She and Derrick shared a look he couldn’t decipher. Not meeting his gaze, she blushed slightly. “Old injury; I’m fine.”
Brax raised his brows at Derrick who nodded in agreement.
“Can you walk back, love?” Derrick asked. Brax’s stomach dropped at the endearment. No way did you call your employee love.
“I’ll be fine.”
“My truck is close. I’ll drop you both off,” he offered.
“I’ll be fine. I just sat for too long,” Holly replied stubbornly.
“It’s on my way.”
“Thank you,” Derrick told him, keeping hold of Holly’s arm as Brax turned towards his truck.
Holly sighed, but didn’t protest further. Just as well, Brax thought. He was ready to pick her up and haul her to his truck. He didn’t like the idea of her hurting. Damn, he’d only just met this woman. What was he thinking? He had no claim on her.
Getting involved in a relationship didn’t factor into his plan right now. In a few years, when his business was more profitable he would begin looking for a woman who wanted the same things he did, a family, a quiet life, someone who would willingly submit to him.
He firmly believed that women could do anything; they were strong, smart and truly amazing. But he needed to know that his woman would look to him to take care of her, to protect her. He would never be the sort of husband who could just sit back and stay out of things.
“Well, who do we have here?” a deep voice drawled.
Shit.
Brax unlocked his truck with a beep, before turning to look at Mason Philips and his two brothers, Dave and Eddy. They were standing about ten feet away. Mason was a big man; his shoulders were wide and thick with muscle that was starting to turn to fat. His hands were clenched into huge fists as he glared at Brax, his hatred clear to see.
“Mason,” he greeted the other man, keeping his voice deliberately cool and disinterested. It wouldn’t take much to prod the other man into a full-blown rage.
“Thought we told you to never come around Lilyvale again?”
“It’s a free country, Mason,” Brax replied calmly. “I’m not breaking any laws.”
He turned to open the back door for Holly.
“Hey, look at me when I’m talking to you, asshole,” Mason snarled.
Brax ignored him.
“Hey,” Mason said, his voice growing louder.
Brax held out his hand to Holly who looked from him to the Philips brothers in worry. Brax winked, hoping to reassure her. She gave him a faint smile, but it didn’t reach those expressive eyes.
“Need some help, Brax?” Derrick asked calmly.
“Nope.” But he knew they had to leave quickly. Before this all turned to shit.
“Oh, he needs help all right, pretty boy,” Mason snarled. “We’re about to show him exactly what we do to wife-stealing assholes like him.”
Holly gasped and Brax closed his eyes. Could this get any worse?
“Get in the truck, Holly,” he ordered. He needed her safe. Now.
“Better watch out, man,” Mason said. “Or he’ll take your wife for a test drive just like he did mine.”
Brax turned from settling Holly in the truck to glare at Mason. “Derrick, let’s go.” He knew he was being abrupt, but if he stuck around any longer then he was going to lose his temper.
“You’re not going anywhere, wife-fucker.” Mason stepped quickly forward and swung out, catching Brax in the chin. He stumbled back, pain radiating from his jaw. A muffled scream of shock sounded behind him and he was thankful that Holly was safe inside the truck.
“Well now, the night is getting interesting,” Derrick said calmly.
“Get in the truck,” Brax ordered, ignoring the way Derrick’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “This is my problem and I will take care of it,” he said as he blocked another swing from Mason.
“I don’t think so,” Derrick replied, stepping forward to intercept Eddy, who had decided to enter the fight.
Brax slammed his fist into Mason’s gut before turning to find Dave charging towards him. Dave didn’t have many brains, but he was built like a linebacker. He slammed into Brax, throwing him backwards, who hit the ground hard, his back cracking painfully on impact. Damn, he was going to be black and blue tomorrow. All the air in his lungs blew out in a huge whoosh, his whole body screaming as over two hundred pounds of heavy male landed on top of him.
