Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Autumn isn’t alone at our table. No, there’s a guy—another waiter judging by his apron—leaning over the space I vacated, saying something I can’t hear from where I stand. But the look on Autumn’s face tells me all I need to know. She’s uncomfortable, and this guy needs to back the fuck away from her before I make him.
I cross the floor in record time, stopping beside Autumn’s chair. I set the cake box down in front of her and rest my hand on the back of her chair while I eye up the man who has gone utterly silent in my presence.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I grind out, any control I had on my instincts earlier long gone in this waiter’s presence. He wasn’t our waiter during lunch, but I vaguely recognize his face from the other times I’ve been here. Given what Autumn said about this being one of her favorite places, I’m willing to bet she does too.
And I already know there’s no forgetting a girl like Autumn, so I’m pretty fucking confident this isn’t the first time this waiter has set his sights on her.
He can’t fucking have her. She’s mine.
The shock slides off the waiter’s face, and he straightens and looks at me. I take him in. He’s maybe an inch or so shorter than me, and in the black t-shirt and apron he wears, it’s clear he’s muscular. Brown hair is cut close to his head and dark eyes light up in recognition as a smile sits on a mouth I’m thinking about punching.
“Oh, hey. You’re that fireman, right?” he asks like this is a civil, casual conversation and not fraught with tension. My hand clenches on the wooden back of Autumn’s chair. “The one who saved that kid from the well!”
Yes, I am, but right now saving people is the opposite of what I’m thinking about doing. I want to use all my knowledge of first aid that I’ve just refreshed in the drill to figure out how to hurt this man for leering at Autumn the way he was.
“Sorry, man, didn’t realize you were with her,” he says with a shrug.
“I asked you a question,” I growl at him, all my muscles tense.
“What? Oh, I was just chatting to her…”
“Why?” I snap.
The waiter raises his brows. “Pretty girl sitting alone,” he says like it’s obvious. “Thought she could use some company.”
“What did he say to you, sweetheart?” I ask Autumn without taking my eyes off this asshole. I don’t believe for a second his intentions were just to chat, and given the way he reacted when he realized she was with me—apologizing to me instead of her—tells me all I need to know about his character.
“Um…he just…” Autumn glances between us with wide eyes, and I see unease in their deep blue. “He said something about what I was…um…hiding beneath my jumper.”
I see fucking red.
In seconds, I push the guy away from the table, his stumbling steps taking him right up to the front window. His back presses against the glass, and the toes of my boots press against the front of his sneakers. I get in his face, giving him nowhere to go.
“Since your parents obviously failed to teach you basic fucking manners, let me fill you in,” I snarl at him, feeling more animal than man. My hands fist at my sides, muscles shaking with the sheer effort it takes me not to connect my knuckles to his face. “That is no fucking way to speak to a woman.”
“I was only trying to give her a compliment!” the waiter stutters.
“A compliment?” I repeat back to him, my voice laden with all the disgust I feel for him. “You think leering at her and making inappropriate comments like that is a compliment? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Look, I said I was sorry—”
“To me! I’m not the one who deserves an apology. Make your next moves very fucking carefully because I’m about two seconds away from seeing how thick that glass really is,” I threaten, imagining shoving him straight through the front window he’s against.
“You wouldn’t hurt me!” he argues, but the tremble in his voice makes his fear obvious. “You’re supposed to save and help people. You’re a good guy. Everyone knows you’re a hero!”
I raise a brow at him. “For her?” I say, cocking my head in Autumn’s direction. “I’d be a villain to protect her any fucking day.”
He goes white, obviously sensing just how serious I am. He nods furiously, sweating and shaking as I glare at him. When he doesn’t make any effort to say sorry to Autumn, I grab him by the collar of his t-shirt and spin, forcing him to stumble with me towards the table. I keep my hold on him, restraining him as Autumn stares at us with wide eyes.