Edward (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 1) (106 page)

“Sorry ’bout that,” he said, as she felt him lightly searching through her hair. “The skin’s not broken, but you’ve got a helluva lump coming on. Can you look at me, now?”

Mel managed to open her eyes and found herself staring into familiar deep golden eyes. She couldn’t stop trembling. After a long moment of studying her, the man finally smiled.

“How many fingers,” he asked, holding his hand in front of her face.

Mel blinked hard and tried to focus on his fingers.

“Two,” she said, surprised somewhat that her voice actually worked.

Unable to meet his eyes again, she glanced down and stared in shock. The man who had attacked her had ripped the top of her dress away, and since she hadn’t been able to wear a bra with that clingy black sheath, she was completely naked from the waist up.

“Oh, my God!”

She felt herself blushing deeply as she fumbled with the tattered remains of her dress in a frantic attempt to cover her nakedness.

“Here. Take this.”

The man quickly pulled off his flannel shirt and helped her into it. She’d never felt so embarrassed or so helpless. He had to guide her fumbling arms into the sleeves, and when her uncoordinated fingers couldn’t manage the buttons, he brushed her hands away and buttoned it up for her. When he had finished, she hugged the shirt close to her. The flannel was soft and warm and smelled of something musky but not unpleasant.

“We need to get you outta here,” he said. “Do you think you can stand?”
 

Mel nodded then wished she hadn’t. “I think so.”

“Okay. Here we go.”

His strength left her dazed as he pulled her effortlessly to her feet. When she wobbled and would have gone down, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close against him. She could feel the hardness of him through his t-shirt, and while strong men normally made her very nervous, for once she was content to rest her head against a sturdy shoulder.

“Your kind ain’t welcome here,” someone growled.

Mel managed to look up and see it was the bartender who had spoken. He held a baseball bat in his hands and looked as though he was ready to use it on someone.

“Hey, we’re not the ones who tried…”
 

An older man, who had the same build, coloring, and eyes as her rescuer, laid one big hand on the shoulder of a younger man who was obviously related, effectively silencing him.

“We won’t be back,” the man said, reaching into his pocket and laying a wad of cash on the counter.

“See that you don’t,” the bartender spat, scooping up the money.

“No worries.”

The big man patted the younger on the shoulder, and they turned toward her.

“You need any help?” the man asked.

She felt the man holding her shake his head. “I have her.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here.”

As they were leaving, Mel managed to look around the room. All the tough-looking bikers were just standing around, staring at her rescuers and looking uneasy. No one said another word or made a move to stop them. Then she saw the man who had assaulted her. He was lying on the floor, moaning. His shirt was in tatters, as though it had been ripped apart by claws, and there was blood everywhere.

Dear God…

She felt the man helping her tighten his hold when she hesitated.

“Don’t look,” he whispered for her ears only. “The bastard only got what he deserved.”

Okay, so she wasn’t quite willing to argue with him about it, but his strength made her tremble all the harder, and she wondered if she was going into shock.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire?
She had to wonder when the warm night air closed in about her as they left the bar, her escort all but carrying her down the stairs and across the parking lot, the other men with yellow eyes watching their backs.

“Where are your car keys?” the man asked.

“In my—my purse! Where’s my purse?”

“Got it right here,” one of the younger men said, producing her small evening clutch. “I figured it was too fancy for the other ladies inside,” he added with a grin as he handed it to her.

“Good call,” someone said.

Mel fumbled with the latch, and finally the older man stepped in to open her purse, pull out her keys, and hand them to the man holding her.

“Where are we going?” she asked weakly, as he used the remote to unlock the door then helped her into the passenger seat.

“I’m taking you home, as soon as you tell me where that is,” he said, reaching for her seatbelt.

“Think we’re gonna have trouble with that crowd?” one of the others asked, and Mel looked up to see the five men staring at the front door of the pub.

“Not too likely,” another said. “It’s not like the guy didn’t have it comin’ to him. Besides, they won’t want the cops crawlin’ all over the place, considerin’ how much illegal gamblin’ they got goin’ on.”

“There’s that,” the older man said. “Let’s back straight out, though,” he added. “No need to give ’em a look at our plates.”

“Got it,” her rescuer said.

“Where do you live, darlin’?” the older man asked, and for a moment Mel wondered how on earth they knew her name until she realized it was just an endearment to the man.

She hesitated. Did she really want these men to know where she lived?

“We’re either takin’ you home or to a hospital, darlin’,” he said. “I gotta figure you’d prefer home.”

Mel took a deep breath. “A little north and east of downtown, in a place called Lockeland Springs.”

“Good choice.”

He turned to her rescuer. “You remember where that is?”

“You bet.”

“Then we’ll follow you. Get the details as we go. I wanna get out of here.”

Her rescuer nodded, and checking to see that her door was clear, he closed it softly and headed for the drivers’ side. The others all piled into the rusty van she had parked beside. For once her car started without a hitch, and he backed slowly toward the road, leaving the headlights off until they hit blacktop. The lights in the van came on behind them, and she wasn’t certain of whether that made her feel better or worse.

“You with me?” the man asked.

“I’m here.”

“Good. I’m still thinkin’ it might be a good idea to get you to a doctor on account of that bump on the head you took.”

“No doctor, please.” She was certain she couldn’t afford the copay on an emergency room visit. “I’ll be fine, I promise. Thanks to you.”

