Awakening by Gillian Colbert, Elene Sallinger Page B

I was going.’ Her smile turned sheepish.
    ‘Yeah, I know,’ he growled at her.
    Taken aback by his abruptness, she stammered, ‘Um … Well … OK.’ She started to head back to the seating area. Clearly, she wasn’t going to get different results tonight.
    ‘That was careless.’ He actually stepped closer and loomed over her. He was so close she could smell his scent. ‘You should know better than to be so careless.’
    Claire absolutely hated when big men used their size to intimidate her. She knew she was small; they didn’t have to exploit it. She stepped back, only to come up hard against the shelves behind her. Evan stepped closer and towered over her with his hands fisted on his hips.
    ‘What if you’d tripped and fallen? You could have hurt yourself. Especially wearing those ridiculous boots. They’re just an accident waiting to happen.’
    ‘Excuse me.’ Claire frowned up at him. She could almost feel his anger. The muscles in his neck were tense and stood out in stark relief. His eyebrows were drawn so tightly together she wondered if they’d fuse in place. ‘You’re overreacting just a bit, don’t you think?’
    ‘Overreacting? I don’t think so. If you hurt yourself in this store, I’m liable.’
    ‘Evan –’
    ‘No.’ He cut her off. His expression was as stony as his tone. ‘I’m beginning to wonder if you need a keeper. You come in here and fall asleep. You walk home by yourself after dark without any thought for the danger, and now you’re not even watching where you’re going. Are you stupid?’
    All colour drained from Claire’s face at his words. Shame and humiliation warred with righteous anger. How dare he chastise her this way! How dare he insult her! The world went black then red as Claire found her voice.
    ‘Who the hell do you think you are?’ She poked her finger into his chest. It was rigid with tension and her finger hurt, but she didn’t care. She poked him again, harder. ‘You have no right to speak to me this way. You know absolutely nothing about me or why I do anything I do. I think I know why you treat me like a pariah when you seem to be able to be so nice and kind to all of your other customers, but I will not stand here and be insulted by you.
    ‘ Not that it is any of your damn business, but I live just a few blocks away. I am extremely careful and I even signed up to learn a martial art. Yes, I take a risk, but I refuse to live my life a prisoner. I have no one in my life to accompany me here, so I either come by myself or I don’t come at all.’ Claire was shouting at him now. She was trying to stay calm, but all of her patience had flown out the window. ‘But,’ she continued through gritted teeth, ‘since I apparently disgust you so badly, you won’t have to worry about that any more. Now –’ she set the books she’d been carrying down on the shelf and pushed at his chest with both hands ‘– get the hell out of my way.’
    He refused to move, seemingly rooted in place. Instead, it was Claire who backtracked. Snatching up her tote, she rounded the stacks, and then stormed toward the door.
    ‘Claire!’ Evan called from behind her. She heard him moving quickly toward her and spun around, holding up a hand.
    ‘Don’t you come near me.’ Claire’s breathing was ragged as rage coursed through her. ‘I don’t want to hear anything more you have to say. You’ve said quite enough.’ Spinning on her heel, she snatched open the door, and walked home as fast as her “ridiculous” high heels allowed.

Chapter Eight – Turning Points
     
    S HE WASN ’ T COMING back. It had been two weeks and she hadn’t shown up. Not once. Jean wasn’t speaking to him and Bridget had given him the evil eye for a whole week before she’d finally relented and given him a piece of her mind. She’d heard all about how he’d been out of line, rude, obnoxious, and mean, and how dare he treat “poor Claire” that way!
    Poor Claire, my ass.
    Evan