He lay there for a moment, completely winded. Dave moved and Brax rolled, tipping the other man over. He kneeled, landing a fist into Dave’s face. Crunch. He cringed, knowing he probably just broke the other man’s cheekbone. A heavy arm surrounded his neck, cutting off his air, dragging him backward.
Brax grabbed at the meaty arm, unable to budge it. Before he could manage to get his feet beneath him, he heard a feminine scream.
“Let him go, you asshole!”
Shit, Holly. What was she doing?
A surge of worry flooded his mind, temporarily paralyzing him. Suddenly, he was free. He leaned over, gasping in a big gulp of air, before turning to see Mason lying on the ground, twitching. Holly stood there, shaking, a small Taser held tightly in her grasp and pointed straight at Mason.
With their brother out for the count, Eddy and Dave held their hands out, giving up. Derrick straightened his clothes slowly, looking unruffled. Eddy had fared far worse—his nose was bleeding and one eye was swelling rapidly.
Brax ignored all of them as he walked over to Holly. He pushed his anger away, worried about the way she shook. Her eyes were wide as she stared down at Mason.
“Holly,” Brax said in a low voice. She ignored him. “Sweetheart, give me the Taser. Holly?”
She stood there, her gaze fixated.
“Holly, look at me,” he commanded, injecting some Dom into his voice. She instantly raised her gaze to his. Behind him, he heard Derrick sigh. “Holly, we’re all safe now,” Brax continued. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“He hurt you. T-they were a-attacking you.”
Derrick moved to her side, placing his arm around her. She buried her face into his chest as Brax took the Taser from her hand.
Brax let out a sigh, his own hand shaking slightly as adrenaline bled from his body.
“What were you thinking?” Brax asked more harshly than he’d intended. He tried desperately to keep his cool, but now that she was safe, his concern was morphing into temper. Dammit—why hadn’t she stayed in the car!
If she was his, she’d be going to bed with a red bottom tonight.
Brax glared over at Derrick who simply held her, rocking her slightly.
“Do y-you think I-I hurt him?” she whispered, turning her head as Dave and Eddy gathered up their groaning brother.
“I’m going to get you for this, Jamieson,” Mason yelled, then whimpered as his brothers helped him into the wide flatbed of their truck.
Brax didn’t even spare him a glance—that would require him to take his gaze off Holly and that wasn’t happening anytime soon.
She turned her wide-eyed gaze up to him. There was fear in her eyes and it took the punch right out of his temper.
“You should have stayed in the truck where you were safe,” he told her more gently.
“It was t-three a-against t-two,” she replied, her teeth chattering.
“And you thought you would even out the odds?” Brax asked her incredulously.
Derrick grabbed the Taser from Brax, placing it back into her handbag. Brax frowned but didn’t say anything. Wasn’t his place.
“And here I thought I-I’d never get t-to use that T-taser.”
“Not such a crazy Christmas present was it?” Derrick replied, helping her into the backseat.
“You bought her that?” Brax asked as he climbed into the front seats.
“Yes,” Derrick said.
“D-derrick w-worries about m-me in the c-city.”
“Yes. Who knew that the danger really lurked in a small town in Texas?” Derrick slid a side
ways glance at Brax. “Want to explain what that was about?”
Brax sighed. He really didn’t. But he supposed he owed them both an explanation.
“You know,” Derrick continued before he could reply. “I have a nice bottle of scotch back in my room. I could really use a drink. How about you, Holly?”
Brax glanced into the rear-view mirror, unable to make out much more than the shape of her face.
“Sounds good. I need to calm down.”
Holly tried hard not to limp as she followed Derrick into his hotel room. But she knew she’d failed to hide her pain when she glanced back to find Brax scowling as he stared down at her leg.
Her temper flared. Pain always made her grumpy and tonight had not turned out the way she had hoped.
Brax had spent most of the night either ignoring her or growling at her. Okay, things had gone all right in the restaurant, but Derrick and Brax had mostly talked about work.
