Now I was not only a little intimidated but I was also getting mad. So what? I’d sat at a table in a public place with another man. We talked. About nothing. And then I’d told him I was involved in a relationship. “No, you weren’t imagining it. But that was all I did, had a drink and talked.”
“Talked about what?” he shot back, inching closer still. “You two looked very comfortable with each other.”
Every instinct in me told me to back up, give myself some space so he wouldn’t be so freaking intimidating. But I didn’t want to. I didn’t want him to think he’d won this little power struggle we were fighting right now. “We looked comfortable because we know each other. Knew each other. He’s married now.”
Shane laughed. “Married. A married man at a bar can only be looking for one thing.”
I wanted to tell him that it was Jill’s fault, that she’d set the whole thing up, but that would probably make him distrust Jill. If he distrusted her, he might try to tell me I couldn’t go out with her anymore. Though, based on the steam blasting from his ears, he might do that anyway.
“You’re angry. But you shouldn’t be. I didn’t do anything wrong. You’re making assumptions--”
“Like someone else we know, right? Who was making assumptions when she saw me at a restaurant with another woman?” He backed me into the wall. Then he angled closer so that I was feeling the heat of his breath fanning over my face, and those cold, dark eyes were piercing mine, searching them.
“You’re right. I did make assumptions.”
“That was a restaurant,” he pointed out. “Not a dump like this.”
“Back off, ass**le!” Jill shouted from somewhere close by.
Great, now she was going to hate Shane even more. In her eyes he was being a big bully. In reality, he was being a bully. But now that he’d pointed out what I’d done when I’d caught him with Alexis, I couldn’t fault him for being jealous.
“Jill, it’s okay,” I said, trying to peer around the side of Shane’s hulking body.
“Like hell! Nobody deserves to be screamed at and intimidated like this. No one!”
“Jill,” Shane said, his voice low and cold. He shot her what I could assume was an ugly glare over his shoulder. “This is a private conversation.”
“Bristol is my friend. You’re being a complete jerk. If you don’t back off, I’m calling the police.”
Shane lurched back and lifted his hands in a sign of surrender. His eyes met mine. “No need to call the cops. I’ll leave.”
Frozen and confused, I watched him stomp away.
Jill grabbed me, wrapping her arms around me. “That guy is a complete and total ass**le. You deserve so much better than that. Dammit, why can’t you see that?”
“He saw me with Russell.” I snapped as I pushed away from her, heading toward the car. This night had been a total nightmare. From the start. I regretted letting her talk me into going to this dump. If we had done something else, like gone to a movie or something, Shane wouldn’t have seen me with another man, and he wouldn’t have gotten upset. “This is your fault. All of it. You told Russell I would be here tonight. You told him I was single. What do you suppose Shane thought? Dammit, Jill. Why do you keep trying to break us up?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s an abuser, Bristol. That’s why.”
“No, he’s not abusive. Not at all.”
“Ohmygod, you’re so blind.” Whirling around, she stabbed a finger at the door. “He dragged you out of a club to scream at you like you’re a two year old. Tell me that’s not abuse.”
“It was a little over-the-top and obnoxious, sure. But—“
“But nothing. Normal, sane people don’t do things like that. They don’t make a scene in public.”
“Like you’re doing now?” I pointed out, noticing the cluster of guys at the club’s entry who were now staring at us.
Jill followed the line of my gaze then jerked her head back in my direction and motioned to the car. Neither of us spoke until we were in the car. I was in the passenger seat, seething. She was in the driver’s seat, stuffing the key into the ignition. Once she had the car started, she turned to me. “I’m just looking out for my best friend.” She sounded hurt, and that made me feel even worse. Now I was both angry and guilty. Worried about how my next conversation with Shane would go, and upset with Jill for trying to get between us.
“If I needed your help, I would tell you,” I muttered as I stared blindly out the window.
She shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the parking spot. Then she jammed it into gear and stomped on the gas. “No, you wouldn’t. You’re in too deep. You don’t see him for what he truly is--”
“That’s enough. He’s never laid a hand on me. He’s never called me names. He’s never made me do anything I didn’t want to do. He isn’t that bastard, the one I promise never to mention again. But not talking about him hasn’t helped. You still see his face everywhere. They aren’t all like him. They aren’t.”
At the street, Jill jammed on the brake to wait for an opening in traffic. “I know. But Shane is. Exactly like him. Someday you’ll see that. I just hope it won’t be too late.”
Chapter 5
Shane was at my place when I got home. He was in my house. In my living room. And, even though I had defended him to Jill, the expression on his face was a little scary. I had to admit I felt a little uneasy being alone with him.
But another issue bothered me even more. He’d let himself into my condo. Without my permission.
I let him know, by the look on my face, that I wasn’t happy about it. “How did you get in here?” I dropped my purse on the table, knocking some of the freaking bills off. The scattered all over the floor.
“The door was unlocked,” he said blandly as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
Like I would buy that one? He was lying. “I always lock the door when I leave.”
“You didn’t this time.”
I swallowed a few curse words. Maybe it was time to change the locks. “From now on, do not let yourself in unless I’ve invited you to do so.”
An emotion I couldn’t name briefly flashed over his features. In a blink it was gone. “You’re acting different. Are you…?” He charged across the room at me. His eyes widened as he lunged forward and caught my upper arms in his fists. “You’re afraid of me. Afraid!”