Karma Ch. 02

No one talked about my friends that way. No one!

I leapt at him.

And someone snatched me out of the air. I kicked and screamed at Conrad while my abductor carried me toward the front door over his shoulder. Like a sack of potatoes.

"Let me go! Let! Me! Go!" I said, beating on the leather-clad back. It was Tony. Why was he taking me out of here like this when I needed to shred that bastard Conrad?

He grabbed my coat off the hook and carried me into the parking lot. "I don't think so," he said calmly, setting me down beside Conrad's SUV. I started to go around him and go back inside but he blocked me. "That's what he wants," he said. "Can't you see that? He's baiting you."

"So what? I'll give him what he wants and you call the paramedics."

"Save it," he said, planting an arm in front of me again. "Save it for later when they won't find the body."

I turned my head at the comment. The innocent grin I saw on his face broke my fury and I took a deep breath and forced myself to turn away from him. I put my clenched fists on the hood in front of me. The visual of Conrad beaten to a bloody pulp helped to calm me, oddly enough, and turned my snarl into a brief smile. My head was pounding and I quickly lost that smile as I realized that Tony was right. I'd fallen right into Conrad's trap. He wanted to portray me in the worst light possible in front of as many people as possible, and I'd stepped right up to the plate when those women started nattering. What did I care what they thought anyway? Dammit!

Unwillingly, I nodded. "You're right. As much as I hate it," I grated out. My hands twitched with adrenaline withdrawal. "I thought I'd changed, but underneath I can still see the college girl in me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't act without thinking just because it's what my emotions tell me to do."

"You don't need to apologize to me. We need to leave, but we can come back later when most of the people have left," he said. His voice was calm and it didn't sound like an order. It just sounded reasonable. That was strange. Only the people that knew me best could usually talk me down like this when I was on a tear. My mind shied away from how he could do that.

"I'd rather go back in there and cut off his balls," I muttered. "If I could find them."

"There's always time for that later," he said again, finally touching me on my shoulder. I realized that the cold was starting to seep through without my coat on and his hand felt warm, almost hot against me. That sent the last of the anger running away and a jolt of need replaced it; a need that I couldn't allow myself to act on. I picked up my coat from where he'd set it down and slid into it.

I stepped around to the driver's door, pulling away without seeming as though it was a slight. "I have to go somewhere, but where should we go? What should we do?"

"Do you know how to ice-skate?"

I stared at him over the hood in disbelief. "Ice-skate at a time like this?"

He grinned impishly. "Trust me."

With a sigh, I gave in and climbed into the SUV. He wanted to go ice-skating. What other unexpected surprises would this man spring on me next?