Cole had the marriage license in his hand, but a fat lot of good that did. If the cold fury on Brooke’s face was any indication, he’d never get a chance to use it.
“Brooke…” He hustled to keep pace with her manic strides, though his legs had to be twice as long as hers. “Don’t you think we should talk?”
“We have nothing to talk about.”
Her icy tone chilled him to his marrow. He’d much rather she would rant and rave at him. That he knew how to handle.
“You seem upset,” he ventured.
No response. The muscles flexed along her delicate jaw, her eyes fixed ahead on the sidewalk. Impossibly, her pace seemed to quicken.
“If you tell me what I did wrong, I’ll apologize,” he said.
“If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you.” She reached the street corner and scowled at the poor, innocent drivers impeding her progress.
“That’s not fair.”
“Not fair, huh? Not fair?” The light turned and she exploded into the crosswalk, heedless of the cars speeding toward the intersection. “Was it fair that you stormed inside, looking like such a madman that I had to go in there? You knew I didn’t want to face Nathan and Wendy.”
“You didn’t have to go inside.”
“Yes, I did. I figured you might provoke Nathan, which is exactly what happened. I had to do something, because I thought Nathan might hurt you. He’s a weightlifter.”
“You thought I needed your protection?” Cole’s pride stung. No doubt, she judged him weak because he was missing half his arm. “I lift weights, too. And I’m a black belt in taekwondo. I’m also trained in self-defense.”
“How was I supposed to know that?” In an instant, her tone shifted from arctic to heated. “It’s not like you ever mentioned it. And I’ve seen Nathan’s muscles—I’ve never seen yours.”
“We could remedy that any time you like.” His hands went to his buttons, as if he might take his shirt off as they walked.
“I have no interest,” she snapped.
Oops! Guess she wasn’t quite ready to joke around.
“Everything turned out great, didn’t it? I defended your honor.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“It needed to happen. Nathan’s a jerk.”
“You bullied him.”
“That’s impossible. You said it yourself… Nathan lifts weights.”
“You deliberately provoked him into taking a swing at you so you could do that little take-down move.”
“He deserved it.” It had been quite satisfying to put the man on the floor with his arm twisted behind his back. “After all, he’s the one who tried to hit a guy with one arm.”
“You’re a black belt. That was like picking on a little kid.”
“A little humiliation was good for him.”
“It was me who got humiliated.” Her voice went up an octave. “What part of only holding hands don’t you understand?”
“I had to make it believable, didn’t I?”
The grating noise she made was brimming with frustration or disgust or some other negative emotion. Whatever it was, it wasn’t the warmth and gratitude he’d been expecting.
“I thought you’d like knowing your future husband is willing to stand up for you.”
She reached her car, impressively wedged into a small, parallel parking space. “You’re not my future husband.”
“Look, I know you’re angry right now, but give yourself some time to cool off. There’s no need to make a hasty decision about the marriage. I think, with the proper perspective, you’ll see—”
“What I see is a man who thinks he knows what’s best for me. I have a brain and an opinion, and I make my own decisions.” As she opened the car door, the interior heat hit him in the face. She climbed inside and slammed the door shut, starting the car and rolling the windows down.
“I won’t push you around.” He tried to lean on the car, but his hand jerked away from the hot metal. He switched, resting Arnie on the windowsill.
“That’s right… you won’t. Because we’re not getting married.”
She sounded like she meant it. How had things gotten so out-of-hand?
“Okay, I admit I might’ve been a little aggressive. But I’m not usually like that.”
Truly, he couldn’t ever remember picking a fight before. He wasn’t sure what had made him lose control.
“I fell in love with Nathan and married him before I realized how dominating he was. I’m not making that mistake again.”
Her window went up, and he had to jerk Arnie out of the way. With a few forward and back moves, she deftly maneuvered out of the tight space.
