Free You're the One by Angela Verdenius Page B

break your wrist.”
    He hissed in
pain and anger.
    Brand looked
past him. “We gotta go.”
    “Not before I
teach this bitch a lesson,” Pierce snarled.
    “Really?” Del
drawled. “Here in the street in plain daylight?”
    “And with him
coming?” Brand nodded in the direction he was looking.
    Del and Pierce
looked over to see Moz crossing the road from further up, a scowl
on his face, big fists bunched as his long legs ate up the
distance. He was forced to stop to allow a farm truck to pass, but
then he resumed striding.
    He might have
been a distance away but he was covering ground fast.
    “You’ll get
yours,” Pierce hissed at her before hurrying for the car parked not
far off.
    Brand followed
him, getting quickly into the driver’s seat. Revving the engine, he
backed out and took off down the road.
    Heart beating
a little quicker from the encounter, Del watched Moz draw near. Now
her heart was tripping for an entirely different reason. Moz’s gaze
was fastened on her, concern evident on his face.
    Oh boy, and
he’d kissed her. Now what did she say to him?
    “What the
hell?” Dee stepped out of the newsagent. “Did I just see the pair
of local dickheads pulling out in a hurry?”
    “You did.”
Partly relieved to have her cousin as a buffer, Del turned to
her.
    “Who are they
running from?”
    Del pointed at
Moz who was now stepping up onto the footpath. Dee switched her
attention to him.
    “Are you all
right?” He was completely focussed on Del.
    “Of course.”
She shrugged.
    “Did he hurt
you?” Reaching out, Moz brushed his thumb across her cheek.
    Yep, her knees
went a little wobbly. Cripes, he was bringing out some odd
reactions in her today.
    “Not at all.
Pierce is all strut and show, little achievement and
determination.”
    “You can’t be
sure of that.” He frowned. “You need to report it to the
police.”
    “That he
tucked my hair behind my ear? Are you kidding me?”
    “Del, even I
could see what you did to him.”
    Dee flicked
her interested gaze from Moz to Del. “What did you do?”
    “Made him
think twice,” Del answered. “He might actually file a complaint
against me for assault.” Like she was worried.
    “He wouldn’t
want to,” Moz growled.
    Whoa, man, he
full-on growled. Like a big bear, and not a koala bear, either.
Nothing as cute as that. Nope, he looked majorly pissed. His eyes
were narrowed and a muscle jumped in his tightly clenched jaw.
    Becoming aware
of Dee’s uncharacteristic silence, Del glanced sideways at her,
only to find her cousin watching her and Moz speculatively. Okay,
that never boded well. Time to defuse this situation. “Look, Dee,
nothing major happened. Pierce decided to tuck my hair behind my
ear-”
    “He what ?”
    “And I took
his hand and politely removed it.”
    Dee scowled.
“Why the hell was he getting amorous with you?”
    “He wasn’t.
He…” Del stumbled to a halt. Why had he done it?
    She glanced at
Moz to find him watching her steadily, anger still simmering in his
eyes but also a touch of curiosity. “I don’t know, all right?”
    “What a jerk,”
Dee said. “He ever tries anything like that again, you yell out and
I’ll come and kick him up the arse. The weight I carry on my arse
will travel right through my foot and have his balls ringing in the
hour on his tonsils.”
    “Wow, I’m
touched.”
    “Not as much
as that drongo is going to be.”
    “Don’t you
worry about him,” Moz said. “I’ll take care of it.”
    “What?” It was
her turn to be surprised. “Wait a minute-”
    “I’ll have a
word to him.” Moz turned and started striding away.
    Del was right
behind him. “Wait! You can’t do that!”
    “It’s
done.”
    She grabbed
his arm. “Damn it, Baylon, you don’t have to do this!”
    “Yeah, I do.”
Moz turned and faced her, his hand coming around to cup her elbow.
His voice gentled. “No man places a hand on a woman who doesn’t
want it, and he damned sure isn’t going to put