Well, she wasn’t about to apologize for helping or for not being perfect. She’d done enough of that when she was with Matt. She hadn’t been smart enough, pretty enough, thin enough for him. Then after her accident she’d become useless in his eyes.
With her head spinning slightly, Holly managed to make it to a chair, sinking into it gratefully. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to get her nerves to stop jittering.
Opening her eyes, she was surprised to find both men staring at her—Brax with a frown and Derrick with concern.
Derrick grabbed his bottle of scotch and three glasses, pouring out generous serves. He handed one to Holly, then the other to Brax. She wrapped her trembling hands around it, taking a tiny sip.
The liquid burned going down, but she welcomed the heat.
Her leg throbbed, the pain increasing as the muscle cramped. She hissed; her eyes closing as she clenched her jaw to keep from crying out.
“Holly?” Brax asked, alarmed.
“Leg cramp,” Derrick answered as she felt him kneel before her. Taking her calf between his hands he massaged the agonizing muscle expertly.
Holly whimpered, unable to help herself. She had spent too long sitting in the last few days and hadn’t been doing her exercises as much as she should have. Then tonight she had jumped from Brax’s truck in a hurry, not taking the time to protect her leg from the jolt of landing.
“Ow, ow, ow.” Pain seared through her, bringing tears to her eyes. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“Sorry, love. I can’t get to it properly with your jeans on.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted, opening her eyes. No way was she taking off her jeans with Brax in the room. Bad enough he was seeing her like this, but to show him her scars? No, no, no.
Derrick stared up at her, his eyes knowing. “Your heating pad is in your room?”
She nodded. Oh God, the pain was intense.
“I need to go help Holly to her room,” he said to Brax. “Would you like to meet for breakfast tomorrow, say 8am?” It was phrased as a question but Holly heard the steel in Derrick’s voice. He wanted some answers.
So did Holly.
Chapter Two
Holly opened the door in answer to the insistent knocking. Derrick walked in, one eyebrow raised.
“You didn’t check to see who it was,” he reprimanded.
“Who else would it be?”
“Could have been one of those idiots from last night.”
She shook her head as she grabbed her handbag. “They weren’t interested in me. It was Brax they were focused on.”
Otherwise they would have noticed her jumping from the truck, pink Taser held tightly in her hand. She shuddered at the memory; she had hardly gotten any sleep, even after Derrick massaged her leg. He had forced some painkillers into her before leaving her half-dozing with the heat pad to soothe her tired muscles.
Each time she had closed her eyes, she’d seen the largest of the three men grab Brax around the throat, strangling him. She had only gotten about two hours of sleep, now leaving her grumpy, exhausted. To top it off, her leg was weak and tired.
Derrick grasped her arm, stopping her as she tried to walk past him.
“We’re going to be late,” she told him.
“Look at me,” he cajoled her.
Much as she wanted to refuse him, she couldn’t. He was her best friend, her family.
She raised her gaze, gasping as she noticed the dark bruise covering the side of his jaw. “You’re injured; why didn’t you say something? Did you put some ice on that?”
Guilt stabbed her in the gut. Of course he hadn’t iced it. He’d been up half the night taking care of her.
“Hey.” He shook her gently. “Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Feeling guilty. I can see it in your eyes. I’m fine. I’ve had far worse. And if you say any more about this little blemish then I’ll start to question my manliness. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”
She snorted. Derrick was the most confident man she knew. She doubted that he ever questioned anything about himself.
“You look like you got very little sleep,” he said with concern. “Is your leg hurting you?”
“It’s weak today, but I’m not in any pain.”
“What kept you awake then? Your conscience? I hope you’re not worrying over that idiot you tasered. I bought that Taser for you so you would use it when you needed to.”
She hadn’t wanted to accept it, hadn’t want anything to do with something that could harm another being. She had never thought herself capable of harming another human being.
But she had.
“Don’t even waste a minute of worry on him. Any guy who ambushes another like that doesn’t deserve your worry or regret. Understand?”
