Page 53 of Mountain Grump Protector

Every muscle in my body locks up. Slowly, I turn, and my stomach drops at the sight of her.

Willow stands on the porch, her hands planted firmly on her hips, looking every bit as stubborn and sassy as she did the night she set foot into the Rusty Nail.

The sight of her disobeying my request, with Murph at her feet like a trusty sidekick ready to go into battle, should piss me off. It makes me suck in a breath instead, because God help me, I don’t think I’ve ever been more impressed.

Chapter Sixteen

Willow

Next to me, Murph growls and bares his teeth toward the intruders standing in the yard. The dog’s furry presence emboldens me. But it’s the man standing with his legs spread, and his arms crossed over his broad chest, that really makes me feel safe.

Cal.

I know I’ve hurt him. I hate it.

But at the moment, there’s nothing I can do about that.

Well, maybe not nothing.

I take a breath, steeling myself against the gross way Ronnie’s looking at me. Even from this distance, I can practically feel the way he’s undressing me with his eyes. And I’m about to get closer.

I reach around to pat my back pocket, reassuring myself that my phone is still there, and walk down the steps, and head straight for Ronnie.

“Willow.”

I swallow hard at the warning in Cal’s voice and hope like hell he trusts me enough to let this happen.

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure myself that it will work. But somebody needs to end this once and for all. And since I got myself into this mess, I’m damn well going to get myself out of it.

I keep walking.

Behind me, I hear Cal mutter a string of expletives under his breath.

Good. At least he hasn’t given up on me yet. The thought gives me a fresh burst of resolve.

Ronnie’s smile widens as I stop a few feet away from him. Close enough to smell the stale cigarettes and beer on him.

“Nice of you to join us.”

I ignore him and say, “You want to tell me exactly what your issue with my brother is?”

“All you need to know is he owes me a lot of money.” Ronnie sneers, but I don’t react. “And that means that you owe me a lot of money. Or something else just as valuable.”

I work hard not to react to his disgusting innuendo.

I give him my sweetest smile, instead. “I can’t imagine that rusty piece of junk you were driving around was worth much more than a six pack, Ronnie.”

He spits a heavy stream of tobacco juice into the dirt before straightening and stepping up to me. Beside me, Murph growls, and I’m pretty sure I hear a similar sound from Cal behind me, but I don’t back down.

“It’s not the truck, Willow.” Ronnie reaches out and runs one dirty finger down my cheek. I steel myself, trying not to gag on his stale breath. “It’s what was inside.”

“And what was inside?” I force my voice to stay even and sound as innocent as possible. “Must be worth quite a bit if you’re going to all this trouble to collect.”

“Don’t trouble your pretty little head with the dirty details.”

I glance down, so I’m looking at him through my eyelashes in a move I hope is flirty enough to throw him off. “Oh,” I purr, laying it on as thick as I can. “But dirty details are my favorite kind.”

Again, I’m sure I hear a string of curses from Cal, but I don’t dare turn around. I focus on Ronnie, who, by some miracle, appears to be falling for my ruse. So I kick it up a notch and reach out, tracing my finger up the inside of his arm. “You know,” I say, dropping my voice conspiratorially, “I know a lot more about this kind of stuff than you might think.”