In for a penny... I proceeded with caution.
“I—I just wanted to thank you for your help last night,” I offered hesitantly. “That could have gotten really ugly.”
At first I thought he wasn’t going to say anything. He was just looking at me with a firm scowl and those commanding green eyes, but then he tossed out “Yeah.”
It was a noncommittal reply, and I couldn’t gauge what his general feeling was about the encounter last night or his feelings about me standing there in front of him. I suddenly wished I had Cynthia’s femme-fatale moves from the night before. I wished I could glide over with sophistication and confidence and be able to sling some clever conversation that would get his attention. But on a good day I’d have trouble meeting that order, much less on a day where I felt out of the norm, where too many unpredictable events were presenting themselves. I decided the best course of action was retreat.
“Well, um, I think I’ve interrupted your...reading.”
“Yeah.”
Damn that word.
I stepped back, ready to save face. “I’m sorry for interrupting. I just wanted to say thank you. It’s one of the hazards of the job, I guess. Guys like that get drunk and think they can just grab what they want—”
“Can’t say I blame him.” He leaned back in his chair, folded the paper very deliberately and set it down, never breaking eye contact.
For a moment I thought I’d misheard him. Stepping toward the table again, I said, “Excuse me?”
“I can’t say I blame him,” he repeated very deliberately. “You advertise, you should expect guys to take you up on it.”
Holy hell. He did not just say that. “You’re saying I asked for it?” My tone was all disbelief.
“You wear a skirt that barely covers your ass and then wonder why some guy tries to grab it.” His voice was more of a rumbling growl as he scowled up at me.
What the...! He was no knight in shining armor! A demon, if anything.
“I never signed on to be a knight in shining armor.” He curled a lip with disdain.
“Good thing,” I sputtered angrily.
He continued. “I’m just telling it like it is. I wouldn’t have had to do anything if you’d been watching out for yourself. You have no idea...”
I heard the faint resentment in his statement and attributed it to him having to help me out last night, and I was embarrassed all over again. I could feel my cheeks blazing. “Then thanks for nothing. Next time just stay out of it! I can take care of myself.”
“Next time, don’t advertise.”
Them’s fighting words! It’s on! “You think a guy has the right to do as he pleases when he feels like it?”
“No. But if I walk in a dangerous neighborhood flashing wads of cash, I should expect to get robbed.”
“Are you kidding me? I should be able to walk around naked and not have to worry about any guy grabbing me!” My anger was bubbling.
“Yeah.” He looked me over with a mocking expression. “Good luck with that. Let me have an invite when that little event’s about to take place.”