happy.”
His hands dropped, opening his defenses for me. “Show me your claws, kitten.”
“How would you like to see them?” I ran a finger under his chin, and he arched it up further. His puffy bottom lip made me thirsty. “On your knees?” I dragged a nail along his jawline. “Or while you’re underneath me?”
“Dare I plead for both?” His words were breathless, making my pulse quicken.
I straightened, body hot and mind whirling. I briefly wondered if Monica was watching our exchange, and hoped she was far the fuck away. If anyone saw my man looking like this, I’d have no choice but to scoop their eyes out with a rusty spoon .
In my peripheral, Brynne returned from the kitchen, hand clutching her stomach.
She didn’t look well, and I racked my brain to remember how quickly food poisoning set in.
Austin followed my line of sight, immediately standing from the booth.
I crossed to Brynne, who was now standing at the end of the bar. Austin came to a stop behind me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, eyeing her fingers digging into the fabric of her diner uniform.
Her brows were drawn together, face twisted in pain. “I think you were right.”
“Right about what?” Austin demanded, already on the defensive.
I gestured to her stomach. “I told her not to eat the leftovers from our dinner this week, but she insisted.”
Brynne forced a smile, but it quickly twisted into a grimace. “There’s no technical expiration on leftovers.”
“Well, there should be.” But I also thought she was wrong on that statement. Now wasn’t the time to argue about that, though.
I scanned the diner for Monica, and once I found her by a table in the far corner, I quickly said to Brynne, “I’m taking you home.”
“No, I’ll take you two home,” Austin insisted.
I shot him a glare that screamed don’t fight me on this right now . “You can follow us in your truck.” He opened his mouth to reply but I pressed a hand to his chest. “It’s not up for debate.”
With a huff, I left the two of them standing there to approach Monica. She turned my way when she noticed me. “Everything okay? ”
God, I hated how cheerful her voice was, even when she seemed worried.
“Brynne has food poisoning and doesn’t look well enough to drive herself home, so I was going to give her a ride. Is it alright if I leave early? I only have about an hour left of my shift, anyway.”
Monica nodded, brows furrowed as she glanced behind me in Brynne’s direction.
Whatever she saw must’ve confirmed what I told her.
“Yes, of course.” She wiggled her pen in the air, gesturing to the door.
“Do whatever you need to. I hope she feels better. Don’t worry about your time cards; I’ll note down what time you two left. ”
I gave a curt nod and a quiet thanks before making my way back to Brynne where Austin already had his arm around her waist. He dipped his chin at me, signaling that he had her. Then, we headed out of the diner toward my car in the back lot.
“You’re heading straight for the ranch, McKenna,” Austin instructed, tone firm. “Nowhere else. She needs meds, I’ll pick them up after you’re both safe at the house.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered as I opened the passenger door. The drizzle of rain bit into my skin like little needles, and I wished I’d grabbed my jacket.
As Austin helped Brynne into the passenger seat, I rubbed my hands together to fight off the cold.
When he straightened and turned to me, he took one look at the motion before closing the passenger door and moving to his truck.
I started to head around my car to the driver’s side when Austin grabbed my wrist, spinning me around.
Before I could protest, he was sliding my arms into his large, dark brown jacket.
The bottom of it reached just past my skirt, wrapping me in a warm cocoon.
“Thank you.” My breath was a cloud between us.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and even with the bitter air, his lips were warm. “Drive safe.”
“You’ll be right behind me,” I reminded him, fingers wrapping around the cuffs of the jacket to tug it tighter.
Even with that knowledge, worry painted his features. “I know. I?—”
I pressed a finger to his lips, knowing what his next words would be.
“It’s barely a half-hour drive. Stop acting like this is goodbye forever.
” Because if he kept looking at me like a sad puppy, I’d stow Brynne in the back seat of his truck and leave my car here.
I didn’t want to do that, though, because I didn’t work for the next two days, and I didn’t want to come back for it when I’d rather spend my time being ravished by Austin.
