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She wished it was a pitchfork.

Jack couldn’t understand it. He’d saved her from a fate worse than death and this was the thanks he got? He was nothing to her? Yeah, right. And what was all the blah, blah, blah, interfering in my life, blah, about? The least she could do was say thank you.

“That guy.” He pointed in the direction of the door and was disconcerted to find that half the room were still watching him. “That guy is trouble. He’s stalked women. He’s attacked them. He’s dangerous.”

“Derek?” she scoffed.

“Yes,” Jack said, annoyed that she didn’t believe him. “I ran a check on his background. He scared other women. There’s no knowing what he’s capable of and you had his full attention.”

Davina didn’t seem the least bit bothered by anything he was saying.

“Are you listening to me?” he said.

“Yes.” She pushed her empty plate away with such sadness in her eyes it made his gut clench. “You saved me from Derek, the office dweeb. A guy so full of himself that he barely notices anyone else, let alone bothers them. Well done you. I’ll consider this a rescue, if that will make you back off.”

She wasn’t getting it. Jack couldn’t believe how dismissive she was being.

“He’s not the kind of guy you have dinner with,” he said.

“And I suppose you are?”

How was he supposed to reason with her when he couldn’t even follow the argument?

“You’re better off without him,” he said.

“Well.” Davy signalled for the check. “I am without him. Thanks to you. And that causes quite a big problem for me. And, Einstein, I still have to deal with him every day at work, which you have just turned into a daily ordeal. So if I haven’t said it before, here it is: thank you.”

The waiter handed her the check. She looked at it, grimaced, then walked away from the table, leaving him to sit there like an idiot. Jack followed behind her. She paid the bill with a credit card.

“That’s another thing,” she told Jack. “That’s three cards I’ve maxed out because of you.”

Trying to follow her logic was like trying to play chess with a squirrel.

She shrugged into her coat and stepped out into the cold night where she paused. It took a minute for Jack to realise why she’d ground to a halt. He grinned into the darkness. No car. She was stranded and he had a car.

Well, she wasn’t getting in it until he heard an apology and a decent thank you. He leaned against the cold stone doorway and waited while Davy ran through her options. It took a while. At last she turned, frowned at him, then stepped past him into the restaurant. Jack snapped out a hand to stop her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Calling a cab,” she said. “Thanks to you, I’m also missing a ride home.”

Jack waited. For the apology. For the gratitude. Instead it looked like she was plotting some sort of physical damage. To him. He dropped her arm. She opened the door to the reception area. Jack’s shoulders slumped as he realised that it would be a cold day in hell before she begged him for a ride home. Probably it would take an asteroid hitting the planet to get a thank you out of her.

“Fine,” he said begrudgingly. “I’ll take you home.”

“No thanks.”

She stepped into the room and he watched the door swing shut behind her. Jack let out a low growl before following her.

“Cancel the cab call,” he told the maitre d’, who looked more weary to see him again than anything else. “I’m taking her home.”

“No. You’re not,” Davy said primly. “Call the cab. Please.”

“Davy,” Jack said, “I’m taking you home if I have to carry you to the car and throw you in the boot.”

The maitre d’ made a little yelping noise. Davina rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Cancel the call,” she told the maitre d’. “The idiot is taking me home.”