"Paula, I swear, I had no idea. I would never have wanted you and the kids to get in trouble because of me."
"Yeah, right." A decade of ruthlessly suppressed anger surged out of her again. "Because you cared a lot about me and the kids when you ran off to God knows where and didn't even bother to leave a forwarding address."
"Paula, I swear—" He started to move forward. Dan placed a big hand on Terry's chest, just high enough that it could slip up to the throat very easily. Terry was shoved back against the wall.
"Maybe you better think carefully about what you want to say to her," Dan growled.
"Who are you, anyway?" Terry asked. He made an attempt to squirm free, but Dan had way too much bouncer experience to let him. Dan shoved a knee against Terry's legs and pushed him into the wall again.
"I'm her mate, asshole," Dan snarled.
A warm, delighted feeling sank into Paula's chest. They hadn't even really talked about dating yet, and it was a slightly odd, old-fashioned way to say "boyfriend." But the way he said it was so matter-of-fact and right that she could almost feel the rightness of it click into place.
Terry's reaction was weird: his eyes bugged out, and all the fight went out of him. He sagged limply against the wall, propped up by Dan's hand.
"Oh," he said quietly.
"Yeah. Oh. Now here's a suggestion—how about we go somewhere a little warmer and have a chat."
"Your feet," Paula said. She had forgotten Dan was barefoot. Now she looked down, worried, at his cold-looking toes in the snow.
"I'm all right," Dan said, but between the bare feet and his bare chest under the open coat, he looked like he was finally starting to notice the cold. He was shivering slightly.
Paula unlocked the back door of the diner and reached into the hidden panel to reset the alarm keypad, angling her elbow so Terry couldn't see the combination she punched in. She opted for the diner rather than the house because she didn't want Terry in her house, though it was hard to put her finger on exactly why. It wasn't that she was afraid he'd steal her stuff or anything like that. It was more that she just didn't want him there. The house was her place.
The diner was her place too, but at least it didn't feel like she was letting her ex tramp all over her home place, her nest.
She turned on the lights and reached for a roll of paper towels. "Here," she said, handing it to Dan. "In case you need to dry off and warm up your feet. Are you sure you aren't frostbitten or anything?"
"Not in that short a time," Dan said. "Oh, hell, I better call Derek and Ben, and let them know to call off the cavalry before—"
A large black truck skidded to a halt in the alley, outside the half-open door. Derek and Ben piled out.
"Never mind, too late."
Derek was pulling off his jacket, revealing a massively jacked torso. Before today, Paula would have been puzzled. Now she had the sudden, shocking realization that he was preparing for a shift.
He's a bear too!
It was like the entire world rearranged itself around her. Maybe Lissy really had seen a bear in the alley.
"We got an alert on the system," Ben said.
"Who's this guy?" Derek demanded, jerking a thumb at Terry, who had backed all the way up against the wall and looked like he wished he could fade into it.
"My ex," Paula said. She crossed her arms again.
As one, all three of the other guys in the room turned to look at Terry. And Paula wondered why she had never noticed it before: there was a wildness to Dan and his friends, like she could almost see the animal beneath the surface.
"So this is the guy who's caused all this trouble," Derek said. A growl vibrated in his throat.
Paula sighed deeply.
"I can't believe I'm defending this deadbeat, but how about we don't rip him apart before we find out what he's doing here?"
"Thanks," Terry said.
"I'm not doing it for you, idiot. I'm doing it because my kids deserve a dad, even if it's you."
Ten minutes later, everyone was sitting at a couple of diner tables, pulled together in the middle of the floor, while Paula brought out coffee. Terry was on one side; all three of the other men were grouped on the other side, boxing him in