He allowed himself one more moment to worry before his expression shifted like he clicked a switch.
He nipped the tip of my finger with his teeth before moving past me to open my door.
I slid onto the seat, pulling on my seat belt before giving him one last look as he shut the door.
He headed for his truck, and I waited until it was started and ours was warm to pull out of the lot.
Austin’s truck was behind us for a total of fifteen minutes before red and blue lights lit up the road.
It was sunset, but the flash still shined bright in my rearview mirror.
I double checked our speedometer to make sure we weren’t speeding.
In fact, I’d been going two under. A list of reasons he could be getting pulled over ran through my mind, but I couldn’t figure out why.
As far as I could tell, he wasn’t doing anything illegal.
I watched in the mirror as he seemed to contemplate abiding by the law and pulling to the side or continuing on his way, but then he flicked on his blinker and pulled off.
Brynne’s head lolled to the side, taking note of the lights. “Austin’s getting pulled over?”
Her voice sounded oddly slurred, which wasn’t right. Food poisoning didn’t cause that, or so at least I thought.
“I guess so.” I followed the bend in the road, and with the thick forest surrounding us, I lost sight of the police car and Austin’s truck.
“Should I pull over?” He didn’t want us driving home alone, but I also didn’t know if I was legally allowed to stop along with him if I wasn’t the one they wanted.
Brynne shot forward in her seat, hand over her stomach. “Yeah. I think I’m going to throw up.”
I quickly glanced her way before driving onto the shoulder and coming to a stop. The passenger side was in the dirt, but the other half of my car was still on the pavement. Brynne shot out of the vehicle and I shoved the gear in park.
Making sure there were no cars coming, I got out and rounded the hood. The fresh scent of pine wrapped around me, and I was thankful for Austin’s jacket keeping the cold away. At least, from the thighs up.
I stopped when I saw Brynne hunched over and dry heaving. A bead of sweat was dripping down her forehead, and she looked too pale.
“Brynne, are you sure it was the food that’s making you feel this way? ”
She shook her head, ponytail swishing over her shoulder. “I’m not sure. I—” She careened to the side, and I caught her right before she fell. “I don’t feel too good.”
“Why don’t we get back in the car?” I scanned the darkening forest, the sun nearly gone behind the cover of trees now.
Right as I said it, another car I hadn’t seen coming pulled in behind ours, and I froze. Brynne barely lifted her head to follow my line of sight.
“Who’s that?” she questioned weakly.
“I’m not sure.” I inched over to open her passenger door. “Just get in your seat. It’s probably someone who thinks we have a flat tire or something.”
As I helped Brynne back into the car, a man in a dark gray hoodie and combat boots approached. Combat boots that sent alarm bells blaring in my head.
I instantly recognized them from the rodeo.
“You ladies need some help?” the man asked, peering around me to get a better look at Brynne.
Brynne’s head rolled, like she was barely staying awake at this point.
“No, thanks.” I tried to keep the waver from my voice as I barely spared him a glance and grabbed the door.
A strong hand gripped my upper arm before I could shut it, yanking me away.
“Let me go!” I shrieked, immediately trying to pry his bruising fingers from my skin. When that didn’t work, I aimed to kick him in the crotch, but he caught my leg and tugged. The world flipped upside down, and my head slammed into the ground.
“McKenna!” Brynne screamed, but she sounded far away. I tilted my head back, eyes blinking away the stars in my vision, to find her crawling out of the car.
“Brynne, no! Get back inside!”
Two hands clamped around my ankles, and I kicked with all the strength I could muster as the black dots left my line of sight. “Get your hands off me!”
The man climbed up my body, rendering my legs useless now. I opened my mouth to scream, but he clamped a gloved palm over my mouth.
Realization hit me too late.
It wasn’t a glove pressed over my mouth and nose. It was a damp rag.
Sweetness enveloped my senses moments before my tongue went dry. My eyelids grew heavy, and the last thing I heard were Brynne’s screams and the rustle of pine needles.