He waved his wallet in the air. “The sooner you realize the way the world really works, the better, little lady.”
“I’ve had just about enough of you and your overinflated ego.”
His half-cocked smile slid. He shoved his wallet back where he found it and rolled up his plans. “You’re making a mistake.”
She marched back to her car, ready to swing if he attempted to touch her.
As she passed, he sucked in a sharp breath, jolted, and slapped the plans against his legs.
The action made her jump and nearly stumble.
She glared at him, and he started to laugh.
“Someone’s on edge,” he said.
Inside her car, she immediately locked the doors and turned over the engine. Gravel spit in all directions as she drove away.
Half a mile down the road she looked at her hands shaking against the steering wheel. “Calm down,” she told herself. He was trying to scare her, and he’d succeeded.
And that pissed her off.
She needed to vent. Yell at someone who would take her side.
She thought of Parker. But Parker would tell Colin, and Colin would turn caveman. Or tell Matt, who would make it two cavemen. Worse, they might say something to their dad. Retired cop or not, her dad would bring in his friends, and next thing you know the whole thing is blown up and she’d be branded a problem employee once word got out.
Thinking rationally was how she needed to proceed. Mindful action. Calm action.
But all she wanted to do was scream asshole at the top of her voice.
She pressed the wireless call button on her steering wheel.
The car made a noise but didn’t ask for a command.
She did it again.
While she drove down the busy street, she fumbled in her purse for her cell phone. Her hand reached it and she pulled it out to see if the battery had died.
Realizing it was her work phone, she dropped it in her lap and dug for the other one. Not feeling it, she slapped the space around her purse in the passenger seat.
Her mind flashed to her setting it down to look at Sokolov’s shitty plans, and she started to panic.
Did Sokolov notice her phone? Did he grab it? Did it slide off his car and was in the middle of the road?
She needed to go back and look.
What if he was still here?
He wouldn’t be, she argued with herself.
But the voice in her head said he might be.
She waited for a long line of red taillights at an intersection before grabbing her work phone.
Calling her family was out.
Calling her brothers’ girlfriend and wife was out.
Before she lost her nerve, she found Dameon’s number and dialed.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise.”
Just hearing the levity in his voice helped her relax. “Dameon.”
“What’s wrong?”
Was she that obvious?
Grace took a deep breath and steadied her voice. “It’s nothing, really. Are you still in town?” She didn’t give him time to answer. “You drove back to the city, didn’t you? It’s okay—”
“I’m still here,” he interrupted her. “Where are you?”
“Soledad and Bouquet Canyon. Not far from you.”
“I’m not at the house. What’s wrong, Grace?”
“It’s kind of a long story. I lost my phone. I’m pretty sure where it is, but I . . . I don’t want to go back to get it alone. I’d ask my brothers, but they’d freak.” She should just forget the phone and get another one.
“Why would they freak, Grace?”
Traffic started to move. Instead of heading up the canyon to Dameon’s house, she turned into the long line of traffic headed toward the mall. “They just would. Can you help me out?”
“Where can I pick you up?”
“I’m headed home to change.” She gave him her address. He told her he’d be there in twenty minutes. Grace thanked him and disconnected the call.
Ten minutes later she walked into her condo, dropped her purse on her coffee table, and sat down. She was still shaking. Partly because it was cold walking into her place, but she knew that wasn’t all of it.
Adrenaline was dumping into her system like a flood.
She hated that the man intentionally intimidated her. And that it worked. For years, she’d made up for her short stature with confidence and the occasional attitude. Her father had taught her to punch with her elbow and not her fist for maximum effect. Having two older brothers meant she knew how to take a good ribbing and deliver one as well.
Yet it seemed like lately she’d lost her edge when dealing with disrespectful