Wanting More(9)

I could hear the woman, before I even spotted the car. To make matters worse, I recognized the car right away. A redhead sat in the front seat. She was leaning against her steering wheel with a cigarette hanging out of the window. I knew she didn’t hear me approaching, so I slowly knocked on her window. She jumped and screamed, dropping the cigarette to the ground. I held my hands up in the air. “It’s just me, Amy.”

She was hysterically crying. “Just what I need. Please just leave me alone.”

The car was dark and she wouldn’t look over at me. I grabbed the car door and opened it before she could lock it. When she turned to look at me, I was shocked at what I saw. Her lip was busted and her eye was swollen. I crouched down and pulled her chin toward me. “Jesus Christ! Did he do this to you?”

She pulled away from my touch. “Please just go. I’ll be fine. I just wanted to be alone.”

I looked around the parking lot. Aside from my truck and the bartender’s car on the other side of the building, she was all alone. If her bastard husband did this to her face, there was no telling what else he had done. I clenched my fists just imagining a guy beating on a woman. “Amy, get out of the car.”

She shook her head.

“I’m not askin’, I’m tellin’ ya. Get out of the fuckin’ car now.”

She shook her head again. “Conner, I can’t let Miranda see me like this. Please just go. I don’t want anyone to know. You have to promise me you won’t tell her. Please promise me.”

I knew that pulling her out of the car would have been too violent after what she’d been through, so I extended my hand out toward her. “I promise you will be safe and I won’t take you to the farm. Just trust me.”

She covered her face with her hands. “You’re the last person that I’ll trust.”

“God. Damn. It. woman, get out of the car. This has nothin’ to do with me. You need to go somewhere and get yourself cleaned up where you can be safe. Just come with me. I promise I won’t touch you. I just can’t leave you here like this. It ain’t fuckin’ right.”

I think she knew I wasn’t going to leave. With no more arguing, she climbed out of the car and grabbed her purse. I heard her hit the lock button on her car before following me to my truck. Once I got Amy in, I noticed the bartender giving me a dirty look as she headed to her own car. There goes that piece of ass.

Amy didn’t waste any time asking where we were going. “Tell me where you’re taking me?”

I pulled off the main road and headed out of town. “Someplace safe for the night. Don’t argue with me about it.” She started to cry again and for some damn reason I reached over and covered the back of her hand with my own. “You’re safe now.” I moved my hand away before she could say anything. Her cries finally started to calm a little and she didn’t argue when I pulled into a motel. “Stay here and keep the doors locked. I’m goin’ to get us a couple of rooms to stay in for the night.”

She grabbed my hand before I could climb out. Her faced looked so bad against the florescent light of the vacancy sign. “Conner, I’ll pay you back for this.”

Maybe one day you can pay me back with your body.

“That ain’t necessary. Be right back.”

The little pervert at the front desk said there was only one available room, so I paid him and got the key. Amy wasn’t going to be thrilled, but there was no way I was going to leave her alone all night. She climbed out of the truck to meet me and we walked to the door with the number four on it. “Don’t get mad, but he only had one room to rent. I swear I ain’t goin’ to touch you, but I can’t leave you here all alone. Is this goin’ to be a problem?”

She walked into the room and dropped her bag. I saw what she was looking at.

One bed.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

She smiled and sat down on the bed, while I walked toward the bathroom to grab some rags and the ice bucket. Once she got situated, I went back to the truck and grabbed my overnight bag I still had in the back. For a while, I didn’t know whether I’d be spending the night with Brina in some random place. I knew there was at least one clean shirt in there that Amy could put on. When I got back with the bag and the ice, she was laying on a pillow crying again. I sat down beside her and watched as she turned around. I gently touched my fingers to her eye and then handed her a towel with ice wrapped in it. “Put this on your eye to keep it from swelling any worse. I had this bag in the truck. Help yourself to some clothes to sleep in. I don’t know if you noticed, but your shirt is ripped in the back and I know you don’t want to sleep in those jeans.”