Dean waved us off and told me to take as much time as I needed, but he didn’t want to see “my ass” back at work today. I protested as best as I could, but Dean wasn’t giving in.

And needless to say, Jack was equally as pissed off and told me in no uncertain terms that he was taking me down to the police station to report the spineless dick.

He made true on his promise and we were now sitting at the police station, waiting to speak to someone. Good fucking grief. I had other, way better things to be doing today, other than sitting in this scary place. The bright lights and constant noise in here pierced my already throbbing brain and my cheek still burned from where Gabe hit me. Hit me. I still couldn’t believe he’d done that. The smells wafting around were less than pleasant. What did criminals have against good hygiene?

Jack went to get us coffee while we waited, and I had to admit that I watched his very tight ass in his very expensive light gray suit as he walked away. Even under these circumstances, a girl had to do what a girl had to do. We hardly spoke in the SUV on the way over here, so I still had no idea why he was in the parking lot. Not to mention why he beat my ex-husband to a pulp.

He returned with ice for my face and coffee that tasted like mud. Well, that would be generous. I was sure boiled mud tasted better than the slop I just drank. He stayed by my side the entire time, holding my hand and keeping his arm around me until our turn popped up.

A balding, middle-aged officer with a large belly called us and herded us back into one of the rooms. The walls were white and had seen better days. Paint was peeling here and there, and some of the floor tiles were missing. One scruffy table sat in the middle with four equally well-worn chairs surrounding it. It smelled like antiseptic, and I wondered who was in here before us and for what. I set my ice down onto the table before he started talking.

“Hi, folks. I’m Officer Davis Miller. What seems to be the problem?” He sat down first, placing his hands on his large gut.

Jack held a chair out for me, and I spoke up and informed Officer Miller of what had been happening with Gabe the dick, and even plucked my phone out and showed him the texts. He didn’t react, just sat there and stared at us like we were nuts. After Jack added his two cents, we sat again in uncomfortable silence.

“There’s nothing we can do here today. The man hasn’t threatened you, and there’s been no crime committed. Unless you have something more, we are finished here,” Officer Miller said and got up, huffing with effort.

Jack tried to reason with him, but Officer Asshole was done with us. We slogged out of there, feeling more than a bit dejected and defeated.

“That is fucking bullshit,” Jack said as we got outside into the fresh air. I took a deep, cleansing breath and tried to get the smell of that place out of my lungs. “I’ll talk to some people tomorrow, see if there’s something we can do.”

He opened his SUV’s door for me and helped me in. Once he was in, he turned to me. “What do you want to do? Should we go back to your place? My place?” I glared at him like he had two heads. Did he want to pretend he didn’t dump me? Should we erase the last two weeks I spent in hell because of him?

“Uh, if you can drop me off at my apartment, that would be nice. Thanks. I’ll go back and pick up my car from work later.” I stared out the window and heard him exhale loudly.

“I just need to make a quick stop first.”

Fine, bossy pants. What did I care if it took me a few extra minutes to get home? Not that I wasn’t on the verge of losing it completely, but the unavoidable temper tantrum I was going to have could wait.

My finger drew an invisible heart on the window. It’s suiting, I thought, seeing as though my real one was also invisible. My ex never saw my heart or cared how he treated it—only what he could get out of me. Jack didn’t stick around long enough to find out.

We weaved in and out of traffic so methodically it felt like I was being rocked to sleep. I couldn’t stand it anymore and I let my eyes close. Dreamland seemed preferable to the real world at the moment.

It couldn’t have been longer than a few minutes when the SUV came to a jarring stop. My arms splayed outward onto the seat before my eyes opened. I was positive we’d hit something. “Oh God,” I breathed heavily, trying to restart my heart. I clutched my chest and bowed my head.

“Shit, honey. I didn’t think I stopped that short. I’m sorry.” Jack put his hand on my leg, and I frowned but shook it off. I was done reading into anything he did.

“It’s fine. It just startled me, that’s all.” I glanced out the window and saw the huge Pat’s Grocery Store that was right by my apartment building. He couldn’t have taken me home before getting his groceries?

