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)
Or maybe it’s not you. It’s him. This is all Tanner’s fault.
With that thought in mind, she pinched his side while the guys at the booth all complained. Loudly.
But Peggy was standing firm, so they started shuffling out. Tanner turned to give them his back while he crowded her out of the way. One of the guys stopped and she saw him raise his arm. With a scream, she shoved Tanner, making him stumble in surprise and the guy’s fist missed where he’d been aiming—likely at Tanner’s kidney.
Tanner turned, but a couple of other guys got up from their tables and hustled the asshole out. Tanner glared after them, clearly angry, his hands in fists.
She should have been scared of him. She’d grown up with a man who’d gotten angry at the drop of a hat. And who had enjoyed turning that anger on other people, blaming them, hurting them.
“Hey, Lilac. It’s all right. They’re gone. They won’t hurt you.” Putting his arm around her, he led her out the back.
“You shouldn’t be here. This is staff only.”
“Peggy won’t care that I’m here. She won’t kick me out.”
“Maybe not.” It was obvious that he was well-liked. “But she might fire me. Hell, there’s no might about it. After all the issues I’ve just caused, I’m definitely getting fired.” She placed her hand over her chest as she heaved for breath.
“Whoa. Take a deep breath for me. Come on, baby. Just breathe.”
“I can’t . . . I can’t do this anymore. I don’t know how to do this anymore.”
“Do what, baby?”
She shook her head. She couldn’t be taken in by his sweet tone, by him calling her baby. He didn’t want her . . . definitely wouldn’t want her if he knew it all.
Her life was a complete and utter clusterfuck.
“I’m going to get fired . . . I . . . I need this job.”
“Hey, no one is firing you. Come on.” He took her hand and placed it on his chest. “Breathe in. Then out. Follow me. In, one, two. Hold, one, two. Out, one, two. That’s it. I want you to do it again.”
The dominance in his tone cut through her panic. It lent her strength and she found herself following his words until the panic started to fade away.
She could barely keep herself up anymore though. How long could a person go without proper sleep and food?
Had she finally found the limit of her endurance?
Tanner drew her over to a bench and sat her down. He crouched in front of her, placing his warm hands on her thighs.
“Did you take this job because of last night? Are you quitting Dirty Delights? I think that’s smart. It’s safer to work here.”
“I’m still working there,” she muttered without thinking. She had to get back out into the diner. She wasn’t scheduled for a break yet.
“Wait. You’ve got two jobs?” He was staring at her like that was the weirdest thing he’d ever heard.
“Yes. Why? A lot of people have two jobs.”
“Yes . . . but . . . you’re clearly already exhausted. You’ve got dark marks under your eyes. You’re pale. You can’t keep pushing yourself like this or you’re going to collapse.”
It wasn’t anything that she hadn’t already thought. But she wasn’t letting herself linger on those thoughts. Because then she’d start to believe them.
And she couldn’t afford to do that. She had to keep pushing forward.
“I’m fine.” She attempted to stand, but he refused to move. “Tanner, get out of my way.”
“I’m not moving until you tell me what the fuck is going on. Why are you so thin? Why are you working two jobs? You can’t tell me that Linc is charging you rent. He better fucking not be, or I’ll have words with him.” His face grew dark.
She slapped his shoulder. Sharp pain stabbed her wrist.
Fuck.
“Tanner, you cannot get angry like this. You can’t just step in all the time to rescue me. Especially when I don’t need it.”
“Of course you need it.”
“I don’t. Linc has been nothing but good to me. And you are not going to go have words with him or anything else!” She pointed a finger at him. He lightly grabbed it, tugging her hand toward him.
Too late, she realized what he was doing as he pushed back her sleeve to look at her wrist.
“This is why you need me. Look at your wrist.”
“It’s fine.” She didn’t want to look at it. Seeing it bruised and swollen was going to trigger her.
Every bruise Stefan had put on her was ingrained on her brain. They were memories she didn’t wish to dig up.
“It’s not fucking fine. No one should put a hand on you like this. No one should hurt you.”
“You’re touching me right now.”
She knew it was a low blow because his touch was nothing like that asshole from last night.