She laid her head back against the seat and turned to watch him. The lights from the dashboard only emphasized his chiseled features. She remembered the stage lights had done the same to him and his brothers. They were a fierce-looking group, their physical similarities echoed by the deepness of their voices. The older man had both looked and sounded much the same, and she was almost certain he must be related, too.

“Mr. Saint…”

“Matt,” he corrected, shooting her a smile with a quick glance.

“All right. Matt.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know quite how to thank you for what you did back there.”

He seemed to consider. “I guess you could start by tellin’ me who you are and what the heck you were doin’ there in the first place.”

“My name is Melinda Darling.”

Matt grinned. “So Uncle Bart was right to call you darlin’?”

She cringed. “I prefer Mel.”

“Okay, Mel. So what were you doin’ in the Irish Town Pub?”

“I was looking for you.”

At his sharp glance, she backtracked. “I was looking for you and your brothers, that is. I heard your performance last night.”

He seemed puzzled for a moment then turned to look at her with a broad smile that reached his eyes.

“You’re that woman at the bar,” he said, as though finally remembering where he had seen her before.

“There were a lot of women at the bar last night.”

“Yeah, but you were the only one I noticed.”

Mel felt herself blush and was thankful for the dim light.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true, all the same.”

Someone tried to cut them off, and Matt had to slam on the breaks to keep from hitting the idiot. Mel held her breath then let it out in relief when Matt simply backed off instead of needing to prove his manhood to the other driver.

“You weren’t there when we finished,” he said, as though their conversation had not been interrupted.

“No. I was called away. By the time I got back, you and your brothers were gone, but the bartender told me you liked to play pool at that place.”

He cursed under his breath. “I can’t believe you went there alone.”

“Not one of my brighter moments,” she admitted.

“So why did you?”

“You’ll want to turn right here,” she directed, avoiding his question, “then take an immediate left onto Clearview.”

He followed her instructions, checking his rearview mirror to make sure the van was still with them.

“So why did you?” he repeated.

“Turn left at the third traffic light—on Fourteenth Street—then look for Gartland Avenue and turn right.”

“You’re gonna have to tell me sooner or later, you know.”

“Later,” she said, “so I can tell you all at once.”

Matt didn’t look happy about it, but he stopped asking questions and continued to follow her directions.

“Here’s my street, but keep going—there’s an alley behind the house, and a small parking lot. You guys won’t be able to leave your van there overnight, but it’ll be fine for now.

They turned left and found a bright security light marking the small gravel lot behind an old three-story house. Mel directed him to her parking spot then had to wait for him to come around to help her out of the car, because, she didn’t think she’d make it on her own. The van pulled in behind them and after turning around, took a spot on the far end of the lot, just off the street. As Matt helped Mel out of the car, she saw the big, burly shadows that were his brothers approach, and her mind flashed back to what she didn’t want to believe she’d seen at the bar.

In for a penny, in for a pound,
as her grandmother used to say. She decided her questions would have to wait until she was sitting down.

“I’m on the third floor,” she told them, as she used her key to let them into the back door.
 

Chapter 4

The Lockeland Springs historic neighborhood was a gentrified turn-of-the-20th-century area. The houses had all been preserved and renovated, with a few of them—like hers—turned into multi-family housing. Though she’d never be able to afford to buy a place here, the rent on the smallest of this historic home’s three apartments was just within her reach—if she watched what she spent on everything else and kept the AC turned up in the summer and the heat turned down in the winter to keep her electric bills down.
 

One thing this house didn’t have was an elevator, and once she had struggled as far as the first landing, Matt gently lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way. Mel didn’t put up even a token protest, which she was certain told the men all they needed to know about how bad she really felt. When they entered her apartment, she directed them to the front, where the combined kitchen/living room sat overlooking the street. Matt carefully set her down in the kitchen, and she gratefully sank onto one if the wooden chairs at the round corner table.

“You got any aspirin around here?” Matt asked.

Mel had to think a moment. “I have some generic acetaminophen. It’s in the upper cabinet to the left of the sink.”

Matt got it down and opened it for her. “Water okay, or you want something else.”

“Water’s fine.”

Matt poured her a small glass he found in the same cabinet then handing her the glass, sat beside her at the table. Mel swallowed the pills then laid her head in her hand. Matt gently rubbed her back and neck until she finally looked up at them.

“Won’t you sit down?” she asked. “There are a couple more chairs in the next room you could pull up.”

“I don’t need to sit down, darlin’,” the older man said. “I only need some answers.”

“Introductions, first,” Matt said, continuing to rub her back. “Mel, these are my brothers—John, Mark, and Luke.” He indicated each of the three younger men in turn. “And this is our Uncle Bart. Everybody, this is Melinda Darling. Mel, she likes to be called.”

“Uncle Bart’s here to keep us out of trouble,” John, the youngest, said as he pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down across from her.

“And I got you all
into
trouble tonight,” Mel said, hugging Matt’s flannel shirt to herself. “I’m so sorry.”

Bart shook his head, looking resigned, but he took the chair next to her. “These yahoos don’t need any help gettin’ into trouble, ma’am, but I’d sure like to know what tonight was all about.

“She tell you anything on the way back?” he asked Matt.

Matt shook his head. “Only that she heard us play last night, and she needs to talk to us.”