Bile rises in my throat, and I grip the car handle. Do I open it and try to jump in to escape? I don’t think I’d make it inside.
My heart’s pounding hard in my chest. “What do you want?” I ask.
“What you so willingly give in that video. I won’t let you make a fool of me in front of my friends,” the rude guy from the bar says.
He grabs my arm and wrenches me away from the car. I kick out at him, catching him in the shin.
He merely laughs. “You like it rough?” he asks, going directly for my skirt and yanking it down over my hips.
Oh hell no. I reach back to punch him like the Ferro brothers taught me when I was younger, but before I can throw down, he’s on the ground, being beaten by none other than Hot Guy, and he’s not letting up.
I scream for him to stop. He doesn’t listen. It’s like he’s on autopilot and won’t give up until the guy on the floor isn’t just bruised and battered but dead. I can’t let that happen.
“Stop!” I yell again, and since I can’t grab his arm without getting hit or jabbed by his elbow myself, I jump onto his back. My only focus is to stop him from killing the asshole who attacked me. “Enough!” I yell in his ear, my ribs taking the brunt of each punch as he draws his arm back over and over.
My screams finally seem to penetrate, and he stops beating the crap out of the other man. I slide off his back and plop down onto the hard ground beside him. He’s breathing heavily and so am I.
He flexes his bruised fingers. A glance at the other guy tells me he’s beaten to a pulp and out cold.
Suddenly I’m shivering as I realize I’m nearly naked in the parking lot and alone with a man capable of violence. I glance at the prone, bloody body and gag before turning away.
“Don’t look,” he says in a gruff voice.
“I won’t.”
He rises and strides over to me and holds out a hand, offering to pull me to my feet.
“I need to fix myself first.” I want to yank up my skirt, and I don’t need him watching me.
“Go ahead.” A slight grin tips the edges of his mouth, and his gaze never leaves mine.
“A gentleman would turn around.”
“A gentleman wouldn’t pound your attacker into the ground.”
I didn’t like the reminder. I wait, giving him a pointed glare.
Finally, he huffs out a laugh and pivots around. I rise and fix my skirt, adjusting myself until I’m comfortable. Then I spin back to face him.
“We need to get the hell out of here.” He jerks his head toward the now-moaning man on the ground.
“I think I should call 911.”
He shakes his head. “Not on your life. Let’s go.” He grabs my hand.
Electricity sizzles up my arm, zaps my brain, and settles into strategic body parts no man has reached before. “We can’t leave him here.”
“Unless you want me going to jail for defending you, you’ll put your sweet ass in my car.”
I frown at him. “I can drive myself home.”
“I take it you didn’t notice he also slashed your tires?”
“What?” I suck in a shallow breath, a combination of anger and disbelief shooting through me. I stalk to my car in the dark corner and bend down near the tires. Now I notice the flats.
“Seriously?” That asshole. I perch my hands on my hips. “How did he know which car was mine?”
A sexy smirk lifts Hot Guy’s mouth. I really wish I didn’t notice, but even with little lighting, how can I not?