Chapter 17
NORA
OH, MY God.
What is happening?
That gun is pointed at me. My stomach drops, and my feet become one with the floor, and all I see is the round barrel of the gun looming in front of me.
In my periphery, I see Tuck stand up, and my heart beats faster when the guy turns his gun on him. What is he doing? Did he get the guy to turn the gun on him on purpose?
The guy reads my mind. “What’re ya doin’, man?” His voice is kind of whiny, like a young guy. I don’t think he expected anyone to move.
Tuck lifts his hands in surrender and points a finger at me, letting the guy know he’s moving in my direction. The guy breathes harder, the barrel of his gun following Tuck’s every move.
I’m so scared that I don’t notice the heat from the plates soaking through the rags until Tuck stands in front of me, blocking the guy from my view to force me to look at him.
He lifts one of the plates with the rag under it, setting it on the nearest table, then looks at the guy. “These plates are hot.”
“Yeah, whatever, man. Go sit down so I can get the money from the till.”
Tuck calmly smiles at him. “One more.”
Turning to me again, he’s so… composed, his eyes are locked with mine, and he winks at me. Seeing the fear on my face, he smiles reassuringly as he lifts the second plate from my hand. While keeping his voice low so just I can hear, he says, “Get down, sugar. Now.”
As soon as the plate is lifted from my hand, I drop to my knees and fold forward as Tuck spins and throws it at the guy like a frisbee, hitting him in the face.
The guy goes down, screaming and holding his nose that has gravy and mashed potatoes on it, dropping the gun.
Covering my head with my arms, I hear another man yelling, “Drop the gun!”
The whole thing happened in a matter of seconds, but it also seemed to move in slow motion.
There’s a scuffle and grunting, and when I look up, Tuck has the guy pinned face down on the floor.
He’s on his good knee on one side of the guy and his injured leg is straight out to the other side, a grimace is on his face.
He’s patting him down roughly, looking for other weapons, and growls, “Anyone ever told you it’s not nice to point a gun at a lady?”
“You broke my goddamn nose, asshole.” The guy on the ground yells, and Tuck yanks his mask off, making the guy scream in pain as the hole in the mask catches on the tip of his nose. Just as I thought, he’s young, and he’s gushing blood all over the floor.
Tuck leans down close to his face. “You’re lucky that’s all I broke.” Then he yells, “Secure.”
The voice from before yells from across the room. “Secure.”
I’m still folded over on the ground with my hands on each side of my head, watching what’s happening, when Tuck looks at me. “You okay?”
My throat is refusing to work, so I just nod.
Concern is in his eyes as he looks over my face. “I gotta keep him in place until the police get here. Are you okay to get up and go sit at my table?”
I feel like I’m in a dream as it feels like I’m turning my head in slow motion to look at the table he was sitting at earlier.
It feels like I’ve slipped into an alternate world.
The people who were sitting at the tables are leaving quickly, and there is movement all around me.
My hands are shaking so bad next to my head, and I look again at the bleeding guy on the floor.
“Nora. Sugar.” I hear Tuck’s voice, but he sounds far away, somewhere behind the pulsing river raging behind my ears. “Don’t look at him, baby. Look at me.”
I can’t stop staring at the blood. There’s so much blood, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much.
“Stony!” Tuck bellows over his shoulder.
“Here, Tuck.”
“Hold this guy for me, I need to help Nora.”
The next thing I know, hands are under my arms, and he pulls me into his chest, blocking the scene in front of me. “Come here.” His powerful arms are around me, and he’s guiding me behind the bar.
Big, rough hands cup my head, and his face is just inches from mine. I don’t know what to do with my hands, they won’t stop shaking, and they seem to just want to hang in the air in front of me.
Hazel eyes are locked on mine, and I focus on the spots of gold in front of the green. “That’s right, sugar, look at me.” His voice is low and soothing, and he takes a deep breath. “Can you breathe with me?”
He takes another breath, his chest rising, and I try to match his, but my lungs need air faster than he’s breathing, so I try again.
“Good. Again. Try again.” He keeps taking long, deep breaths and encourages me to do it with him.
It takes a minute, but I’m finally able to get a full breath, and the whooshing in my ears is quieting down. He lets go of my head and wraps his fingers around mine. “Your hands are like ice.” He presses my palms together between us and envelopes my hands with his. “Keep breathing with me.”
