of a toll had all that work and no play worn on Declan?
The drive into town didn’t give him enough time to figure out what he was going to say to Liz. Maybe he should just take Declan’s advice, not say anything, and just kiss her already.
One thing for sure, she needed to dump Clint if she hadn’t already.
That guy was no good for her.
Tate wouldn’t stand by and let some asshole disrespect her.
He pulled into her complex and parked the truck in a visitor slot. Since her carport was on the other side of the building, he didn’t know if she was home yet and headed up to her condo to find out.
He took the stairs up, stared at her door for a second, and sucked in a deep breath, gathering himself to finally get this done. He wasn’t leaving until they settled things between them.
He knocked on the door and waited but didn’t hear her moving around inside.
The door behind him opened. “Oh, it’s you. Good. That other guy is a dick.”
He didn’t have to ask who she was talking about. “What happened?”
“She didn’t want to talk about it, but I overheard them fighting. Sounded like things got physical.”
A wave of rage made his blood boil.
“I pounded on her door, told them I’d call the cops if I didn’t see her. She looked rattled but okay. She asked him to leave, but he didn’t, so I made it clear I’d call the cops if he didn’t.”
“Jeez. Did he go?”
“He wasn’t happy about it, but yeah. I think she crashed after that. I didn’t hear anything more last night.”
She’d talked to him and not said one damn word about any of this. “Good. Okay.” He didn’t know what else to say or do. He needed to see her.
“She usually gets home about now. If you want to wait in my place, I might have a beer. It’s probably some crap IPA my ex liked.”
Tate laughed under his breath. “Thanks.” He hoped Liz got home soon. He wanted to know exactly what happened last night.
What he really wanted to do was hunt down Clint and kill the fuck for making one second of Liz’s life unhappy. If Clint hurt her, he’d wish he was never born.
That voice in his head yelled, And what does that tell you about how you feel about Liz?
Chapter Eight
Liz walked out of work and headed for the parking area, but stopped short when she passed the first row of cars in the lot and spotted Clint leaning against the hood of her car. He smiled like nothing happened last night. Like she hadn’t woken up with a gasp in the middle of the night and a nightmare image of him trying to strangle her.
Things hadn’t gone that far, but who’s to say he wouldn’t do something worse next time. She wasn’t about to give him a chance.
“I texted you last night and today. You didn’t respond. You didn’t answer my calls.”
Twenty-seven texts. Fourteen phone calls. One very sweet voice mail. Three that became increasingly angry and bitter. “I was working. Besides, I have nothing to say to you.”
“I’m sorry, Liz. I would never hurt you. Things got out of hand . . . I just wanted you to listen and understand that I care about you. I want us to go back to the way things were before Tate got in the way.”
“Tate wasn’t in your way.”
“No? You’re in love with him.”
She couldn’t deny it. “I do love Tate. He’s been my very best friend since we were children. He knows me better than anyone.”
“I want to have that with you.”
“I thought we might have a chance at that, but you are so obsessed with keeping me away from Tate you’ve ruined the last few times we were together.”
“I just don’t understand how you two can be friends.”
“We are, and that’s not going to change. But you’ve changed. Or you’re just not the man I thought you were.”
Clint stood and took a step away from her car.
She held up her hand to keep him from coming any closer. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Apologize? Touch you? Kiss you? You’re my girlfriend. Of course I want to make this right. Of course I want us to be everything, and more than we were before he showed up during our date.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m not your girlfriend. Not anymore.”
“Come on. Don’t say that. You don’t mean it.”
She hated that he told her what she meant. “You put your