V Card Sweetheart (Sweetheart, Colorado)

The minute my words seem to sink in, Martin’s face transforms. He’s pissed, and he gets up, glaring at me.

He doesn’t say a word, just slides by Dutton and toward the door. When he gets a safe distance, he stops. “It’s all right, Jane. I know where you live. I’ll just stop by and see you when I decide to go slumming again.”

Dutton pushes off the table, and I jump up and run around to get in front of him. I put my hand to his chest, and he stops. His hand goes up to mine, and he’s crushing my fingers, but I can’t make myself care. Dutton’s chest is heaving, and he’s looking at me like he’s trying to decide what to do. “Dutton, he’s not worth it.”

His other hand goes to my waist. “No one talks to you like that.”

4

Dutton

She’s looking up at me with wide eyes, and I’m doing my best not to freak her out. Her chest rises and falls with every breath she takes. I could kill someone. Preferably the man that just threatened Jane. But her hands on me is the only thing that could stop me right now. She pushes, and I’m way bigger and stronger than her, but I let her push until the back of my legs hit the seat I had just got up from.

“C’mon, sit down. I’ll sit with you while you eat your pie.”

“I’m not hungry,” I tell her, which is a lie. I am hungry. But not for pie. I’m hungry for her.

She juts her chin out. “I don’t want you to fight because of me. Because I make stupid decisions.”

Her face is red, and I know she’s embarrassed. Jane has never been one to enjoy having any kind of attention on herself. I wrap my hand around the base of her neck and lift her chin up so she has to look at me. “First of all, it wouldn’t be a fight. I’d just knock him out. Second of all, you don’t make stupid decisions. None of this is on you.”

She tries to look away, but I stop her. “You got it, Jane?”

Finally, she nods her head, and I step away from the booth and gesture for her to sit down. She slides into the booth, and I sit down next to her. I know I’m a big man and am probably crowding her, but after tonight, I want her next to me. She’s surprised, I know she is, but I act like we sit like this all the time. “You want some pie?”

She shakes her head. “No. I’ve lost my appetite.”

Alice comes by the table. “Everything okay here?”

She’s looking between the two of us, and I nod my head. “Yep, we’re good.” I hand over some twenties to cover my pie and Jane’s and her date’s meals. “Can I get a hamburger and fries to go?”

Alice looks like she has something else to say, but finally she just nods her head. “Yeah, coming right up.”

I look around the diner and watch as more and more people are coming in. “Actually, Alice, do you care to give it to Sam? He’s outside. I’ll let him know to keep an eye out for you.”

“Sure thing,” she says, and I stand up, holding my hand out to Jane.

She slides to the edge and puts her hand in mine. It’s then, for the first time tonight, that I finally feel like everything is going to be okay. I wrap my fingers around hers and pull her against me.

I hold on to her the whole way across the diner and open the door to let her through, but I still don’t let her go. I start walking across the parking lot and stop next to Sam. “Hey, Sam.”

“Hey, Dutton. Hey, Jane. Everything okay?”

The way he asks, I know he saw everything. The good thing about it, I know if I wasn’t here, Sam would have been in there to keep an eye out for Jane. She dotes on him, always trying to feed him and give him clothes to keep him warm. But he does the same for her. He’s changed her oil and put new tires on her car that I got her without her knowing they were from me. He would do anything for her. “We’re good. Alice is bringing you dinner. I’m going to take Jane home.”

He nods his head. “Sure thing. Thanks, Dutton.”

We get just a short distance before Jane pulls me to a stop. “Sam, you got your blankets? It’s supposed to get cold tonight.”

Sam nods his head. “I’ve got them. Quit worrying about me, honey.”

She nods, but Sam and I both know that she’s not going to stop worrying about him. She definitely has a soft spot for the old veteran.

When we get to my truck, I open it for her, and I can’t resist putting my hands on her hips and helping her up into the seat.