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A couple of his friends sniggered.
“Oh, really? That little squeeze at the end, it was totally unintentional?”
“Bit sensitive, aren’t you? Take it as a compliment.”
“A compliment?” Now my blood was boiling. “How would you like it if a stranger groped your package?”
The prick actually smirked. “Why don’t you try it and see?”
Collier touched my arm, and I wasn’t sure whether that meant “calm down” or “I’ve got your back,” but the first wasn’t an option. I hated confrontation, but I’d hate myself more if I backed off. What would Dan do? Emmy? Dasha?
I grabbed the asshole’s frat-balls and twisted.
For several oh-so-satisfying seconds, his mouth dropped open in shock, but his face quickly screwed up in pain. I leaned in closer.
“Thanks for the invitation.”
He tried to push me away, but Collier got there first and wrapped one strong fist around the jerk’s arm.
“She said hands off.”
“You’re crazy,” he yelped. “She’s crazy.”
I released him. “And you’re all words and no dick.” His buddies laughed again, but this time they were laughing at him, not with him. “Get out of here.”
I thought he might take a swing at me, and it took every ounce of strength to keep my feet still, to stand straight and look him in the eye without blinking. I channelled the Blackwood women who’d spent so much time helping me to believe in myself. Sky wouldn’t step back. Ana wouldn’t step back.
Finally, he stepped back, with a parting shot of, “Bitch.” I couldn’t stop trembling as he left the restaurant. Emmy wouldn’t tremble, and Dan wouldn’t tremble, but I’d used up the last of my courage when I treated his nuts like a particularly stubborn jar lid.
“Nicely handled,” Collier murmured in my ear. “No pun intended.”
“I swear I’ve never tried to castrate a man in public before.”
“Just in private?”
“Uh, no. No, never.”
Too late, I realised everyone in the restaurant was staring at me, and my cheeks burned. I was about to follow the jerk out the door when a girl by the window started clapping, and soon the air was filled with applause. Even a few of the men joined in.
“Boy, that was some entrance,” Charlotte Peak said when the noise died down.
“I’m so sorry about that.”
“Between you, me, and the big man upstairs, that guy had it coming. What can I get you folks? A glass of wine on the house, obviously, but anything else? Our second chef called in sick, so there might be a short wait for food.”
I really needed the wine, but I figured it was better to be upfront. “Actually, I came to see you.”
Charlotte’s smile slipped a fraction. “You did? Do we know each other?”
“It’s a long story, but I’m doing a favour for a friend of a friend. He’s never managed to stop worrying about Kaylin La Rocca, and we’re making one last attempt to find out what happened to her.”
Now the smile vanished entirely. “Who are you? Are you cops? Because I’m pretty sure cops aren’t meant to grab a college boy’s junk.”
“We’re private investigators.”
“Well, you need to leave Kaylin alone. Do you want the wine or not?”
“I’d love a glass of white and a table”—my stomach grumbled on cue—“but my boss won’t be happy if I don’t at least ask a few questions.”
