Sawyer’s features darkened as he pushed out of the chair. “I don’t know.”
The irritation burning through Porter was not directed at Sawyer. It wasn’t his fault that Kenzie was a sneaky little thing and slipped out the back door when no one was looking. He turned to the young brunette standing behind the counter, who gave him a wide-eyed stare. “When did Kenzie leave?”
“Hours ago,” the employee with the sweet pansy eyes said. “Kenzie told me that she needed the morning off. I’m only here for another hour or so.”
Porter ran a hand over the back of his neck, turning to Sawyer, who was now leaning against a bookshelf with his arms folded. He considered his friend, and Sawyer’s frown reflected to Porter that Sawyer understood his frustration. All Porter had been doing was trying to keep Kenzie safe, and off she went with no thought as to the danger she was putting herself in.
Someone clearing her throat caught his attention. Porter whipped around, spotting Kenzie standing near the bookshelf at the back of her store. She approached slowly, cautiously. Then she looked from Porter to Sawyer to her employee before she sighed and said to the woman, “Thanks for coming in today, Sammy. You better go now.”
Damn right she better go.
Porter was only too glad that Kenzie had enough sense that an outsider to the looming conversation was not a good idea. She stayed quiet as her employee fetched her purse under the desk. No one moved or said a word as Sammy left the bookstore, quietly shutting the door behind her. Porter was sure the tension was thick enough in the air that a knife wouldn’t even cut it.
After a few moments of Porter staring down Kenzie while she held her chin high, she finally sighed. “Okay, so you’re pissed I left.”
“Pissed?” Porter repeated in astonishment.
She rolled her eyes. “Red-hot angry, then?”
“Something like that,” he growled.
Kenzie nibbled her lip and then said to Sawyer, “As you see, I’m fine, so you don’t need to babysit me any longer.”
Sawyer’s jaw clenched before he straightened up off the bookshelf, though his frown stayed firmly in place. “I’m glad to see that you’re safe. Not the smartest of decisions you’ve ever made.” He focused on Porter and his features tightened further. “Do you need anything else from me?”
“No,” Porter said with tension vibrating through him, before turning his focus back on Kenzie. She shifted uneasily on her feet, and he didn’t mind that she was unsteady. She would answer for what she put him through; there was no doubt about that. “I have some news that I’ll call you about later.”
“I’ll be around,” Sawyer replied.
The door shut behind Sawyer, and Porter jerked his focus away from Kenzie, moving to the door. He locked it and flipped the sign to indicate the store was closed. When he moved to her, Kenzie was glaring at him.
“Um, excuse me,” she said with an obvious snarl. “My store doesn’t close down for lunch or for anything.”
“It does now,” Porter retorted, as he approached her with lengthy strides.
Kenzie took a step back, and Porter wondered what his expression portrayed. He’d never seen Kenzie back away from anyone, but Porter had never been pushed in this manner before. He got right into her space and folded his arms, scowling at her. “Do you have any idea what thoughts were running through my head finding out that you had left?”
She looked down. “Chest-beating thoughts?”
“I thought you’d been abducted,” he roared, unable to control the wrath invading him. “I thought someone had gotten to you. I thought the worst fucking things, Kenzie.”
She lifted her head and said softly, “I’m fine.” Though she couldn’t hold his examination long and moved toward the back of the store. “So you can ease up on the testosterone.”
Porter followed her, finding her in the storage room with endless boxes on the shelves. “Where did you go?”
“I went to think,” she replied, reaching for a book in one of the boxes on the floor.
He couldn’t stand this distance between them, nor could he stand the thought that she didn’t trust him. “Put that fucking book down and look at me.”
Kenzie dropped the book with a loud thud, and her eyes widened. Porter had been pushed—too far, it seemed. He attempted to control his voice as he added, “Why would you leave without calling me to go with you?”
“I didn’t want you there.”
Porter paused, considering her. He noticed the slight tremors in her hands, and wasn’t blind to the fact that Kenzie somehow seemed better. She appeared like she did when she was reading, a little more peaceful. He took a step toward her and his voice softened. “Why?”
“It’s hard for me to think around you, all right?” She jerked away from him. “I have some things to work out. Things that I don’t need you to help me with. Things that I can work through better without a big, commanding Dom hovering over me.”
While her statement was honest and that pleased him, it also frustrated him right down to his bones, as it told him how far away Kenzie truly was from him. A woman who cared about him would depend on him, not to heal or fix her, but to lean on. He was done, tired of being careful with her, tired of pretending that her behavior didn’t drive him insane.