“Ah, there she goes!” Denny said, pointing to what Tristan already knew was Marty running towards her house.

Tristan stepped around the corner of his house and watched as Marty ran away. She seemed to sense him watching her, because in the next instant she did the stupidest thing any woman could have possibly done at that moment.

She taunted him.

He watched through narrowed slits as Marty paused her little run to throw him a wink and blow him a kiss. That was it. Her ass was about to become permanently red.

Tristan took two menacing steps towards her before he felt a hard tug on his cuffs. Marty yelped and ran off towards the safety of her father’s house while Denny did his best to drag him back. Tristan ignored the pain in his shoulder and tried to take off running after her only to be tackled to the hard frost covered ground by his brother.

He looked up in time to see the front door that Marty had just escaped through slam shut. Oh, she was going to pay for this shit. There was no f**king way that he was turning a blind eye to this one.

Chapter 13

“Are you even listening to me, Marty?”

Marty scanned the bar one more time before she returned her attention to Melissa, who’d been crying for the past hour over her boyfriend. Well, he was probably her ex-boyfriend now that she’d caught him making out with her boss yesterday.

“She’s not listening to any of us!” Diane cried, causing several people sitting near them to turn around and frown at them.

Marty’s cheeks heated as she tried to duck low in her seat. How in the heck had she allowed three of her friends to convince her that this was a good idea? She didn’t want to be here. It felt kind of seedy being in a bar at noon. Granted, it was Sunday and there was a game on the flat screen, but still. Anyway, she’d been perfectly happy hiding in her room…with the door locked….and the window locked, before they’d begged her to come out.

Happy.

“I cannot believe it’s over! I loved him!” Angie sobbed into a small pile of crinkled cocktail napkins.

Oh, that’s right. She came out because three of her friends got dumped, within a twenty-four hour period and they’d guilt tripped her into coming. Since they’d all been dumped they were looking to her for support. Why? She had no idea. She’d never really had a boyfriend. Granted, Tristan broke her heart and had been driving her crazy over the past couple of weeks, but that didn’t make her an expert.

She really didn’t fit in for this girl’s night out, or rather day, and had explained that to them several times. Why they didn’t just seek each other for comfort, she didn’t know.

For the past hour they’d been taking turns telling her what was wrong, what happened, and how wonderful their love had been. She just sat there sipping her beer, nodding every now and then, admittedly not really listening. It was the same damn drama every couple of weeks.

“Marty, do you think I should give him another chance?”

“Huh?”

Diane scoffed at her. “I asked if you think that I should give Billy another chance?”

“Who’s Billy?” she asked before she could stop herself and then foolishly added, “I thought his name was James.”

Diane scoffed at her. “James was two weeks ago! You are so insensitive to bring him up! You know how much he meant to me!”

Right, Marty thought. The pizza delivery guy who’d dumped her, because she’d sent too many text messages in one day, or rather in one hour. Again, who the hell was Billy?

“It’s not really her fault,” Melissa said, giving Marty a pitying look. What the heck did she have to be pitied about?

Angie picked up the conversation with a pained sigh. “She’s never been in love like us.”

Now all three of them were looking at her like she was pathetic, which only irritated her.

“First off,” she held up a finger, “I have dated, a lot. I just know when it’s just dating and nothing serious,” she said pointedly.

“What are you saying?” Angie demanded. “I loved Eric!”

“Uh huh, and how long did you date him?” she asked, sick of playing this game every couple of weeks. Maybe if she pissed them off, they wouldn’t invite her anymore. One could hope.

“Three weeks! Three of the best weeks of my entire life!”

“My point exactly. You were just dating. Nothing more. Have you guys ever thought that maybe the reason so many guys dump you is because you get too serious way too soon?” she asked.

The three of them shared a look before scoffing. “No, we’re just very lovable. We know true love when we see it,” Melissa insisted.

“Uh huh, have you ever found it odd that the three of you find true love on a weekly basis?”

“Gawd, you’re so insensitive!”

Marty just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. This was pathetic. No, not having anything better to do than come here and listen to this nonsense was pathetic. Maybe she needed a hobby?

“She’s just bitter because no real men want her. She goes after losers,” Melissa snapped, drawing Marty away from her musings.

“I’m sorry. What's this now?” Marty asked, sure that she'd misheard her.

“You know exactly what I said. You haven’t really dated. Don’t think we haven’t noticed. You only agree to go out with guys you know that you’re not interested in.”

Marty waved a hand impatiently to get them to focus. “What’s this about no real men wanting me?”

Instead of answering her, they all gaped at her, well, a few inches past her shoulder to the right.

“What about me?” a familiar deep voice asked right next to her freaking ear!

Oh no, the man she’d been avoiding since Friday night had found her. This could not be good. Not at all. She’d publically humiliated him. Actually, according to the web hits, it was more like globally humiliated him. Looked like it was her turn to become a web sensation.

She turned her head slowly, too frightened to force this moment. She would not cry or scream or run and scream and cry for her daddy. She would not! Mostly because he wasn’t cuffed and na**d this time and he would most definitely catch her. Still……

Before she could entertain any real escape plans he was kissing her. Tristan Black was kissing her! In public! Like he had every right in the world to do it no less. She moaned against his lips and nearly whimpered when he pulled away.

“Did you miss me, baby?”

“Er…”

“I just wanted to return these,” he said as he made a show of reaching into his pocket. Oh no, he wouldn’t do that would he….he did! He placed the silver handcuffs in the middle of table. It seemed like the entire bar went quiet except for the occasional gasp.

“Next time it’s my turn,” he said with a wink before he stood up and strolled out of the bar.

Her face burned as every pair of eyes moved between her and the cuffs. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

Shit.

“You slut!” her three friends said in unison. It would have been funny if she wasn’t sure that was the new consensus in the bar.

*-*-*-*

“Oh, lad, ye really shouldn’t have done that to her,” Shayne said from the passenger seat of his truck.