“Do you want to come in with me or stay in the SUV?”

My desire-to-respond ratio was approximately zero on a scale of zero to a hundred. So, I practiced my adult prerogative and stayed silent. Instead, I watched the busy shoppers bustle around the parking lot with carts and bags and kids.

Jack allowed this for about a minute before saying more crossly, “What do you want to do?” Did he just raise his voice at me? This man was confusing as shit and I’d had about enough from him.

I gave him my best don’t mess with me face. “Well, Jack, I have no fucking clue what I want to do. Other than get in a time machine, go back four years, and throat punch my much younger self. Anything else seems rather pointless right now.” I sighed and went back to peering out the window.

He grumbled something to himself and slammed the door. Good riddance, jerk. Part of me was sad that he left, but a bigger part was relieved. With him gone, I lay back and closed my eyes again. Maybe I could fall back to sleep and forget this day ever happened.

Suddenly, my door opened and a rather pissed off, tall, hunk of a man stuck his long arm around me and undid my seat belt. “What the hell’s going on?” I snapped at him and pushed his muscular arm away from me.

“We’re going shopping,” Jack said and proceeded to lift me out of the SUV. He did not just do that.

“Are you out of your mind?” I asked him and gave him my best death stare. Incidentally, it didn’t work.

“Apparently,” was all he mumbled before he grasped my hand and dragged me into the store.

Fuck, this woman was trying my last nerve. The attitude she was showing me should have been a turn-off, but instead, it was making me hard. But then again, there wasn’t much Harper did that didn’t turn me on.

I yanked a cart out of the stand and stormed right to the produce section. The cart had a wobbly wheel and it was a bitch to steer. My temper was getting the best of me and I needed to slow down so Harper could catch up. That wasn’t fair, I knew. She wasn’t out of line to give me shit. I deserved that and more. But that didn’t mean I was happy about it.

“Do you like peppers?” I picked up a bag of three stoplight peppers and examined them for bruising. Hmm, not bad for a discount grocer. Not great, either. But not as bad as I’d imagined.

“I told you I didn’t care about anything. Did you hear me?” She raised her voice and people were beginning to stare. “Buy the peppers. Don’t buy the peppers. The suspense is killing me.” What she did next surprised me and a few dozen of the shoppers. She grabbed the peppers out of my hand and threw them across the produce section.

Perhaps I should have let her sleep in the SUV. The women gasped, and a few men chuckled. One older woman walked past and said with a nod, “You tell him, sweetheart.” Oh, fuck me.

“Jack?” My stomach churned at the sound of that nasally voice. Do not tell me today of all days I had to bump into her. After I picked up what was left of my patience, I spotted the one person I wanted to see the least in the world.

Jack’s entire body froze when the gorgeous brunette with the perfectly straightened hair said, “Jack?”

He twisted to me and said a stern, “Stay here. Do not fucking move.” Then he stomped off toward the beauty queen. I thought about taking off—my apartment was only a five minute walk from here. But my legs were still shaky. The last thing I wanted to do was walk all the way home in heels.

The beauty queen had a bouquet of roses in her hands and I giggled at my reference. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but from their exaggerated body language, I ventured to guess they were pissed right the hell off with each other. Well, how nice. The shoppers tried to avoid them, and I was so uncomfortable heat crept into my cheeks and I wanted to disappear.

After what seemed like forever, Beauty Queen threw the flowers at Jack, swivelled, and stomped out on her pricey heels. Jack chucked the flowers onto the apple display and lumbered back to me. I put my hand on my hip and gave him the evil eye. No way was I going to speak first and make this easy for him to get out of.

Finally, he spoke, “Look, she’s someone I knew a long time ago. We were together for a while. Then we weren’t.” That was his explanation? Stellar job.

I put my hands onto the shopping cart and said, “Let me guess.” I tilted my head and put my finger on my lips. “You made her pretty pink drinks, got into her pants, and didn’t call her back?” His jaw dropped. So did the young mother’s beside me. She huffed and darted away with her two kids in tow.

Tired of this scene and of life in general, I scooted off toward the meat aisle.