Entangled with the Prince - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,4

her later. Perhaps he’d dine with her. Yes, that could work, he thought. Dinner would allow him to get to know her better.

With that intention firmly set, he focused his attention on Scott and the issues he’d face at the bargaining table tomorrow.

Savannah sighed with relief when she kicked off her heels and slipped into her sneakers. “Oh heaven!” she whispered.

“Long night, huh?” Debbie, one of the other waitresses, commented as she moved into the employee locker room.

“Yeah. Long and tedious!” she replied. But incredibly profitable! The tall man at the corner table had left her a two hundred dollar tip! In cash, no less! They’d spent only a hundred dollars on four drinks and he’d still left her that incredible tip! Wow! She wondered what it would be like to have money to throw around like that. And it was all in cash, so even better! She could go grocery shopping tomorrow and not have to worry about pulling money out of her perilously depleted checking account! Oh, the little luxuries! Yes, life was pretty darn good today!

“See ya next week,” Debbie waved as she grabbed her purse from her locker and headed out the massive steel door that led to the employee parking lot.

“See ya, Deb!” Savannah called back.

For a long moment, Savannah leaned her head back against her locker with her eyes closed. Just for a moment, she promised. There wasn’t a great deal of time to relax here in the locker room since the last bus of the night would arrive in about five minutes. But this…just a moment’s peace and quiet after a long day was another one of life’s little luxuries.

But only a moment, she told herself as she opened her eyes and pushed resolutely away from the lockers. Standing up, she stifled the groan as her feet protested. “You can do it!” she whispered to her feet encouragingly. “Just fifteen minutes and we’ll be home.”

She pushed through the steel exit door, ignoring the pangs of protest in her arms, and stepped into the night. It was past midnight and she’d been up since five o’clock this morning. She’d worked the breakfast shift at the diner a few blocks from her house this morning and she had about four hours until she needed to be there again for today’s breakfast rush. “Just three more weeks,” she whispered, smiling. “Then you’re on easy street.”

The scuffling behind her didn’t register until it was too late. Before she knew what was happening, a strong hand grabbed her upper arm. Her initial thought was the big guy from earlier tonight, the one at the corner table. In that flash, she wondered about the two hundred dollars he’d tipped her, wondering if she’d misunderstood the man’s generosity, if it was actually for additional expected services. “What…?!”

Before she could finish, she was slammed back against the wall, her head smacking painfully against the bricks, making her head spin.

“Not so fast now, are you, little lady?” a guttural voice snarled.

Savannah opened her eyes and look around, half expecting to see the man with the scar and the horribly sad eyes. But it wasn’t him and, for a stupid, crazy moment, her heart soared. It wasn’t the man at the corner table at all! Was he…?

“Gonna twist my fingers now?” he growled, his thigh slipping between her legs and pressing…hard!

Savannah gasped at the pain in her head and where his leg was pressing against her groin. “Who are you?”

His face twisted with rage. “Oh, so you don’t even bother to remember who you assault, is that it?”

Huh? Who was…?! Then his words clicked. “You grabbed me earlier?”

“Yeah!” he yelled, spraying spittle and alcohol fumes into her face. “You twisted my fingers, lady! You embarrassed me in front of my coworkers!”

“You grabbed me!” Savannah came back furiously, terrified but determined not to let this cretin know. “You assaulted me and you’re angry because I defended myself?”

“I pinched your butt, you bitch! You didn’t need to humiliate me!”

She snickered, livid now. “Oh, so it’s perfectly okay for a man to assault a woman, but if she fights back, she’s a bitch?”

Savannah twisted her hands, gaining just enough room. Without warning, she twisted her body, slamming her elbow into his ribs. “Back off!” she yelled, then followed up with a kick that nearly sent him sprawling. Her heart was racing so fast, she wasn’t sure if it would actually stay in her body.

“You bitch!” the guy groaned as his face slowly turned red and he