Her Sweet Talkin' Man. Myrna Mackenzie

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      “Well, look here what I’ve found. If it isn’t little Crystal Bennett still looking like the slut she is.”

      Crystal gave a start at the familiar, raspy voice from her past. To her chagrin, her first move on hearing the ugly accusation was to look down at her suit. Although her outfit ended just above her knee, it was very demure, a plain skirt and short-sleeved jacket that were neither too snug nor cut too low.

      She forced herself to look up, despite the fear spiraling through her, nearly choking her. Branson Hines stood before her, his lank dirty hair disheveled, his black eyes slightly crazed. He was staring at her jacket as if he could see right through it.

      Automatically, she raised her hand to cover herself. She reminded herself that she was in a crowded gathering, even if she was standing in a rather deserted area at the moment, beneath the shadow of some trees. Besides, she was a grown woman now. She didn’t have to let Branson intimidate her anymore.

      “Branson,” she said as smoothly as she could manage, pretending he had said nothing out of the ordinary. “I hope you’re enjoying the ceremonies.” She didn’t hold out her hand as she would have to anyone else. “But I’m afraid I have business to attend to now. If you’ll excuse me.”

      She tried to move around him to head back to the relative safety of the more crowded area.

      He put one hand across her path. She changed direction and he grabbed her wrist.

      “You don’t like being called a slut, Crystal? I don’t see why not,” he said. “After all, that’s what you are, isn’t it? Your son is a bastard, isn’t he? You let his father into your bed when you weren’t married. How many men have there been since then? Or do you just say yes to every man who wants you?”

      Panic and fear rose in her throat. His grip on her wrist tightened as he leaned close enough for her to smell his sour breath. His grimy fingers cut into her skin.

      “Let me go, Branson,” she said, trying to sound calm. She would not make a scene or allow him to ruin the proceedings for the maternity wing. Branson was not a huge man. Surely she could get away. Years ago there had been another day when he had made ugly remarks to her, but he had never actually tried to hurt her. At least not physically.

      “Oh, I don’t think I’ll let you go just yet,” he said, reeling her in. “You share your favors with other men you’re not married to, but I’ve never even touched you. I always wanted to touch you.”

      She opened her mouth. To order him away or to scream, she wasn’t sure which.

      But he yanked her hard and pulled her up against him. A cry ripped from her throat as she shoved at him and tried to keep his lips from getting near hers. Her wrists were burning as he twisted them and held fast, shoving his face into hers.

      “Please. No,” she said. “Don’t.”

      “I never even had a kiss,” he said. He pressed his wet lips to hers. She fought the blackness that threatened to envelop her as he tried to hold her still and she struggled to pull away. His laughter mocked her pitiful efforts.

      And then she was free, the cool air rushing over her face. Branson was kicking at someone. She blinked to clear her eyes and saw that Ace had Branson’s arm pulled up behind his back.

      “You don’t want to touch a lady who hasn’t invited you,” Ace said, his voice low and cold. “That’s not exactly the way to win points with a woman. It’s definitely not a gentlemanly thing to do, now is it?”

      Branson swore and tried to wrest his arm free. “She’s not exactly a lady in my book.”

      Ace spun Branson around, shoving him up against a tree, his arm lodged against Branson’s windpipe, leaving him barely enough air to breathe, judging by Branson’s choked gurgling. “Then maybe you’ve been reading the wrong book, buddy. Now, I’m going to ease up on you real slow, and I want you to tell the lady you’re sorry you touched her, that you’re sorry you even dared to come near her.”

      Ace eased the pressure on Branson’s throat, and the man muttered an even fouler word. He tried to break free.

      With barely a shrug, Ace slammed Branson up against the tree again, hard enough to send a few leaves fluttering to the ground. “Let’s try this again, shall we, buddy?” he said, leaning in to apply more pressure. “You want to reconsider that apology?”

      Crystal didn’t want an apology from Branson. She just wanted him gone. But there was such steel in Ace’s voice and he was so focused on what he was doing that she didn’t want to distract him for fear Branson would pull free and strike out, catching Ace off guard.

      “I’m really starting to lose patience with your lack of good manners. You ready with that apology yet, pal?” Ace asked.

      Branson raised dark, hate-filled eyes to Crystal. “Sorry,” he said, the word clipped and barely audible.

      She gave him a curt nod just as a security guard approached. “Thanks, man. We’ll take him off your hands,” he told Ace. “Ms. Fiona saw that something was happening and sent us over, Ms. Bennett. We’ll get him out of here right away,” he promised.

      “Thank you,” she breathed.

      But her words were nearly drowned out by Branson’s sudden shouting as the security guard removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

      “You tramp, Crystal, you’re gonna pay for this. I know how you operate. I know who and what you are. You’re a backstabber. You promise things and then don’t deliver. But I know that, and I’ll be back. I’ll be lookin’ for you. You and your kind took something I wanted. Now maybe I’ll take something you want, and I do know what means the most to you. Don’t think I don’t.”

      His words were spewed out, dark and ominous. He lunged furiously, nearly dragging to the ground the security guard, who had only Branson’s right wrist cuffed. Finally another security guard grabbed Branson’s other arm, and together they cuffed his hands behind his back and pulled him from the area.

      The silence that followed was like a thick choking smoke. Crystal’s heart was beating frantically. What had he meant? What was he going to do?

      She surprised herself by raising her gaze to Ace as if just looking at him could calm her. He was standing nearer than she’d expected. When her eyes met his, he moved closer and wrapped an arm around her waist.

      “Go ahead. Lean on me,” he whispered, then looked up at the small crowd who’d gathered.

      “I tell you, some people just shouldn’t even go to parties,” he said, addressing the group. “That one there looks like he started drinking early and needs to sleep it off. I guess he just didn’t like it when Ms. Bennett suggested he leave and get some rest. But it was a pretty good demonstration of the security at Mission Creek Memorial, though, wasn’t it? You can all rest easy knowing you’ll always be safe here. Makes you feel good seeing this hospital is on the job protecting the people staying here, doesn’t it?” He smiled reassuringly on that last note, and everyone began to murmur among themselves and drift away. One or two of them gave Crystal a worried look, but somehow she managed to follow Ace’s lead and paste on a smile. In spite of the fact that her heart was still hammering.

      Slowly, almost without her noticing it, Ace walked СКАЧАТЬ