“Coke.” Kat chuckles. “I’m a bartender, Jake. That’s my job.”

“You’re more than that,” I reply seriously. “You run this place very well.”

“I know.” Her smile is confident, inspiring more respect from me. These women are all fucking amazing. “I have a thing for booze.”

“You sound like a wino,” Mia says as she comes out of the kitchen and takes a stool next to me. “She’s not really.”

“Being good at alcohol doesn’t make anyone an alcoholic,” I reply, starting to worry about Addie. “It’s an art form.”

“I like you,” Kat says and blows me a kiss.

“Where’s Addie?” Mia asks. “Did you send her screaming into the night?”

“That’s not how women usually react to me, no.” Kat slides a drink over to me and I sip it.

“She ran out to her car to grab her iPad,” Ashley says as she scrolls through her phone.

“It’s been a while. I’m going to go check on her.”

“I really like him,” Kat says as I walk through the kitchen and out the back door. I stop and listen, not sure where Addie parked.

“You are a worthless piece of shit,” someone yells, and I immediately run in that direction. I turn a corner and see red.

A man, not much taller than Addie, has her back pinned against her car, and his hand is wrapped around her thin neck. Her eyes are wide with fear as she pushes on his chest, but she can’t budge him.

He pulls his other hand back, fist clenched, when I reach them and yank him off her.

“What the fuck?” he yells, then doesn’t say anything when my fist connects with his jaw.

“Jake!” Addie’s voice is rough, and I barely feel her hand on my arm as I stand over the piece of shit that had his hands on her. “Jake, stop.”

“Stay behind me.”

“Who is this asshole?” the fucker yells from the ground, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. “Are you fucking him too?”

“Shut the fuck up.” My voice is steel. “I suggest you leave, right now, before I call the cops.”

“What for? We were just talking.” He staggers to his feet and looks up at me. He’s clearly drunk. Probably high.

“You were assaulting her.”

“This is none of your business.”

“Just leave, Jeremy,” Addie says from behind me. Her voice is firm, but she’s still holding on to my arm, and her hand is shaking, pissing me off more.

Something tells me that it takes a lot to scare this woman.

“You heard her.”

Jeremy glares at me, then spits and turns away, stumbling out of the alley. When he’s gone, I spin and pull her into my arms, holding her tight against me. She’s trembling, but she’s not crying.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Who was that asshole?”

“An ex,” she mutters. “No one important.”

Important enough to come looking for her. But I keep that thought to myself. “Do you want me to call the cops?”

“No. He didn’t hit me.”

“I’m going to hold you for a minute.”

“Good plan.” She’s clinging to me, her fingertips gripping my back, her face pressed to my chest. She fits. There’s no other way to describe it. I wrap my arms around her firmly and lean my face down and bury my nose in her hair, breathing her in. She smells like peaches. She’s beautiful tonight in a black blouse that falls off one shoulder and a tight, red skirt.

Finally, she pushes away from me and swallows. “Thanks for that. I haven’t seen Jeremy since I threw him out of my apartment more than a month ago. I don’t know what he was doing here tonight.”

“So he doesn’t threaten you on a regular basis?”

“No.” She straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin. Good girl.

“Okay. Let’s get you home.”

“What?” She frowns. “Why?”

“Because you were just attacked in the alley, Addie.”

“I have work to finish.” She reaches into her car to retrieve her iPad and walks toward the restaurant. “I can’t go home.”

And the stubborn woman is back.

I follow her in, watching her like a hawk. She marches right over to Ashley, firing up her tablet, but her fingers are a bit shaky.

I should scoop her up and take her home, but she wouldn’t let me get three steps away without giving me what-for.

She’s so freaking hot.

“What’s going on?” Kat asks, watching both of us.

“Addie—” I begin, but Addie cuts me off with a glare.

“Nothing.” She turns to Ashley and the two proceed to discuss the schedule for next weekend.

“What’s up?” Mia asks. “Is everything okay?”

“Jeremy was in the alley,” Addie admits, not looking anyone in the eyes. “He was being a drunk idiot, and Jake scared him off.”

She’s purposefully leaving out the part where he was about to beat the shit out of her.

But, none of my business.

I simply shrug and down my drink, then push the glass over to Kat, gesturing for another.

“Thanks so much,” Ashley says with a smile and then heads out, leaving the four of us alone.

“You gonna tell us what happened?” Kat asks Addie, who has yet to look up from her iPad.

“What happened with what?” Addie replies.

“God, she’s stubborn,” Mia mutters, then lets her long, dark hair down. She scratches her scalp and sighs in ecstasy. “That feels better.”