“That’s not really an option,” Grady said. “If you have a personal beef with this woman, take it up through the appropriate channels.”
“Maybe I am,” the man challenged.
“The appropriate channels do not include accosting her outside of her place of business and trying to intimidate her,” Grady said. “That makes you look like a crazy stalker.”
“What business is this of yours?”
“It’s not,” Grady said, his tone ominous. “Yet.”
The man looked like he wanted to argue, push his luck, but Grady’s squared shoulders and defiant glare were enough to dissuade him. He shot an angry look in Sophie’s direction. “You remember what I told you.”
Sophie watched him go, jotting down something in her notebook as he pulled away from the curb in an older Ford Escort. Grady was curious what she was writing but – wisely – kept the question to himself.
Once the man was gone, Grady looked Sophie up and down. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Sophie said, brushing her brown hair out of her face. “It was nothing.”
Grady waited for some form of acknowledgement for his actions. None came. “Um, you’re welcome.”
Sophie scowled. “For what?”
“For stepping in to make sure that jerk didn’t hurt you.” The attitude he found so funny and appealing a half hour before was starting to grate.
“No one asked you to step in,” Sophie said. “If you need some accolades to puff up your ego, though, I guess you’ve earned them. Thank you.”
My ego? Is she serious? Grady frowned. “Wow, you’ve got a great personality, lady,” he said. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that I stepped in to help … .”
“What? A damsel in distress?” Sophie interrupted. “I’m not a damsel in distress. I could’ve handled this situation fine on my own. I didn’t need you.”
“Who said you needed me?” Grady asked, playing to his invisible audience as his voice climbed an octave. “Did I say you needed me? No. I stepped up in case he got out of hand. I didn’t realize that was a criminal offense.”
Sophie sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “I didn’t mean to. I just … I just don’t need help. He was harmless.”
“He didn’t seem harmless,” Grady argued. “He seemed deranged.”
“He was upset about something.”
“What?”
Sophie shrugged. “He didn’t really say,” she said. “I just assumed he had me confused with somebody else.”
Grady cocked his head to the side. “What are you working on?”
“Just some county government stuff,” Sophie said, refusing to go into detail. “Nothing that a guy like that would care about.”
“How do you know what a guy like that cares about?”
“Did he look like a county executive to you?”
Grady was taken aback. “No, but … .”
“But nothing,” Sophie said, her voice growing stronger. “That guy obviously has nothing to do with what I’m working on. It was just a case of mistaken identity. It’s no big deal. It happens all the time in this business.”
“And I’m sure your attitude helps the situation,” Grady suggested, trying to keep his anger from getting the better of him.
Sophie made a face. “Are you calling out my attitude? Seriously? What about your attitude?”
Grady’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “My attitude? You mean the attitude where I walked into a situation and made sure you were safe? Yeah, I should be publicly flogged on the street.”
Sophie wrinkled her nose. “I thanked you. What more do you want?”
“Nothing,” Grady said, turning on his heel and stalking toward his truck. “There’s not a thing I want from you. Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, great.”
“Good.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
Grady climbed in his truck, firing up the engine and squealing out of his parking space as his foot expressed the anger he’d been trying to keep away from her.
That woman is infuriating, he thought as he was pulling into traffic on the main street in front of the newspaper. It’s no wonder random people are attacking her. He was just surprised it didn’t happen on a daily basis.
Well, no matter. He’d done James’ errand, and he wouldn’t be returning to this place anytime soon, or ever.
Screw her!
Four
Grady was still stewing about Sophie Lane an hour later when he returned to Hardy Brothers Security. James and Finn were sitting in the downstairs office talking, so Grady threw himself into the open office chair, sighing dramatically to make sure they were paying proper attention to him.