Just as my heart is beating at a normal rate again, and the shaking in my hands is at a minimum, I hear the police come in, and there is even more noise. I try to look around, but he says, “No, not yet, keep looking at me.”
I’ve never seen his face this soft or heard his voice sound so… sweet.
He’s the bravest and most handsome man I’ve ever known.
His smile splits his face. “Well, thank you, sugar. It’s nice of you to say so while you’re in the middle of a panic attack.”
My eyes go wide as my face flushes scarlet, and I breathe, “Did I say that out loud?” Oh God, I actually said that out loud!
His smile is still wide, and he winks at me. “It’ll be our secret.”
A slight pain is slowly tapping on my forehead, threatening a monster headache. I don’t even realize I’m crying until Tuck lets go of my hands and cups my cheeks, swiping his thumbs under my eyes. “Everything’s okay, sugar, I promise.”
Leaning forward and letting my hands rest on his sides, I set my forehead against his chest and fist the material of his shirt in my fingers. He wraps his arms around me, and instantly the world is right again.
He dips his chin next to my head and presses his lips to my temple. “I’ll need to talk to the police, but I’m taking you home after.”
Stony closed the pub after all the customers cleared out and everyone gave their reports to the police. Then he told me and Sammy to go home.
In the break room, Sammy nudges me with her shoulder as she grabs her purse. “That boy’s got it bad for you. I’ve known Tucker Harlow for over ten years, and I’ve never seen him act with any woman the way he acts with you.”
Reaching into my locker, I keep my eyes focused in front of me. As much as I want to fall into the feelings I have when he’s near me, I know it’s useless. I’m leaving as soon as my car is fixed. I have to. “He’s really nice.”
She clucks her tongue. “He’s more than nice, honey, he’s got hearts in his eyes every time he looks at you.” She turns as if she is about to leave and bumps me again. “I’ve been watching.”
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I remind myself that I can’t develop feelings for Tucker.
I think it’s too little too late because the pinch in my chest as I think about pushing him away tells me I already have feelings for him.
Deep feelings. The tapping behind my forehead has turned into a dull thump, and I press my fingertips right in the middle to see if pressure will help.
Then I realize that the extra ache is not coming from my head, it’s coming from my chest.
Stepping out of the break room, I almost walk into Tuck. He’s leaning against the wall outside the door, and I wonder if he heard what Sammy said before she left. His hands are in his front pockets, and his head jerks up when he sees me.
“Ready?” He pushes off the wall and stands at his full height, making me look up.
“Yeah.” Looking in his eyes, I try to see what Sammy is talking about. He does look at me differently; his features are softer than they were when I first met him, as if his grumpiness is gone, and the big, thick wall that was around him seems not so intimidating.
How could I not be attracted to the quiet strength that effortlessly pulls me into its safety every time he’s around me? When he’s next to me, the exposure and paranoia I’ve carried with me the last six months seem to dissolve.
It might be ridiculous after just knowing him a few weeks, but he feels like the home base I’m supposed to run to, to keep away the threats chasing me. But I don’t want to be the damsel in distress he needs to take care of, I want to be the strong, beautiful woman he can’t resist.
Considering all the shit in my wake, it would be impossible for me to just be someone he can’t resist. Like it or not, I’ve got too much baggage. I don’t want to put that on him. It’s not fair to put it on him.
“Hey.” He rests his palm on my cheek, even his rough calluses are gentle with me, and pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts. “You sure you’re okay?”
Grasping his hand, I smile as I squeeze his fingers and pull it away from my face. “Oh, yeah, sorry, so much to digest.”
His eyebrows pinch ever so slightly as he looks over my face, but he nods and turns around, keeping my hand in his, and leads me into the main room. As we walk toward the front door, the guy he was about to have dinner with steps up to him and holds his hand out to shake.
Tuck stops and lets go of my hand to shake his as the guy shakes his head with a laugh.
“Definitely not the evening I expected, but I have to admit, I enjoyed it.” He drops Tuck’s hand and slides his fingers into his pockets before he continues.
“The job’s yours if you want it, we’re based in Tennessee if you want to come out and look around before you make a decision. ”
My heart drops to my stomach, and the hair on my arms stands up. He’s not staying here. Is he already planning his exit? Just like Matt was always looking for the next best thing? Am I just a temporary stop for him? My heart splinters, and I swallow around the lump in my throat.