A Fair to Remember

“Wes—”

The rap music covered their approach. About the time the blond guy saw Wes, he kicked the chair out from underneath the dark-haired one. One quick step and Wes had him pinned to the ground with his foot.

He intended to simply scare them enough to make his warning stick in their heads after the booze wore off, but then Blondie started forward, his hands balanced in front of him. Behind him, Tara gasped at the same time Wes caught a flash of steel and recognized the danger. When the guy swung at Wes with the knife, Wes ducked with an inch to spare, grabbed the hand with the weapon, and twisted his wrist until he dropped the weapon.

Blondie fell to his knees with a gasp of pain, but Wes didn’t let go yet. “You two are going to leave the lady alone from now on—got it? Don’t talk to her, don’t even look at her. Understand?”

The one pinned to the ground nodded fast, his eyes bulging in his face. Wes let up a little with his foot and looked at the one on his knees. He hadn’t answered yet, so Wes applied more pressure to his wrist. The guy cried out.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you,” Wes growled.

“We’ll leave her alone,” he gasped.

“Make sure all your friends get the message. I won’t be so nice the next time.”

They both nodded quick enough to satisfy him, so he released them, stooped to get the knife, and stepped away. His body hummed with adrenaline, and he took a deep breath to calm down, amazed at how quick it all came back.

He saw Tara standing a few feet away, looking shocked. Her gaze shifted from the guys picking themselves off the ground to Wes as he folded the switch blade and tucked it in his pocket. She backed up, then turned and hurried down the sidewalk, the blanket swinging from one hand, the sides of her red sweater flapping outward with each step.

Wes jogged after her, not knowing what to say, feeling bad that he’d frightened her. He kinda scared himself now that he thought about it, but on the plus side, they should leave her alone.

“He had a knife,” he heard her say as he drew alongside. She shot him a sideways look from wide brown eyes, and he forgot what he was going to say. Two steps later, she asked, “Who are you?”

He knew who he wanted to be, and was afraid of who he used to be, but it wasn’t as if he could get into all that with her, so he ignored the question. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

She stopped walking. “You scared them, is what you did.”

“That was the point. You shouldn’t have to deal with jerks like that…” He trailed off at the expression of awe on her face. It dawned on him she wasn’t scared, she was impressed. Oh, man, what had he done?

“You’re a nice guy, Westin Carter.”

When she stepped toward him with a smile, Wes held up his hands and backed up. “Listen, I only meant to warn them. Don’t make me out to be a hero just because I did what was necessary after he pulled the knife.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She strolled past with her smile firmly in place. “You’ve got a good track record so far.”

“Don’t bet on it,” he muttered as they approached the fair grounds. Okay, she was back safe in the company of other people. Time for him to go. His step slowed, but she kept walking and talking, raising her voice above the carnival music and hundreds of people having fun.

“You took the Sugar incident better than anyone I can imagine, you handled Charlie’s porch inquisition just fine, and then you rescued me from my habitual harassers. Three outta three qualifies for hero status in my book.”

“Tara—”

She laughed. “A bona-fide knight in shining armor.”

Wes planted his feet. “Tara.”

She turned around, a good five strides in front of him. “Relax, I’m just teasing you.” When he didn’t move, she asked, “What? Aren’t you coming?”

She motioned toward the baseball field with her head, her black hair shimmering in the flashing lights of the Ferris wheel behind her. Someone bumped into him from behind, then apologized when Wes glanced around with a frown. Realizing he’d have to yell to be heard above the noise, Wes moved closer to Tara, just not too close.

“I think I’m gonna go.”

Her brows arched high above those beautiful brown eyes. “You won’t stay for the fireworks?”

He shifted his gaze again, looking anywhere but at her. If he looked at her, he’d end up staying, and he’d already determined that wasn’t a good idea. Heck, even her brother Charlie knew that.

“Seriously?” she asked. “After what just happened you’re going to make me sit all by myself in the dark?”

Guilt. How effective even though he didn’t owe her a damn thing. He opened his mouth to argue that it wouldn’t be all that dark what with the fireflies and fireworks, and she’d hardly be by herself, but then he noticed her lips twitch.