“What if he was in the right?” That was what really worried her. Had Brax done what that man had accused?
“Do you really think that was the case?”
No, she didn’t. Brax seemed like an upstanding guy. He had made sure she was safe, had even tried to walk away from an escalating situation. But could her attraction to him be skewing her judgment?
“Come on—let’s go meet Brax in the dining room and see what he has to say. We’ve got a meeting with Samuel Mann at eleven and then we can come back for a rest before dinner.”
He took her arm, leading her down the hallway. The hotel had a quaint dining room which served food to the public as well as those staying.
Brax was already seated when they arrived. He stood as they walked over, his hands tucked into his back pockets. A large bruise darkened one side of his jaw, almost matching Derrick’s. Stubble covered his cheeks, only adding to his appeal. Warmth pooled in her belly as arousal filled her body.
He pulled out a chair for her and she sat with a small smile.
“You two could be twins. Matching bruises,” she explained at their confused looks.
Brax grimaced. “I’m really sorry about what happened last night.”
“How about you explain after we order? I’m starving.” Derrick’s voice was slightly irritated. For Derrick to show any sort of reaction meant he was really put out.
Holly sent Brax a reassuring smile as he looked at them both worriedly.
“How is your leg?” Brax asked after the waitress had taken their orders and delivered them some much needed coffee.
“It’s fine. Sorry about last night. Sometimes I get cramps and well…” She shrugged, fiddling with her fork.
Brax’s hand covered hers, surprising her. “Please don’t apologize. I should be the one apologizing.”
“Well, why don’t you explain everything before you apologize.” Derrick sat back, crossing his arms over his chest.
Leaning forward, Brax placed his forearms on the table. “Mason Philips is a bully and a coward. Yes, he had a wife and he’s right—I did help her leave him, but I wasn’t sleeping with her. He abused her. When he got drunk he’d lose his temper and lash out, much as he did last night. I went to school with Lucy; we were always good friend
s. I happened to be walking to my truck one night, after working late on a job close to their place, when I overheard them in the backyard. There was this smacking sound then a cry of pain. I knew he’d hit her. I didn’t think—I just jumped the fence.”
He looked down at his hands. “There is one thing guaranteed to set off my temper and that’s when a man hits a woman or child. I laid him out cold then took Lucy with me and dropped her off at her parents. Two weeks later she called me, said she wanted to get her stuff and would I go with her while Mason was at work. I agreed, of course. I wanted her out of there. Mason must have had the neighbors watching for her. Fifteen minutes later, he turned up, temper and fists flying. He was harder to put down this time. He’s a big guy and he wasn’t drunk. Lucy called the cops and they hauled him away.”
“That’s awful,” she breathed.
“She deserves so much better. Mason made lots of threats about how he’d come after me. He spent a bit of time in jail. He’s been out away for the last few months and I had no idea he was back.”
“I should have pepper sprayed him as well,” Holly said fiercely.
Brax looked at her in surprise then smiled.
Derrick nodded, relaxing slightly. “He’s bound to be a problem again.”
“I know. I’ll cross that path when I get to it.”
“So long as Holly’s not around this time,” Derrick warned.
“He’s been out of town the last month or so. If I’d known he was back I would have been more cautious,” Brax promised.
“Besides, I can take care of myself,” Holly said with a glare at Derrick.
“Sure you can, love. Ahh, here’s our food.”
They ate, chatting quietly. Holly sat back with a sigh, sipping her coffee, watching with a little awe as Brax polished off a huge plate.
Derrick looked at his watch. “Well, we’d better get a move on.”
They all stood and Brax held out his hand, shaking Derrick’s. “I’m really sorry that you were both put at risk last night.”
“Apology accepted,” Derrick replied.
Holly smiled as Brax took her hand, squeezing gently.
“Hopefully I’ll see you both soon,” he told them before leaving with a wave of his hand.
His Old-Fashioned Love (Old-Fashioned Series) Page 3