A few beers later, I saw Susannah walk into the restaurant with Maisie, Amelia, and Lucy. The moment I saw her, my entire body tightened. Pure longing pierced through me. Fuck. I missed her like crazy.

Beck and Levi were over in the corner playing a game of pool. Meanwhile, Cade was still at the table with me and a few other guys from the station. Lucy and Maisie broke in the direction of Beck and Levi, while Amelia headed our way. Susannah didn’t appear to have seen me and approached the bar.

I watched as she paused and said hello to a woman I didn’t recognize. I’d forgotten Chad was here and saw his eyes travel over to her. Oh, hell no. I forced myself to hold still for a moment, as if to give him a chance not to piss me off.

No such luck. He pushed away from the bar at the far corner and approached Susannah directly. Whatever he said, I could see her face tighten from where I was.

Shoving my chair back, I stood, threading my way through the crowd. The moment I reached Susannah’s side, her eyes flicked to mine, her expression carefully controlled.

“Hey,” I said simply.

For a beat, I thought she wasn’t going to reply, but then she did. “Hey, how’s it going?” At my nod, she gestured to the woman at her side. “Ward, this is Levi’s mother, Gloria Phillips.”

Her comment threw me. I was attuned to Chad’s presence, not polite conversation. Forcing myself to focus, I looked to the woman beside Susannah. “Nice to meet you. Levi’s a great guy,” I managed.

Gloria grinned, Levi’s resemblance to her obvious with her golden hair and blue eyes just like his. With a wink, she replied, “Of course he is. I’m his mother, so I wouldn’t have allowed anything else. Welcome to Willow Brook, although I understand you’ve been here over a month. What do you think so far?”

“It’s good to be here, and I’m glad to be at the station. Great team to work with,” I replied.

Gloria smiled and nodded, glancing away when someone else called her name. Turning back, she reached over to squeeze Susannah’s shoulder. “Good to see you dear. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“Of course, same to you,” Susannah said.

Gloria’s eyes caught mine again with another smile. “Very nice to meet you, Ward. I hope to be seeing much more of you.”

Her words seemed weighted, containing a meaning I didn’t quite understand. Yet, then it occurred to me, she was likely friends with Susannah’s mother. As such, she may be aware that Susannah was pregnant.

“I’m sure you will. Nice to meet you,” was my bland reply.

With those niceties over as Gloria walked away, I glanced back to Susannah. I was well aware that Chad was still nearby and his eyes were on us. Before I had a chance to say anything, he did.

“So what does the crew think of the fact that you guys are fucking?” Chad asked his lip curling in a sneer.

Susannah’s face turned white and then bright red, her breath hissing through her teeth. Several of the guys from the crew happened to be nearby and within earshot. I felt a few curious eyes cast our way. I ignored them. Turning to face Chad, anger flashed hot inside. “What the fuck did you just say?” I asked, my tone nearly vibrating.

It didn’t matter to me that what he said had been true until a week ago. Hell, I didn’t care if he was trying to call me out. But trying to humiliate Susannah publicly like this – not fucking okay.

Chad rolled his eyes, his flat brown gaze flicking between Susannah and me. “You heard what I said. What I can’t figure out is how you got this frigid bitch to let you get in her pants.”

Everything went red in my brain. I didn’t think about where we were, or who happened to be around. I took one step, drawing my fist back and grabbing Chad by the shirt with my other hand. Lifting him off the floor, I drove my fist into his face.

He cried out, blood spurting from his nose as my fist connected. In a flash, I felt someone tugging me away. I tried to shake them off.

“Ward, let go,” someone’s voice said clearly in my ear.

Spinning back, I saw Cade. He had an iron grip on my arm. I could easily take Chad in a fight. But Cade? Not so easy. We were about even, almost precisely the same height and size. He was strong and muscled, and he meant business. I didn’t think he would hesitate to use force to keep me from being any more stupid than I already had.

Still, I tried to shake free from his grip again. The spectacle drew a cluster of people around us. Beck and Levi arrived to drag Chad off the floor and lug him out of the way. Levi made quick work of shooing the bystanders away.

My eyes searched for Susannah and found her standing at the edge of the circle. Her gaze was wide, and she looked pissed. “Zanna…” I started to say.

She shook her head sharply, her gaze swinging to Chad, laser focused. Although Beck had him out of the way, she strode straight to him. Without the slightest hesitation, she drew back and punched him square in the face. “Fuck you, Chad. You’re too much of an idiot to realize you’re not worth anyone’s time.”

Damn, she was glorious when she was angry.

At that, she spun away and started walking towards the back.

Forgetting Cade had a grip on my arm, I started to follow her, only to get yanked back promptly. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“I need to talk to her,” I said. “I know that wasn’t a good move but you didn’t hear what he said.”

“Oh, I did. Can’t say I blame you. I’m just trying to keep it from getting any worse than it already is. As it is, if Chad wants to press charges, my dad will go along with it. He follows the rules,” Cade said with a roll of his eyes.

“I don’t care,” I said flatly. “I just need to talk to Susannah.”

Whatever Cade saw in my eyes, he finally let go of my arm. For a flash, I saw a hint of empathy in his gaze. My heart tightened. I could imagine I looked frantic. Inside, I was. I needed to get to Susannah. Now. “If your dad shows up, tell him I’ll be right back.”

At Cade’s nod and finally free of his iron grip, I almost ran across the room, catching sight of Susannah just as she turned into the back hallway. I caught up to her quickly. “Susannah!”

She spun back, her eyes fairly snapping. “What the hell, Ward? What was that about?”

“He called you a frigid bitch. I can’t just stand there when someone does that.”

“I can take care of myself,” she retorted.

We stared at each other, the air heavy, crowded with unspoken words and feelings. Every moment near her, my heart pounded so hard, my entire body was vibrating from the force of its beat.

A full week had passed since I’d seen her and the simple sight of her sent emotion cascading through me. My throat was tight, and I could hardly get a breath. She stared at me for a beat and then looked away.

A group of customers came in the back door. Susannah kept her face turned away from mine as they walked by us in the hallway. Glancing around quickly as yet another group of customers came in the back, I waited until they passed us by and then tugged her into the small restroom in the hallway.

She yanked her arm away from me once I shut the door behind us. “What the hell are you doing?” she hissed. “You have no right. Chad’s an asshole, he’s always been an asshole, and he’s always going to be an asshole. Just because he said something shitty doesn’t mean you get to hit him and make a scene. And to be clear, I don’t really care that you hit him, but I do care about the scene you made.”

Her eyes were bright with tears. I stepped to her and tried to reach for her instinctively. She held herself tensely, not quite pushing me away, but certainly not relaxing into me. She wouldn’t look at me.

In a flash, I understood the concept of a broken heart. Because right now, with her physically and emotionally shoving me away, my heart felt like it was cracking into two pieces. The pain of it was so intense, I could hardly stand it.

“Zanna…”

She finally looked at me, her gorgeous eyes flashing. “Don’t call me that.”

“I know you can take care of yourself. It doesn’t change the fact I love you.”

She stared at me, her eyes widening and then a tear rolling down her cheek. She took a deep breath and then suddenly burst into tears. This time, she didn’t hold herself away when I pulled her into my arms.